The Odds of Happily Ever After (The Reyes Siblings #2)

Chapter 36

chapter thirty-six

gabe

Gabe

Please clear the rest of my day.

Harry

Are you sick?

Gabe

No.

Harry

Wow, my boss finally got himself a social life!

Cesar

How are you?

I knew something was wrong the moment Luna opened the door.

Her grin seemed forced and she could barely meet my eyes. Even the makeup she’d put on didn’t mask her agitation. It was a far cry from the Luna I said goodbye to just hours earlier.

“What happened?” I asked as I stepped inside her apartment.

She blinked at the tray I carried. “Is that boba?”

“I hope I got the right one.” I had seen her carrying the distinct purple-marked cup around campus and had to look up the brand.

“It’s my favorite. Thank you,” she said as I handed the drink to her. “You didn’t get a drink for yourself?”

“No. I don’t drink that.”

She grinned, looking more like herself. “Have you tried it?”

I shook my head. “There are things I don’t need to try, Luna,” I told her as I removed my shoes.

“You have to, at least once!” She glanced down, her eyes widening. “The jeans are back! And with sneakers?” She smiled up at me, and my heart hammered against my chest. “You took my advice.”

“It’s your birthday. I thought I’d give it a try.”

“I’m glad you did. I’m tempted to ask you to put your shoes back on so I can see the full effect.” She laughed, and so did I.

“Later. I didn’t know you had a footwear fixation.”

“Footwear is part of fashion, too, you know.” A frown wrinkled her forehead as she stared at my socked feet. “You don’t like the slippers?”

“They’re comfortable, but it feels strange wearing someone else’s shoes.” I’d kept questioning if they belonged to Kai or another guy she’d dated in the past.

“I bought them for you,” she said. “No one else has worn them.”

“Oh.” My chest felt full and weightless at once, and I couldn’t stop my lips from turning up as I put on the slippers. They were the best pair I’d ever worn because Luna had gotten them for me. “Thanks. I love them.”

I love you.

“Good. I wanted you to have something comfortable to wear whenever you came over.” She gave me a shy smile that had me longing to kiss her again. “So you should come more often.”

Like I could stay away from her now. “I will.” Then I remembered the earlier distress on her face. “Is everything alright? You looked worried when I arrived.”

Her face fell. “I shouldn’t have invited you to the club.”

“Because?”

“It was selfish of me. What if someone reported you and you lose your job? It’ll be my fault.”

“No, it won’t.”

She lifted her chin. “It will be.”

“You invited me, yes, but I could have said no,” I told her. “ I decided to go. Whatever the consequences are, they’re my responsibility, not yours.”

“You wouldn’t have made the decision if I didn’t ask you in the first place.” The stubborn glint in her eyes reminded me of Tala.

It was jarring to say the least. Before, whenever I looked at Luna, my mind immediately went to Tala and how she was Tala’s sister. Now I saw just Luna, except for these rare moments that their similarities reared up.

I took her free hand. “Luna. You invited me because you wanted me there. I came because I wanted to be there, and I knew the risks involved. Trust that I can handle the outcome.”

“I don’t want you to lose your job.” She bit her lip. “Or your degree.”

“Maybe I’m learning there’s more to life than my job and degree.”

Her hand jerked in surprise, and I stroked her skin with my thumb.

“Are you ready to play?” I asked.

She tipped her head to the side, looking like she wanted to say more. “Sure. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

luna

“Not again!” I gaped at Gabe’s cards, which clearly trumped mine. “Did you practice or something?”

In pusoy, each player had thirteen cards. You needed to arrange them in three levels—two groups of five in the bottom and middle levels and one trio on top. The goal was to come up with the strongest combinations for each level, with the best belonging in the bottom, so you could beat your opponent’s corresponding levels. Whoever beat two out of three levels won, and if you won all three, you’d be pusoy, getting double your bet.

He shrugged. “Lucky hand.”

I gave him a mock glare. “Good thing we don’t have stakes yet.”

“Do you want to set some for the next one?”

“Do you?”

His smile came slowly. “Have you forgotten who you’re talking to?”

“Right. The guy who makes bets for a living.” I rolled my eyes and laughed.

“Play for coins?”

I had a better idea. “How ‘bout we play for truths?”

A single brow arched up. “Truths.”

