Mr. Big Shot (Mr. Big 1)

I couldn't help but imagine the two of them fighting and arguing and then falling into each other's arms for a bout of mad passionate make-up sex. It was supposedly the best sex you could have because of the intense emotions. He had been in love with her. He could probably forgive her. Or at least, have sex with her.

I tried to push thoughts of him and Jenna out of my mind, but it was nearly impossible. I kept going over what I saw in the kitchen at the beach house and how he stood and looked in her eyes, and she reached up to touch his cheek, run her fingers through his hair. How they looked perfect together…

Then Mrs. Marshall's painful words.

I finally gave up.

"I gotta stop thinking of him," I said and chose an action adventure movie on my Apple TV so I could distract myself from thoughts of Luke and Jenna. "Bring me a beer. I need a distraction."

Candy complied and brought back two cold beers from the refrigerator. She handed me one and sat down on the sofa beside me. We clinked the necks of the two bottles and spent the rest of the night studiously not talking about Luke or my weekend at the Hamptons.

Chapter 16

Luke

* * *

She finally responded.

ALEXA: I'm fine and no I didn't drown. Sorry about leaving without telling you, but I realized I can't keep up this façade of being your girlfriend. The sex was great, but I'm just not built to deal with casual hookups. It's not who I am. You're going to have to talk to people and tell them the way you really feel. You can't keep pretending, Luke. Be real with them and they'll finally realize you are your own man and have your own plans. Honesty is the best policy, or so they say…

She was right, of course.

She did want more and deserved more, but I wasn’t the one to give it to her, no matter how much I enjoyed her.

When I sent her a text, I hoped to be able to convince her that Jenna was the last person I wanted to see, even if I had to admit that she was right and there was no future for us. As much as I wanted to go after her, and as much as I was all ready to go and bring her back, explain to her that Jenna was nothing to me, she was right. I had to man up and start telling the truth.

LUKE: I'm sorry you felt you needed to leave. If you saw me with Jenna, you should know I feel nothing for her anymore but contempt. I would have enjoyed spending the weekend with you, and now I feel bad that you didn't get any sun and surf in like I promised. But you're right. I have to start telling the truth to my meddling family. Thanks for everything you did to help me fake out my family. I truly enjoyed being with you, and the sex was great. There – some honesty from me.

I had to start telling my family the truth. I had to start telling myself the truth.

I went to the kitchen to grab a bottle of ice tea for the trip back into the city. My mother came inside when she saw me.

"There you are," she said and came over to me, standing on her tip toes to give me a kiss on my cheek. "I was looking for you—"

Before she could coax me to stay, I cut her off.

"I'm not staying for dinner," I said, closing the door to the fridge a little too hard. She leaned against the table in the kitchen while I stuffed the bottle into my duffle bag. Outside, guests were assembling at the table by the barbecue, getting ready for cocktails before dinner. "I'm going back to the city."

"Oh, don't go. Stay," she said and grabbed my arm. "Be sociable. Everyone wants to talk to you about your business.”

I looked down at her, exasperated that she just couldn't understand.

"I don't know why you invited Jenna and her mother. I don't want to spend any time with her. Not after what happened."

"I might have mentioned the weekend at the beach house to her when we were talking, but this was before you invited Alana."

"It's Alexa, and you also invited Felicia."

"But dear—"

"Mother," I said, exasperated. "I wish you could stop trying to match me with the daughters of your friends. I never wanted to see Jenna again. You knew that already. I told you that I never wanted to see her in public and I certainty didn’t want to have her at any private family function. I didn't think you'd actually invite her to our house on a weekend when I'd have my girlfriend with me."

"Don't start on that now," she said and shook her pointed and well-manicured nail at me. "Jenna's mother is a dear friend of mine. You know that. You and Jenna should mend fences. There will be times when you'll be in the same crowd. You have to move on with your lives and can't always ignore each other."

"We moved on. She chose him over me. I started Chatter. I have Alexa. I'm not going to be moving in the same circles as Jenna and her family. I'm going to sail and then I'm relocating to California so there's no need for me to mend any fences with her and her family. That's really all there is to it."

"Who is this Alexa girl, anyway? She's not one of our people. Why are you with her? She's a pretty little thing, but she's practically white trash."