Book of Luke (Book 2) (12 page)

He sighed and looked at the heavens. “I come
up here for answers.”

“Answers to what?”

“Life. I really missed this place while I
was in California. At night I’d lie in bed and pretend I was
here.”

“Did you grow up there?”

“I grew up everywhere. My father is
French-Canadian and he doesn’t have a big family. My mother is half
Swiss, half American—she’s one of six children, and I have a lot of
cousins I’m close to on her side. Most of them are in Vermont, New
York, Florida…” He chuckled. “I have a cousin who looks like Matt
Damon.”

My mouth dropped. “Really!”

He nodded. “His name’s Greg Daniels, he’s my
uncle Jack’s.”

I laughed. “Does your uncle drink a
lot?”

“Yes, and I think Greg drinks more than he
does,” he said with a grin.

“That’s not good…” There I was with a guy
who looks like a
male model
, learning about his cousin who
looks like a
movie star
—and somehow I was still
surprised!

Troy cleared his throat. “Greg lives with my
cousins Derek and Jesse. I feel sorry for them.”

“You don’t like him?” I asked with a
grin.

“Trust me, he’s not very likable. Derek
likes him okay, but he’s in the minority. Greg did some messed up
things to my cousin Trevor.”

“Like what?”

He looked at me. “Ah, a story for another
day, eh?”

We fell quiet. And after a while, his
silence made me wonder if I’d upset him.

“My cousin Trevor lives in Alaska,” he said
suddenly.

“Really? What part?”

“Not sure. Some out-of-the-way place. I
haven’t seen him in a while, I used to visit him in Florida.”

“Oh. Yeah, Alaska’s a big state,” I said,
stating the obvious.

He looked at the landscape thoughtfully.

“How long have you known Luke?” I asked
eventually.

Troy crossed his arms behind his head.
“Feels like forever. I used to steal his girlfriends.”

My eyes widened and I looked at him.

He put his hands out and grinned. “Don’t
worry, I’ve stopped. He’s always been picky and I liked his. We
didn’t get along at first, it was more like a challenge for me. But
we realized we had a lot more in common than taste in girls, so we
became really good friends.”

“Did he have a lot of girlfriends?”

“Honestly, most didn’t even count. It was
just childish middle school crap. He didn’t even get to first base
with most of them.”

I hugged myself. “What about high
school?”

“Ah, high school years were mostly a blur.
We spent most of them skiing—after school, on weekends, on
holidays…” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs.
“When he visited the Alps my parents let me come, since my mother
has family here. But anyway, for the most part, Luke stayed
single.” He raised his eyebrows when our eyes locked. “Until
you.”

“So his girlfriends, what were their names?"
I pried.

“One was named Andrea; forgot why he broke
up with her. And he had another one that he saw for a few months
his junior year, but she moved.” He shrugged. “Her name escapes
me.”

I’m pretty sure her name’s Nikki.

“He wasn’t too crazy about them, though.” He
rubbed his chin. “That’s what it seemed like, anyway.”

“Oh.”

Troy sighed. “Where the hell is he,
anyway?”

“Sleeping.”

He nodded and we fell silent for a
while.

“So you’re looking for a roommate?” I asked
a few minutes later.

“Yeah, wanna move in with me?” He
grinned.

My cheeks grew rosy.

“Your best friend—the one that’s in love
with me—” he said with a wink, “she’s taken, eh?”

“Um, I think so.”

He chuckled. “You
think
so?”

“Yeah, it’s complicated. She’s Luke’s
sister. You haven’t met her?”

He shook his head. “Nah.” Brief pause. “Is
she hot?”

“Very.” I took out my cell phone and showed
him a picture. “That’s Lilly.”

His eyes popped. “Whoa! No wonder Luke
wouldn’t show me pictures!”

I laughed and put my phone away.

“So what will she have, a boy or girl?”

I shook my head. “I don't think she thought
that far ahead!”

He looked at me oddly. I knew it made no
sense at the moment, but I kind of hoped he’d figure it out.

I found myself trying to compare him to
Gino. They’re both
hot
, but this guy wins. Even so, I knew
Lilly would have a heck of a time choosing if it ever came down to
it.

And this hottie seemed super interested.

