Page 118 of The Hookup
“You should be happy!” Erin countered. “At least he’s over you.”
“Good for him.” She didn’t care about Geoffrey, or his love life.
~ ~
“You did what?” Marie asked, her voice shrill, the anger burning in her eyes.
“I told her I didn’t need her anymore.”
Marie set down her briefcase and fixed him with a look of complete disdain. “She’s not your nurse, she’s your girlfriend.”
“That’s right. And I told her I didn’t need her anymore.”
Marie tut-tutted loudly and threw him a pissed off look. “You messed up again, didn’t you? I swear to god, Luke. You have an in-built self-destruct button.”
“She was feeling sorry for me.”
“She cared about you.”
“She was in the way.”
Marie choked at that. “She took time out of her working life to be here for you,” she cried, angrily.
“I don’t need her. I don’t need anyone.”
She looked away, shaking her head in disbelief. “You don’t know what you don’t know.”
“What’sthatsupposed to mean?”
“That you’re a bigger idiot than I thought.”
Her words winded him. Marie had never spoken to him like that–as if she was talking to her teenage boy. “I’m fine now. I don’t need you or her to check in on me. I’m returning to work next week.”
She looked at him, then gave him the once-over. “You don’t know a good thing when you see it. I don’t know what happened to make you like this, but whatever it is, you’re ruining the best chance you ever had.”
He didn’t want to hear it. “You never met the sports masseuse,” he replied, hoping to annoy her further.
“Thank goodness for that.”
Chapter 41
She didn’t want to go to Savannah’s baby shower, but there was no way she could avoid it. Shehadto turn up, and she had to look happy. She already looked bad enough as it was, because she hadn’t organized any of it. Briony had taken care of it all.
It had been weeks since she and Luke had spoken. He’d tried to get in touch many times, but she had ignored all of his calls and messages. She didn’t want to risk feeling sorry for him, for his recovery.
She didn’t want to risk making another mistake.
So far, she had managed to keep it together. Even last week, when she had gone over to see Tobias and Savannah, to congratulate them in person about the twins, she had put on a brave face.
Luckily, neither Tobias, nor Savannah had suspected what a wreck she was.
But she had been desperate to talk to Savannah, to offload, and confess, and have a close friend who would show her the error of her ways, and who would also tell her what to do to move on. Only, this time, she would take her advice.
She had focused for too long on the wrong things, and in the end, none of it had been for her own good. Not the hours she gave every day to her former investment bank, nor the time and energy she had willfully given caring for Luke.
Savannah, the person she should have been there for, the one who could have helped her, had been the one she had neglected. And even today, with the baby shower taking place, she was still running late.
“Sorry,” she said, breathless, as she arrived at Max and Briony’s apartment, feeling as if she’d messed up again. “I tried to get here as fast as I could.”
