“Doubt it. He got in a fight with my dad. At church.”
Yikes.
“Maybe your dad had it coming?”
“Excuse me?” she says, mock-offended.
“Sorry. Reflex.” I grin.
She sighs. “I get this tight feeling in my chest when I see him. I think I might have anxiety.”
“Sounds more like attraction.”
“To a guy I’ve never spoken to?”
“I was attracted to you before we spoke,” I point out.
“Oh?”
“Sometimes… it’s just a vibe.”
There’s a pause, then, softly: “It’s just new for me. Feeling this way. And having someone feel it back. If I’d said any of this to my ex? He’d lose his mind. He was… really jealous.”
The ache in her voice hits me hard. I slip in my earbuds, needing to hear her clearer.
“I noticed your ring tan,” I say.
She exhales. “Yeah. That’s the other thing.”
“Tell me.”
She pauses. “Let’s just say… I got caught up trying to be someone I thought I was supposed to be. It was easy. Safe. But now? It feels like I’m living someone else’s life. And eventually, I think it’s all gonna blow up.”
I stare at the ceiling. “Yeah. I can relate… more than you know.”
There’s a weight to this moment I didn’t expect. She's cracking open. And I’m the one she’s trusting.
“I had a fiancé,” she adds.
“Had?”
“It’s… complicated.”
“Who was he?”
“It doesn’t matter. We’re on a break now, and I don’t think he’s coming back. Or maybe I don’t want him to.”
Her voice is raw. Honest.
Meanwhile, I’m the guy she’s texting under a fake name, while she vents about the guy she thinks is a total ass—also me.
But hearing her like this? I want her. All of her. And I’m not letting her go.
“And do you feel appreciated now?” I ask quietly. “Luna?”
She lets out the softest giggle. It shoots straight to my core.
“I do,” she says. “By you.”
