I blink, still caught off guard. “What do you mean?”
“Listen,” he says, stepping closer like we’re having some kind of heart-to-heart. “That girl’s my best mate, alright? She’s the closest thing I’ve got to a sister. I know what’s going on with her when she doesn’t even say a word. And you know what? I’ve known you for years now, and I could say the same about you. You’ve been… different lately.”
“Different?”
“You’ve smiled more lately than you have in your entire life,” Luke says, his tone unshaken. “Coincidentally, it all started in October. Started with some devilish smirks and eye rolls, but smiles nonetheless. And who showed up here in October, I wonder?”
I let out a short, nervous laugh. “You might be reading too much into it, mate.”
He shakes his head, like I’m the last person to get the joke. “I see the way you look at her. The way you act around her. I notice when you both slip away, one after the other. Ol, it’s written all over your face.”
My throat tightens for a second. “I—”
“I know,” he interrupts, softer now. “It’s complicated, right? Addison’s got her rules. She’s leaving anyway. I get it.”
“You do?”
Luke stares at me for a long moment. “I do. Trust me. I’ve known for months. Just been waiting for one of you to say something. She finally told me after the gala.”
Finally, I let out a breath and rub my hand over my face. “Fine,” I mutter. “We’ve… we’ve been seeing each other.”
Luke grins like he’s just won some massive bet. “Yeah, you have.”
“But,” I add quickly, before he can get carried away, “it’s just until the end of the season. No expectations. That’s the deal.” The words taste like shit coming out of my mouth.
Luke’s smile drops into something more serious. “Her idea, right?”
I nod once. “How’d you know that?”
Luke shrugs. “She’s got those ridiculous rules. Don’t get me wrong, I get why she made them. Matt’s a fucking twat. But I worry those rules will stop her from living the next big thing.”
“Me too,” I admit.
Luke’s eyes narrow a little, reading me in a way I’m not used to. “You don’t sound like you’re very happy with the arrangement,” he says.
“I’m not,” I confess, the truth pressing against my ribs. “I don’t want her to leave. I don’t want to hide.”
Luke leans in slightly. “And why is that?”
I feel the answer clawing up my throat, terrifying and inevitable. I close my eyes for a second, letting it settle into place because I think it’s been there all along.
“Because I’m in love with her,” I say quietly.
The words leave my mouth, and everything just clicks. Every fear, every rule, every doubt just fades away.
Luke nods and smiles, like he knew it before I did. “Oh, you’re fucked, mate,” he says, chuckling.
“I don’t know what to do,” I admit, voice breaking slightly.
“You have to tell her,” he says.
“It’s not that simple.”
“Why? Because of her rules? She made those rules before she even met you, mate.”
“But what if she doesn’t…” I can’t even say it. I can’t even let myself believe she could.
“What if she doesn’t feel the same?” Luke asks, completing my thought. I nod slowly, and his expression softens. “I’ve known Addison for a really long time. I’ve never seen her like this. There’s nothing casual about her. She’s just scared.”
