Page 175

She nods. “I want to show you something.” Her cheeks look rosy from the cold, but she’s wearing a cozy white puffer jacket. Then she unburies a manuscript from beneath it.

I think it’s a manuscript at least. It’s bigger than a book, but the binding is different from her others.

“Have you seen this before?” Luna asks, handing me the hardcase, the cover glittery. No title. I search for one on the spine. Still none.

I frown. “No. It’s from…?”

“Original Luna,” she confirms. “I found a bank safe in my bedroom.”

“Where?”

So she tells me in the wall behind the Sagittarius tapestry. I never even noticed that part of the wall felt different. Luna also explains the safe had no lock.

“You work in mysterious ways, space babe,” I tell her and flip the cover. Reading the preface silently, overpowering emotion of disbelief and awe and love swells like a full-body rush.

“I found a piece of her,” Luna says softly. “It’s a diary.”

I intake a staggered breath, and she’s waiting a long minute for me to reply. Luna left this without realizing she was the one who’d need it.

It’s nothing short of amazing, but I can’t even be completely surprised. Because amazing is what she’s always been to me.

I catch her gaze. “You’re the Unearthly Reader.” I wipe a tear that falls down her cheek. “Always knew you were too extraordinary to be only human.”

“Humans aren’t so ordinary,” she says quietly, staring into me. “You are extra-spectacular.” She glances at the diary in my hands. “Even though I can finally get some answers from myself about the past and my feelings for you, I know it’s not the same as living it.”

I hold in a breath, on an edge. I shut her diary, tucking it beneath my arm. “Yeah?”

She nods. “But I have enough of her and all of me to know what I feel today, and I don’t want to keep fretting over a past I lost. I just want to move forward into the future I have. One where I get to experience so many more things than I ever did. New things, weird things, wishful things, daunting things, romantic things.”

“All the things,” I start to grin, my heart pounding. “You’ll get that, Luna.”

“Will you give me that?” Luna suddenly asks, her voice pitching a little with nerves. She’s hanging onto my belt loops. “And I know it’s a big thing to give. Yourself. But I just really want to experience every possible thing with you.” She adds more strongly, “I choose you, Donnelly. I want you. I’m falling in love with you.”

With me.

Luna continues, “And you might think it’s too soon—”

“It’s not too soon,” I say, releasing a breath. “I’m just happy it’s not too late.” I cup her flushed cheek. “I can keep giving you who I am, and just so you know, the weirdest, strangest, most beautiful Luna will always be the one you are. Not the Luna you think I want.” Her body bows closer, and I say, “You’ve got me. I promise. And I know how promises are made on your planet.”

Her eyes sparkle. “Tell me. Show me.”

I explain, and in seconds, we collide. The tips of our tongues touch and toy, and pure affection reflects in our gazes. My grin has never felt this bright, and effortlessly I bring her mouth nearer and close my lips over hers, turning our promise into a kiss.

Her hands fist the back of my shirt. Clinging. This isn’t a quick two-second peck. We make out on her parents’ front lawn in an endless, hot, heart-pumping moment. I don’t want time to stop with Luna. I want to live each second, each minute, each perfect hour—so we’re all over each other’s timelines.

I’ve lifted her up in a front piggyback, my hands on her ass, and her legs are wrapped around me. Deep, hungry kisses.

“Do not desecrate my lawn!”

Our heads turn, but the voice came through a window. Her dad.

Luna laughs, and I set her on the ground before Lo finds a hose to spray us. She bends down to pick up the diary. Orion is lounging at our feet.

I dig in my pocket. “I’ve been meaning to give you this,” I say. “It’s an early Christmas gift.” After fucking up her birthday present, I wanted to be better prepared. So I did some online shopping, and I could wait until the 25th to give it to Luna. But the moment is now, and I’m capturing it.

I keep it hidden in my fist, and while she comes closer, I explain, “You once told me all about the balance in the Force. How light and dark exist together, but it’s up to us to choose the light.” I open my hand, a pool of silver chain in my palm.

Luna sees, and I lift the necklace over her head.