Page 12 of Back To You

A moment passes, and I feel a familiar presence appear behind me, my body instinctively relaxes before my mind can register it. “She can stay with me.”

Officer Collins gives us a nod and heads over to the other officers. Luke turns to face me, our friends’ eyes burning into the back of my head.

I’ve made it my goal in life ever since Luke Owens came back into my life to always do the opposite of what he tells me to do. I told myself that I would forget everything that happened between us, even if I knew it was an impossible task.

I spent my childhood wishing I had his light, his confidence, his happiness, and I spent my teenage years hanging on to every word he said about our love, our lives, our future, until all of it turned out to be a lie.

I want to yell and scream in his face and tell him to stop inserting himself into my life, but I can’t find the words.

“You’re staying with me,” Luke says to me this time, as if he still has the right to swoop in and make everything better.

Where was he when Bea and Eliza snuck backstage during opening night of my freshmen year musical and hid my costume? Where was he when Devin and Penelope told everyone in our homeroom that I gave the musical director blowjobs to get the leads?

Where was he when legs would stick out in front of me so I would trip in the middle of the busy hallway or when people I thought were my friends would pretend I wasn’t there when I sat down at the lunch table?

Where the hell was he when Devin showed me a video of the two of them making out the night before Grant’s party when he told me he had plans with the guys from the hockey team?

I shake the thoughts away, embarrassed with myself that I let this high school bullshit still get to me in my twenties. “Like hell I am,” I tell him, before turning to our friends. “It’s late, you guys can go. I’m fine.”

Mia and Drew look at me, and I can feel them looking past the guise I’m trying—and failing—to keep in place. Drew opens her mouth, and I stop her before she can say what I know she is about to say. “No. My future niece or nephew will be here any day now. I know I call you two Mom and Dad,” I say, glancing up at Emmett andback to Drew, “but I am not letting you stress yourselves out by taking me in.”

“Ann, don’t talk about yourself like a stray dog,” Emmett says, his arm hanging over Drew’s shoulder. His huge body takes up most of the door frame, and the place where my heart used to beat comes alive for a moment.

Emmett doesn’t say much, so the things he does say hold a lot of meaning to him.

Even if he’s wrong.

I’m just like the strays that we take in at the animal shelter. The ones that someone wanted when they were a cute puppy but got rid of the second they became too much work.

The kind that are good in theory but not worth all the time and energy in the end.

I clear my throat, shaking my head as I tell him, “I’m not staying with you guys.”

“Yeah, ‘cause she’s staying with us,” Mia says, looking up at Eddie who nods in agreement, making more tears build behind my eyes that I have to blink away. I turn to face them, but before I can say anything, Luke walks out of my bathroom with one of my tote bags over his shoulder.

I didn’t even see him go anywhere when I turned to talk to Drew and Emmett.

“I think I got everything. You ready to go?” Luke says as he approaches us, the usual lightness in his step, his calm demeanor is an evident contrast to my own worry and frustration about this whole situation.

I snatch the bag from him, glancing to see clothes, my phone charger, toiletries, my textbook, notes, and planner from my desk, and my fuckingvibratorin the bag he packed.

I look up at him, and I think I’m ready to make use of Mia’s punching lessons and knock that smirk off his stupid face when he winks at me.

Moments like these further convince me that I am capable of killing someone.

Specificallythissomeone.

I’m too busy thinking of the different ways I’d do it to acknowledge my feelings about how he knew exactly what to pack for me and how now I have onelessthing to worry about.

“Where do you get off on telling me what to do?” I ask him, the venom to my voice no stranger to Luke anymore.

“On the contrary, Annie. I get off onyoutellingmewhat to do,” he answers, and my fists ball at my sides, one of them ready to swing. “So, please tell me what else I can grab for you before we go.”

“How about you try to keep it in your pants when I tell you to get the fuck out so I can figure out what the hell I’m going to do?” I fume, and I don’t care about our audience—they’re used to it. “I am not staying with you.”

“We’ll leave you two to discuss this,” Eddie says, and there is a hint of a smile in his voice that I want to slap away, but I don’t give him any attention. I hear the amusement in the goodbyes as the four of them file out of my apartment, and I make a mental note to tell them all to belessobvious with it the next time I see them.

I expect Luke to hit me with his lazy smile, the one he gives to remind everyone around him of the golden boy he truly is.

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