Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 134212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 671(@200wpm)___ 537(@250wpm)___ 447(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 671(@200wpm)___ 537(@250wpm)___ 447(@300wpm)
Luke laughs as he removes his leather jacket and drapes it on a bar stool before collecting the drinks and wandering over. “I guess all that’s missing is the strip pole, right?” He hands me my wine as I chuckle, and watches as I bring it to my lips. “Good?”
I’m no wine expert, the cheap stuff always doing the trick, but I can tell that this is no cheap stuff. “Very.”
“Come. We’ll hang out in the kitchen. You hungry?”
“I wouldn’t mind just hanging out in here,” I tell him, spotting a gaming machine in the corner. “Oh my God, is that PAC-MAN?” I’m on my way over to investigate quickly, excited. “I love PAC-MAN.”
“Not so fast.” Luke catches me around my waist with his forearm and lifts me from my feet. “It’s members only in here.” He carries me out, and I frown the entire way.
“Members only?” I ask when he sets me on my feet in the hallway. “Then can I join?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Well, because I’m pretty sure you’re not a bloke. It’s men only.” He smiles at my disgusted face.
“Who says?”
“Todd.”
“Who’s Todd?”
“My best friend and co-owner of the bar.” He thumbs over his shoulder to his man’s paradise.
“Todd’s sexist,” I grumble. “I want to join.”
“I’ll run it by Todd.”
“What? Whether or not I’m permitted entry?” Is he serious?
“Yes.” He shrugs. “It’s a brotherhood thing.” Luke walks off and looks back, jerking his head for me to follow. I kick my feet into gear and tail him to the kitchen.
“Is Todd single too?”
Luke laughs, like I haven’t asked a simple question. “Not according to the woman he’s been sleeping with for a month.”
“Oh.” I think I understand. “It’s more to her than it is to him?”
“Something like that. Todd’s my age and still not ready to settle down.”
“Sounds like someone I know,” I quip seriously, pouting when Luke looks to the sky tiredly.
“They all turned out to be needy, precious, or complete nutters. If I’m unlucky, all three.”
“What about the current flavor of the . . . week? Has she been proven to be any of those things?”
“Not yet.” We arrive in the kitchen and Luke goes to the fridge. “I have high hopes for this one.”
I take a seat at the breakfast bar, gazing around as he rummages through the contents of his fridge, presenting a pot of salsa and some Doritos. He looks quite happy with his find as he joins me, offering the crisps. “So she’s nice?” I ask, dipping and crunching my way through a Dorito.
“She ticks all the right boxes at the moment, I suppose. Who knows, but everything happens for a reason, right?”
I look up at him. I don’t agree. Because if he’s right, what’s the reason for your husband getting cancer, and what’s the reason for him dying from that cancer? Everything happens for a reason? Luke is so far off the mark, he may as well be shooting from another country. “Maybe,” I murmur, returning to my crisps.
There’s not one single second of silence as we sit and snack, Luke making a conscious effort to keep the conversation flowing. I’m grateful. It’s easy, so easy to be in his company, and it’s so easy to laugh at his constant teasing and dry wit. “How’s Tia?” I ask, as Luke refills my glass.
“She’s good. Still enjoying her adventures. She’s in Thailand at the moment. Island hopping.”
“Lucky thing,” I muse, envious of her free spiritedness, of the freedom she has to just . . . go. “Sounds amazing.”
“Doesn’t it?” Luke replies wistfully. “To be that carefree. To go where the feeling takes you. Of course, it helps that Daddy’s there to pick up the bill.”
I laugh when he gives me a sardonic smile. “I’m sure she appreciates it.”
“It’s my own fault. I’ve overcompensated in her life with material things.”
“Overcompensated?”
“A lack of a stable family unit.”
“Why didn’t you marry her?” I never asked him the finer details.
“It just didn’t feel right. She was terribly clingy. I did the right thing, though half my family didn’t speak to me for months. Pops did, though.”
“Because he knew.”
“Yeah, he knew.” Every time Luke mentions his grandfather, I can’t help but notice a certain twinkle in his eyes. He loves him a lot.
“It must have been a shock to find out she was pregnant.”
He laughs. “You mean the congratulations card she sent me?”
“Nice touch.”
“I thought so too.” He holds the salsa out for me. “Last scoop.”
I accept his offer and watch as he goes about clearing up the empty crisp packet and tossing the jar in the bin. And I think . . . he’s given up a night out with a guaranteed score to sit here talking nonsense and eating Doritos with me. “Thank you,” I say again, just for the sake of it. I know he knows I’m grateful.