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“Hey, it’s okay. We’ll get it all cleaned up.” I chucked a pair of towels into the kitchen and wedged a blanket against her mats to stop any more water from making it underneath. While Luna frantically mopped at the mess, I draped a few more towels over the kitchen floor, and got one at her door to stop water from spilling into the hall.
“You don’t have to stay and help me with this.”
“You’re right, but I’m going to anyway.”
“Luca, I was just kicking you out of my apartment over something stupid. You’re allowed to be pissed at me.”
“Would me getting pissed at you make you feel better?” I asked.
Luna dropped her gaze, pushing around a sodden towel. “No.”
“Let’s get this cleaned up and then we can talk, okay?”
She nodded, refusing to meet my eyes. I gathered up a couple of towels, wrung them out in her shower, and tossed them back to the floor, repeating it a few times before the worst of it was managed. Her frown never left her face as she worked, and I could only hope she’d sorted through enough of whatever was going on in her mind by the time we were done so she could tell me how to fix things.
“How did you know how to turn off the water so fast?” Luna asked as I loaded a set of towels into the washer.
“Same thing happened one summer when I was house-sitting. I didn’t know how to fix it then and it totally fucked up their flooring by the time I got it all sorted.” I’d only been seventeen at the time, and I’d panic-run over to my parents across the street and my dad turned the water off. Fortunately for me, they’d had good insurance and were understanding. “Here, let’s get the mats lifted and save your living room floors.”
I hoisted up the mats while Luna mopped underneath and wiped down the underside before putting her blow dryer to work to make sure it was totally dry before it reconnected with the floor.
“You can sleep if you want,” I offered. “My shift isn’t until the afternoon and I know you work early. I can finish up for you and let myself out.”
“That’s very sweet, but I wouldn’t be able to sleep with you running around out here. Let’s get it done and I’ll invest in some extra coffee in the morning.”
I nodded and took a few extra moments to make sure each mat was neatly lined up after it was totally dry.
“So thorough.”
I shrugged. “No sense doing the job poorly. You like things a certain way and it’s not hard to make that happen.”
Her stomach growled loudly. It felt like years since we had shared dinner and all this physical labor was probably working up a serious appetite for her.
“I don’t know what’s still open, but I can have a look and order us something?” I offered.
“We might be able to catch the pizza place in the strip mall before they close. I can’t imagine anything else is open this late.” Luna pulled up their info on her phone. “They’re still open for another half hour. They probably won’t like an order coming in this near to closing time, but hopefully a big tip will make up for it a bit. Do you like barbecue chicken pizza?”
“Sounds perfect.”
Luna placed the order, tipping twice what it was worth, and adding an apology note.
Half an hour later, we were both shoveling slices in at the breakfast bar. Her phone rang, the call screen lighting up with Allie, Meg, and Nicky’s names. What on earth?
“What are they calling about so late?” I asked, staring at the square with my sister’s face.
Luna shrugged and answered. “What’s up, babes?” She waited for a beat while someone else spoke. “Ooh. Juicy!”
Curiosity clashed with respect for privacy. Did I even want to know what the ladies would be talking about at two in the morning? If Nicky was in trouble, presumably she would call someone in the family rather than Luna, so it was probably fine? I still wanted to know, though.
I mouthed What’s going on? but Luna waved me off.
“What’s the dealio with the other people they’re seeing?” she asked, getting up to pace the living room. “Casual? Serious?”
My ears perked. Someone was dating someone. Maybe a pack? I stayed rooted to my seat, unwilling to be the type of person that followed someone on a private call around hoping for snippets of information. If it was important, I’d find out eventually. Probably.
“They’re not going to get tired of you because you’re delightful,” Luna insisted.
I flexed my hands, forcing myself to remain where I was. Who was getting tired of who? I stared at Luna, as if the information might suddenly populate in my brain just from looking at her.
