That one hit me square in the chest. I reached over and pulled him into another hug. “Come here, you big softie.”
“Gross,” Jer muttered, but he didn’t pull away.
“Go pack your shit,” I said. “You’re coming to my place.”
51
jeremy
“I am so sorry. I was upstairs helping the planners, and I ran late at the studio. I was making content?—”
“Hi.” I shoved my hands into my pockets and glanced down at my outfit. Still my usual all black, but this time swapped for jeans and a button-down.
“You’re here.” Her whole face lit up, that smile hitting me square in the chest.
My beautiful Luna. She was in pale pink yoga sweats and a cropped tee, a bag resting at her feet.
“I’m here to... fit in. Hopefully as yours—if you’ll have me.”
Her eyes widened, and then tears slipped down her cheeks.
“I fucking hate crying, man,” she muttered, and I stepped toward her.
“I’m sorry. I won’t leave. But I need you in, too. I need you to understand?—”
She pressed her lips to mine before I could finish.
“I want to hear it. I do. All of it. Not right now. Tonight’s Dirks’s night, and I want to let him have it. You and me—we’lltalk, and I’ll listen, I promise. But right now... ” Her eyes searched mine. “Of course you’re always mine. Don’t ever leave me like that again, though. Four months without you... ” She shook her head, another tear falling. “I can’t do that again.”
Her words hit me like a gut punch. Months of telling myself I was doing her a favor by keeping my distance, when really I’d just been making her carry the absence alone. And now she was looking at me like I was worth keeping. I didn’t know what the hell I’d done to deserve it.
“Okay, Luna girl.”
“Where is he?”
I laughed, threading my fingers through hers. “Come on, I’ll show you. It’s a surprise.”
I led her down the hall and pushed open Dirks’s bedroom door. Luna stopped dead before doubling over and laughing so hard she had to brace herself on the doorframe.
Dirks was spread out naked on the bed, wrists tied to the headboard with a black blindfold on.
“You did this for me?”
“Of course I did,” I said, leaning casually against the wall. “Plus, I figured if you still hated me, you’d at least be able to fuck him.”
That made her laugh harder, her face flushed and eyes bright.
“You’re not joining?”
“Nah. This is his retirement gift from me. But I’m sure as shit watching.”
I dropped into the leather chair in the corner, stretching out and watching as she hooked her thumbs into the waistband of her pale pink leggings. She peeled them down over her hips, her crop top following right after.
“Hi, baby,” she crooned as she crawled onto the bed, her knees sinking into the mattress on either side of him. “You ready for us to celebrate you?”
“Fuck yes,” Dirks groaned.
“Maybe, for once,” she whispered against his jaw, “since it’s your gift... we’ll let you tell us what you want.”
