Page 94 of Theirs

The knock on the door made me still. Luke and I looked at each other. Hopefulness shined in his eyes while I was skeptical. We took a deep breath together and got up to head to the door as Luke’s phone rang. His sister's name popped on the screen, but he ignored it.

I opened the door as Luke lingered in the living room by the fire. Genevieve stood there looking small and meek, biting her lip.

I nodded my head to come in. “We are in the living room.”

“Ok,” she said, holding onto her purse for dear life.

She walked in slowly and when I closed the door she jumped, looking back quickly. Her eyes were wide until she realized what had made the loud noise. What the hell had happened to make her so jumpy? We walked into the room, the heat of the fireplace warmed up the room perfectly.

Genevieve stopped on the side of the sofa looking at Luke and then looking at me. Her lip trembled, a tear slid down her cheek, “I’m sorry,” she whimpered.

All the anger I had been holding onto melted when more tears came falling down.

“Evie,” Luke said, walking up to her and pulling her against him.

“I’m an asshole, I was so mean and I’m so sorry,” she cried, grabbing onto Luke’s shirt. “I was, am scared, I don’t do this and… and… I have no idea what I am doing, but I know that these last few days have been awful.”

I made my way to them putting my hand on her back.

“You made us feel really shitty,” I said, getting a scowl from Luke.

Luke wasn’t big on confrontation, he also hated rubbing things in anyone's face. This was different though, we were talking about our hearts. If this was going to continue, then we needed to have that uncomfortable conversation.

“Cheryl reamed my ass and I was too stubborn to see that I was wrong,” she said looking back at me. “I… I didn’t have a good example, my mother thought she needed a man to survive and I never wanted that. I've pushed everyone away because I have never wanted to depend on anyone and I've never seen what a real, stable relationship could be.”

“Is that what you want, a relationship or is this going to continue being a contract without a contract?” I scooted closer.

She looked so young and lost.

“I think we are way past a contract,” she sighed. “But if you still want me. I want to discuss what we each expect and…”

My phone rang loudly, interrupting Genevieve.

“It’s ok, I’ll call them back,” I said, when it stopped ringing.

“Can we?—”

My phone rang again.

“Hold that thought,” I said, looking for my phone.

Finally finding it, I saw Luke’s sister's name and I instantly knew something was wrong.

“Cariño,” I said, taking him my phone. “I think you need to give your sister a call.”

My phone rang again, and it was from his brother Theodore. Luke released Genevieve, grabbed my phone and answered. He walked away from us to the kitchen, leaving us alone. It was an awkward silence, something that was never an issue before and I hated it.

“I know I said it already, but I am really sorry,” she said, looking sincere, wiping her face. “I know I messed up and there is a lot to talk about.”

“There is a lot to talk about, but are you here because you are all in or will you give us hope and walk away?” I asked, sitting on the sofa motioning her over to sit too.

She bit her lip, sitting on the sofa, looking nervous. “That's what I want to talk to you about. I need to say a few things and we can decide if we want to move forward.”

She looked guilty. I clenched my jaw thinking the worst and hoped I was overreacting. Something dropped in the kitchen and then a loud thud.

“Cariño?” I called out.

“Luke?” Genevieve yelled when we received no answer.

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