I Am The Luna

forto grab Xander’s racing car.

“I think I'm okay with just watching you work,” | say, sitting back and spreading my arm across the back of the

sofa as she begins wrapping the box.

“Ok.” She chuckles.

“So, have you met your dad's girlfriend?” | ask after a few moments of comfortable silence, wondering if she

knows who it is.

She shakes her head. “No, he wanted to introduce us on Christmas, but | couldn't make it. Although with how

bad the weather is, the inteis rocky, | don’t even know if there'll be enough of a connection to even wish the

rest a Merry Christmas.” She sighs, brushing her hair back as she reaches for one of Sia’s jewellery boxes. Her

top rides up and I can’t help but glance at the smooth skin on her back.

Fuck, is she fine...

“Hmm. Then I'm glad you're not alone out here.”

“Do you know her?” she asks curiously, now turning towards me. Her knee brushes mine and | try not to focus on

i)

“I've met her,” | say.

We both know her, but | don’t plan to be the one to break that news to her. She narrows her eyes, suspicion

clouding them.

“Who is she?”

“It isn’t my place to tell, but if you want to know, | can tell you,” | say quietly, wondering if | shouldn't have

mentioned it.

She hesitates before a small devious smile that looks just like Xander’s crosses her lips. Now | know where he

gets it from.

“Tell me. | promise | won't tell anyone,” she says, leaning closer. | move forward, picking up the first glass of wine

and holding it out to her, she takes it and | pick up the second one as I sit back.

“Well, you know her.”

“I do... Who?” she asks, watching as | take a gulp of my wine.

It's my favourite...

“Shelby.”

Her eyes widen, her smile vanishing as she gasps, her mouth parting. ”

Atticus’s Mom?!” she exclaims.

“Yup, so, if they ever get married, you two get to becstep-siblings,” | smirk arrogantly.

She rolls her eyes at me, but she’s still digesting the news.

“So... Dad and Shelby Payne... whoa...” she exhales, placing her hand on my thigh as she turns to the fire,

staring into it. Pleasure rushes throughand straight to my fucking cock as she keeps her hand there, clearly

not realising the effect she’s having on me, and | can feel myself hardening.

Fuck. Not now, please.

Focus on anything but how good this feels, Sebastian.

“Yeah, well, I'm surprised Atticus hasn't told you,” | remark.

I'm not sure how their relationship is now, and although | acknowledge he’s done a lot for her, | also can’t deny

that | am jealous of their relationship, even though | know Zaia has never considered him more than a friend.

Guess he just doesn’t cut it for her.

| smirk at that, but it vanishes when she removes her hand and begins playing with a strand of her hair

subconsciously. Does she realise how fucking sexy she looks doing that, a sexy pout on those kissable lips of

hers.

“No, | haven't really talked to Atticus in a couple of weeks.”

“That's surprising,” | remark, trying not to show any emotion. She looks up, letting go of her hair and tilts her

head, observing me. “Is it? Why?”

“You two are close, right?”

“We are. But we don’t talk that much. He is and always will remain a good friend, but...” she sighs.

“But? He still has feelings for you?” | ask, unable to stop myself. She looks back at the fire and leans back

against the sofa, her head touching my arm a little and | don’t move, not wanting her to realise.

“I don’t know, but he knows | don’t feel that way and over the years he’s accepted that. I've just made sure

there’s distance between us to help him ... | guess.”

Her words resonate in my head, but despite the years... even | have not been able to let her go...

“You won't make fun of him?” she asks, arching one of her perfect brows.

| look over at her and shake my head. ” No. Because | know how it feels loving you... | don’t blhim for not

being able to let go of his emotions.” My words are quiet, and the pounding of her heartbeat is loud in the

silence.

I know I never will get over her and I'm fine with that, even if it means loving her from afar...

She's silent this time, her hair curtaining her face, and | sit forward to see her face, resisting the urge to brush

her hair back.

“Why the silence, Foxie?” | whisper, calling her something | haven't in years. She shakes her head and looks up

at me. “I was just reminiscing about our lives.”

“It’s sure been a wild ride,” | reply, downing my wine as she still holds hers, barely touched.

“It has, but don’t you feel that the storm is finally over?”

The storm was over years ago for me... but for her, | know that wasn’t the case.

“Yeah, it is over now. Have you found the peace you were looking for, Zaia?” | ask the question that | have

always wondered.

Even when times were tough, she was brave, remaining strong, but deep down, it had affected her greatly.

She turns to look at me, our faces barely a handspan apart.

“I did... | realised it wasn't just you. Everyone aroundhad secrets. | needed tto realise why everyone who

lovedkept things from me, but although it took time, | realised it wasn’t betrayal but their love. The things

they did, the decisions they made, they were out of love even if | did end up getting hurt.”

She places her glass down and looks at the ceiling continuing. “It was a long process, hurting, understanding,

realising... accepting and letting it go.”

“I know you don’t want to hear it, but looking back, | do realise how damaging my decision was for you and_"

“Don’t,” she whispers softly, placing her hand on my thigh again as she shakes her head. “We are who we are

because of the decisions we have made and learned from. It doesn’t hurt anymore, and | understand it.”

Her words are like the crisp soothing breeze of the first winds of morning and this tit's my heart that’s

racing.

“Zaia-"

“Sebastian-"

| can’t help but chuckle. It feels like I'm back to the first t| tried to talk to her. She probably doesn’t even

remember it.

“You go first,” she says, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.

“I would say ladies first, but we both know you're more than that.” She’s my equal... “Well then, I'll go first. You

don’t need anyone to tell you this, but seeing you now, I'm proud of you. You survived through everything, and

you've cout stronger. You're an incredible woman Zaia, you've shown you need no man.”

She blushes lightly, taking a sip of her wine. “Thanks. | don’t think | do,” she says proudly, but it’s the glint in her

eyes as they dip to the front of my crotch that speaks an entirely different story.

“| take back what I just said. | guess you still need a man for sreasons,” | remark cockily as | lean forward,

taking her glass from her and downing it.

Her cheeks darken, and she knows | caught her looking. | wish I could say it’s the wine in my system... but it

isn't. | place the glass down, taking hold of her chin and forcing her to look up, our faces inches apart.

Her lips are glistening from the kiss of wine, the scent mingling with her sweet breath.

And when | speak, my own voice is deeper and huskier than usual, mingling with the crackling of the fire as | ask

her the questioning burning at the forefront of my mind.

“Tell me, Little Fox, where do we go from here?”