Page 78 of A Hard Sell

“You fucking did it.”

Luka took a shaky breath. His hands were now squeezing thick biceps. A laugh bubbled out of him. “I can’t believe it.”

“I can.” His anchor was unmoving.

Luka searched for words. “Thank you for being here. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you.”And, um, I love you.They still held each other.

“I wouldn’t have missed it, Luka.” Thomas’ gaze drifted down to Luka’s lips then back up.

“You waited outside.”

“Yeah, sorry, I know you said no, but… I just wanted to be there for you.”

“No, don’t be sorry. You were right. I needed you.”

Thomas blinked and dropped his hands from Luka’s waist, taking a step back. He looked embarrassed as he pushed a stray lock of hair behind his ear, eyes shifting down to his feet for a second. “We should go for a drink to celebrate.”

“Sounds great.” Luka swallowed, missing the warmth of Thomas’ body against his. Suddenly he was aware that the next performer was starting and his guitar was still on his back. “Let me go grab my stuff.”

Well, now what?he asked himself as he packed up his guitar. Voices in his head whirled in confusion.You weren’t supposed to go and fall in love with him, dummy, one voice said.Luka, you just performed an original song for a crowd full of strangers!another one whooped. He wanted to laugh and cry at the same time, do a victory dance and curl up in bed. Throw himself into arms like tree trunks, and run away and hide.

Instead, he walked back out into the café, smiled at Thomas then followed him into the night.

Chapter Eighteen

Now Who’s the Liar?

It was strange, arriving at his office and seeing Thomas sitting there, like any other day, fingers flying over his keyboard. How could he look so normal when he was the center of Luka’s universe? Shouldn’t there be planets whizzing around him? Comets hurling toward him, only to be flung back out into the void for another long, cold orbit, unable to break free of his pull?

“Morning,” Thomas said when he saw Luka standing in the doorway. “I didn’t think rock stars got out of bed before noon.”

Luka let out a nervous chuckle. “Well, you know. They sent a limo, so…”

Thomas turned to face him. “I can’t get over how amazing you were. I know you were so excited just to get through it, but Luka, you had those people eating out of your hand.”

“Oh…” Luka flushed. The confusing whirl in his head had continued all night. He still couldn’t believe he had done it, had stood in front of a crowd and shared a piece of his soul with them. But…what was that compared to the very fabric of his existence being rearranged?

“And I think they all knew,” Thomas added.

Luka’s mouth dried out. “Knew what?”

“That you’re something special.”

It was almost too much, having Thomas look at him like this. His eyes stung again. He slid into his chair and busied himself powering up his laptop and logging in.

Thomas smiled to himself as he went back to his typing. They managed to get their day going, since they had a few more internet ads to splice together that were supposed to be finished by tomorrow.

But as the end of the day approached and they were putting the final pieces together, Luka had to go and ask Morgan where the final cuts of the music were.

Morgan was at his desk, crumpled papers on the floor all around him, one palm pressed to his forehead. He jumped when Luka rapped on the doorframe. “It’s not ready,” he snapped.

“Oookay.” Luka stepped in. “When do you think it might—”

“Look,” Morgan interrupted, changing gears, his voice thin and reedy. “I need your help.”

Luka sighed. “All right, let’s hear what you have.”

“Well, I don’t actually have any tracks laid out yet. Just…” Morgan waved a hand at a lone piece of sheet music on his desk.

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