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“Don’t you dare talk to him,” Randy warned, never taking his eyes off of Luke. “You have some nerve trying to move in on another’s man’s wife.”
Luke stood with his shoulder propped against the doorframe, the picture of nonchalance. “Ex-wife,” he corrected, and Terri suspected the remark was meant to antagonize him rather than defuse the situation.
“Not yet, not ever,” Randy said confidently, his muscles bunching with agitation under his clothes.
“Soon then.” Luke just couldn’t seem to let it go, and Terri was terrified of what he was doing. She tried to shake her head at him, warn him off, but he was ignoring her, or at least pretending to.
“You can’t have her, you know. She doesn’t want you,” Randy told him, reaching behind him to bring her around to his side where he tucked her under his arm, presenting a united front.
“Oh, I can, and she does,” Luke said, standing up straight now. He held out his hand and flexed his fingers, motioning her to him. “It’s alright, sweetheart. Just a couple of steps. Show him you’re not afraid of him anymore.”
Terri hesitated, not sure which way this would go if she did. She wanted to. Oh, did she want to, but she wasn’t sure that she could without disastrous consequences. She looked up at Randy, reading his eyes, which were fierce compared to Luke’s soft, welcoming gaze.
“Well,” Randy said expectantly. “Tell this asshole to take a hike, Terri, so we can get the hell out of here.” The hand he had resting on her hip squeezed painfully, a silent warning to do as he said.
Unable to meet Luke’s eyes, Terri focused on a section of splintered molding above his head that had been broken when Randy forced his way in. She then spewed the biggest lie of all. “This is my husband, Luke. I love him, not you. You can’t honestly believe I would choose you over him?” The pressure on her hip eased—a sign that Randy was pleased with her performance.
Luke was quiet for a span of time, and then he stepped into the room and to the side to give them room to pass. “If that’s the way you want it…”
“You’re smarter than you look,” Randy said with smug satisfaction, nudging her into motion. As they passed, Terri finally found the courage to look at Luke, willing him with her eyes to see the desperation, the despair and anguish residing in her heart. Luke just looked at her, no feeling, just a distant look of resignation. She had hurt him with her lie, and he was too blind to see what was happening right in front of his face.
Panic swept through her. Each step she took echoed a death knoll in her mind. Halfway down the staircase, Terri wrenched free of Randy’s loose grip and tore back up the stairs, calling Luke’s name frantically.
