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

Epilogue

gabe

Gabe

Okay?

Luna

I told you- you can’t just text that one word!

Gabe

Maybe I was hoping you would call.

Luna

I would but Kriz is doing my hair and Chloe’s snooping

Gabe

Hi to your friends.

I can’t wait to see you later.

Luna

Me too! This is it!!!

Gabe

I’m so proud of you, Luna.

For almost nine years, I had been going to Sterling University in different capacities—a graduate student, a graduate teaching assistant, lecturer, and adjunct professor. As a visitor? This was a first. And I couldn’t say it felt comfortable.

“Professor Martins!”

I glanced behind me at a student I vaguely remembered from two years ago. I nodded, expecting that to be the end of it.

Instead, she lingered, eyeing me from head to toe. “So the rumors are true? You’re dating a student?”

I raised an eyebrow at her and said nothing—not because I was ashamed of Luna but because it was none of her business.

“Martins!” Max strolled toward me, wearing a knowing grin. “There you are.” Glancing at the student, he said, “Congratulations. Shouldn’t you join the rest of your class?”

“Right. Thank you, sir.” After glancing between the two of us, she hurried to a group of students in the far right of the squad.

I wondered where Luna was but resisted the urge to search for her. Instead, I told Max, “Thanks, doc.”

He shrugged. “Anytime. How does it feel to know your girlfriend’s graduating?”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” I corrected him. Girlfriend didn’t encompass who Luna was to me. “She’s my partner.”

Max elbowed my arm. “There’s that progressive perspective again. I love to see it.”

“Gabe!”

Turning, I found Tala walking toward us with Jason and Alonzo on either side of her. As expected, Jason’s presence attracted plenty of attention because people still considered him a local celebrity.

I hugged Tala and exchanged what Luna called a “bro hug” with Jason. To my surprise, Lonzo stepped in for one too.

“At least now I can’t bug you about dating a student anymore,” he said as he slapped my back.

Chuckling, I introduced them to Max, who congratulated Jason in advance of his master’s graduation ceremony. Then Max excused himself, promising to drop by the surprise party I’d set up for Luna in the office this evening.

“Everything okay?” I asked Tala yet again. “Does she have any idea?”

“Yes, we’re all set. If she knows anything, she hasn’t let on. Stop worrying.” She hooked an arm around my elbow and tugged me and Jason toward the seating area. “Have you seen her already?”

“No.” I scanned the crowd of students lining up for their march and finally spotted her. She stood with her back to me, but I’d recognize her anywhere.

She wore the same maroon robe as the rest of her class, with the addition of a pink and yellow floral crown perched on her head, covering the base of her mortar board. She was the singular subject my eyes focused on. Everything else blurred into the background.

“There she is,” I told her family.

“Is that . . . a plumeria crown?” Jason murmured.

“It’s her favorite flower. Kal?—"

“Kalachuchi,” Tala chimed in. “There used to be a big tree near our house.”

Alonzo snickered. “She almost fell off it one time.”

“She didn’t tell me that part,” I said, still staring at her. Willing her to turn around.

“Shit, you are so whipped.” Alonzo shook his head.

“I called it first,” Tala said.

Jason smirked at me. “I think it’s adorable.”

“Like you’re any better,” Alonzo grumbled. “You moved across the world to be with Ate.”

“Wait till it’s your turn,” Jason said.

“I have a girlfriend, and you don’t see me losing my mind.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Jason and Tala exchanging loaded looks, but I ignored them. There would be time to talk later. For now, I watched Luna live out one of her dreams.

As she walked up the stage an hour later, I wondered if I’d ever seen her more radiant. She beamed as she accepted her diploma and went to the designated spot for her photo. Her eyes skimmed the crowd before landing on me. When she smiled, I swore my heart stopped. My lips stretched wide, and despite my former peers and students surrounding me, I stood with Luna’s family and cheered for the woman I loved.

luna

My cheeks ached with the weight of my happiness.

It was done. I had my diploma in my hands and my future within reach. It felt unbelievable but scary, too, and I wanted to soak everything in—the people, the voices, the bigger than my body emotions—and capture them in my memory. Soon enough, things would change, but I would bask in this moment as long as I could.

Chloe glanced back at me from her seat a few rows in front of mine. Holding up her phone, she tapped the screen.

I took it as a sign to check my phone.

Chloe

@Luna Guess your man’s done with being discreet.

Chuckling, I typed out a reply:

Luna

So am I

Chloe

About time!

I laughed. Gabe and I had agreed not to hide our relationship, but we didn’t go around advertising it either. He picked me up from school when I finished late or had barely gotten any sleep, and we occasionally ate out. For the most part, we stayed at either of our apartments and worked together. With practice, Gabe improved his cooking skills, I got better at cards, and we both learned how to please each other in bed . . . and other places.

My phone vibrated, interrupting my internal replay of what had gone down in Gabe’s car two days ago. Just as well, too, since this wasn’t the best time or place to get myself worked up.

Chloe

Btw is that Lonzo?? You didn’t tell me he was so hot!

I almost choked on my saliva. That was one way to kill the mood.

Luna

Eww, that’s my brother!!