“Luke talked about her a lot,” Troy
breathed. “About when they were kids, whatever he could remember.
If you ask me, he really missed her growing up. I met his mom and
Burke back in California, but his sister? She didn’t tag
along.”

“Wow, that’s too bad!” I’m sure she’d be
devastated if she found out what she’d missed!

“Dating my best friend’s sister would be a
bit weird, though, eh?”

I laughed. “Well I’m doing it, and she’s
still talking to me, so it’s not
too
bad.”

“Ah, yeah?” Shy eyes met mine. “I’ll keep
that in mind.”

I hugged myself and looked at the stars
again. The night was so peaceful.

“You seem like a great guy,” I said after a
momentary silence. “And I can’t thank you enough for stealing
Luke’s girlfriends.”

He laughed. “You’re welcome!” His eyes
twinkled. “You’re the only one he’d miss, so I’m kind of
tempted.”

“Right!” I said, red as a lobster. I really
liked this guy—
another one
who made me feel good. Until
Luke, there were a grand total of
zero
such guys at my
school, or anywhere, for that matter!

“I’m serious, I’ve never seen him like this
around a girl—the way he was today. I’m happy for him.”

“Yeah,” I said sweetly. Part of me wanted to
ask who Nikki was, but I didn’t know if I could trust him not to
tell. The whole thing just made my soul ache, and I didn’t want
anyone to know.

“Is something wrong?” he asked, his voice
shaky. He shifted in his seat, growing closer to me. “I didn’t mean
to make you uncomfortable.”

I shook my head. “It’s not you.” Our eyes
locked, our faces mere inches apart. I was close enough to feel his
breath and smell his aftershave.

And a sad, desperate,
broken
part of
me wanted to know what it’d be like to kiss him.

His mouth dropped a bit, like he was going
to say something. My eyes settled on the lips he licked, and moved
back up to his yearning eyes.

I stopped breathing when he looked at my
lips.

Maybe subconsciously, my head inched toward
his. But my heart wouldn’t let me do it.

My head fell. I love Luke too much—even
after what I’d found out.

“Are you tired?”

I looked at the mountains ahead. “Not
really. I like it here.”

“It’s hard not to. I’m sorry for whatever is
bothering you,” he whispered.

“Me, too.”

“And I’m sorry Lilly did not come on this
trip with you.”

I burst into laughter. “I’m pretty sure
she’s sorry, too!”

He grinned and looked back at the sky. After
a moment he slid an inch or two away from me, like maybe he felt
bad that I wanted to kiss him.

And I knew he’d wanted to kiss me.

Troy looked at his light-up watch. “It’s
1:30, mademoiselle. I should get home before my granny freaks.”

I giggled. “Yeah, you probably should!
Thanks for bringing me out here, I love it!”

“No problem,” he breathed, wiping what I
realized was a tear off my face. “If you need anything, let me
know.” He winked. “I kind of like you, eh.”

I didn’t kiss him, but having thought about
it made me feel dirty. It felt wrong. The guilt weighed on me,
probably as much as Luke flirting with that supermodel did.

I got to the room and hopped in the
shower.

When I was done, I dried myself, put on my
silk nightgown and crept back into bed. It was weird sleeping with
him, but—despite everything—I wanted it to never end.

As I settled into bed, Luke pulled me close
and cradled me. “I love you,” he breathed, and I knew he was wide
awake.

Tears welled in my eyes again. I squeezed
his hand.

When I didn’t answer, he shifted, letting me
roll beneath him. He held his weight with one hand and looked down
at me. “Where were you?”

“Troy took me to see the stars,” I said, a
bit frightened to admit it.

He stared at me for a moment. “Oh.”

When he didn’t say anything else, I touched
his chest. “Aren’t you going to ask what I did?”

“No.”

I furrowed my brow. “You’re not?”

“No,” he breathed. “I trust you.”

I nodded. Sobs bottled in my aching
throat.

He flashed me a crooked grin. “You’re acting
weird though, so I might as well. What’d you do?”

“We just talked.”

And I thought about kissing him.

“I figured. So why do you look upset?”

Anger filled my chest, but I stewed in
silence.

“Adonia?” His eyes pierced mine and he grew
serious. “Talk to me.”

