“That’s what we’re trying to figure out ...” I trail off.
“I got a refund on my flight, but we can’t get a refund foreverything else. Harper, it’s fine. I swear. Go. I’d rather you go.”
“I know, I just—” I can’t get myself to say the words,I just don’t want to feel like I’m taking advantage of you.Because that’s how it feels.
“I’ll go,” Luke says quickly, as if it were an obvious answer.
“What?” I ask. I must have misheard him.
“I don’t have any plans. Work has been slow. I bet they’ll give me the time off if I ask. How much is Ava’s half?”
“I’d have to check out the budget. No more than a grand though.” She shrugs. “But then there’s also the cost of your flight. I got refunded for my plane tickets, at least, so you’ll need to book yours.”
Luke turns to me, grinning like he just solved all my problems. “What do you say?”
I’m too stunned to speak. “You don’t know yet if work will give you the time off.”
He reaches to grab his cell phone from his pocket. “I’ll call right now.”
“Wait, wait, wait.” I put my hand on his arm. “Are you sure? You don’t even know what we’re doing.”
He makes a face that saysYou’re kidding, right?“All you’ve done is talk about this trip. Waterfalls. Epic views. Northern lights. Hot springs. I probably know more about the trip than Ava.”
“Hey,” she says, but then doesn’t continue, which tells me Luke is probably right. Ava had left all the planning to me, happy to go along with anything. I told her the general itinerary, but usually while she was multitasking, scouring the internet for jobs. When I was researching the trip, Luke was theone asking questions about where we would be going. He even helped me look up things to do, so I could plan out our days and make the most of the short time.
“Come on, Harper, let me go with you. I was getting jealous after you started talking about the trip so much. You can’t even use Dustin as an excuse anymore.”
The name makes me cringe.
Dustin was my boyfriend—now ex. We didn’t date for long. Three months tops. He couldn’t stand Luke and thought I spent too much time with him. At the beginning of our relationship, Luke had been busy settling into his new accountant job.
Hence why Luke is walking around in dress pants and a button-down. My memories of seeing Luke run around covered in mud are so distinct that seeing him dressed nicely feels wrong somehow.
I was used to talking to Luke every day, so when he got the job and moved into an apartment in another town, my corner of the world felt lonely. That’s when I started dating Dustin. He seemed like a nice guy until Luke’s life settled down enough that I started to hear from him regularly again, and Dustin wasn’t a fan.
Any time Dustin saw a text pop up from Luke, he’d launch into some big speech about how disrespectful it was for me to be texting another guy while I was dating him. After hearing that line too many times, I did the respectful thing and broke things off with Dustin.
Luke and I have known each other since we were babies. Our moms started a mommy-and-me group together, and we saw each other almost every Friday night during our childhood.Even when we got older and other moms and kids faded from the group, our moms still saw each other. Almost every Friday from birth until now, Luke and I have hung out. I won’t let a guy change that routine.
Our moms always joke that they’d be in-laws some day because Luke and I are going to get married. Much to their disappointment, nothing’s ever happened—though I think Luke’s mom is still holding out hope.
Marrying someone you’ve known your entire life is cute in theory but doesn’t translate well to real life. I’ve seen Luke have an emotional breakdown because we had to leave the zoo early when I threw up in front of the monkey exhibit. I’ve seen him streak across my yard when he was eight because he wanted to go swimming. Instead of waiting for his mom to find his swim suit, he ran off naked. And I don’t even want to think about how Luke was the one to point out the red stain on my pants when I got my period for the first time.
Nope. No, thank you. We’ve seen too much of each other to ever get romantically involved.
“Luke, you don’t even have to pay me back. I’d rather someone take advantage of the trip.” Ava smiles lightly.
“Of course, I’ll pay your half,” Luke says.
Good. Because if he didn’t, I would make him. Ava and I have only been roommates since we graduated last year, but I’ve known her long enough that I’ve seen her kindness get taken advantage of.
“You really want to go?” I could feel hope building up in my chest again. The trip could be salvaged in a way that lets meandAva win.
“Do you not want me to go?” he asks, sounding genuine.
I’d envisioned Iceland as a girl’s trip. It would’ve been late nights of talking about life’s latest drama or TV shows we loved watching together. We would’ve relaxed in the hot springs and stayed up late to see the northern lights.
My first thought is that going with Luke would be a little weird, but does it only feel that way because Dustin convinced me it was weird that Luke and I were so close?
