Chapter 17
chapter seventeen
gabe
Max
Did I just see you at the NBA finals?
Gabe
Did you?
After the game, we had dinner in Tala and Jason’s suite. The Santa Mila Barons had lost the championship at three games to four, but you wouldn’t have known by the way Jason beamed.
“It sucks,” he said when Alonzo asked how he was. “But the way I see it, I already won.” He gave Tala a lovestruck smile that told me he wasn’t referring to their win last year.
“And you’re sure about retiring?” Alonzo pressed.
The news wouldn’t go public for another week. Jason had taken a year to rethink the career he’d pursued in his dad’s memory, but his passion for environmental sustainability won out. No doubt the prolonged separation from Tala sealed the deal for him.
Jason placed a kiss on Tala’s temple. “Yeah, it’s time. No regrets.”
“Cheers to that.” Tala raised her glass of wine.
We toasted to his final year with the league. Over the glasses, I caught Luna’s eye. She smirked, tipping her glass the faintest bit to me in a wordless challenge. I knew she was thinking about how I’d kept her from drinking last Christmas, but this was a different scenario. We weren’t alone, and she had her siblings to look after her, though Alonzo was technically underage too.
Sitting beside her, Alonzo squinted at me. He’d been watching me throughout the day, suspicion clear in his eyes. I could have told him he had nothing to worry about, but I doubted he would take me at my word.
Luna noticed her brother’s attention on me. A second later, Alonzo cursed and glared at her. I stifled a chuckle. She must have elbowed him or something. Meanwhile, Tala just sighed.
“So, Luna.” Jason turned to her. “How’s Sterling been treating you?”
“Great. I love it there,” she said. “I’ve finally gotten the hang of doing the work-study thing.”
“Good to hear. Your classes are okay?”
She crinkled her nose. “Eh. They’re okay, I guess, but nothing really exciting.”
“Because you don’t like your major,” Alonzo piped up.
“It’s not that I don’t like it. It’s just . . . not what I like.”
“That’s exactly my words in different order. I told you, you should have gone into fashion.”
“Oh, like Papa was going to let me?” Luna shot back. “You know how he is. He’s still disappointed I didn’t take up nursing.”
“I’m just saying, you can still shift. You’re in a whole other country so he can’t stop you from doing what you want.”
She shook her head. “My major is tied to my scholarship.”
“Shit. I forgot that.”
“You could add a minor in fashion,” I said. Everyone’s eyes landed on me but I kept mine on Luna. “It means more schoolwork, but you’d be able to study something you enjoy.”
Her eyes lit up. “I can do that this far along?”
“Sure. Your student advisor should be able to advise you about the process and requirements.”
For the first time since we arrived in the hotel this morning, Luna gave me a genuine smile. It felt like I’d won the jackpot, and I got so distracted that I almost missed Alonzo’s question.
“Did you have a minor?” he asked me.
I nodded. “Economics.”
His jaw flexed but he didn’t say anything else.
Luna chuckled. “You are such a numbers guy. I’ll meet with my advisor next week.” She blinked as though a thought occurred to her. Her face fell, her shoulders slumping. “Adding units means a higher tuition, right?”
Even before I said yes, I saw her mentally crossing off the idea.
“Just meet with your advisor and get all the info,” Tala told her. “Then we can talk about it.”
“Yeah, okay.” Luna smiled, yet it didn’t reach her eyes.
After dinner, I went to the powder room and came out to find Tala leaning against the wall beside the door.
“Don’t you have two other bathrooms in this suite?” I asked, knowing full well she was waiting there for a reason.
“None of them had you primping inside.”
I chuckled, and she surprised me with a hug.
“I missed you, Gabe,” she mumbled against my shoulder.
“Your boyfriend isn’t going to kill me for touching you, is he?” I patted her back.
Laughing, she drew away. “Of course not. He knows I like them tall.”
“I’m seven inches taller than you.”
Her head tipped to the side as she gave me a pitying smile. “Have you seen Jason?”
“It’s a good thing I don’t have a fragile ego. You know just where to hit a man.”
She snorted. “Like you don’t know what you look like. Did I ever tell you Jason thought you looked like a male model when you first met?”
My eyebrows flew up. “I’ll have to return the compliment.”