Chloe looked back at me and dramatically rolled her eyes.

Chloe

Says the girl who’s dating her sister’s best friend.

She had me there.

Luna

He has a girlfriend!

Then I got another message, this time from Kriz.

Kriz

I’m with Chlo! I totally should have sat with him!!

Unfortunately, Kriz hadn’t graduated with us. She needed another semester to complete the courses she’d missed because of her modeling gigs. Still, the three of us celebrated with a sleepover at Chloe’s last night, and Kriz helped us get ready earlier.

The rest of the ceremony went by in a sea of faces, familiar and not. Soon, it came time to throw our caps, and I felt a rush of emotion as I launched mine in the air, making sure to keep my floral crown in place.

“We did it, Lulu!” Chloe threw her arms around me just as the caps came falling down.

“Wait for me,” Kriz shouted a few seconds before she crashed into us. “Congrats, girls!”

Our group hug consisted of a tangle of limbs and hair sticking across our faces.

“Luna!”

I glanced behind me at Kai, who wove through other students to get to us. “Hey, Kai. Congratulations!”

“Right back at you. Nice flowers, by the way.” He waggled his eyebrows. “I saw Professor Martins cheering for you.”

Laughing, I said, “Technically, he’s not a professor anymore.”

“Now he’s Luna’s hot boyfriend,” Chloe added with a lift of her eyebrow.

“Chloe.” Kai nodded at her.

Tension simmered in the space between them, and I reminded myself to sit Chloe down and ask her if my suspicions about them were right.

Suddenly, Kai looked past me, his eyes widening.

I whirled around just as Gabe drawled, “Mr. Walker.”

“Professor Martins.” Kai nodded.

“It’s Gabe. Congratulations.”

“You too.” Kai jolted back and stammered, “I mean—I should go. Congrats again, Luna. See you around, uh, Gabe.” With that, he dodged his way through the crowd.

“Am I that frightening?” Gabe’s tone was even but the corner of his mouth twitched up.

“It must have been the laser beam you aimed at him,” Chloe said.

“I take insult to that.”

I snorted. “Sure, you do.”

“Congratulations, Chloe,” Gabe said to her before turning to Kriz. “Thanks again for getting the flowers to her, Kriz.”

“Of course!” Kriz smiled at him. “Anything for true love.”

“Nice move there,” Chloe told him. “Luna can’t wait to show you how grateful she is.” She gave me a sly smile, leaving no doubt what she meant by that.

I narrowed my eyes at her while Gabe chuckled. Then I heard my name called out, and I glanced to the right just in time for Ate and Lonzo to crash into me. Their voices mixed together in my ears as they squeezed me tight, with Jason grinning behind Ate.

“We’ll catch you later, Lulu,” Kriz said, tugging Chloe away.

“You did it, Lu!” Ate told me. “I’m so proud of you.” Her eyes were glossy as she gazed at me, triggering my own tear ducts.

“Congrats, Ate.” Lonzo patted the top of my head as if I were a dog, and I mock-glared at him.

“Don’t mess up my flowers!” I said.

“Speaking of flowers—” Lonzo moved away and my jaw dropped as Mama moved into his place.

She held out a brightly colored bouquet and grinned at me with teary eyes. “Congratulations, Luna.”

Just like that, my eyes welled up too. “Mama!” I pulled her in for a hug, crushing the flowers between us. “I thought you had work?”

“We arranged for time off,” Papa said beside her. “We couldn’t miss your graduation.”

I burst out into tears. Letting go of Mama, I embraced my dad. “I can’t believe you’re here! This is the best surprise ever.” If anyone had told me my parents would come to my graduation, I never would have believed them. They’d been so apologetic about having to attend to things at work, and I knew they were concerned about the expense too, though both Jason and Gabe had offered to help.

“Wait.” I pulled away from Papa. “Have you met Gabe?”

“Of course,” he answered. “He picked us up from the airport.”

Whirling around, I looked at Gabe. “I thought you had a meeting.”

He wore the small smile he reserved just for me. “Technically, I did have one.”

Right. This was what I got for being with such a smart guy.

Lonzo distracted our parents with some story about their flight, and I took the chance to murmur to Gabe, “You’ve been busy.”

He chuckled and took my hand. “So busy I left my gift for you at the office. Do you mind if we pass by there on the way to dinner?”

“As long as I get to drive.” Since I’d gotten my driver’s license, I’d been calling dibs on the wheel more often. Gabe sometimes grumbled about being relegated to a passenger in his own car, but then he’d immediately open the driver’s side door for me and spend the ride fussing with the music, reaching for my hand, and watching me drive.

His scowl had barely even formed before it turned into a grin that lit up his eyes. “Then I get to choose the music.”

I laughed because the threat I’d given him at the airport had turned into a running joke between us. Laughed because the girl I’d been then never would have imagined we’d get to this point—when it didn’t really matter who drove or who picked the music as long as we were together. The odds had seemed against us, yet somehow, here we were, standing side by side out in the open with my family on one of the biggest days of my life.

As Ate tugged me back into the conversation, I mirrored Gabe’s smile and said to him, “Deal.”

Thank you so much for reading THE ODDS OF HAPPILY EVER AFTER.