AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Determination welled in him. Luke sat straighter and grabbed his cell phone. He dialed Ashanti’s number and waited until she picked up. Before she’d greeted him fully, Luke blurted—“What are you doing tonight?”
“Uh…” There was a beat of silence. “Finishing up my article? Why?”
“Will you be done in an hour?”
“I think so.”
“Then get dressed.”
“Why?”
“I’m taking you out tonight.” Luke listened to Ashanti’s shocked silence and almost smiled. “I’ll see you then.”
He hung up and pointed the car home so he could get ready.
Dating his best friend would be strange at first, he was sure, but Ashanti was the woman he wanted to be with and nothing would get in the way of that.
Nothing.
His phone rang. Luke slammed his car to a stop when he saw Michelle’s name flashing across the screen. He remembered the way he’d left her hanging at the school and picked up, feeling slightly guilty.
“Hello?”
For a moment there was silence and then, “Hey, Luke.”
He heard loud music in the background and raucous laughter. Was she at a bar? “Michelle, is everything okay?”
“They couldn’t be better. How was Ashanti?”
“She’s fine. Sorry about earlier. I didn’t mean to run off like that.”
“Save it,” she said. “I’ve been thinking about what I should do all evening and it’s finally come to me.”
Luke waited patiently for her to tell him.
“You like her, don’t you? You like Ashanti.”
“Yes.” There was no use hiding it.
“Then why did you come and visit me at school today? Why give me that hope?”
“I’m sorry, Michelle. You’re a great person. Really. You deserve someone who can love you the way you deserve and that guy isn’t me.” He heard something crash in the background and leaned forward. “Michelle, where are you?”
“Don’t worry, Luke. I was already on my way to forgetting about you. Seeing you again made me realize I hadn’t made as much progress as I thought, but I’ll just start over.”
“Michelle…”
He heard a clatter as if the phone had slipped out of her hands and fallen to a hard surface. It clicked off after that.
Luke checked the time. He needed to head home, make a reservation at a restaurant, shower, change and then head out to buy flowers before he picked Ashanti up for their date.
But he couldn’t just leave Michelle in a bad situation. Especially if it was his fault she was in that position.
He started the car and drove, but he couldn’t concentrate on the road. He had a bad feeling about Michelle.
He called her, but the line just cut to voicemail. Worry ate at him. Michelle wasn’t a woman who drank regularly, which meant she would either patron a bar close to her apartment or she would go to the bar where they’d met with his cousins.
At the last minute, Luke flicked his indicator and made a U-turn.