“Yeah. Like truth or dare. Whoever wins gets to ask the other person a question that he or she needs to answer on the spot. We can do best of five.”

“To clarify, we ask a question after every win? And if we get pusoy, we ask two?” A glint shone in his eyes, as though the idea excited him.

It set off warning bells in my head. Of course he was counting on winning. His confidence increased my determination to beat him. “Uh huh. You in?”

“Sure.”

“You shuffle, I’ll deal,” I suggested as we settled into mirrored cross-legged sitting positions on the sofa.

He split the deck of cards into two and fanned them together with his thumbs in a riffle shuffle. After repeating it, he held the deck in his left hand, split it in two across his palm, and used only the fingers on that hand to merge the two halves.

“Show off,” I said even though I felt a tingle between my legs. Watching his fingers handle the cards so deftly made me think of what else those fingers could do. His hands were much bigger than mine, his fingers thicker and longer and?—

“Luna.”

At his voice, my mind snapped back to the present, my eyes zeroing in on the cards he held out to me. I hurriedly looked up at him, and my expression must’ve given my thoughts away because heat flashed in his gaze.

“What?” I shrugged, feigning a confidence I didn’t completely feel. “You make shuffling look sexy.”

His brow furrowed. “Sexy?”

“Uh huh. That finger work? A plus, Professor.” I flashed him the okay sign and tried to ignore the visual of him testing his technique on my body.

He shook his head but one corner of his mouth lifted.“Do you want to deal?”

“Yeah.” Ignoring the ache in my core,I grabbed the deck and cut it to reveal the king of hearts. I began distributing the cards at Gabe’s position, going clockwise until we had four equal stacks between us.

I picked up my cards and studied them.

Crap . My hand was loaded with almost-but-not-quites. One heart short of a flush, a six shy of a straight, and three pairs with a Jack as the highest.

“Lock.” Gabe laid out his cards in front of me, showing that he only had three suits.

My jaw dropped. “Seriously?” No wonder I had plenty of hearts.

“Sorry,” he said, grinning.

I groaned and plopped my cards on the sofa. “That’s so unfair.”

He gathered the cards in one heap. “You shuffle for the next round. As for my first question . . .”

Right. He had a two for one.

“Kai.”

I took a sip of my boba while I waited. “I hate to break it to you, Gabe, but that’s a name. A statement, maybe—not a question.”

“Are you really not interested in him?”

“Didn’t we go through this already? Easy—no. I’m not interested in Kai as anything other than a friend.” I tsked. “You wasted a prime opportunity for something juicy.”

“I wanted to go easy on you with the first question.”

“I can take it.”

“Alright. In the car, you said you were only attracted to one person. Who?”

“I already told you.” Sure, I’d drank my share of vodka, but I clearly remembered admitting it to him.

Gabe set his jaw. “Tell me now that you’re completely sober.”

If he thought I’d shirk it, he was wrong. “You’re the only one I’ve wanted for years.”

“Since when?”

“Those were two questions.” I reached for the cards, brushing my fingers against his in the process. “My turn to win.”

His brows drew together, then he chuckled. “Be my guest.”

This time, I shuffled and he dealt the cards, doing it at twice the speed that I had. I opened my hand and fought to keep a poker face. Full house, two-pair, Ace high.

I’d get him now.

When we flipped our cards, I mentally cursed. My bottom cards beat his trio, but his middle two pair was higher than mine, and he had another pair up top. His hand matched mine, only instead of building a full house, he’d split it up and sacrificed the bottom for a stronger top.

Which meant I owed him another truth.

I flicked my braid over my shoulder and leaned against the sofa. “Hit me.”

Bracing an arm across the back of the couch, he studied me for a few seconds. I expected him to repeat the question I hadn’t answered, but instead he asked, “I asked you before if you were considering moving back to Manila. What are your thoughts on that now?”

My eyebrows rose at the unexpected question. I looked past him, mulling it over. “Honestly? The same. I miss my family and all, but I love my life here. I don’t know how things will be after graduation and whether I can get a job right away, but I know I’ll try my best to be able to stay.”

“Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help,” he told me. “Anything—just say the word.” His eyes were earnest, and I marveled at the stark difference from his distant, unfeeling expressions when we first met.

“Thanks, Gabe. You should know it’s the same for me.”

