Page 94 of Hand Picked
All the pain and heartache I’d gone through to get me to this place were worth it in the end.
Because I was here now with Luke Williams.
And I wasn’t going to let him go.
ChapterNineteen
LUKE
I woke up with such divergent thoughts, it was almost nauseating.
On the one hand, I’d never felt so loved, so adored, so incredibly overwhelmed with the soul-presence of another human. Webb had taken me over completely last night, and it was an experience I’d never forget.
On the other hand, something about the silent intensity of the experience had seemed final. Definitive. And I couldn’t help worrying that it had been a goodbye.
My first instinct was, as usual, to put a sunshiny face on it. To try to convince myself that I was fine with us being friends and that my life was perfectly great as it was.
But I’d been trying that all week, and it hadn’t worked. Not even a little.
It turned out, forcing yourself to be positive and optimistic as a means of protecting yourself was approximately the least positive, optimistic thing a person could do.
The truth was, I was in love with Webb Sunday. Full-on, hard-core in love, in a way that I hadn’t believed I could love someone. And Webb was too important to me to let him go if there was any possibility we could be together.
After the way he’d touched me,lovedme, last night, I wasn’t willing to slink away without fighting for him. Without being sure.
“Webb,” I said, reaching out to run a hand over his prickly cheek. “Wake up.”
For a split second, when he opened his eyes and saw me there, his face softened into an affectionate smile. But then it disappeared.
“Fuck. The Spring Fling! What time is it?” He jumped off the bed and scrambled for his clothes. “I told Aiden we could get over to the festival early.”
I sat up and pulled the blanket around me. Clearly this wasn’t the best time to suggest we have a serious discussion about our feelings, but when was I going to see him again?
Don’t be an idiot, Luke. He lives next door. And you’ll see him at the festival.
Still. I hated to let him go without sayingsomething.
“Thank you for the sex!” I blurted.
Webb froze before looking up at me in slow motion. “Uh… you’re welcome?”
I squeezed my eyes closed. “That’s not what I meant.”
“You didn’t want to thank me for the sex?”
I opened my eyes to see a teasing glint in his. God, he was beautiful.
I let out a breath. “Just go. I’ll see you later.”
He stepped past a stack of books on the floor and pressed a kiss to the top of my head, and I had to restrain myself from grabbing his shirt and holding him close for another few minutes… or maybe forever.
Fortunately, I had plenty of commitments of my own this morning and no time to waste. I finished loading the last few boxes of books into my car and ran inside the farmhouse for a quick shower, which was how I ran nearly headlong into my mom as she was trotting down the stairs.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen her move that quickly.
“Hey! Why are you running? Is Aunt Sue okay?” I darted a look upstairs. “Did she take a fall?”
“Lukey Lou,” she said reprovingly. “Since when do you assume the worst in a situation? Sue’s in the kitchen drinking coffee and getting ready for Drew and Marco to come pick us up in a bit. She’s fine. And so am I. I’m just excited for your town festival. See?”
