Page 33 of A Hard Sell

Luka’s cheeks flushed again, damn them. “Thanks. And yes. He’s—it’s been great working with him.” He stuffed a carrot into his mouth to avoid saying anything else.

She sucked on her candy as she appraised him for a moment. “Yes, he thinks the same about you.”

Luka almost choked on his carrot. “He does? Did he say that to you? I mean…good to know.”

Ilona smiled, shoving the pop to the side of her cheek with her tongue. “Have a nice night, Luka.” She vanished again.

Hope bubbled up in his chest.I’m fucking doing this.Luka scanned the room. Still no Thomas. He checked the kitchen, then headed into the foyer toward the bathroom. He frowned when he saw a long line waiting.

He was debating whether he should knock on the door to see if everything was okay in there, not sure where else Thomas could be, when it opened. Thomas came out holding onto Morgan with an arm around his waist.

Luka froze.What the hell?

Morgan’s head lolled to the side, mustache gone, face green.

Thomas looked grim. Then he saw Luka. “Too much tequila for this one.”

Morgan groaned.

Finn and Rory appeared, both glowing. “Everything all right?” Finn asked when he saw Morgan slumped against Thomas.

“Morgan needs to go home,” Thomas grumbled. “I can take him, make sure he gets there okay.”

Luka’s mind raced. He wondered if Morgan could just crash here, but then he saw Finn watching Rory, his pinkie finger brushing the back of Rory’s hand. He couldn’t do that to those two, dumping a drunken fool on them to babysit tonight.

“That’s nice of you,” Luka said helplessly to Thomas.

Thomas shifted his grip as Morgan groaned again. “Do you have a plastic bag or two we can take with us?” he asked Finn.

Finn rushed to the kitchen and came back with a handful of grocery bags and two bottles of water. “Here. Make him drink these before he passes out.”

“Thanks.” Thomas collected the items and hefted Morgan upright as he began to list. “Well…” He looked at Luka. “I guess I’ll see you Monday.”

“Yeah.” He thought about mentioning the coffee shop, then Morgan’s cheeks bulged.

“Air!” He gulped, lurching toward the front door.

“Have a good night,” Thomas mumbled, and they left.

Luka watched the door close, then turned to his friends.

“Sorry, man. That sucks,” Finn said to Luka.

Luka forced a smile onto his face. “Yeah. But…” He looked at Finn and Rory’s fingers now laced together. “Let’s enjoy the party.”

“Has she lost that loving feeling?” Rory asked Finn, nodding toward the microphone.

“Fuck, no. That song’s too sad. I have a better idea.” Finn pulled Rory over to the karaoke machine, the touch lingering as they flipped through the song choices. Luka watched them giggling. He wanted to be happy for his friends, and he was, but…

Then the music kicked in as they crowded together at the mic. “Are they serious right now?” Luka whispered to himself when he heard the song they had chosen—You’re the One That I Want, Danny’s and Sandy’s happy ending song.

Finn began, badly singing Danny’s opening line. Rory sang Sandy’s line back, a little more in tune.

They flirted and shimmied, nothing but lightness and joy, and all Luka could see in his mind was Thomas. He sighed. There was no point denying it.

He’s the one that I want.

Chapter Ten

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