Page 115 of A Summer of Stars

“When did you realize you loved her?” Amir piped in.

“I know the answer to that one!” Abuela wiggled her eyebrows.

“Why did you say all that stuff about Luna the night you guys met?” Willow narrowed her eyes.

“What stuff?” Nari and Kieran responded in unison. I threw my hand over my face.

“You said all these horrible things about her being a selfish control freak and tennis being a pretentious sport.” Cecilia retold the story, and I winced.

“You didwhat?” Abuela spoke up.

Kieran turned to me in horror. Midnight air from the open balcony nudged the collar of his shirt where his tie was undone. He looked like a prince in a period piece.

“TheRBYparty. You heard that?” he asked.

“So youdidsay it?” I backed up, careful to still keep my cards to my chest. I knew I wasn’t mistaken the night I heard him say those things, but the past few months, part of me had been clutching onto this idea that it was someone else.

“I did, but I didn’t mean any of it,” he said, his eyes full of sincerity.

“Then why did you say it!” Nari swatted his arm.

He shook his head, collecting words. “One of the producers working on funding the film I was in at the time was at the event. He noticed you and mentioned… approaching you, which is a more appropriate way to phrase it. He’s married and has kids and wasprepared to make an effort to pursue you. He’s a grotesque man known for sleeping around. He treats women like personal challenges, and when he gets what he wants, well… he makes sure that everyone knows. And if he doesn’t, he makes their life a living hell with the amount of control he has over media outlets and production companies. I wanted to kill him. But I was under contract to not interfere with anyone working on the film, especially not large investors. I lied and told him you were in a relationship, and when that didn’t work, I pivoted. I started listing things off my ex used to say.”

“Penelope?” Nari asked, surprised.

“I… I never thought you heard any of it. None of it was ever about you. It was only to make sure he never went near you.”

I was at a loss for words. He looked me in the eyes, and I just knew what he was saying was the truth.

“Holy shit.” Serena filled in the quiet.

“That’s why you started those rumors about me, isn’t it?” he realized.

“You called me self-absorbed via a handwritten note that everyone online saw!” I tried to defend myself.

“I tried to apologize about that,” he grimaced.

“When!”

“Three years ago! I sent you a letter!” He ran his hand through his hair.

“I never got a letter!”

“You responded ‘FU!’In cursive!”

“Why would I casually be writing in cursive! Did one of you guys respond to a letter?” I turned, taking in the faces of Deidra, Amir, Serena, Cecilia, Mary, and Willow. They all shook their heads, equally shocked. Kieran’s villain origin story was being flipped on its head for all of us.

“Wait, Luna, didn’t you meet Jeremiah a few weeks after that?” Mary spoke up.

I knew what she was insinuating: Jeremiah had intervened.

“No, he wouldn’t have. Even if he did, how would he have had access to my mail?” I asked.

“He had dropped those flowers off at the rental flat after the Wimbledon win… No one was home when he left them. There might’ve been other mail left outside,” Cecilia thought aloud.

No, that couldn’t be possible. Going through my mail? He wouldn’t have done that. We had only just met.

But they were all looking at me as if they had solved the puzzle.