Love Match (Love Match 1)

“Jesse, wait. Look, I—”

It was no use. Jesse had broken out into an ungainly run, surely ignoring the pain in his muscles as he dashed up the stairs. Luke couldn’t seem to move, and soon Jesse was out of sight around the house. His car roared to life and zoomed away into the hills.

He wasn’t sure how long he sat there, but Luke finally got up and picked up their equipment, placing Jesse’s racquet carefully back in its case. He was about to go inside when he noticed Jesse’s shirt still lying by the court. The cotton was damp, and Luke held it to his face for a long moment before trudging back up the stairs to his empty house.

CHAPTER FOUR

The sand was hard beneath his feet, packed down by the unrelenting rain. The heat wave was over and Luke was glad; he welcomed the chill in the air, on his skin. He and Aaron raced alongside the waves, ignoring the rain that pelted them.

Luke ran hard, his chest burning by the time they reached the turnaround point at a cove up the coast. They headed back towards Luke’s house, feet flying. With a burst of energy, Aaron sprang forwards, challenging Luke to keep up.

Luke increased his stride, pumped his arms faster as he nipped at Aaron’s heels. Suddenly a stitch tore through Luke’s side and he doubled over, hands on his knees.

“You okay?” Aaron jogged back to him.

Luke nodded and tried to take a deep breath. “I’m fine,” he wheezed.

Aaron tilted his head and looked at him contemplatively. “You’ve seemed kind of off this week. Distracted. Everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine.” Luke stood up straight and started walking, wiping the rain off his face even though it was a losing battle.

Everything was far from fine. It had been three days, and all he could think about was Jesse. Jesse’s laugh, Jesse’s smile, Jesse’s mouth.

“Jesus!” Luke laughed out loud. He sounded like some lovestruck teenager. It was insane.

“What?” Aaron waited patiently as the rain continued to pour down.

“Nothing. Forget it.”

Aaron moved around in front of Luke, forcing him to stop. “Look, how many years have I been your trainer?”

Luke sighed. “Too many years.”

“Don’t I know it. And I know when something’s up. So just get it off your chest already.”

“There’s nothing to tell.”

Aaron crossed his arms. “I can wait all day. I’m on the clock, after all.”

“I pay you to keep me in shape, not for therapy,” Luke scoffed.

Aaron just watched him, unmoving. “I’m waiting.”

“It’s nothing.” Luke rolled his eyes and mumbled, “Just some guy.”

A grin broke out across Aaron’s face. “Well, it’s about time!”

“Like I said, it’s nothing.” Luke scowled, suddenly feeling very exposed. “Don’t get all excited.”

Aaron clapped a hand on Luke’s shoulder. “Look, I know the past few years haven’t been easy for you.” He squeezed his fingers. “You never talk about what happened—”

“Because there’s nothing to talk about.” Luke shrugged away and started down the beach again at a jog.

“Come on, man,” Aaron said as he caught up. “It’s great that you met someone new.”

“I told you it’s nothing. Don’t act like I found a replacement.”

“Hey, no one said anything about that. Luke, no one’s ever going to replace him.”

“Yeah, no shit.” Luke sped up, despite the pain in his side.

“But you being alone and miserable isn’t going to bring him back.”

Luke ran faster, and Aaron let him go. The waves pounded the beach, the rain falling harder. Luke’s eyes burned and he blinked rapidly, his tears quickly washed away.

That night, Luke tried to think of something other than Jesse and the look on his face after Luke had pushed him away. He knew pain when he saw it, and guilt gnawed away at him until he picked up the phone.

It took another ten minutes to actually dial all the numbers, and as the phone rang, Luke thought about hanging up. There was no answer, and he couldn’t think of anything to say on voicemail that wouldn’t sound pathetic.

The next day, Luke got into his SUV and drove to the other side of the city. He went to a special health food store that stocked some Asian herbs that promised to increase his energy and sharpen his mind. So what if that health food store happened to be near the Brookview Golf and Country Club?

It was an hour out of his way, but Luke couldn’t stand the silence anymore. Granted, the silence was his fault. Therefore, it was about time he did something about it.

The lobby of the club was ornate and polished, standard-issue playground of the rich and famous. When Luke was growing up in Orange County, he never thought he’d end up in places like this. He approached the receptionist, whose eyes lit up as she saw him.

“Oh my god, Luke Rossovich! Hi, I’m Amber. We spoke on the phone a couple of weeks ago. I got your picture in the mail. I can’t thank you enough!”