“I’m aware.”
“He is, well, the thing is, me and Duke, we’re worried about him, when it comes to you. I guess I wanted to know what your plans were.”
“My plans?”
“Will you be staying? Will you be giving Matthew another chance?”
Luna couldn’t believe she was hearing this. “Look, Mrs. Bana, I mean, Holly. I don’t think this is any of your business.”
“Matthew is like a son to me, Luna. I know you two have some history.”
“Do you?” Luna asked. “Because I think if you knew our history, you wouldn’t be here right now. You wouldn’t be asking for me to make some kind of elaborate decision. The truth is, I don’t know why I’m back. I’m house-sitting for my parents. That’s it. I’m not here to win Matthew back, and I’m also nothere to string him along. Trust me, I have no plans to hurt your precious son.”
Luna stared at the cookies. Her heart raced and she felt sick.
“Luna, please try—”
“That’s what the cookies are about, right? They help to get you inside the house because people feel the need to say thank you? Then they offer you coffee, and what, you warn them? Threaten them?”
“This is nothing like that.”
Luna picked up the cookies and placed them in Holly’s hands. “Please leave.”
“Luna, please, I didn’t mean to be rude. I was hoping you and I could be friends.”
“We’re two different people, Mrs. Bana. I don’t know how long I’m staying, but rest assured, I have no intention of hurting your precious son. Now please, get out of my house before I have to call the cops.”
Holly sighed. “Okay. I’ll go.”
Luna followed her all the way to the door.
“He’s in love with you, Luna. He is obsessed with you. That has never gone away, and if you give him a chance, he would make you happy.”
Luna smiled. “With all due respect, I’ve heard his declarations before, and then he completely ignored me. I know Matthew Bana is your son. Your stepson, but he is still a guy and he is the same guy that merely wants to fuck. That’s it. He’s interested in nothing but who he can screw next.”
She closed the door and leaned against it, feeling sick to her stomach.
Matthew had so many people fighting his corner, but she had nothing. She had no one. Not even her parents because they didn’t know. She had kept that secret close to her chest.
People said that parents always knew when their kids had sex. It wasn’t true. It so wasn’t true.
****
“I need to know you can do this,” Duke said as they stepped out of the clubhouse and approached their bikes.
They were all clean. Because of him.
“I’m sure.”
“It’s fine if you’re nervous.”
“Dad, I mean, Prez, I’ve got this. I’ve got your back. I’m not nervous.” No, he was excited. After spending months of what felt like cleaning toilets, doing laundry, and every boring cleaning job imaginable, he was finally doing something good. He was going to be with his dad while they met Ned Walker.
This shit was big. It was huge.
He was freaking excited, and trying to contain that excitement was where it was being difficult.
“A few ground rules. You don’t speak unless I tell you to. Even if the old guy asks you a question, you wait for my signal to answer.”