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Luna:
She might’ve caught us practically naked and she’s in rough shape after the heat
Allie:
Oh dear
I’ve got your back, girly
I put my phone away with a sigh.
“Now what?” Luca asked.
“Fuck if I know, but I do think we probably need to tell your mom before Nicky does.”
I had already been nervous enough about telling Mama Marino and now I was no longer confident in my assumption that she would have a positive response to Luca and me being together. What if she hated me? I didn’t want to think about what would happen if I became a wedge between Luca and his family. He could love me all he wanted, but I knew he wouldn’t abandon them for me.
Anguish swirled in my gut, making me so nauseated I almost threw up on the driveway. I’d known it was coming, but I hadn’t expected it to come like this. I’d thought others would have to choose between Luca and me, but that wasn’t it. Luca would be choosing between me and everyone else. As much as I wanted to be chosen for fucking once, I didn’t want him to give up anything to do that.
I couldn’t let him pick me.
“No,” I snapped.
“No?” Luna’s eyes were giant and filled with panic.
“I can literally see the crisis building in your head. We’re not going to do that. Whatever’s going on in there is worse than reality and I need you to talk to me about it.”
“It’s not worse than reality,” she insisted, sidestepping as I stalked toward her.
“Luna, you know me, and you know I don’t push, but if you don’t get into my car right now and let me take you somewhere to calm down, I’ll toss you over my shoulder and put you in there myself.”
Her lip wobbled and her gaze dropped to the pavement.
“All right, I gave you fair warning.”
I was in front of her before she could retreat, scooping her up, her hips on my shoulder while I swung open my car door and flipped her back down, catching her and maneuvering her into the front seat. She whined softly as I clicked the seat belt into place and closed the door, but I slipped around to the driver’s side before she could get out again.
“Ice cream or bubble tea?” I reversed out of the drive and zipped down the quiet street toward the gate.
“Bubble tea,” she whispered, still refusing to look at me.
I drove straight to the little shop we had been to a few times now. “Do you want to come in and order, or do you want me to get it and come back?”
She kicked off her shoes and brought her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them, eyes shiny with tears she was trying to hold back.
“Okay. I’ll be right back.”
A few minutes later, I returned with a traditional brown sugar one for me and a strawberry brown sugar boba for Luna. She sipped at it, sniffling and shaking. I took us to a nearby green space and parked under a tree to keep us in the shade.
“Talk to me.” I couldn’t keep the pleading out of my voice. Right now I was running on the idea that if I could keep her physically with me, it wouldn’t let her brain pull her too far away, but I knew that wasn’t really the case.
“This whole time I thought your family would be excited and I was worried about the pressure of things succeeding. Nicky wasn’t excited, Luca. She was furious.”
“About this being hidden, not you and me specifically.”
“It doesn’t matter. There’s no guarantee she’ll forgive me. And if your mom is the same? Then what? I know how much you love your family, and I would feel like the biggest ass in history if I even contemplated keeping you when they hated me. It would be different if the Marinos were shit people, but they’re not. I wouldn’t be saving you from a terrible family; I would be forcing you to sacrifice people who love you. I can’t do that. It’s better for everyone if we put a stop to this before more damage is done.”
Irritation had the muscle in my jaw ticking. I wasn’t mad at Luna; I understood her fear, but I didn’t have to like it.