“He actually is kind of a male model. Oh, and Lonzo said something similar about you.”
“Really? I don’t think your brother likes me.”
“He feels protective about Luna.”
“I sensed that,” I said. “Did you tell him he should worry about her classmates, not me?”
“Should he?”
“Tala . . .”
“What?” Her face was the picture of innocence. “You went on a road trip with Luna.”
“She took care of me when I was sick.” I already knew Luna told Tala because Tala had called to check in on me.
Tala smiled softly. “She’s a natural, isn’t she? I always thought she’d be a better nurse than me.”
“She is,” I said. “But it’s not what she likes.”
“Yes. By the way, thanks for bringing up the minor thing. That’s the perfect solution for her.”
“I was thinking . . . if the additional tuition is too much, let me know. I’d be happy to help.”
She sighed. “She wouldn’t accept that.”
Unconsciously, my gaze sought Luna out, finding her chatting with Lonzo by the minibar. Glancing my way, she waggled her eyebrows at me. My lips pulled up.
“So Lonzo shouldn’t worry about you, huh?”
I narrowed my eyes at Tala. “You’re making the wrong assumptions.”
“Am I?” At my silence, she said, “Look, I don’t want to interfere. I just wanted to tell you that I trust you.”
Not this conversation. Of course, she’d choose to talk about it when Luna was at the other end of the room.
“You looked out for Luna even when she annoyed you,” Tala continued. “I can’t thank you enough for that.”
For some reason, her words didn’t sit well with me. It made my . . . situation with Luna sound like a duty when it wasn’t. Not anymore. Despite our rocky start, I actually enjoyed Luna’s company. “You don’t need to thank me.”
“I will anyway because it means a lot to me. Just be careful with her, okay?”
I rubbed my nape. “Of course.” The last thing I wanted was to hurt Luna.
Squeezing my arm, Tala said, “Whenever you’re ready to talk, you know where to reach me.” Before Jason, she had never liked to talk about her emotions, but I supposed that was one of the things that changed when you were in a serious relationship.
As we walked back to the dining area, Luna gave me a questioning glance. Then Jason appeared with his teammate Miles in tow.
“Look who decided to join us,” Jason announced, slapping Miles’ shoulder.
Miles grinned and mussed his hair in return. “Couldn’t miss your last damn finals party, could I?” He embraced Tala and then spotted us. “Luna!”
My muscles tensed as he bounded toward us and caught Luna in a bear hug.
“Hey, Miles,” she said with a laugh. “Good to see you. I’m sorry about the game.”
“Yeah, well. You win some and all.” Keeping one arm around Luna, Miles held out a hand to me. “Gabe, my man. Glad you came out.”
“Miles.” I clasped his hand, and he pulled me in for a half hug. He thumped my back, and I grunted at the impact. I wasn’t a lightweight, but the man might as well have been double my size.
Still plastered to his side, Luna snickered. Jason had introduced us to Miles last summer, and he’d immediately hit it off with Luna, who considered him her favorite player. I’d never asked if they kept in touch since that party at Jason’s place but they’d met up again when Luna visited Santa Mila. Did she know he was coming? Was she interested in him?
At least she was sharing a suite with her brother. Surely, Alonzo would stand guard over her.
One look at his starry-eyed face told me I couldn’t count on that. Not when it came to Miles, who was Alonzo’s favorite player too.
What does it matter to you if Luna takes Miles to her bed? She’s a grown woman. If she wants to be with a man, it’s her choice. And Miles is practically a family friend at this point. Jason would kill him if he hurt Luna—that is, if Tala didn’t get to him first.
Or if I didn’t.
“What are you thinking about?”
I jerked at Luna’s whisper. I hadn’t realized she’d moved next to me while Miles spoke with Alonzo.
“You have a weird expression on your face,” she said. “It’s giving constipated.”
A snort escaped me. “Constipated?”
“Don’t give me that look. It’s your face.” She tilted her head to the side. “Do you play cards?”
I pressed my lips together. “You could say that.”
“Did Ate ever teach you pusoy?”
“No. We never played.” The fact that I couldn’t remember the last time I played at all told me it had been far too long.
She grinned. “You game to learn?”
I could already imagine the card edges flipping from my thumbs. “Sure.”
This was going to be fun.