“Apparently it’s too illicit to share with the class,” Mel says, raising her eyebrows.
“Nobody ever used the wordillicit,” Luke insists.
“Well, so what happened then?”
“You want to tell it?” he has the audacity to ask me.
“Nope, you tell it,” I insist, shooting daggers up at his face.
“Okay, so I was at Wally’s weeks ago,” Luke begins.
Wait, is he telling the real story?
“I’m getting milk, and I see someone who looks just like Jessi. But I’m thinking it can’t be her. It’s been months since I’ve heard from her, and for all I know, she’s no longer even in Winchester—”
“Where else would I be?” I hear myself interrupting.
“Maybe you left early for college. Some people do that. I don’t know,” he says. If he’s annoyed that I’m questioning him in the middle of his story, he doesn’t show it. “My whole body freezes up,” he says, “and before I know it, I’m following her to the freezer aisle. I have to talk to her.”
Okay, now he’s definitely making it up.
“So I basically sneak up on her, and we start talking, and all I can think about is how much I miss her.” My throat tightens as he speaks. “I ask her for coffee, but we never make it there. We’re in the parking lot and ... one thing leads to another.”
What the hell?
First of all, there’s no way anyone is going to buy that. Second of all— What. The. Hell.
“I don’t want to know what that means,” Mel says with a groan, and my face floods with heat.
“We just kissed,” I blurt out.
“Mostly,” Luke says, grinning at me, and I swear I want to wipe the smirk off his face. Why is he telling them this? Especially when it’s complete bullshit.
“Interesting story,” Naomi says. She sounds skeptical, but Luke doesn’t seem to notice. In fact, he seems pretty damn proud of himself. He pulls me over to the couch, and we both sit.
The next couple of hours pass quickly. I spend the first hour hyperaware of Luke’s hand making circles on my back, but by the second hour I find myself starting to relax. As if there’s anything normal about having Luke Cohen’s hands on my body again. As if there’s anything normal about sitting here with Mel and Naomi and Luke when I no longer belong here.
When my body stiffens, Luke seems to sense it, and then he starts gently massaging my shoulders. My impulses war with each other. Part of me wants to shut my eyes and lean into his touch, the other part wants to jump up as if I’ve been electrocuted, run out of the house, and never come back.
“I should go,” I say, pushing myself to stand.
“Jessi has a busy day on Saturday,” Luke says. “Lessons at the club, and then your job at All Saints, right?”
I nod, kind of shocked that he actually remembered.
“Let’s get you home,” he says, holding his hand out to me. I put my hand in his and watch as he threads our fingers together. All the nerve endings in my palm come alive at his touch, and it’s all I can do to act normal.
“Bye, Mel. Bye, Naomi,” I say, waving with my free right hand and then following Luke out the front door. I’m expecting him to drop my hand as soon as we’re out of their view, but he doesn’t let go until we’re in front of the passenger door of his car. I guess it’s possible that Naomi is looking out the window or something.
“Thanks,” I say as he opens it and I slide in.
Neither of us speaks until we’ve pulled away from the house.
“What was that story?” I ask, trying to get my voice to sound normal.
“The best I could do under pressure, Ms. No, You Tell It.”
“You tried to throw me under the bus first!” I point out. His lips twitch with a smile, and I think it’s the first time Luke has smiled at anything I’ve said since the day I saw him at the grocery store.
