Page 112 of Unexpected

“I know, but I just think it’s a nice sentiment,” Amanda explained. “Life is crazy sometimes, and it’s good to remind ourselves that we should continue to be thankful even when shit is tough.”

Luke’s hand found its way to my thigh underneath the table as he ate like it was second nature to touch me when we were close. I loved that he couldn’t stop touching me. I reflexively leaned into his touch and slid my legs apart so mine brushed his own. His fingers trailed a path up the inside of my leg until his hand found its place at my midthigh.

The residual heat from our kiss earlier pulsed between my legs as his thumb stroked in lazy circles. Even through the thick fabric of my jeans, I could feel his touch to my skin, and through my muscle and into my bone. Like each time he touched me, he embedded in me another piece of himself.

“Well, I think it’s a fucking great idea,” Luke said. “And I damn well know what I’m thankful for this year.” His eyes darted to me, and I felt the blush creep up my face. If there wasn’t enough sincerity already in his voice, his eyes held it in spades.

I gave him a smile that hopefully conveyed how much I agreed, but to ensure he received the message, I dropped my hand under the table and squeezed his.

I wasn’t a woman that felt she needed a man to make her happy or complete her. Butdamn, was it nice. I had spent too much time with someone who quite obviously didn’t appreciate me and didn’t care, so it felt easier now to identify when the opposite was true. Like you’d only eaten the absolute worst food on the planet for years on end and eventually concluded that the horrible food would be all you’d eat ever again. The food was awful and somewhere inside, you knew that, but that thought grew smaller and smaller as you became more comfortable with the disgusting food. Then, out of nowhere, you slowly tasted some of the best food ever made. It was baked, and glazed, and grilled, and fried, and it seemed indulgent and out of reach. But it wasn’t. And then, once you tasted the food, you knew you’d never go back.

It would be easier then to identify the good food just based on smell, sight or even touch.

Luke seemed like the finest food I could find, and God, did I hope I was right.

From across the table, someone cleared their throat, and my eyes found Blakely’s boring into me. If a look could have set me on fire, hers would have done it. Luke’s hand flexed on my thigh, and he stared at Blakely with annoyance.

Reed took the opportunity to elbow her, but she didn’t flinch as I tried to ignore her and continue eating. With one small sound, Blakely silenced the entire room. The only noises were the scraping of utensils on the plates and chewing, which grated my nerves.

“Josh, how’s Zach? Is he with Samantha this year?” Devon asked, cutting through the tension with a single question. Thankfully, the question spurred follow-up questions after Josh explained that Samantha had taken Zach out of the country without his say-so, and thus, a new conversation commenced.

It was easy to tell that no one liked Samantha either, and it seemed like both Luke and his brother had had pretty bad luck when it came to the women front.

“What about the brunette from a few weeks ago? You said things were going well with her, right? What the hell was her name?” James asked before slumping back into his seat and taking a large pull from his beer.

Josh scoffed and mimicked James’s posture. “Her name was Georgia, and everything was going well until I found out she was engaged. And then she tells me that the only reason she started dating me was because she was questioning her relationship. Apparently, I made her question her engagement so much that she broke it off and wanted to start something with me.”

Reed laughed and nudged Josh. “Damn, dude, I swear you have the worst luck sometimes.”

Josh threw him a look and knocked back the rest of the beer. “Once a cheater, always a fucking cheater. I didn’t want any part of that bad juju.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, and Luke slung his arm over my chair, tracing circles on my opposite shoulder.

“Well, there’re plenty of women out there, right?” Reed said but with little conviction like he didn’t actually believe it.

Josh’s eyes whipped to our side of the table and landed on Amanda, who was totally unaware and eating her mashed potatoes. She scooped them into her mouth and licked the fork like it was ice cream, her eyes fluttering closed. As Josh watched her for half a second, I saw something flit over his expression that I couldn’t exactly place.

“I don’t think so, and one woman has absolutely ruined the rest for me,” Josh said, not tearing his gaze away from Amanda, who, when she registered the comment, lifted her eyes to his. The tension was back, but it was different this time. That time it felt a lot like sexual tension, but who was I to know?

Their eye contact only held for a moment before Amanda cleared her throat and took another, less indulgent bite of potatoes. As I glanced around the room, I realized I was not the only one who had witnessed the interaction.

“So, how are you liking your new apartment?” Amanda asked from beside me, changing the subject easily.

“Yeah, you’re living at the Ella Apartments, right?” Devon asked, and I nodded, trying to finish the bite of green beans I’d just taken. “I lived there for a few months before I moved closer into town. Pretty nice place, but that fucking leasing office woman. What was her name?”

I bit my lip and tried to hold back my laughter. “Blonde with huge boobs? Looks every bit the part of a Southern Barbie?”

“Yes!” Devon exclaimed.

“Yeah, Savannah. She’s still there and loves Luke,” I said with a wink in his direction. He shook his head and finished off the food on his plate.

“Pretty sure any guy that walks in there who looks half-decent is a target for her,” James quipped and then added to Luke, “no offense, man.”

“None taken,” Luke said.

“But the apartment’s nice and everything?” Amanda asked, bringing the topic back tomyapartment, not the busty blonde working the leasing office.

“It is nice. It’s good enough for now, which is all I wanted. I like my neighbors, and it seems like a good area. So, it checks all the boxes.”

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