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Liv
LuketextsmeeverydaythroughouttheweekandwhenFridayhits,I’mgiddywithexcitementtoseehimagain.ButmycheerfulmooddeflateswhenSundayrollsaroundandIstillhaven’theardfromhim.IsitdownatmylaptopanddowhatItoldmyselfIwouldn’t.Luke’snamesitsinthesearchboxandthelittlehandsitsoverthesearchbutton,myfingerhoveringoverthemouse.
You can’t believe everything you see on the internet, but Jeremy seemed perfect at first too. I wince as the thought hits me. Luke is different. But I have to know what I’m getting into. I click the mouse.
The first page of articles is all about his dad’s mysterious death. I find a video of Luke in his Marine dress blues, standing at a podium at his dad’s memorial service. He’s so handsome, but the pain in his eyes makes my heart hurt. In the audience, I see Skye sitting next to an attractive man that must be Jordy. Brando, Jackson, Mark, and Brody are in the same row. Brody has tears streaming down his face. I click out of the video as my eyes water. Jesus, he’s been through so much.
I find articles about Reilly Tech. There’s a picture of Luke with his cousin Emilia. She looks more like Luke than Skye does, so I assume Skye resembles her mom. My hunch is proven correct when a picture of Mia pops up. My breath comes out in a whoosh. She’s stunning. Luke has her eyes and smile. She’s laughing and holding a young child at the opening of a children’s cancer wing she funded in a hospital in LA.
The next article is about her death and when I read the date, I understand why I didn’t hear from him this weekend. Yesterday was the anniversary of his mom’s death. I kick myself for not paying attention to the date on his tattoo.
I hover the mouse over the image tab and hesitate. Should I go down this rabbit hole? I lean back and sigh, then let go of the mouse, but click it by accident with the movement. Picture after picture of Luke with women greets me. They hang on his arm or lean in close. He’s holding hands with a few of them. Every single one of them are drop dead gorgeous models or actresses. I stare in disbelief as my reality sinks in. What the hell is he doing with me?
My phone dings and I jump, exiting out of the screen even though I’m alone. The text is from Luke, asking me how my weekend was. I close my eyes and sigh as guilt settles on my shoulders. It’s not fair of me to dig into his past like this. If I want to know something, I need to ask him. I respond it went well and leave it at that.
He texts an hour later.
Luke: Sorry I wasn’t around yesterday. I had some stuff going on, but I was thinking about you all day.
I can’t help but smile at that admission.
Me: I was thinking about you too.
Luke: :)
I get ready for bed and find a goodnight text from him. I send a reply and settle into the covers, forcing the images of him with other women out of my brain.
The next day I walk into the gym, my stomach in knots at how I’m going to react to seeing Luke. Do I tell him I Googled him? Is that weird? Probably. Ugh.
I find Brando out back, and we start our session. He had a last minute opening so today we’re just working on building strength. I try to not be obvious as I glance around for Luke. Halfway through, he walks by the double doors, talking to a gym member inside. It’s only a moment, and he doesn’t see me, but my heart races.
Brando raises his eyebrow since I stopped halfway through my set.Shit. “Sorry.”
“Have you not seen him yet?” Brando grabs a medicine ball from a nearby rack.
“No. He’s been busy, and I didn’t want to bug him.”
Brando sets the ball down and sighs. “You should bug him.”
I shrug and wait for him to tell me what to do. He rolls his eyes and we continue.
Ten minutes later we finish up, and I head to the locker room to clean up. I’m heading straight to the restaurant to meet Vera for dinner tonight. She flipped when I told her Luke was a billionaire. When I walk out of the locker room, I scan the gym for Luke, but he’s nowhere in sight. This is why I don’t date. There’s too much opportunity for disappointment, and I’ve had my fair share. I shake my head and turn to the exit.
I make it to my car when I hear his deep voice call my name. “Liv! Wait up.”
I turn to find him jogging towards me, and my stupid heart does a flip-flop. Before he’s stopped, he wraps me up in a hug and tucks me close to him, lifting me with ease. I giggle like an idiot as I hold on to him and try not to focus on the way his muscles move under his shirt or how good he smells.
He releases me and steps back with an enormous grin that I can’t help but return.
“Hi.” He seems shy. My heart clenches.
“Hi."
“Were you going to leave without saying hi?” He rubs the back of his neck.
So I might have misread that entire situation. “You were working. I didn’t want to bother you.”
He smiles. “You can bother me whenever you want.”
