Page 30 of Love Medley
“Oookay. Go on.”
Before I lose my nerve, I quickly recount the situation between Lucy, her asshole ex, and me. “And now, I’m going on a fake date with her to some fancy dinner.”
Luke whistles. “Well, you get props for surprising me, because that wasnotwhat I was expecting to hear.”
“Great. Just great.” If Luke, a bona fide player who has navigated more than his fair share of sticky situations with women, is shocked, that’s a bad sign. “I was hoping to get some tips on how to fake date someone.”
Resting his back against the back bar, Luke fixes me with a probing stare, blatantly ignoring my request. “You like this Lucy chick.”
This is definitely not a question, but a statement. Am I that obvious? “I’m just trying to help her get that Weston fucker off her back.”
“You sure about that?” Luke looks way too amused by this conversation.
Of course I’m interested, who wouldn’t be? But it doesn’t matter whether I am or not—she’s the kind of woman someone like me sings power ballads about, not someone I actually get to date. “Lucy’s super sweet, and this is no big deal. I’m happy to lend her a hand.”
“That was a world-class deflection.” Luke’s definitely giving me shit now and not allowing me to change the subject.
“Look. Even if Iwereinterested, Lucy is way out of my league.” The words slip out before I can stop them.
Luke stops cleaning and leans on his forearms to look me dead in the eyes. “Jake. I know that your family sucks ass, particularly your fucked-up dad, but just because they think you're a piece of shit doesn’t mean you are.”
His words land heavily, and if I were standing, I’d likely stagger back. Luke knows about my crappy family—he’s been my friend long enough that he’s seen some interactions between my dad and me firsthand. Sometimes I forget Luke is more insightful than he seems.
“Tell me this. Why do you think you’re not good enough?”
God, I don’t want to get into this. “How am I not? She’s a med student, and I’m just a nurse. She’s probably going somewhere else for residency next year. I doubt she’s even looking for a relationship—she’s still trying to get rid of her previous one!”
Luke raises an eyebrow. “Um,youused to be a med student.”
“I’m not anymore.”
“You chose not to be.”
I don’t have a good comeback for that. “Okay, well, I’m a nurse now. I take orders from people like her.”
“Does she care about that?”
Immediately, I change tactics. “I wasn’t a good boyfriend to Sam. I’m a horrible communicator.”
Luke rolls his eyes. “No offense to you or Sam, but you guys weren’t that compatible. I’m actually kind of surprised you stayed together as long as you did.”
Now I’m curious about his point of view. “What do you mean?”
“Sam’s a nice girl. But you didn’t have anything in common. She never came to TNT to see you perform, and she was always away at some family event. You didn’t like the same movies, music, or food. And she was always trying to convert you to her way of thinking instead of accepting you for who you are. I mean, she’s a vegetarian that wanted youto quit eating meat! I honestly think you were both so busy that it took your being in the same place to figure out that you weren’t right for each other. It probably waslessabout communication and more about how much you wanted to communicate in the first place.”
Wow. He certainly gave it to me straight. But I did ask for it. I sigh. “You might be right. I just don’t want to make the same mistakes.”
“I don’t think you will. Plus, now that I see you mooning over Lucy, I’m pretty sure you just weren’t that into Sam.”
My brow furrows. “Why would I have dated Sam for a year if I didn’t like her?” But even as I say this out loud, I’m pretty sure Luke’s right.
“You liked her as a person, but I always felt like both of you were just going through the motions. And maybe you hadn’t met someone like Lucy before.”
Well, that’s true.
Luke shakes his head. “So, you just need to man up and realize how awesome you are. Go after her. If she’s half as incredible as you seem to think, she’ll realize that too. What do you have to lose?”
“My pride?” I grumble.
