Page 13 of Back To You

And like clockwork, it comes to fruition, but there’s an edge I’ve never seen before.

One that stops me in my tracks.

“My apologies, Annie girl,” Luke says, leaning in so close his nose almost touches mine. “When I said you were staying with me, it wasn’t a question.”

I’m ready to fire back one of my usual, smart-ass comments, ready to go back-and-forth like we have been ever since he came back into my life, but I can’t.

The words get caught in my throat when I see his baby blues drop to my lips for a fraction of a second, before he says just an inch away from my lips, “Let’s go.”

I’m speechless, my mind racing a hundred miles a minute as he grabs my overnight bag from me and walks out the door, expecting me to follow him.

And for some reason, still unbeknown to me, I do.

Chapter 6

Luke

I think I broke Annie.

She has not said a word to me since we walked out of her apartment, and her not talking to me is scarier than her telling me to fuck off.

Annie is no stranger to my apartment—the apartment that I was going to ask her to move into with me, before she completely disappeared from my life—but she’s never stayed the night, let alone a month.

I have two bedrooms—mine, and a guest room for when any of my friends or my brothers stay over, and it’ll be Annie’s for the foreseeable future.

With only a wall separating the two of us.

I have her tote bag over my shoulder, the hard-on I've had since I found her little blue vibrator in her underwear drawer when I was packing her stuff finally subsiding.

She follows behind me, still refusing to say a word as we get to the door to my apartment.

When I unlock the door to my place, I hear the familiar nails clicking the hardwood floor as I swing the door open. Rosie, my golden retriever I rescued from the shelter Annie works at, welcomes us home, her tail wagging.

“Hi, Ro-Ro,” I say, petting her head as I walk into the kitchen, setting Annie’s bag down on the counter and flipping on one of the kitchen lights. “Look who’s here—your mama!”

Annie lets out an exhale as she walks into my place, shutting the door behind her. “How many times do I have to tell you that I am not her mom,” she says through her teeth, bending down to pet Rosie, but at least she’s talking to me now.

I bend down with Annie, letting Rosie play the perfect buffer for us. I won’t be able to get Annie to talk about the break-in or the details of her staying here, but she’ll talk about Ro.

“Of course you are.” I lean in letting Rosie lick my cheek, not caring if I sound like a complete freak with my puppy voice. “Ro-Ro deserves a strong female role model in her life, don’t you, sweetie pie?”

Annie rolls her eyes. “So you kidnapped me to be a dog mom? That’s weird even for you, bartender,” she deadpans, but I know Rosie is her soft spot.

For as much as Annie hates me, she loves Rosie, and is always making sure I’m taking her to the vet, getting her groomed, and that she is up-to-date on her shots. She refuses to accept the role as her mom even though Annie was there when I adopted Rosie.

I got Rosie from a fundraiser at the animal shelter Annie works at—she was just a volunteer there at the time—and Eddie and I went to support her and the cause. We ended up both leaving with a pup, me with Rosie, and Eddie with Rosie’s sister, Daisy.

Rosie is one of the only things Annie and I can talk about without her ignoring me or telling me to stop talking to her.

“Thanks for letting me stay here, by the way,” Annie adds in a whisper, and I have to will my facial expression not to change, or she’ll take it back and get mad at me for bringing up how she’s being nice to me.

We keep petting Rosie for a few moments in silence, and it registers for me that this is the first time we’ve been completely alone together in I don’t know how long—years, maybe—but it would be a death wish for me to bringthatup right now, especially after I just got a moment of softness from her.

Rosie, realizing she is tired of sitting, reels me from my own mind. She licks Annie’s cheek before flopping down on the floor and rolling her on her back.

Annie lets out a little laugh, and my eyes follow the noise, finding her smiling as she scratches Rosie’s belly.

It’s small but still so blinding.

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