Page 23 of Memories with Fire

Luke takes a swig of his beer and shrugs. “S’pose I’m okay. Didn’t start until my college days when I was living in Houston. My roommate was a big surfer, and he got me into it when I wasn’t playing football.”

Brody nods appreciatively. “Surfside Beach or Jamaica Beach?”

“Started at Surfside. By the time I was in my last year of college we alternated between the two. My roommate said I’d kill myself at Jamaica if I didn’t work my way up to it.”

Brody laughs and nods again. “Smart guy.” There’s a pause before he adds, “You up for a ride tomorrow?”

The look on Luke’s face chips away a little more at the ice I’m trying to maintain. He looks thrilled beyond belief. “Hell yeah. It’s been a bit though. Don’t get out much living in Waco.”

“Cool.”

“You played football, you surf, and you dance?” Quinn pipes up from my left. There’s an allure to her voice that only Quinn can get away with. “What else are you good at?”

I’m not sure if it’s the tone of her voice and the suggestiveness in it, but for some reason Luke looks to me. I’m already watching him, and when our eyes meet, my entire body flushes with warmth. I know we’re both thrown back ten years ago to a night that changed my world forever. I had no idea what the hell I was doing, but there was Luke, so patient and understanding. He went slow, making sure I was okay every step of the way, guiding me through so I knew what to expect as he took my virginity. No other man has ever made sure I was so thoroughly ready for them as he did.

Sometimes I think that night, and that summer, ruined men for me sexually. Which is ridiculous. We were practically kids.

“You were sure showing Nate’s aunts a good time on the dance floor,” Liam says, slicing through my reverie.

I give my head a shake and blink a couple times, wondering if I was the only one lost in thought, or if Luke was also in a maze of memories. Maybe he was talking the whole time and I missed it. Good god, I hope not.

“Yeah, I don’t generally do that a lot,” Luke laughs, taking a swig of his beer. His eyes moved to Liam for a moment, but they’re trained on me again. “But Savanna pulled it out of me that I knew how to dance when Nate introduced us, and insisted I show her. I didn’t realize it would turn into an hour of swinging ladies around.”

“His momma taught him,” I say, immediately regretting the words. I feel everyone’s eyes focus on me, causing my cheeks to flame. Crap. That was not a wise move. Didn’t I just finish telling Luke not to bring up the past?

Reaching for my wine, I dump the rest of the glass down my throat, hoping that’ll stop me from saying another word.

“She did,” Luke offers when I don’t add more. “I remember you used to love it when I’d?—”

“No!” I exclaim heatedly, already on my feet before the word is out of my mouth. “I warned you. No.”

Grabbing my phone and purse, I push back from the table and step around the chairs. The last thing I need is another wave of butterflies attacking me. I don’t need to be reminded of how much I loved being spun around on the dance floor, or how it felt to be in his arms. I’m doing a good enough job on my own at remembering, and it’s starting to drive me crazy.

Those melted spots in my heart need to freeze again, and I can’t do that anywhere near Luke.

CHAPTER 9

LUKE

“Hailey, wait!”I call, pushing my chair back at the same time I rise from it. The last thing I meant to do was make her run, but my words did serve a purpose. I wanted to see how correct Quinn was about Hailey being scared of me.

“Leave her, Luke. She’ll be okay,” Quinn says from across the table.

I spare her a glance, “Pushing that safety net, you know?”

Quinn might have set a bit of a fire under my ass earlier, after Hailey had all but extinguished it, renewing what my cousin started. She shared how Hailey’s been on more than a couple of blind dates, courtesy of her mom, without any luck. I got a whole run down without any prompting before being introduced to a newly engaged Savanna.

A little quick thinking on my part and I dropped the fact that I could dance to Savanna, something I know Hailey used to love. I knew that once I took Savanna for a twirl around the floor it would bring about others that wanted to dance. It always does.

I have to hand it to my mom; she taught me how to pick up the ladies. Didn’t matter that most of them tonight were old enough to be my mother and already married. My mission was accomplished when I saw Hailey staring at me numerous times from where she sat, alone, at a table.

I’m ten paces behind Hailey as she makes a beeline towards the bar. My long legs, compared to hers, have me closing the distance, but she still beats me there and I hear her order a shot of whiskey from the bartender.

“Hailey,” I say when I stop an arm’s length behind her. “Can we please talk for a minute?”

Her shoulders rise and fall with each hard breath she takes. I can imagine there’s rage and a sliver of adrenaline pumping through her veins at the moment. I’m sure some would question my sanity when it was clear she was angry and wanted nothing to do with me, but I’m not intimidated by this redhead.

She doesn’t turn around. I’ll wait her out if I have to because she can’t stay standing at the bar the rest of the evening. The bartender pours her a shot, glancing at me once he’s done. I smile pleasantly at him then focus my energy back on Hailey. She’s picking up her shot, which turned into a double, and is slugging it back like it’s water.

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