Looking up at Luna, I expected her to roll her eyes at that, but instead she nodded at me to continue. “So she’s made a bucket list of stuff to do in case it means she’s going to die or lose a limb, and I’ve been helping her through it. We’ve done a lot together, and we’ve just become close?”
When we’d first started hanging out, she’d told me she had a bucket list and I’d thought why the hell not, it’ll be fun. It also meant I got to hang out with her, so I was all for it. Through tattoos, pie-eating contests, ear piercing, jumping out of planes, horseback riding, petting llamas, and shit like that, the attraction I’d felt for her had grown. Now I wanted everything with her.
“Close?” she asked. “You want more because you’ve ‘become close’?”
Wincing, I tried to find the words to explain it, ones that didn’t sound asinine and weak. “I thought that we’d just be friends who did things and had fun,” I started, and then shook my head. “No, that was a lie. The first time I saw her when Lily was in hospital, I saw someone different to every other woman. I can’t explain it, and I don’t know why, but there was something about her. Every time I was at the hospital seeing Lily and Rebel, I’d look around for Charlotte, and we hung out and became friends.”
“She was great to Lily and Rebel,” Luna said softly. “In fact, she was great with Tate and the rest of the family, too.”
And she had been. If it hadn’t been for her, I think my brother would have torn the hospital apart when we’d first gotten there. “She’s got a huge heart, and I hate that no one has ever given her theirs.”
“So you pity her?” Luna asked, and I immediately became defensive.
“No, I don’t fucking pity her. I want her to experience being appreciated, I want her to know what it’s like to be loved by people, I want her to have an easy life where she can do shit and laugh.”
Smiling, Luna winked at me. “Gotcha. I knew it wasn’t pity, but the only way you’re going to be able to figure it out is if you’re made to think about exactly what you want with her. If she’s been hurt, she needs to know all of this so she can trust you and be herself. She won’t truly let go until she knows all of that, Levi, so you need to have it ready to tell her, and then show her.”
Fuck it, she was a smart one.
Groaning, I pinched the bridge of my nose with the hand that wasn’t supporting the baby who was fast asleep and oblivious to the struggles of her uncle. I missed being a baby, life was so easy back then. “I really like her, Luna, and I want to be with her. She’s perfect.”
“No one’s perfect, Levi,” she pointed out.
Looking her straight in the eyes, I said seriously, “She is, just like Noah’s perfect for you.”
And that was the crux of it. Everyone apparently has that someone out there waiting for them, right? That’s what all the romance books and movies worked on – the yin to your yang. She had that with my brother so she knew that feeling, the one where you felt complete around the person.
At this moment, I couldn’t know for sure if that was one hundred percent the case with me and Lottie, but I had a strong feeling that it was.
“Then you need a plan to get your woman, my friend,” she said simply. “And I’m going to help you.”
“We need to do it slowly,” I warned, not wanting to jump in there and scare the hell out of the poor woman.
Crossing her arms in front of her, Luna raised an eyebrow as she glared at me. “Her story sounds similar to mine, so I kind of know what she’s feeling when it comes to trusting people. If she didn’t already trust you, she wouldn’t be spending time with you, would she?” She had a point. “You wouldn’t know what you know about her, because she wouldn’t have trusted you to tell you, would she?” Again, another good point. “So, I’d say the door is there, you just have to work on getting the key into the lock.”
Covering Jamie’s ear with my hand, I hissed, “We’re not discussing my sex life. What my key does in her lock isn’t up for discussion.”
“I wasn’t talking about that, you dirty bastard,” she whispered, leaning forward slightly. “It was a metaphor for the last level of trust. Get your mind out of the damn gutter.”
Standing up, she walked over to the dry erase board on my wall, and started writing on it. In theory, having a plan was a good thing, but in practice? I just hoped I didn’t fuck it up.