Page 99

Story: Frozen Over

“Don’t play it off like it’s nothing.” He blows a breath down the phone.

“Hey, don’t you have a game tonight?”

“Nothing’s more important than you.”

Drawing in a steadying breath, I’m ready to tell him the truth. Something I know he won’t like at all, when I hear a knock at the door and then the ring of the doorbell.

“Hey, hang on. Someone’s at the door.”

I pad across the living room and kitchen and then into the hallway and swing the door open. My phone still to my ear, Iturn back to Zach. “Your mom’s here.” I smile at Rachel who’s beaming on the front porch with what looks to be a homemade pie in hand. “Hey, Rachel.” I say, stepping to the side to invite her in.

“Mom?” Zach asks in confusion.

“Yeah she?—”

She leans into the phone as she passes. “Just welcoming the new lady in your life with a pie.”

Zach groans down the phone at me, and I inwardly chuckle. “She’s going to be all over you, I can tell.”

“Jealous?” I croon at him just as Rachel steps into the kitchen and out of earshot.

He sighs. “I’m jealous of anyone around you whenever I’m not. But...” He pauses. “I haven’t forgotten you know; I want to know what your mom said to upset you.”

“She was just being an ass over us. Saying you would get bored of me.”

“Thefuck?”

I should’ve waited for a better time to tell him. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

He sounds like he’s pacing. “You don’t believe that bullshit, do you?”

I peer into the kitchen to find Rachel busying herself with the pie and organizing the dishes that I left on the side when I was last here.

Turning back to Zach. “No, of course I don’t. It just stings when your own mom doesn’t believe you’re enough for a man.”

“It’s fucking hurtful. To me and to you.” And I can sense his frustration building.

I squeeze my eyes shut, cursing myself for mentioning this now. “I need to go to your mom, but I’ll talk to you later.”

“Well, now I’m glad she’s there. Don’t listen to a word your mom says, okay? You are fucking everything to me.”

I nod, even though I know he can’t see me. “I know.”

“Goddamn,” he says, exasperation lacing his tone. “Why can’t people stop interfering and doubting me or us? I love you, Luna. So fucking much. Call me as soon as Mom leaves.”

“But won’t you be in a game by then?”

“Shit. Yeah. I’ll call you as soon as it's over. I’m really sorry you had to hear that shit.”

“Hey,” I say, which has Rachel’s head whipping up toward me as I walk through the kitchen entryway. “It’s not your fault.”

He huffs out a breath. “I love you.”

I eye Rachel cautiously, knowing this is the first time she’ll hear it. “I love you too.”

A huge smile breaks out across her face as I end the call. “You got that far already?”

I smile back and walk toward the coffee maker. “We did. It’s been an intense six months. Coffee?”