Page 82 of Back To You

“I’m supposed to hear by Monday,” I tell Drew.

“And how are things going with Luke and all the renovations?” Mia asks both Drew and I. Since Drew and Emmett asked Luke to handle the coffee shop, Luke has dived into renovating the old warehouse.

Now that Emmett is back at Lenny’s full-time, Luke went back to his bartending shifts. When he’s not at Lenny’s, he’s next door at the warehouse, meeting with all kinds of construction companies, electricians, plumbers, and distributors for all the equipment he’ll need.

“Pretty sure he’s going to start sleeping there one of these days.” I laugh, then reach into Drew’s lap where she’d holding the popcorn. Luke wants to open by the beginning of December, so he has just about a month to get it ready.

Safe to say, he’s working around the clock, and there are so many moving pieces that all his open time is spent there. He’s using money from his trust, putting his whole heart and soul into it.

“There’s people over there 24/7,” Drew adds. “He’s always directing people on what he needs and where to go. He’s not messing around.”

I let out a little laugh to cover up the emotion beginning to clog my throat. The idea of running a coffee shop might be silly to some, but for Luke this is important. It's something his name is attached to, something he can build from the ground up, something for him to call his own. “Luke has never been capable of putting in anything less than 100%, especially when it’s something he wants.”

Drew and Mia share a look before they look back at me. “We know,” they say at the same time, and I resist the urge to throw my popcorn at them, opting to turn back to the movie instead.

When the movie ends, Drew and Mia help me clean up the living room, and I box up some cookies and brownies I made last night after another stressful week for them.

The three of us group hug at the door and say our goodbyes, them making me promise to text them when I find out about the AHC program on Monday, and me agreeing.

I was surprised they didn’t make me promise the same about our night with Devin and Grant tomorrow—until I hear them talking as they walk down the hall about meeting each other at Lenny’s at six tomorrow night which happens to be the same time Luke and I will be there.

I laugh to myself, shutting the door as I watch the two walk down the hallway, Daisy on her leash walking between them.

Luke told me he’d be at the warehouse late—him, Eddie, and a few of Luke’s law school buddies that he still plays hockey with helping him paint the warehouse now that the drywall is up—so I head to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

I’m almost asleep when I hear the front door quietly open and close. There’s some fumbling around, a sink turning on and off, and the sound of clothes hitting the floor before I feel the bed dip behind me and a strong arm loop around my waist, pulling me in close.

“Goodnight, Annie girl,” I hear in my ear as I drift off to sleep.

Chapter 32

Luke

“Are you sure we have to do this?” Annie asks as we are putting our shoes on. We’re headed to Lenny’s to meet Grant and Devin for a drink, and I'm even having trouble finding the silver lining in how tonight will most likely go.

I haven’t had much time to think about it, not since Annie and I decided that confronting Devin about what she did to us—to me—was something we owed to ourselves and our relationship.

It’s not that I think weneedthis conversation with her for our relationship to work, but I don’t want anything, especially something as shitty as what Devin did, hanging over our heads for the rest of our lives.

“I didn’t think anything scared you.” I know that seeing Devin and Grant is hard for Annie. It’s going to remind her about what happened at Grant’s party and the night before, but it’s also bringing up everything else she endured during high school.

Since we’ve gotten back together, she’s been more open about her experience.

I’ve learned more about what Devin and the other girls did to Annie in high school, and how the bullying has had a lasting effect on her. I wish she would’ve beenmore open with me about it when it happened, but I’m glad I can be here for her now.

For someone like Annie, to let me in after closing herself off for so long, takes a lot, and I’m so proud of her.

Annie is almost unrecognizable today compared to who she was back then, and I know she is proud of who she is now, proud that she doesn’t let anyone determine her worth anymore, and she isn’t bounding herself to the background like she used to.

But that doesn’t mean that seeing people from high school doesn’t bring up those memories and feelings.

I don’t blame her for not wanting to go, but I also know that my Annie girl doesn’t back down from a fight.

She crosses her arms, narrowing her eyes. “I’m not scared of Devin, dummy. I’m scaredforher.”

I lean down and press a kiss to her forehead, the lines there instantly softening. “That’s my girl.” I open the front door, gesturing for her to lead. She’s trying to hide the smile on her face as she lets her arms fall down to her sides and starts to walk out the door.

As she does, I slap her ass as she walks out. “Let’s go get ‘em, honey.”

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