Page 110 of The Hookup
“I was worried about you, we all were, and I wanted to see that you were okay.” Her voice was hard, determined, as she held the stare. The silent seconds stretched out for what seemed like days.
“It’s good of you to come,” said Kay, making an attempt at conversation. “Oh my goodness,” she cried in the next breath, and stood up. “Please excuse my bad manners. Can I get you anything to drink?”
Both visitors nodded their heads in unison. “We should go,” said Amanda, raising a slight smile. “I had hesitations about coming, but I needed to see you, and I’m glad we came.”
He could have handled Amanda. He didn’t mind his sister being here, but Maggie? She was so out of place, so superfluous, sounnecessary. This was supposed to be a relaxing Saturday afternoon with Kay.
Now Maggie had gone and ruined it.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” she said, standing and getting ready to go.
“I’m fine, Maggie. I’m just fucking fine. Now, run back to my brother, won’t you?”
“Luke,” cautioned Amanda.
He stared at her and shrugged. “She didn’t need to come. Evenyouknow that.”
Kay looked at him, then, her face questioning, and her mouth slightly parted, as if she had only now pieced it all together.
“We’re going,” said Amanda in that over-the-top cheery voice of hers. She kissed him on the cheek and gave him a gentle hug. “But I’ll be back with Kyle when you’re better.”
He frowned. “Kyle?”
“My husband,” Amanda retorted. “And I’ll have to tell you all about our honeymoon.”
He groaned. “Looking forward to it.”
Chapter 38
He looked as if he was going to explode, and she knew he was all riled up again. “Why did you ask them to come?” he asked her.
“I didn’t. Why are you so mad? I thought you liked your sister?” She could see him biting down, could see the tell-tale muscles twitching along his jaw. Any moment now he was going to lose it.
“I do like my sister,” he ground out quietly.
“So what’s the issue?”
He didn’t say anything, and she could see him struggling not to erupt in anger. For he was angry. She’d been watching him the whole time. Had heard and seen his interaction with Maggie.
And finally, she had understood.
She was merely biding her time.
“Amanda called here a few days ago, and you were in the shower. I’m sorry, I forgot to tell you.”
“You forgot to tell me?” he snarled, his voice full of sarcasm.
“I was working on my report.” He had no idea what it had been like. No idea at all. Sometimes she wondered why she’d done it, why she’d agreed to keep an eye on him, when she didn’t have to. She could have owned up and told Marie the truth, but she hadn’t. She’d chosen to keep the farce going. Maybe she’d even loved seeing the new Luke unravel. Maybe that had been a part of it, too.
“You know how fucked up my family is. You should have warned me.”
“You’re not even listening to me. Iforgot. I’ve been juggling a lot of things.”
“I’m sorry.” He paced around the room, as if he was trying to keep it together. “I didn’t mean to snap at you.”
“I didn’t know Amanda was going to turn up. She didn’t say she was.” Her voice was rising in pitch and she could feel her own anger grow. His temper was like quicksand—hard to avoid once you happened across it. She had forgotten it, almost because being with him during his recovery had dimmed the memory of what he could be like. She remembered the bartender she had first come to know over a few cocktails, and found it difficult to reconcile the man she now knew, with the man she had first believed him to be.
And just like quicksand, her feelings for him were hard to hold on to. She wasn’t sure how to be around him, which Luke he was at any moment. Today’s episode had shown her that the old Luke was never far away. Any interaction with his family riled him up, and her patience was disappearing fast. She did not need this headache.
