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Luke
IdropLivoffatJohn'shouseonSundaynightandspendaboutthreehourssayinggoodbyetoher.Everyheatedlookandsmileshetossesmywaymakesitthatmuchhardertoleave.Wehaven’tprogressedpastheavypettinganddryhumpinglikeacoupleofhornyteenagers.Wehaven’tevenspentanighttogethersinceafterthegroupdate.It’sasweettorture.
But that all changes Friday. I’m one hundred percent crazy for her. I can feel us growing closer and I hope that I’ll be able to romance the pants, or in this case dress, off of her. Her smile alone drives me insane, so our first time making love will be something I might never recover from. I can’t fucking wait.
I spend every other hour texting or talking to her during the week. She’s in a tough spot with her dad right now, and I hate I can’t be with her. Emilia had to pull me aside and tell me to get my shit together. I’m only in these meetings as a formality, a courtesy, because they all respected my dad. I appreciate they include me and ask for my opinion because the company is one of the few things I have left of him. Once he died, they asked me to be more involved. I balked at first, but Emilia encouraged me. She hated the PR stuff. So I attend the galas and charity functions.
On Wednesday, I’m in my office packing up my stuff for the day when my phone rings. I grin when I see who it is. “Brody! What’s up, man?”
“Hey bro. Got your message.”
“I need a big favor,” I say.
“I’m not pretending to be Jackson’s brother again,” he says and I chuckle.
“No, nothing like that. First, are you busy on Friday?”
“Maybe.” I stop packing and turn to gaze out the window at the LA skyline.
“I need you to come to the veterans’ gala and meet someone.”
“Oh yea? Is she hot?”
I smile. “Very. She’s my girlfriend.”
Silence drags on. “You’re shitting me,” he finally says.
I laugh. “Her name is Liv, and she’s amazing. Well except for the whole being your biggest fan thing. I’ll never understand that bullshit.”
“Isn’t that poetic? You never date, then when you do she’s got the hots for me,” he chuckles and I roll my eyes.
“It would mean a lot to her and to me,” I say.
“Are you serious about her?”
“Yea. She’s special.”
“Well, alert the fucking presses. Luke Reilly is a taken man! Never thought I’d see the day. How long has it been? I don’t remember anyone special since Amanda.”
I’d almost forgotten about my high school flame. “Yea, since her.”
I think back to that time of my life. I was young and dumb and thought I had it all figured out. But like most teenagers, I was naïve. I asked Amanda to marry me a few weeks before I left for bootcamp. Her refusal hit me hard at the tender age of 18.
When I got home after she rejected me, I swore I glimpsed my mom in the reflection of the dining-room window and I flung the chair through it. I destroyed two more chairs before I found my dad watching me. He slid over the next chair without a word and I collapsed into sobs. I was angry at myself, at my mom, at the fucking world.
Dad talked me through it and told me it was ok to feel angry, but I would always have to pick up the mess afterwards, so make sure breaking the chairs was worth it. But the anger never left. I learned to harness it into making amends for my mistake that cost my mom’s life.
“You there, Luke?” I blink as Brody’s voice reaches me through the phone, pulling me out of my memories.
“Uh, yea. Sorry. Just thinking about the past.”
Brody chuckles. “Good times, man. Alright, well, you’ve convinced me. Tell Mark to send Tony the details.”
“Thanks man. Should be a fun night.”
“See you then.”
We hang up and I continue packing up my stuff for the night. A few years after we graduated, I found out Amanda’s step dad threatened to not pay for her tuition at Juilliard if she married me. She chose her career over me. I guess I chose mine over her too. Had she told me the truth when I proposed to her, it still wouldn’t have stopped me from joining the Marines. I’ve run into her a few times over the years at various events. She’s an A-list actress living in New York with her famous husband. Any hard feelings I had are long gone. She got what she wanted. And now I have Liv.
I shoot Mark a text letting him know I’m on my way out and he meets me in the lobby. I tell him about Brody, and he chuckles. “She’s going to lose her shit.” He pulls out his phone to send Brody’s bodyguard the event info.
I laugh because he’s right. I can’t wait to see the smile on her face. When I get to my hotel room, I pull out my phone and video chat with my gorgeous girlfriend. We spend way too long talking, but I don’t regret it at all. I miss the crap out of her. Friday can’t come soon enough.
