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“Yes, it was.” Her voice left her lips cold, and the tone was foreign on her tongue. “I never thought you could do something like—” She broke off with a tight shake of her head. “They were your friends. People you were friends with did this to me.”
Luke stared at her, taking in the bruises that had started to form along her wrist, and he knew he would find more, if he could see beneath her sleeves. Every raindrop felt like a hammer falling on his aching back, and he wanted nothing more than to get her somewhere out of the cold, away from the storm.
“You don’t think I could ever hurt you, do you?”
She had to know that would never happen—that he would rather die than see her in pain.
“I can’t do this.”
The words had slipped from her mouth so quietly that Luke wasn’t sure she had really spoken them. Several seconds passed before he was able to control his voice enough to answer, frowning as he spoke in the most measured tone he could manage.
“What do you mean?”
Rose reached for her left hand, and the movement upset her injured right arm and led her to wince. He flinched at the sight of her pain. She ripped off the ring that had been on her fourth finger and seized his hand, dropping it into his palm.
***
Now
Luke closed his eyes against the memories, focusing for the moment on how soft and perfect and right she felt in his arms now. Of course the media had gotten ahold of the footage, and several news outlets had edited out the part about the men trying to assault Rose. Luke had looked like a delinquent, like a spoiled politician’s son who thought he could get away with beating people up in bars and leaving them bleeding on the floor. His reputation had taken a severe hit, and it had taken quite a bit of persuasion by his parents to keep him from getting thrown out of Southern Illinois University during the media firestorm, but that had been nothing compared to the pain of losing Rose. Her college apartment had still been in the same building as his, and he’d seen her in the hallway now and then during their last semester. She’d never met his eyes or responded when he’d called out to her or left her countless apologies in the forms of voicemails and texts. He’d written her a note, once, too—slipped it under her door and hoped for the best. But she’d never replied.
He opened his eyes, studying the faint smile her lips remained in even as she slept. He wasn’t about to lose the chance to really win her back. Yes, she’d come into his bedroom, half-dressed and apparently having as much difficulty staying away from him as he’d been having staying away from her. Yes, she’d clearly wanted him, and yes, being inside her with her arms wrapped around him so tightly had been like going home for the first time in years after being stranded out in the middle of the ocean. But still, Luke wasn’t completely convinced. Maybe she wouldn’t want to stay—maybe she was just working through the feelings she still had for him and whatever she felt for Alex, and maybe she would decide that she’d made the right choice by leaving.
He pulled in a long breath and got to his feet as carefully as he could, determined not to wake her. He dressed quietly in dark pants and a button-down shirt and pocketed his phone. After one more look over his shoulder at Rose, who rolled onto her other side in her sleep, Luke started for the kitchen. He wasn’t completely sure of her intentions, but he was determined to keep things as good as possible between the two of them. He’d always been a decent cook, and when his parents had confined him to his home for a few months before law school until his image had been rehabilitated enough to suit them, he hadn’t had much else to do other than practice until that skill had been fine-tuned.
He’d almost finished the first round of pancakes—chocolate chip, as he remembered that was her favorite kind—when his phone vibrated in his pocket. The vibration lasted too long to be a text, and Luke sighed as he resigned himself to having to deal with someone other than Rose.
When he pulled out his phone and found Alex’s name lighting up the screen, he pressed “Reject Call.” He returned to his cooking, his grip on the spatula tightening each time he flipped a pancake and his jaw starting to ache from how tightly he was gritting his teeth. By the time the food was finished, he couldn’t hold himself back. He picked up his phone again to find three more missed calls and a text from Alex.
“I know you don’t want to talk to me, but you really need to. I don’t know if you’ve seen her, but please, Luke. This is important.”
Luke let out a long sigh. He was sure whatever Alex wanted was going to ruin his day and possibly his chances with Rose, but he had to know.
***
Next to Calvin and Lorenzo, Alex Castle was the last person in the world he wanted to see. The two had been like brothers all through school and had gone to the same college in an effort to keep just as close as they had always been. They’d played on the same hockey team in high school, and though Luke knew Alex had sometimes resented him and envied his position as captain, Alex had still supported him and threatened anyone who’d so much as looked at Luke the wrong way. Luke had always known he’d had someone in his corner no matter what came between them.
Until Rose.
Luke hadn’t realized just how strong his best friend’s feelings for her were until it had been too late. Not long after she’d left Luke, rumors had surfaced that Rose had not only moved on, but that she’d done so with Alex. Luke hadn’t thought he could hurt any worse than when he’d stood on the sidewalk in a downpour with the engagement ring in his hand, but hearing this story buzzing around campus had been enough to send him on an alcoholic binge that had led to him missing his own college graduation.
Now, he sat across from Alex at a café he passed on the street all the time but had never entered before. The smell of fresh coffee hung thick in the air, intermingled with the scent of warm pastries filled with fruit and chocolate. Alex drummed his fingertips against the side of his paper coffee cup as he stared at the table. Luke hadn’t ordered anything. He didn’t want to get too comfortable.
“Thanks for meeting me,” Alex said.
“I didn’t have much of a choice. I can’t really use my phone until you stop blowing it up.” Luke knew he was being harsh. He wished he cared, but Alex had burned up the last of his goodwill long ago.
Alex squared his shoulders and took a drink from his cup. He was several inches taller than Luke when standing, with a short brown beard and eyes a few shades darker. He looked like he was on the verge of tears but was fighting hard to hold them at bay. Luke bit back a sigh.
“In any case, thanks for coming,” said Alex.
Luke nodded stiffly. “So, what’s going on?”
“Rose left last night.” After he spoke, Alex held Luke’s gaze for a few moments too long, like he was trying to gauge whether his former friend already knew this. When Luke said nothing, Alex continued. “I… don’t entirely understand what’s going on, but she left.”
“What can I say? She does that now and then.”
It was all Luke could do not to wince at his own words. He understood why Rose had left him, however much it hurt him to think about it. But if Alex was looking for sympathy from him on that particular matter, it wasn’t going to happen.
