I felt the tears trying to build in my eyes and I refused to shed any more tears over him. He didn’t want me. He’d never want me.
Closing my eyes, I listened to the lyrics. I was instantly brought back to that night. The smell of his body invaded my senses. His green eyes looked into mine lovingly. He had been more than my best friend. He was my everything.
He still was. As much as I wanted to say he wasn’t … he was.
“Libby, I need to tell you something.”
I shook my head. “Please don’t talk to me, Luke.”
We drove the rest of the way listening to the song before it finally changed to a faster, louder song. The moment he parked his truck, I got out and made my way to my dorm room. As I walked by my car, Will started toward me. “Lib? Libby, what’s wrong?” he asked as he forced me to stop walking.
I tried to smile. “Nothing, Will. Just trying to figure out how to move on.” I looked back over my shoulder to see Luke standing there. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to talk, but he quickly shut it again.
Looking down, I turned my head back to Will. “I have a test to study for. Can you just be sure to bring me my keys?” I handed my keys to Will and walked away as I made a plan to avoid Luke Johnson as much as I possibly could.
I HAD SUCCESSFULLY avoided Luke up until Christmas break. Now that we were back home, he was everywhere.
“Let’s head to the barn and see what the boys are up to,” Grace said as she held her arm out. I laced my arm with hers and we headed to the barn. Taylor and Lex were talking about Taylor’s last year of high school.
When we entered the barn, we could hear the guys talking. Grace put her finger up to her mouth and began tiptoeing up the stairs.
I heard Colt talking as we made our way up. “Makes me want to give up on women altogether.”
“No! Don’t ever talk that way, dude. A man needs a vagina to function,” Luke said.
“Really? You just said that?” Will asked. We were almost to the top of the stairs.
Luke chuckled. “Hey, I could have said pussy, but I kept it clean. It’s true though. A man does need pussy to survive in this world.”
Colt began laughing. Grace stopped walking and turned and looked at me. I was furious hearing Luke talk like he was. I moved past Grace and stopped at the landing of the stairs. Luke was sitting in a chair, pushed back balancing on the back two legs.
Colt was shaking his head as he said, “Damn, Luke. What is wrong with you?”
Luke held up his hands and laughed. “Keeping it real. Just keeping it real.”
I felt the heat move through my entire body. All I could picture was that day in the library when I overheard him and Abigail talking. The idea of Abigail having Luke and not me turned my stomach. Hearing him talk like this made me wonder if Luke was even capable of loving anyone. Maybe all he wanted was his fuck buddy.
“That’s why he has his fuck buddy. No strings. Just a fun way to survive in this world. Isn’t that right, Luke?”
Grace started giggling behind me as Will turned and looked at us. Luke looked over at me with a shocked look on his face.
“What?” he asked as he lost his balance and dropped backward onto the floor. I smiled and shook my head. That’s what the bastard gets.
I glanced over and looked at Will. “I’m heading out for a while to meet someone. I don’t have my car. Can I borrow your truck, Will?”
Grace bumped me from behind. “Libby, don’t do this.”
I ignored Grace as Will stared at me. “Uh …”
Jumping up, Luke looked at me with a stunned, almost frightened expression. “You’re going out? On Christmas night? Who are you going out with?”
The anger kept building up. How dare he ask me who I was going out with it! I glared at him and he took a step back.
I had no idea where I was going to go and then I remembered Jason had texted me. “Jason’s in town and he asked if I wanted to meet him for dessert.”
Luke started laughing. “What kind of dessert, Lib?”
I was about to say something when Will did. “Watch it, Luke.”