She slowly shook her head. “I don’t understand. What were you afraid of?”
I laughed bitterly and pushed my fingers through my hair before I sighed. “Everything. I was afraid if we let everyone else in, the walls would tumble down around us so fast, and I’d lose you. But in the end, me pretending everything was fine caused me to lose you anyway.”
Bree looked down and then back up at me.
“I never cheated on you,” I said. “And I haven’t been with or even looked at another woman since that evening when you walked up to me at the Christmas party. As far as what you saw that night, Kathleen knew you were there. She was playing a game. I didn’t kiss her; hell, I didn’t even want to be there with her. If I’d known you were there, Bree, I would have gone straight to you.”
“And how long would we have kept playing that game, Luke? I was tired of it.”
“Why didn’t you tell me how you felt?”
Her mouth opened, then shut before she looked away and let out a slow breath.
I sighed. “Neither one of us wanted to go public because we both knew the moment we did, things would change. I was scared to death everything would change.”
She jerked her head back to look at me. “You were scared? I was terrified, and I didn’t even realize it until that night. Seeing you with her on your arm. I kept telling myself it was fake. Surely it was all an act. Then when I saw the two of you inside the venue, I couldn’t help but wonder why you kept the show going. Then she kissed you—”
“Tried to. I stopped it.”
Bree rolled her eyes. “It doesn’t matter, Luke. I knew in that moment I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t—no, I wouldn’t stand by and watch you make movies with other women. Kiss them, have sex with them, all the while telling myself it was fake. You were pretending. Because that was exactly what we were doing. We were pretending.”
“What?” I asked, confused. “First of all, I don’t have sex with anyone, Brighton. I don’t make porn.”
“It’s the same damn thing, practically. If I crawled into bed with Kyle and we were both covered by a patch of fabric and we started dry humping each other and kissing, how would you feel? I know you say it’s acting and I shouldn’t think otherwise, and maybe I am being a jealous twit about it all. But seeing you with Kathleen and how the two of you acted together—I’m not used to this world of yours, Luke, and I honestly don’t think I could ever get used to it.”
She sighed. “Did you feel anything at all when I kissed Kyle yesterday?”
I pulled my head back at her abrupt change. “I was…angry at first.”
“I was acting,” she stated, sarcasm dripping off the last word.
“Bree, it’s not the same thing.”
The waitress came back over and set down our drinks. “I’d have brought them sooner, but it looked like the conversation got pretty intense. I figured I’d give the two of you a chance to work it out, but it seemed to be heating up even more so I’m stepping in.”
I stared up at her with a disbelieving look on my face.
She winked at me. “Do you know what you want to eat?”
Bree spoke. “I’ll have the burger special with sweet potato fries.”
To make things easier, I added, “I’ll have the same.”
“How do you want the burgers cooked?” Melissa asked.
“Well done,” Bree and I said at the same time.
“Got it. Now you may go back to your heated discussion.”
I watched Melissa walk back toward the counter while Bree let out a small chuckle, as if a waitress saying something like that was totally normal.
Bree
I tried not to laugh as Luke stared at a retreating Melissa. I failed.
“Were we being loud?” he asked. “I didn’t think we were being loud.”
Reaching for my drink, I shook my head. “We weren’t. And besides, there’s hardly anyone in here, and the few who are here don’t care what we’re talking about.”
He frowned. “Why not?”
I shrugged after taking a sip. “They most likely think you’re a tourist and a guest at my folks’ bed and breakfast.”
“And because of that, they won’t pay any attention to us?”
“Yep. If they had any idea we used to date, they’d be straining to hear all the drama.”
He shook his head. “Small towns.”
After a few moments of Luke getting his thoughts back together, his gaze met mine. “I understand, Bree, why you couldn’t do it. Be with me.”
“Do you?”
He nodded. “Yes. But you never even gave me a chance.”
My stomach dropped as I remembered the conversation with everyone at dinner last night, and then the one I had later with Kyle. “A chance?”
“Yes. You assumed the worst of me, then decided that we weren’t worth the fight.”