Page 74 of The Hookup
“Nothing.”
“Don’t ruin this day for Amanda,” Maggie said.
“I’m not. She understands, I’m sure.”
“We can switch tables,” Maggie persisted. Kay stared at her, and at Luke’s brother who still remained silent. If Luke’s relationship with his father was weird, things were a whole lot stranger between the brothers.
“As if that’s going to help,” he said, his voice low, and cold. “Come on,” he said to Kay. His hand slipped from her waist to her hand again. He gripped it hard. “We’re leaving.”
“Now?”
He didn’t even bother to say goodbye as he tugged her hand and started to walk away. She quickly nodded her farewells and rushed to keep up with him.
“What are you doing?” she asked. “I thought we were going to stay for the reception.”
“Changed my mind.”
“Shouldn’t we at least say ‘bye’ to Amanda?”
“She’s busy.”
“This is rude, Luke.” They had walked away, leaving the sea of wedding guests behind them, and she turned around, to take one last look. “Let’s stay, at least for the first course.” She was sure he was making a mistake, and she didn’t want him to. Family was family. You were stuck with what you had, and you had to make it work, no matter what past disagreements there might have been. Blood was always thicker than water and she feared that in years to come, Luke would regret it.
“Amanda will never forgive you.”
“I’ll make it up at her next wedding.”
“That’s just cruel.”
“Mark my words.”
“You don’t need to voice something like that at her wedding,” Kay hissed, appalled by his insensitivity.
“She can’t hear me.”
Her mouth fell open. She knew he was jaded. Knew something in his past had shaped him, but this wasn’t healthy, this level of cynicism. She studied his expression for a long time, confused thoughts flying around in her head like circling bats. Before her stood a man battling some inner demons, and she couldn’t do a thing about it.
“Don’t make a mistake you’ll regret, Luke.”
He let go of her hand as if it was made of hot iron.
“You don’t have a fucking clue,” he snarled. “We’re not staying, and that’s final.”
Her heart jolted, him speaking to her like that. She’d rather have his coldness than his rage, and as ready as she was to argue back, even she could see that this wasn’t the time.
Something else was going on, something below the surface, something she wasn’t aware of.She wanted to reach out and comfort him, for it was obvious that he was hurting, that he was bitter about something, but Luke was hard to care for, hard to reach, hard to soothe.
She felt like superfluous baggage, not like his plus one.
Chapter 24
The entire journey back was steeped in stony silence.
She had so many questions, but he looked so miserable that she knew better than to get him riled up even more, especially with the crazy speed he was driving at.
Not once did he turn and look at her, or start a conversation. Maybe he was waiting for her to say something, but knowing his moods, she didn't want to rock that boat tonight.
So, she said nothing.
