Page 60 of A Summer of Stars

She seemed more surprised by that than my reaction to her confession. “Did you already know?”

I nodded. “I knew you were with a tennis player.” I wasn’t sure who, but the news of her getting married had passed my doorstep at one point. I didn’t investigate it further. I preferred avoiding the tabloids. But the fact that our… arrangement… existed in the first place was enough proof her marriage had ended. “I’m assuming it was him…”

“Yeah.” She nodded.

“That felt like half of a secret.”

The corner of her lips rose. “More like a quarter of one.”

“How do I get another quarter?”

“By telling me I’m the best tennis player you’ve ever seen,” she teased.

“You don’t have to convince me of that.”

She took a second to decide before saying, “He’s here.”

Oh. That felt like more than a quarter.

Where, I wanted to ask, but that was too forward.

Instead, I found myself pulling her in a little tighter. Holding her closer. Wondering if he was the reason we were here in the first place. But Cecilia appeared.

“Can I borrow you for a minute?” Cecilia cut in.

“I’ll talk to you after,” Luna told me.

“Of course,” I said, stepping back and finding a spot at the side of the ballroom, watching her walk off.

I grabbed the nearest drink and tried not to analyze the room for a man Luna Aldridge would find worthy of marriage. Someone who knew the slope of her back and the type of bread she preferred in the morning for toast. Minutes later, the smell of champagne and old wood made me nauseated and fueled my headache when I found Cecilia gone and Luna dancing with a man.

She smiled, he smiled. He laughed, she laughed. He moved like a rigid board. She moved like a willow tree under his hand, her frame bending with the air in an effortless sweeping motion. It was so similar to the way she looked playing tennis, but so different.

The space beside me was filled by Cecilia in a gray dress.

“Is that him?” I asked her.

“Who?” she asked.

“Her ex-husband?”

Her head ticked like a clock in my direction. “She told you about Jeremiah?”

“It didn’t feel very voluntary. But I think she was on the verge of breaking out in hives if she didn’t.”

“That’s Luna for you. She prefers to keep things private until she has a plan to handle them. Did she tell you how things ended?”

“No, that’s her business to share when she’s ready.” Maybe things had ended amicably. Maybe they were friends now. But I couldn’t help but ask, “Is he a good guy?”

“Not at all. He broke her heart, and I’m not even sure he feels guilty about it, because he’s so focused on what he wants.”

“And what does he want?”

“Her. He wants her back.”

I swallowed. “What does she want?”

“I… I’m not sure.”