Luna and the Lie

by Mariana Zapata

Maybe I had gotten in trouble. Maybe it hadn’t been the best day ever. Maybe everything hurt. But I was home. I had gotten a kiss from someone who loved me. I had a bed to sleep in. For all intents and purposes, it was a good day despite a couple things. Then I opened the pizza box, saw there was only one single slice left, and I told myself again it was still a pretty good day. I had enough in the budget to call and order another pizza if I really wanted to, and that was pretty damn good if I said so myself.

His chest expanded with a big breath, and he was totally serious as he asked, “Want me to go whoop his ass?” “Yeah.” One of his big feet moved. “But don’t.”

“She’s not going to kill you,” I tried to assure him, not fully believing the words myself. I’d met her. We were friends. She really would kill him.

He sighed and flicked his eyes back toward my face. “Luna, I’m taking you to Dallas. Get your shit.”

Night’s not getting any younger, baby girl. Let’s go.

“You got your ‘love you’ bracelet on. You’re all right.” The arm closest to the top, directly over my shoulders, tightened, and warmer, soothing words tried to drown the old ones away. “I’ve got you. I’m here,” the man holding me said.

For some reason, I glanced to my other side to see what Mr. Cooper was doing since he’d been so quiet, and I had to pause, looking at him when I saw the smile he had on his face while he ate his sandwich. “Is it that good?” I couldn’t help but ask him. His blue eyes came to me, that smile still on his face, and Mr. Cooper chuckled lightly. “Yeah, it’s that good, Luna.” His smile grew even wider right before he moved a hand to pat the top of my head. “Best sandwich I’ve ever had.”

“Yeah. I don’t go there that often, but it’s the best around here.” “You doing anything for lunch?” “She’s gonna be busy,” a deep male voice answered from somewhere behind me. A deep male voice that could have belonged to only one person.

Ashton was a good sport because he smiled at me and said, “That’s all right. Maybe tomorrow.” Over my shoulder, Rip spoke up again. “Luna’s gonna be busy tomorrow too.”

“Some guy has been staring over here like he wants to kill somebody for the last thirty minutes,” my date answered, still flicking his gaze around Mickey’s.

“It’s nothing you need to worry about,” I tried to tell him. And just like that, his face clouded over and he took another step toward me. “I wanna worry about it. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“Luna,” he growled through his teeth, taking another step forward. That big body seeming to expand before my eyes. “It’s my business. You are my business.”

The hand on my spine moved up and down, up and down. “I’m sorry.” “You got nothing to be sorry about,” he said into my hair, his arms strong. “Not a single fucking thing.”

“How many times I gotta tell you that you’re not a bother?” I held my breath. He made sure to look me right in the eye. “You need me, you call me. Any time. Any day. It’s that easy.” Why did that make me uncomfortable? “You don’t gotta do everything alone.” “I’ve never wanted to, Rip.”

“Luna. I’m tired, baby.” Rip sighed, giving me a gentle squeeze.

“You kill me, girl,” he murmured in the roughest voice I’d ever heard. “I swear to God, you’re a fucking puzzle I thought was all in the box, but every damn day I find a piece or two hidden all over the place.”

You can’t make anyone love you or care about you. I knew that better than anyone.

He wanted coffee? He could get it his own self. He wanted me to leave him alone? Sure thing. I wasn’t going to beg anyone for their time, their love, or attention. I definitely wouldn’t beg for friendship or company either. Not anymore.

Only an idiot kept giving after a certain point, and I was no one’s fool. No one’s punching bag. No one’s temporary entertainment.

And you told me to leave you alone,” I spit back at him, trying to sound collected and distant but knowing I was failing. “So that’s what I’m doing. I wanted to be your friend. I tried to be your friend. I thought you wanted to be mine too. I wanted you to like me, and I would have wanted you to like me as more than a friend, Rip. You know, I would have wanted that more than anything.

“I don’t dislike you. Not a little, not at all. How many times do I gotta say that to get it through your head?” My chest ached as I looked up into that handsome, handsome face. But I remembered. I would remember what he said for a very, very long time.

“Is this over now?” my boss drawled easily, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back in the chair, somehow making himself look even bigger by spreading out. The other man frowned. “You lost?”

“Time for you to go.” Time for him to go? The other man made another face before focusing on me and asking, angrily, “You got a boyfriend?” Me? A boyfriend? “I’m none of your business,” Rip kept talking. “You can go home now.”

“Are you his fucking girl?” the other guy demanded, his pitch going higher. His girl? Rip’s girl? My “no” came out at the same time Rip said, “What do you think?”

And he told me carefully, too carefully, “Two fucking weeks and I want it back. You gave me these pieces of you I know you haven’t given to anybody else, and they’re mine. You can’t take ’em back. I need them more than you do, you hear me?”

“Did he finally decide to get his head out of his ass?” Mr. Cooper asked with a wary smile after a moment. “What?” He repeated himself. “Did he finally get his head out of his ass and tell you to save those dates for him?”

Didn’t I tell you, Lydia, honey?” he asked his wife. Lydia nodded as she chewed her food and then held a hand up to cover her mouth as she agreed. “You did, and I saw it with my own two eyes too.” “What did you tell her?” I asked slowly, trying to process what he was implying. He cocked his head to the side. “That you didn’t know.” “Didn’t know what?” His smile was bittersweet. “That he took one look at you and knew.”

“Luna, he threatened to quit on me a hundred times in the first year he came back.” I blinked. “He hasn’t stuck around because of me, honey.”

“Where did he go?” He shrugged a rounded shoulder. “Somewhere not here.” Uh. “I told him to get the fuck out,” he kept going unapologetically. “Told him you weren’t going to be meeting him tonight or any other night, and he might as well go hit up someone else’s girl because he wasn’t getting mine.”

“I can do this same thing a hundred times, Luna, this running off your dates thing, but it’s never gonna happen. I’ll tell you right now, I’m not going to have a problem telling them off. I’ve got into a lot of fucking fights in my life, and I’m starting to think it was all to get me ready for you,” he threatened.

“But you didn’t even like me.” “Oh, I liked you just fine, baby. I’ve always liked you just fine.” Yep, I was a goner.

“I’ve wanted to do this a hundred times.” “What?” he asked quietly. “Hug you.”

Cause I love you, Luna. Because I love the shit out of you, girl, and those two weeks when you were acting like you were done with me were some of the worst days of my life.”