Page 27 of Falling Hard
Now it was my time to look confused.
He continued, "I hear you’ve been busy telling a lot of people about my engagement."
Defensively, I stared at him. "No. Wait, was it a big secret?"
Now that I thought about it, why wasn't there an announcement in the newspaper or the society website? Other than our small circle, nobody knew of Luke and Soleil Moon Frye’s pending nuptials.
"No, it's just we didn't want it to overshadow Solenne's promotion at work. After fashion season, I'll make a big announcement. "
Brenda brought over our food, apologized again for her misunderstanding, and left. Neither of us wasted any time digging in. While I chewed my food, Luke continued, "I've gotten a few calls and text messages from friends telling me they heard I was engaged. All of them told me you mentioned it. Solenne and I might need to hire you to handle PR for the wedding too."
"Maybe I spoke to two or three people about my best friend getting married, but I haven't told that many."
Luke changed the subject and started talking about other things I had zero interest in. I became distracted by his chewing. I had seen him eat hundreds of times, and it wasn't anything special. Yet now, as Luke spoke while taking bites, with his mouth full, licking the crumbs from his fingers, I sat across from him barely touching my food, completely drawn in by the way his lips moved. The slow smile when he savored the food in his mouth. My stomach fluttered because all of a sudden, everything about Luke was impossible to ignore.
Across from me, Luke drizzled syrup all over his waffles. "Liv, no matter how I try, I just can't figure you out."
"Same here."
Luke replied with words I'd laugh at if my mouth wasn't full. "I’m an open book."
"Whatever you say," I said, then took another bite, wondering if keeping our relationship as it was right now was so bad. Why risk losing Luke when I could just keep him in my life in any way I could? These heavy thoughts stripped the joy from food I usually loved, leaving it dry and tasteless, each bite weighed down by the knot of unhappiness in my chest. The fault was definitely not Sonny's cooking it was me. No matter what I told myself, there was no way I could keep pretending this was enough.
9
ALL I COULD DO WAS CRY
The room was filledwith grunts and thuds as everyone delivered sharp punches against leather bags. The instructor's voice came over the speaker, counting off combinations. The sound of sneakers squeaking on the mats echoed around the room. My girlfriends and I followed the directions, sweating and panting. I stayed locked in, never taking my gaze off the bag. I kicked harder than I should have, again and again, each strike landing with a thick, punishing sound, louder than the last. It was a pretty great way to get some of my frustrations out.
"Damn, Liv, whose face are you picturing on that bag?" Alex's question came just as the instructor ended the class.
"You don’t need to ask that," Mei said. "It’s obvious she’s picturing Luke’s future wifey."
Together, we all walked out of the studio. Mei’s words annoyed me, causing heat to rise in my already flushed skin.Luke's future wife, I think not.
Desperate to talk about anything but him, I dabbed the sweat from my face and directed the attention to Alex. "How's Amoré Nights coming along?"
She smiled. "We have all the investors needed. Between you, me, and Demetria, plus Luke, we brought in a few more, and then GreenSlate came in and invested fifty percent."
I was proud of Alex. Back in college, my friend came up with what she called the perfect dating app, and it was one step closer to becoming real.
"GreenSlate?" Demetria repeated. "They don't normally invest in startups."
"Well, they do now," Alex said as we made our way into the women’s changing room.
"Mei, how's medical school?"
My friend looked at me then shrugged. "It's school. Nobody is having a good time. Just lots of stress and tests. Some days I question if I really want to be a doctor."
Demetria beat me to it, patting her on the shoulder. "Grad school is no joke. I understand completely. There were plenty of times in law school I wanted to quit. Soon you’ll find a pack of undergrads to help you kill the time, the way I got lucky when I met you bitches."
As I retrieved my things from the locker, talk turned (again!) to Luke.
"Liv, I heard you’re looking to get an arson charge."
Darn it. Demetria's cousin and Jacqueline were married, so I didn't have to guess how she’d learned that embarrassing bit of information. The other two widened their eyes and waited for an explanation.
"This is getting scary," Mei mumbled.
