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“Don’t think you’re getting out of telling me all the deats,” Luna yells over her shoulder as she runs for the kitchen. “Food comes first but I’ll get you to talk.”
Righting the pillows and my shirt from her crazy attack, I ignore my sister and set up our space for the food. We aren’t always heathens but on nights like this, when we binge watch TV and spend time together, there is no need for multiple plates. Who wants to do dishes? Definitely not me. I follow her at a slower pace, grabbing paper plates and paper towels.
A minute later, Luna is back with one of the pans and a dish cloth. Dropping the cloth on the coffee table, she places the warm pan on top. We settle in, grabbing a plate and picking from the pan what we want to eat.
I demolish a slice of pizza before Luna has a chance to take out her phone and open up our Netflix account. She gives me a piggy snort. I roll my eyes, uncaring. I’m hungry. I worked up quite an appetite with Grant.
We lapse into silence as we begin our night of sisterly binge bonding, both of us munching on and off when we can chance looking away from the TV. The episode ends on a massive cliffhanger as I pop the last bite of my chicken nugget in my mouth. I look over at a Luna wide-eyed. She has the same look on her face.
My arm reaches for her phone, intending to start the next episode. I don’t think I can wait twenty-five seconds for the next one to start but Luna pushes my hand away, hitting pause.
“Time’s up. Tell me everything.”
Urg. There is no point in me trying to act dumb, like I don’t know what she’s asking of me. History has taught me that once Luna sets her mind on something, she’s relentless. She will push and push until I crack under the annoying pressure.
“Fine,” I sigh, grabbing a pillow and pulling it close to my chest. “What do you want to know?”
Twisting her lips up, she thinks. I can see the spark of mischief in her eyes, such a similar light brown to my own. “How did you react when you found out what he had done? Did you freak?”
My words come slowly as I think back to when Grant’s apartment door first opened and I recognized him. “No, I didn’t freak out. But I was…stunned. I swear my mouth hung open for a good minute as I tried to understand what was happening.” Luna is nodding, silently prodding me to continue. “I’d seen him in workout clothes and business causal, but I swear Lu-Lu, nothing prepared me for the sight of that man in a t-shirt and sweats. No one should ever look that good in sweats.”
“I’ve only seen pictures of him but I can imagine.” I shoot her a look. “What? I’m allowed to Google people!”
“Anyway,” I continue, drawing out the word, “he fessed up pretty quickly and once the shock of seeing him again wore off I was okay.”
She doesn’t believe me. The brat.
“And,” she prods. “Did you stay a while? What happened Lexi? Tell me! Tell me!”
“Can you please remember that I am the adult here and I don’t have to tell you anything?”
“Whatever. You know you want to.”
I stay silent, thinking about what I want to tell her. Luna is a romantic at heart. She wasn’t as affected by our mother’s leaving as I was. Mostly because mom didn’t pay her much attention from the beginning. I was the one who woke up to feed her, change her, and make sure she was happy and safe. Mom checked out not long after she came home from the hospital. Too busy trying to find her next high or another man that would take care of her and buy her things. I think a part of me knew, even back then, that she was just biding her time. Waiting for the right moment to leave us. Dad had already left us for the second time by that point.
I don’t want Luna to get her hopes up over Grant. Just because he’s the first man in a long ass time that has captured my attention – and was actuallyworkingto show me he was worth my time – didn’t mean everything would turn out great. I don’t know much about hockey, but I imagine that it took up a ton of Grant’s focus and time. Who knew how I will factor into the equation? He may lose interest in a couple weeks, decide I’m too much work or want to focus more on his training. God knew things could change in a heartbeat.
So, while I want to tell Luna everything, all my feelings and concerns, I know I can’t. My feet belong on the ground, not up in the sky, dreaming up the ‘what-ifs’.
“I will tell you that he asked for my number.”
“Ahh!” Luna throws herself backward and lands dramatically over the sofa’s arm. “I knew it. I knew he liked you. Oh my God Lexi, you’re dating a hockey player!”
“Whoa whoa. No one said anything about dating. It was just a number exchange between two friends.”
Luna makes a rude noise. “Sure Lexi. Friends. Whatever you want to tell yourself.”
This conversation needed to end. I wasn’t going to get into the nitty-gritty with my baby sister. I still held the illusion that she was sweet and innocent, and no stupid boy had touched a hair on her head.
“Fine. Just tell me this,” she pauses, staring right at me, all serious. “Do you want to see him again?”
“Yes.” I say the word without thinking. Luna’s eyes dart back and forth, trying to read something on my face. Seconds later, she nods, a smile playing on the corners of her lips.
“Okay then.” With that she reaches for her phone and presses play on the next episode. Grabbing a blanket off the back of the sofa, I spread it out over our legs and motion for Luna to come closer. We spend the rest of the night like that, holding each other close, drinking in the time we have left with each other. Tonight I focus on Luna. Tomorrow I will over analyze how quickly I said yes and all the feelings that are swirling inside me.
Giving Luna another squeeze, I adjust my blanket and watch as Lucifer gets up to more sexy trouble.
CHAPTER EIGHT
