Page 58 of The Hookup
Chapter 19
As he watched Xavier and Izzy leaving The Oasis, Luke envied the ease with which his friend charmed women. He knew Xavier had brought Izzy here to show him that he was making progress with the bet.
And yet, when he left, Luke couldn’t help but wonder why Izzy had agreed to go anywhere with Xavier. The girl was sensible and down-to-earth. Surely she could detect bullshit a mile off?
How she had even agreed to work for Xavier was beyond him. Xavier often said whatever came into his head, without filtering, and he wondered what Izzy would make of that.
Even now, after having seen them together, Luke was none the wiser as to what was going on between the two of them. Only time would tell. Either Xavier would boast about winning the bet, and no doubt tell him about his conquest, or he would go quiet, because Izzy wasn’t stupid and she wasn’t going to give him the time of day.
Seeing them together made him think of Kay and he was tempted to see her again. He was in no mood to be alone. In fact, since their last encounter, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her. It should have spelled danger for him, but he chose to ignore it, and preferred instead to focus on the release she afforded him. She was the perfect solution for late night comfort.
He pulled out his phone, and texted her.
Are you free tonight?
He grew restless when she didn’t reply immediately. Checking his phone, he saw that not only had his text message been delivered, but she had read it.
And still she hadn’t replied.Irritation scratched his skin like an itch that couldn’t be ignored.
Growing increasingly irritated, he called her, and his heart skipped a beat when she picked up.
“Hi,” she said, sounding surprisingly bright, surprisingly upbeat.
“You didn’t reply to my text.”
“You sent a text?” she asked, acting surprised.
You know I did, because you read the message.But he didn’t say anything because a disagreement wasn’t the way he wanted to start the evening.
“Are you free tonight?” he asked, wondering what she was wearing, and how soon he could get to her.
“No. I’m busy, actually.”
His mood deflated in an instant. “Doing what?” She was being eerily evasive and even though asking her risked him sounding nosey, he was keen to know.
“Savannah’s over, and we’re catching up.”
Fuck. When girls got together they didn’t stop talking for hours. “That’s the rest of your evening taken up. Will you be free around 10?”
“I’m not sure. Why, is this a booty call?”
“Maybe.”
“You miss me, don’t you?” she asked.
“I miss certainpartsof you.”
She giggled. “They’re parts of me, so theoretically, you missme. Why don’t you just say you miss me?”
“I miss fucking you.”
The line turned eerily quiet. She didn’t giggle. “I guess you do, huh,” she said, finally, as he struggled to find a way to put that right. “I miss more than that—”, he started to say, but she cut him off.
“I need to order take out.”
“Cool.” The frost in her voice was hard to miss. “You must both have a lot to catch up on.”
“We do.”
