Prodigal Son(9)

“A complication?” I asked. “How could you think that? Meeting you could be something they’ve hoped for.”

“Could be. Could be the opposite. Anyway, I figured I’d take a little time off work and come find out. My parents left me some money, and I figured I’d blow a little of it on a fancy hotel — hoping to take my mind off the mess I’m in.”

“You sure picked the right spot for that,” I said, wowed by the fancy bar.

“Yeah. Part of me wants to drink until I can’t think straight anymore, and part of me wants to just dive in, tackle this problem, and get it all over with.”

“I can’t imagine how hard it is to deal with everything that’s happened.”

“Yeah,” Luke said, polishing off the last of his scotch. “Let’s talk about something else. Tell me about yourself.”

“Not much to tell. I work at Falling Rock and go to school part time. I wish I could afford to go full-time, but it’s just too expensive.”

“Where do you go to school?”

“I’m at the community college.” I looked at my watch and realized that Bug would probably be calling me soon. He was ridiculously jealous, even though I didn’t think he actually cared about me that much. I think he mostly didn’t want anyone else to have me. He’d been so jealous of Moses, and I thought that after Moses had been killed that things might settle down. They hadn’t.

“You have somewhere to be?” Luke asked when he saw me check the time.

“No, but I’m expecting a call at some point.”

“Boyfriend?” he asked.

I sighed, unsure how to answer. “Sort of. Maybe. I don’t know. It’s complicated.” I didn’t want to lie to Luke, but the situation with Bug really was complicated — not exactly settled.

“What a shame. I was hoping that you were single, to be honest.”

“Well, he doesn’t own me, that’s for sure. I don’t really want to get into it, but I can do what I want.”

“Do you want to go to a ballgame with me?”

I smiled at him and thought that I’d never been asked out by a man as sexy as he was. Moses had been as hot, but we hadn’t really dated. There hadn’t been candlelight dinners and romance. There had been plenty of hot sex, though. Knowing that Luke was in town just for a short while, I wondered if I should just leave him alone, or if I should try to make something happen. He was so gorgeous that I wanted to sleep with him. I’d never been with a guy as polished as he was, and I wondered what he’d be like in bed.

I didn’t know what to say. Part of me wanted to take him upstairs to his room and keep him up all night long. Part of me wanted to let him move on with his life without getting involved with a girl as messed up as me.

I figured I’d hedge my bets. “Haven’t had a chance to check my calendar yet,” I said with what I hoped was a sexy smile.

“A gorgeous woman who plays hard to get,” Luke observed while shaking his head. “I do love a challenge.”





Chapter 5


Luke


I ordered another scotch for me and a second glass of wine for Krystal. I knew I should probably lay off the booze and go to bed, but I was really enjoying talking to Krystal. Not only was she smoking hot, but she seemed like a genuinely nice person. The fact that she had a boyfriend — or whatever he was — gave me pause, but she was a grownup, and they weren’t married. I figured it was okay to give it a shot — try to get her to agree to go out with me. It wasn’t like I was proposing. I was only in town for a little while, and I was enjoying the company.

“So about that ballgame?” I asked again.

Krystal sighed dramatically, and I couldn’t help but notice her curves underneath her t-shirt. Goddamn, did I want to see her naked. I realized that the scotch wasn’t helping my decision-making.

“Tell you what,” she said after a moment’s thought. “I’ll give you my number, and you can call or text me if you check the schedule and want to go later in the week.”

I felt like I’d won the lottery. “Done,” I said instantly. “I’d check the schedule now, but I don’t want to waste a moment of my time with you, and anyway, I think I’ve had too much to drink to manage it.”

Krystal laughed and reached into her purse for a pen and paper. “Well if you can’t look up the schedule, then I can’t very well trust you to store my number.” She wrote down her number and handed me the piece of paper. “Don’t lose it, now.”

“Not a chance,” I said, putting it carefully into my wallet. I was really starting to feel the booze.