Page 85 of The Hookup
“Okay.”
And in case he and Izzy ever discussed where this ridiculous idea came from, he said, “The bet wasn’t my idea, pal.”
“It was my fucking stupid idea,” agreed Xavier. “So now, tell me. How do I get out of this mess?”
“You’ve tried to explain to her?”
“Yes, I’ve tried. I’ve texted and emailed and left long messages on her phone. She won’t talk to me.”
“I can see why. You were an idiot, and it was a crazy thing to do.” Winning Izzy back after such a big fuck-up wasn’t going to be easy.
“Who’s side are you on?” Xavier growled.
“On yours, you idiot. I’m just trying to think it through, figure out what your best plan of action might be.”
“I was drunk. I thought I had something to prove, and I believed she was acting all not-interested, and that it was going to be easy to make her see.”
Luke nodded, and expelled a hard breath of air. “Make her see how awesome you were?” he asked.
“I hate hearing you describe me like that.”
That sounded about right for Xavier. Twisted thinking that had nothing to do with Izzy’s feelings, and was based purely on his.
Come to think of it, the same could have been said for him, and Kay would probably agree with that. His needs had been paramount to her feelings, especially when they had first gotten together. And then later on, his initial reason for asking her to accompany him to the wedding.
He’d been no less a jerk than Xavier.
“Luke?” He turned around when he heard someone shout out his name. It was one of the workmen. Raising his hand, he indicated that he’d be over in five. This wasn’t the time or place to be having this kind of conversation. The bar looked like a demolition site. “I can’t talk. My men need me. But look, here’s the thing, pal. You have to give her time. You have to stop pestering her. You have to wait for her to come to you, but it depends.”
Xavier looked up. “On what?”
“If she was really into you in the first place.”
“She was.”
She must have been. Izzy Laronde wasn’t the type of girl to give any guy—no matter how interested he was in her—the time of day.
“Then you have to give her time to find her way back.”
One of his guys came up to him again. “We need you to take a look at this wall now, boss.”
“I’m coming.” Luke turned to Xavier. “Sorry. I need to go. Now’s not a good time.”
“I appreciate it,” said Xavier. At least he didn’t look as worried as he had initially. Maybe talking things over had helped. “We’ll get together sometime,” Luke promised.
“Yeah. You call me. I’m not as busy as you.” He left, and Luke walked over to his construction guys.
Later, he returned to his office to finish up on some paperwork and saw that he had a couple of calls to return, including one from the hospital. It was too late to make the calls now, so after tending to some urgent emails, he freshened up, and changed into a clean pair of clothes.
The conversation with Xavier was still fresh in his mind. His friend had surprised him. He’d done the impossible and had managed to win the heart of a sensible college student. Of course, he’d lost her just as quickly, by the sounds of it.
People changed. The impossible became possible. Rules were not set in stone. He and Kay weren’t complete opposites—they were similar in more ways than not. He used women for comfort, the same way she used men.
Women like Kay could deal with the type of relationship he was willing to have, for he didn’t only screw women physically, he knew that he probably screwed with their minds. Despite what some women said, they couldn’t handle a meaningless fling—not one that lasted more than a couple of nights. And unless you were a hooker charging by the hour, no woman was willing to be someone’s fuck buddy, and be happy with it long-term.
But now things were changing even for him, and that was a problem he needed to take care of. Something had changed between him and Kay that night, and he’d reacted the only way he’d known how to afterwards, he’d ignored her completely. He’d been condescending to her over breakfast when he could have been genuine. He could have asked her to spend the day with him, tried harder when she’d made excuses about having to go to work.
Maybe she was confused with the way he was being around her all of a sudden. He could have told her he enjoyed her company, maybe even told her that it meant something having her with him at the wedding. But he’d gone and spoiled it all by playing up the sex part of their arrangement.
