Chapter 19
CHARLIE
“You want me to what?” Luna gapes at me from across the pizza box.
I wipe my greasy fingers on a napkin and try to keep my voice lighthearted yet reasonable. Selling people ideas is what I do. This should be easy. Just another day at work.
“I want you to adopt Pig.”
My knuckles let out a light series of pops as I crack them, trying to eradicate some of my nervous energy.
This weird requirement could implode the whole arrangement.
“It’s been weeks,” Luna points out. “She’s probably already in a new home.”
“She’s not,” I say with confidence, though not much happiness. “I texted Paige earlier. She asked Cole, and he said no one has claimed her. Pig still needs a home. Why not here?”
“This … why are you asking for this?” My future fake wife crosses her arms and leans on the table. I’m briefly mesmerized by the way her dark hair swishes forward in a straight curtain. “You can get a dog if you want to. I don’t care.”
“Pig doesn’t like me,” I point out. “She needs to be your dog. But I’ll help you take care of her. Maybe she’ll warm up to me at some point, but you need to be a part of this.”
“You’re not making any sense, Charlie!” Luna stomps to her fridge and comes back with a beer, screwing the top off with a quick flick of her wrist. “I’m asking you to devote more than a year of your life to me, and you don’t want money or concert tickets or favors.
You just want me to adopt a dog! Where is your head right now? ”
Not completely sure, but when this idea came to me, it just felt right.
Like saying yes to Luna’s proposal.
Still, this take-no-shit woman is not someone to let things go without an explanation, so I come up with one on the fly.
“Okay, it’s like this. You may think this marriage thing is a burden for me, but it’s not.
I’m going to live in your house rent-free, no job, and just ponder my future.
That’s going to get boring quickly. I need some kind of responsibility.
Some regular tasks to take care of during the day to keep me from becoming a couch slug. ”
“Which brings us back to you adopting Pig. She’ll be your dog.”
Luna takes a sip of her beer, and I try not to imagine tasting the hoppy liquid on her lips.
My mind scrambles for more reasoning. “No, see, what if on this journey of self-discovery, I realize travel is what I want? Or living in a different country? It’s difficult to cross oceans with a dog.
” I meet Luna’s gaze. “You bought this house. You’ve set down roots here. You want to stay in Nashville.”
“Yeah, so?” she asks.
“Then you’re stabler than I am. At the end of the year, Pig needs to be your dog. That way, she still has a home when this marriage is over.” I brace myself, hoping that Luna doesn’t smell the bullshit I just dumped in front of her.
Because I don’t want Pig to be her dog.
I want Pig to be our dog. I want to have one more thing tying the two of us together. Something to share. Something to keep us connected after the end date of our relationship.
The year hasn’t started, and I’m already mourning the loss of her. I don’t understand this instant connection, other than I’ve felt the pull once before.
With Paige.
Not that I’m pining after my best friend. We tried dating in high school, and I realized that was not what our relationship was. Luckily, we felt the same way, and our friendship only got stronger.
Now Luna Lamont stands in front of me, and I’m drawn to her like a hook sits deep in my gut and she’s holding the end of the line attached to it. At the same time, she’s talking about end dates. And I don’t want whatever relationship we build to end.
From the way I’ve mentally replayed her stripping out of her clothes on the back of that yacht, it’s clear I want more than just friendship. But that might be one-sided. If that’s true, I can find a way to accept the platonic relationship.
But the idea of walking away from Luna completely?
Does not compute.
“Fine,” she huffs, staring at the ceiling like she’s mentally mapping out a new future on the white expanse. “Guess I’m getting a dog.”
I did it? I convinced her?
Keeping my urge to whoop out loud under wraps, I allow myself a small but triumphant smile.
“Does this mean we’re going down to New Orleans again? Because I love my brother, but I don’t usually visit this often.” The smirk on her face tells me she doesn’t mind.
“I bet Paige would be willing to drive Pig up.”
Luna groans. “Hell. Dash and Paige. What are we going to tell them? And your parents? I normally don’t consider other people when I plan things.”
That sounds lonely, but I guess that’s the way Luna prefers her life. Or maybe it’s all that’s been available to her before now. Maybe I can show her that making plans with another person doesn’t have to be painful.
“For the next year and however many months, we’re partners.” I hold her gaze and make sure she hears how serious I am about the commitment. “That means I’m on your team. Tell me how you want to play this.”
I’d hate lying to my parents, but I could probably have them believing Luna and I are in a roommate situation. Not entirely off base, other than the legal nature of our relationship.
“Truth,” Luna declares. “We’ll tell Dash and Paige the truth. He already knows about the inheritance. Hopefully, Paige doesn’t hate me for taking advantage of you.”
“She could never hate you.” Paige isn’t the type.
Luna shrugs, as if that doesn’t mean much to her. I get the sense that it does.
“I don’t talk to anyone else in my family. If anyone at work asks, I’ll tell them we got married. And if they ask after the fact, I’ll just say we got divorced. They’re all celebrities, so they’re familiar with brief marriages.”
Damn, that dismissive note in her voice has my stomach queasy. When I envisioned getting married, I always pictured it as permanent.
“What about your parents?” she asks.
“My parents?” I try to refocus on the discussion.
“How do you want to play it with them? You know their reactions best.”
My parents are understanding. And supportive. But my mom is also just slightly desperate for me to fall in love. I’m not sure what their reaction will be, but I know for sure I don’t want to lie to them for an entire year.
“I’ll tell them the truth. And they’ll probably want to have you over when the weirdness gets easier to deal with.”
Luna nods absently, her eyes staring at the ceiling again. I glance up as well to see if our future together is projected there. If there’s a way we can study the events for any possible missteps.
“Okay,” she says quietly, then again with more conviction. “Okay.”
She strolls out of the kitchen and disappears down the hall into a room, reappearing with a notepad and pen and paper.
“We’ve covered your demands. Or demand, more like. And we know what we’ll say to people. Now for the final discussion.”
“What’s that?”
The determined way Luna holds the pen both unnerves me and turns me on.
“The marriage rules.”