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Her date kept stealing worried glances at her, but Ashanti was too upset to hide how she felt. She forced herself to eat every morsel in her plate so Luke’s money didn’t go to waste and then closed her eyes.
Her stomach roiled, either from the stress of realizing the guy she liked still liked someone else or from stuffing herself with food.
“Are you sick, Ash?” Luke asked, his eyes filled with concern.
“A little,” she admitted. “Can we go now?”
Luke quickly called the waiter over and paid. As soon as the server scurried away with the bill, Ashanti rose and strode out of the restaurant. Luke caught up with her when she was out the door.
He touched her shoulder. “Do you feel like throwing up? Should we stop and buy some medicine?”
She shook her head. “I’m fine.”
Luke’s anxious expression said he didn’t believe her. His pale skin glistened in the moonlight, a sharp contrast to his dark eyes. “It’s my fault, Ash. You should have been resting and I forced you out of your recovery instead. I’ll take you home.”
She didn’t correct his assumption and slipped into the car.
Before heading into the restaurant, Ashanti had tossed Michelle’s earring beneath the seat so she didn’t have to look at it.
As Luke drove, she lifted her hand and stared at the prick in the middle of her palm. She’d held the earring so tightly it had drawn a trickle of blood. Ashanti had wiped it off on her dark skirt, but now her palm was beginning to scar.
She let out a breath and glanced through the window. The scenery outside blurred together—a trippy kaleidoscope of the dark sky, coconut trees, colorful buildings and the expanse of the Caribbean Sea.
Inside, Ashanti was numb.
If only she had paid attention to everything Luke said at the hospital instead of latching on to the part that aligned with what she wanted. Maybe she wouldn’t have blurted out that she liked him back. Then they wouldn’t be in this position.
She still couldn’t believe he would lie to her.
Ashanti watched Luke out of the corner of her eye. Was he dating the two of them? Did he go to Michelle earlier and ask her out, saving the later slot for her?
The thought alone made her want to scream and cry at the same time. Ashanti couldn’t believe that her best friend would be such a jerk.
Maybe Luke really couldn’t choose between them and this was his way of making a decision.
Either way, it had been foolish to jump into a relationship.
Luke parked in front of her house and Ashanti climbed out without his help. She stopped on the porch and turned to him. “Thanks, Luke.”
“Don’t thank me. It was a dumb idea to take you out under the circumstances. Maybe next time—”
“There won’t be a next time.”
His eyebrows slanted down. “What does that mean?”
“What are we doing, Luke?” She threw her hands up. “Us? Dating? It’s too weird.”
“It’s different, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.”
“I don’t think either of us are ready for a relationship right now.”
“Ash…” He stepped forward.
She put out her hand to keep him back. “Thanks for the meal, Luke. Goodnight.”
Ashanti slammed the door on Luke’s bewildered face and then sank against it. She should have told him about the earring. Raked him through the coals for seeing Michelle before their date.
But she couldn’t.
