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“Oh, we’veallheard. Luke confided to his brother about it…in front of Teagan.”
I groaned. “So the whole family knows.”
“Yep,” my brother seemed all too happy to report.
“Right,” I concluded. “Well then…I need your help to stop Luke from pursuing this stupid mission with his usual stupid determination. I almost had him talked out of it—I was this freaking close—and then, bam, I swear he woke up this morning, more resolved than ever.”
“Uh…” Trick seemed stumped by my request before he said, “If you’re asking me to help him gainsmartdetermination, I think that ship has sailed. He is what he is, sis. And stupid is just Luke’s modus operandi.”
“Really?” I muttered, narrowing my eyes as if I thought my brother could hear me do so through the phone. “This is not the time to be sarcastic. You know I’m asking you to make him stop his whole quest altogether.”
“But I’m thinking maybe you should just let it happen.”
“Oh my God!” I groaned. “Not you too. You sound likeDad.”
“And what’s wrong with that? Dad’s irritatingly wise and right about his instincts more often than what’s naturally normal. Besides, you could do a lot worse than Luke. Youhavedone worse. He’s one of my best friends too, dingus that he is. I could actuallystomachhim as a brother-in-law. And it’s not like you’ve never had feelings for him in the past. Why don’t you just give the idea a little test drive; see how it rides?”
A test drive? I’m not certain what he meant bythatphraseology, but I was definitely too afraid to ask.
“Those feelings…” I snapped, “were born from an immature, silly, self-conscious, overweightgirl. And she’s grown up and gotten a brain since then.”
No way was I going to tell him that adult-Chloe had, in fact, not grown a brain at all, and she’d pretty much followed in teen-Chloe’s footsteps by falling for Luke too. That would detract too much from the mission here.
“So sorry, but that crush is long over.” Because it was straight-uplovenow. “Which means, I’m not givinganyonea test drive. Got it?”
“Alright, fine. Continue to deny it all you want. I won’t make you confess all your secret wants and dreams. But let me ask you this. Do you still want to get out there and date again? I mean, in general. Do you want to find that special person to spend the rest of your life with?”
I sighed in exhaustion. “Honestly, right now, dating is the last thing on my mind,” I admitted.
“But someday…” Trick persisted. “Do you plan to get back out there again, in the dating pool?”
“I mean, sure,” I admitted reluctantly. “I don’t want to end up alone. I’d like to have someone who could stomach being with me.”
“Then what makes Luke so unacceptable to be considered as that someone? Why isn’t he just like any other guy you’d be willing to date? You obviously find him safe and trustworthy enough to stay over with you each night. God knows none of therestof us have earned that kind of security in your eyes.”
I blinked, taken aback by the tone in his voice. He sounded…jealous. “Trick,” I said softly.
“No, it’s okay,” he assured me with a dismissive-sounding sigh. “I mean, yeah, it hurts when I try to go in for a hug and your first instinct is to flinch away, but Luke can fucking hang all over you and unexpectedly bump into you, and you just melt even closer to him as if he’s your only safe place. I’m glad you havesomeoneyou can still feel secure with.”
“But that’s not…” I shook my head, utterly bewildered to hear this. My first thought was to repudiate it. “It’s not—”
“Don’t even try to deny it,” Trick instructed mildly. “It’s true. Mom and Dad can’t even get as close to you as Luke’s allowed to get.”
“B-because he was there,” I tried to reason it out. “He saw. He kind of went through itwithme. I don’t know how to explain it.”
“Yeah, he’s the only one who saw because you made him physicallybarme from that room,” Trick snapped, and I could definitely detect jealousy in his voice this time.
“And it’s a good thing I did,” I shot back firmly. “Because it gives Luke nightmares. I had to freaking towel him dry once when he woke up drenched in sweat.”
“Which just gives my suggestion about allowing him a chance with you all the more credibility. Because no one is going to understand what’s happening to you when you go blank and distant and simply walk out of a room after they merely mentionboots. Luke’s always going to have your back like that.”
“Oh, Jesus…” I cringed. “He told you about the boots thing?”
“Riley did,” Trick corrected. “She felt like hell for triggering you.”
“She didn’t—”
“She triggered you,” Trick said firmly.
