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Glaring at the sketched eyes glaring back at him, Luke ripped open the door.
Fuck you, Henry Cavill.
Luke stalked down the hall to the bathroom and took care of business. Washing up at the sink, he caught sight of his face in the mirror and winced. Bloodshot eyes, wrecked hair, and a pale face that hadn’t seen a razor in a couple days stared back at him. Not a damn thing model-worthy or movie-star-ish about his scary mug. Certainly, nothing that would have anyone clamoring to cast him as a hero in their story.
Slipping back into Andy’s room, he sat on the edge of the bed, and as he listened to the soft whistle of her snores and watched the even rise and fall of her chest, he wished.
He wished that he could be the hero of her story.
Not Kyle.
Him.
But even as Luke wanted this, there was a part of him buried down deep that didn’t think he deserved it. A part that was stained by a darkness he never wanted touching his Little Bird.
So, at the end of the day — or the beginning, as it were — Kyle was probably the better man for her. Luke just needed to keep to the plan.
Even if it fucking killed him.
Chapter twenty-one
Andywokelaterthatmorning to an empty bed and a pissed-off cockatiel.
“PrettybirdAndyprettybirdAndyprettybirdAndy!”
Squinting at her phone on the nightstand, Andy’s eyes widened when she realized she’d blown past her usual morning schedule by a solid hour. It was nearly 8:30.
“PrettybirdAndyprettybirdAndy—”
“Sorry, Petals! I’m coming!” Rolling quickly from the bed, Andy freed her little friend from her cage.
Fluttering to the floor, Petals scampered over to the patio door. Which was open again, a soft breeze rustling the vertical blinds concealing the screen.
Luke must have slipped out this way while she slept. Andy didn’t know if she was upset he’d left without saying goodbye or relieved.
Probably more the latter.
Morning afters were always so awkward.
Well, the one morning after she’d experienced prior to this one certainly had been.
Detaching the bird crawling up her screen door, Andy dropped a kiss on her head. “You know,” she mused to her little friend, “I’m not even sure this counts as a morning after.I mean, itwasjust practice.”
Petals flew from her grasp and landed with unerring accuracy next to the sex toy still lying on the floor. Andy’s face warmed.
“Okay, fine. Mutual orgasms probably qualify as a bit more than just practice.”
Picking up the device, Andy tossed it on the bed to wipe down later. That’s when she noticed the single long-stem rose lying on her pillow.
A smile bloomed as she brushed a finger over the closed crimson bud. She knew Luke must have swiped it from the bouquet Gray had brought for Kory, but she didn’t care. No one had ever given her flowers before. So this one was special.
And yes, she was also more than a little happy Luke hadn’t left without any sort of goodbye. She probably wouldn’t have been too interested in rehashing their practice session over bacon and eggs, but neither did she want the man ghosting her.
Fluttering up to the bed, Petals attacked the woody stem of the rose hungrily.
Looked like someone was interested in breakfast.
Andy plucked her special flower from the bird’s voracious beak. “I swear, Petals, you’re like a tiny bottomless pit.”