My heart raced. The room was heating up. He
was waiting, and I didn’t know what to say. I swallowed back some
sobs and bit my tongue—so hard, it bled.

He wiped my eyes with his thumb. “What’s
going on? Did someone hurt you?”

I burst into tears and nodded.

His breaths grew rapid and his eyes widened.
“Who?”

I knew he was thinking Troy, but I was too
scared to say it was
him
.

“Adonia.” He still gazed into my eyes.
“Please.”

“I saw your texts, and your picture!” I
blared. My face was wet, and I blew snot and spit everywhere.

He was taken aback. His mouth hung and his
eyes widened still. “What are you talking about?”

I hit his shoulder. “Stop it, Luke! You know
exactly
what I’m talking about!”

He grabbed the hand I’d hit him with. After
a brief pause he said, “Wow, you’re mad about
that?
”

“Are you serious!” I spat. “I had to take a
shower ‘cause I felt dirty for wanting to kiss your friend! How
could you tell
Nikki
you think about her all the time and
can’t wait to see her, then act like you did nothing
wrong!
”

His brow creased. He looked astonished. “You
wanted to kiss my friend?”

“I am
so
hurt, Luke!” I sobbed. “I
don’t think you understand what it’s like to see what I saw!”

His head fell into his hands. I pushed him
off of me, sat up, and curled up against the headboard.

When he sat up himself, I pushed him away
from me. “Don’t touch me!”

Clearly hurt, he sat facing me, so he could
look into my eyes. “Why were you looking through my phone?” he
demanded, surprisingly calm.

“Because it’s been distracting you for days.
I didn’t think it’s some girl sending you a beach body pic! I had
to see for myself, and it didn’t help that you’re in it.”

He didn’t respond, he just stared at me.

“Do you love this girl?” I ordered.

After some silence, he crossed his arms.
“Yeah, I do.”

My heart sank, and I felt numb. “Why do you
even call me Beautiful? Why do you even bother with me, if you’re
going to tell her how much you miss her? If you’re going to think
about her all the time, why even bother staying with me? Do you
just not know how to break up with me, or what?”

He held up a finger as if to stop me. “I
just spent $1,500 on a plane ticket to get you here. You think I
did it because I didn’t know how to
dump
you?”

I stared at him. Admittedly, I hadn’t
thought of that.

“Whatever. That doesn’t explain why you’re
flirting with your ex. Maybe you didn’t want to dump me, but if
she’s all you think about and you
love her
so much, maybe
you should.” After another sob, I wiped my snot.

He covered his face. After a minute he
turned on the light above the mirrored headboard, drew close and
looked at me.

Trembling, I pushed his hand away when he
tried to touch me.

“Do you love me?” he demanded.

I broke down. “As much as you hurt me, Luke!
Maybe even more!”

He met me with a fierce embrace. It was so
passionate I was stunned. “Stop crying,” he demanded.

I tried to push out of his grasp but he
overpowered me. “Don’t tell me how to feel after pulling this
crap!” I spat.

It was quite obvious he had no intention of
letting me go. He leaned his back into the headboard, pulled me
into his lap, closed his eyes, tightened his grip on my arms and
heaved a sigh. “Are you
done
yet, Adonia?!”

His aggressive tone startled me.

“What?” I breathed, stunned.

“Nikki’s my
cousin
.”

“
What!”
I screamed—mortified—hoping
I’d heard wrong.

His cheeks were tear-stained. “Nikki’s my
cousin
. My dad’s niece. Her best friend since pre-school
just died and she needs a shoulder to cry on. She feels alone and
it breaks my fucking
heart
.”

I wasn’t breathing.

There were no words to describe how utterly
ridiculous
I felt.

I was so humiliated I didn’t know what to
say, or do, and I couldn’t imagine what he thought of me just
then.

“Oh my God,” I whispered in sheer
embarrassment. I covered my face. “You're serious?”

When he didn’t answer, I peeked through my
hands at him.

“I
love her
because she’s family. I
think about her
because she’s hurting. And although it’s
legal in some backwards states,
I don’t sleep with my
cousins
.”

I covered my face again, not knowing what I
could possibly say to make myself seem less stupid.