“Have you ever been cheated on?”
I leaned back against my wooden chair and raised an eyebrow. “What?”
“It’s a simple question, Cammie. Have you ever been cheated on?”
Biting my lower lip, I nodded. Slowly. Very slowly.
Luke’s face, barely visible in the faint light from the small lantern on the table between us, grew tense. His jaw was clenched, muscles working beneath his ears.
“Tell me about it.”
He leaned back in his chair, visibly looking more relaxed, so I gave in and let myself tell the story that had been hidden beneath several layers of hurt.
“His name was Grant,” I began. “We went to college together. My brother despised him.”
I laughed, remembering the brief encounters that Grant held with Alex. Grant always thought Alex loved him, but really, Alex had to restrain from punching him in the face. It really wasn’t funny then, but it kind of was now.
“We dated for a year. We were pretty serious. I had a key to his apartment and everything. Actually…” I wracked my brain, conjuring the visual of my keychain sitting on my entryway table. “I still have a key,” I snickered. “But shortly after Alex died, I kind of shut myself off. We only texted a few times in the month after everything fell apart. Things were rough.” I could feel the hurt that still laid within my heart begin to surface. “Especially for my mom, so I was busy. Distracted and distant. That’s why I didn’t see the signs that were being thrown at my very feet.”
I watched as Luke cracked his neck at my words, and then he straightened up a little taller. If I didn’t know any better, I would say that this was bothering him.
Crossing my legs in front of me to sit Indian style and gripping my cup in my hands, I finished my story.
“JoJo dragged me out of my apartment, saying I needed some fresh air and a decent meal. And there’s really no arguing with her, so I let her lead me down the street to The Chelsea. It was just after five, on a weekday. Grant told me he had been working late during the week, so when I rounded the corner and saw him passionately kissing a woman with long, red hair outside of the brewery—you know, the one down the street from here?” Luke nodded his head in agreement. “Well, I stopped dead in my tracks and almost fell to the ground. When JoJo saw what I saw, I thought she was going to kill him!”
I started to laugh, hoping it would hide the little bit of angst I still felt. I hadn’t loved Grant; I knew that now. But when you spent an entire year dating someone, it still stung. A little.
“He ran from her, Luke. Fucking ran!” I laughed again. “So, that was it. I threw away all of his shit and went on with my life. He tried to reach out a couple times, saying it was my fault for being so closed off after Alex’s death, but it only made me angrier.” I paused for a second. “I haven’t spoken to him since. Not once. And, despite him living only a few blocks away from me in those ugly brick apartments on the corner by The Chelsea, I’ve never run into him. Thank God.”
I let out a long breath and felt semi-relieved to have spoken about Grant. I’d kept it under lock and key for so long. It happened ten months ago, and I’d buried it.
“He’s a fucking idiot.” Luke’s words were sharp, curt, and angry.
“I can’t argue with that.”
He stood up and paced back and forth for a second with a cute grin on his face that had me rethinking my rule on every level.
“What do you say we go play a prank on someone other than each other?”
I spied the little mischievous twinkle in his eye, and it made my fingertips tingle with anticipation.
“What do you have in mind?”
He stepped in front of me. “Do you have jelly?”
I thought for a moment, picturing my pantry. “Yes.”
“Do you have hair remover? Like that stuff you can use for your legs?”
I chuckled. “Yes.”
“Do you have chocolate chips?”
I paused. “Uh… yeah, I think.”
Luke turned his back and walked down my porch stairs.
“Go get them, and meet me out front.”