Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 57820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 231(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 231(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
I ordered a sandwich, Luna copying me with little thought, and Anne headed off shortly after.
“Tell me.” It wasn’t a request or a demand, it was fact. We shared everything, we always had.
Luna blew out a breath, hesitance shaping her features.
Fuck, it was bad. She rarely hesitated to vent when I gave the opening.
“Dennis and I broke up.”
Shock jolted through my body, and it took everything in my power to not smile and try to high-five her. That would be a dick move, but that guy had never treated her right.
“When?” I managed to ask instead of doing a celebratory dance. She was clearly hurting over the situation, and that’s the absolute last thing I ever wanted.
“Last night,” she said, thanking Anne when she came back with our drinks before leaving to check on her other tables.
“And?” I asked, practically begging her to continue.
Luna had spent her entire college career plus a year being loyal to a fault to that douchebag, seeing something in him I never did. I spotted his narcissistic tendencies faster than Zoe, and that was saying something, since she was the psychologist after all. But any time I brought it up, Luna shut me down. Said I didn’t know him like she did.
And maybe I didn’t, but I did know one thing—Luna deserved to be treated like a fucking queen. Something he never got close to doing.
Luna took a long drink of her lemonade, clearly stalling. “He was cheating on me.”
“What?” I snapped.
“Yep,” she said, shrugging. “I was waiting for him in his apartment last night,” she continued, her cheeks flushing red. “As a surprise. Joke’s on me, because he surprised me by walking in with another woman.”
I opened my mouth to go off, but she continued.
“To be fair,” she said. “The other woman didn’t know and stormed off. Then he tried to say it was my fault because I didn’t understand the needs of a man.” She rolled her eyes. “And then tried to keep me there until I was in a rational mindset to talk about it.”
“The asshole wouldn’t let you leave?” My hand curled into a fist where it sat on the table.
“Only until I threatened to call the police.”
“I’m going to fucking kill him,” I said, pushing away from the table, my mind one-tracked and ready to introduce his face to the nearest curb.
“Brad, please,” Luna said, her hand darting out to catch mine.
Her touch was about the only thing that could draw me back to the table. I sat back down, doing my best to breathe.
“I would’ve come there,” I said.
“I know,” she said. “I almost dialed your number instead of pulling up 9-1-1. But I didn’t want you to get involved.”
“Luna, he hurt you.” I furrowed my brow. “I’m involved.”
Anne showed up with our food, and flashed me a knowing look. I smiled and waved her off, knowing Luna would fill her in another time if she was ready. They were newly friends, and I wasn’t about to spill Luna’s situation when it wasn’t mine to spill. Anne nodded, somehow understanding before heading off again.
“It’s fine,” Luna said after taking a bite of her lunch. “Honestly, I’m more mad that I didn’t see it coming.”
“What?” I usually prided myself on my conversation skills but I was seriously fucking lacking at the moment. Thanks can go to the asshole who broke her heart and my insatiable need to hurt him over it.
She shrugged again, acting like none of this was a big deal even though I could see it was tearing her up. “There were signs,” she said. “Signs I overlooked because I thought…”
“Thought what?” I asked when she didn’t continue.
“Thought he loved me.” Her voice cracked over the last part, and my heart ached for her in that moment. She was the best person I knew. She didn’t deserve this. “I thought we’d just hit a rough patch, like all relationships. Especially when every time I asked for—”
She abruptly stopped herself, studying her sandwich a little too intently.
“Every time you asked for what, Luna?” God, I wasn’t used to having to pull answers from her. Things between us had always been easy, effortless, so why was she choking up now?
She took a few more bites of her lunch, and I reluctantly did the same, wanting to give her all the time she needed to talk. I know we came here to talk about the upcoming retreat, but fuck that. She needed me to be here to listen, and I would sit here all damn day and night if that’s what she needed.
“Let’s just say he wasn’t very forthcoming in the bedroom recently,” she finally said, her cheeks flushing again just like they had when she’d mentioned surprising him at his place. “So last night I bought a silly, skimpy little outfit and wore it and thought it would fix all our problems but instead I ended up making a complete fool of myself, standing there with barely anything covering me while a complete stranger walked in with her mouth all over my boyfriend.”