“What kind of guy?” Ashley asked.
I opened my mouth and then closed it.
Ashley sighed on the other end of the line. “He’s hot, isn’t he?”
“A little?” I pictured him sitting beside me on that swing. I could almost hear his voice, low, encouraging me.
Ashley groaned. “Luna. You can’t… I mean?—”
“You’re the one who insisted I take this trip,” I argued, even though, annoyingly, I agreed with her. “And I’m not an idiot.”
“I know.” Ashley’s voice softened, but I could feel her concern from a thousand miles away. “It’s just…you’re not yourself these days. The last thing you need is to get hurt again.”
I let out a slow breath, pressing my fingers to my temple. “I’m fine, Ash.”
“I know. I know, Loon.” My sister didn’t sound at all convinced, but she let it go. “Now, tell me how the trip’s going.”
I spent the next few minutes telling her about the places we’d visited—intentionally avoiding any details about Noah or how much fun I’d actually had.
Or the mini-identity crisis I was going through.
“Send me some pictures, yeah?”
The request brought me up short. When Leo and I had been, well, Leo and Luna, even the most ordinary moment had been a branding opportunity. A winery visit wasn’t about connection—it was content. A meal? A chance to post, promote, and perform.
Had any of it been real?
Here, though, I wasn’t curating moments for anyone. I was just…
Living them.
While the others on the bus were snapping photos, posting updates, tagging each other on Facebook, I’d taken exactly one picture the entire trip. Babs in the restaurant. That was it.
The rest of the time, my phone had stayed mostly forgotten.
“You there?” Ashley said.
“Oh, yeah. Yeah. I’ll send you some pictures.”
There was another pause, and then Ashley’s voice shifted—suspiciously cautious.
“Um.” She hesitated. “Leo called me this afternoon.”
My stomach dipped, all too aware of the voice message just sitting in my phone.
Like a land mine. Or wet laundry I’d forgotten in the washer. Not sure which, quite yet, but regardless, I wasn’t prepared to deal with him.
“He asked me why you were in Colorado.”
I sat up. “How does he?—”
“You’re still sharing locations with him.”
I froze.
I hadn’t even thought about that.
A sick feeling slid down my spine. “Why would he check that? You don’t think he—” wants to get back together?