He nodded and leaned forward, his arm stretching toward me. Then he stopped. Straightened. “Next round?”

I gathered the cards and concentrated on shuffling them, hyper-aware of him staring at me.

The third time was the charm. I won by the skin of my nose, beating his middle two pair with my trio and his top Jack with my Queen.

“Nice work,” he congratulated me with a half-smile. “What’s your question?”

I’d been ready with one, but now that I had the chance to ask it, I second-guessed myself. What if it led to another rejection? I wasn’t sure how I’d handle it if so, but I needed to know. “Last night. Why did you stop? And don’t just give me the same line about the alcohol.”

He braced his palms on his thighs. “It wasn’t just a line, Luna. It was the truth. There are multiple power imbalances between us already without adding alcohol to the mix.”

“I know my own mind. I know what I want. Who I want,” I said. “I meant everything I said, Gabe. If it weren’t for your reality check, I would have been all over you.”

“I didn’t want to take advantage of you.”

“You wouldn’t have been doing anything I didn’t want you to do.”

He rubbed a hand across his nape. “I wanted to be sure you were sure about what we were doing.”

“And if I kissed you now that I’m completely sober? What would you do?”

His head tipped back like he was searching for help from a higher force. I hated that I gave him such a hard time, but I hated more that he still hesitated.

“Never mind. I—” The rest of my words died as Gabe leaned toward me and laid his hand on the side of my neck.

“You asked more than one question. My turn.” He searched my eyes as his thumb caressed my racing pulse. “Yes or no?”

I answered with my lips on his.

As soon as our lips touched, electricity zinged through me. I wrapped my arm around his neck and tugged him closer, and he took it further, hauling me onto his lap so we were chest to chest. It felt like settling into the place where I belonged. His lips moved with mine, gently at first, then growing in intensity. I breathed him in, taking in every second of this reality I’d once only dreamed about.

Gabe was here with me, and he was kissing me. It was everything I hoped for and more. Because it was him, I didn’t feel nervous or self-conscious or resigned.

I teased my tongue across the seam of his lips, tracing the way they curved in the smile I’d long memorized. They parted for me, and my tongue swept in, parrying with his. He tasted of spearmint, and it felt like a shot of caffeine had been injected into my system. I could hardly think past the rush of blood pumping through my veins.

“Sweet,” he murmured against my lips.

“It’s the boba. I knew you’d like it.”

He chuckled, and I laughed too. But it turned to a moan as I became aware of the hardness pressing against the spot where I ached. It felt so good.

Experimentally, I ground on his erection.

We both groaned.

“Luna.” Gabe swept his palm up my side, his thumb stopping just short of the underside of my boob.

“Mmm.” My hips moved restlessly against him, the delicious friction amping up my need.

His hand dropped to my waist and stilled me. “ Luna .” He said my name in a gravelly voice that sent a shiver through me.

I wanted to hear that tone as he did everything to me that I had imagined, wanted to drive him to the brink of pleasure where he couldn’t choose his words or weigh his actions or hold on to his control.

“This is too fast,” he said.

“Not fast enough. We still have clothes on.”

He eased my body away from his so I sat in the middle of his thighs, our midsections no longer touching.

I instantly missed the solidness of his chest and the press of his erection.

“We’re not taking anything off.”

“But—”

“We have a game to finish.”

“Or we could finish what we just started.” I toyed with the top button of his shirt. “That sounds a lot more fun to me.”

He captured my hand and drew it to his lips, pressing a gentle kiss on my knuckles. “It’s not about fun, Luna. This . . . You . . . You’re important to me. I’ve already made too many mistakes with you. Let me do this the right way.”

His eyes begged me to understand, to not push. But his hands didn’t let go of my hand, my waist. It was like he was being pulled in two opposite directions and one nudge would break his resolve.

The torment in his gaze gave me the strength to nod. We’d do it his way . . . for now.

Because even though it wasn’t just about fun for me either, I didn’t want to pressure him into anything. I didn’t want him questioning his actions or taking a step forward only to backtrack when his conscience struck again. There was nothing wrong about us being together, but it wasn’t up to me to change his mind. He needed to work through it himself.

When we got together, it had to be because we’d chosen each other. Anything less would never work out in the long run.

In the meantime, it looked like I would have to give Chloe’s gift a go.