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“And?”
“I wasn’t impressed. I’m sure they are nice, but it made me want to throw up in my mouth.”
“Ouch,” Josh exclaimed, laughing.
“It’s not only that she was acting like a two bit hooker trying to get my attention. But because I know who and what she is, it is nauseating. Anyone who has that much darkness in their heart and soul is hideously ugly, no matter what they look like.”
“I can’t argue with you on that one, brother,” Josh said.
He looked across the room and said, “It looks like the pool table is open. Feel like getting your ass kicked?”
Luke felt a lot better after a couple more beers and several rounds of pool. He won about half the games, so the night wasn’t a total loss.
He hoped that his father was asleep when he got back, although he half expected the older man to be sitting in the living room, waiting on Luke to get home. Luckily, the coast was clear. Luke jumped in the shower and then was asleep almost before his head hit the pillow.
Carl looked up at Luke as he came into the hardware store late the next morning.
Looking pointedly at his watch, Carl said, “Nice of you to show up.”
Luke wasn’t in the mood for his father’s sarcasm, so he simply ignored him.
“You were out late last night. What were you getting up to?”
Pressing his lips together, Luke really wanted to tell his father that it was none of his business.
Biting back the words, Luke said, “I was out with Josh.”
“It was after two when you came in.”
“I’m a grown man, Dad. I don’t have a curfew.”
“No, but you could still have the courtesy of coming in at a decent hour. Your mother and I were worried about you.”
Luke knew that it wasn’t that they were worried about him so much as his father wanted to be in his business.
“You need to think about coming in around midnight.”
Luke simply looked at his father with a fixed stare. A customer came in, so Carl turned away.
“Josh, do you know of any places for rent around here? There is no way that I can stay with my parents.”
Josh laughed on the other end of the phone and said, “I’ve got some connections. I’ll see what I can find for you.”
About an hour later, Josh called back with the good news. His landlord had a small cottage that was for rent.
Luke made arrangements to move in that day.
His father hit the roof when he found out.
“This is going to kill your mother. You just came back and you are already moving out?”
“Dad, I can’t live with you guys. I have my own life to live. I’ll still be in town, and I’ll still help out at the store.”
Carl grumbled the entire day. Luke headed out to get the keys, pay the deposit and first and last month’s rent, and then went home to pack. His mother didn’t say anything to him. Luke suspected that she understood. That afternoon, he ordered some furniture to be delivered and bought a big screen television. By the end of the day, he had the electricity turned on, water, and the Internet.
He ordered a pizza and sat on the floor watching a game on his television, since the furniture wouldn’t be delivered until the next day. His mind wasn’t on the plays, though. Luke was wondering whether he had made a huge mistake by moving back to Ivy Springs and wondered whether he would be able to stay.
His father was just part of the problem. There was also the increased friction between the shifters and Faison. On top of that, Alexis was trying to get her hooks into him, and Luke knew that she was like a bulldog with a bone. On top of all of it, he couldn’t even shift and fly to release stress. He would almost rather be in the jungles of some tiny country rescuing hostages and getting shot at.
