Page 119 of Code Word
His mom looked at Becca. “Ooh, yes, that would be delightful.”
As Luke’s mom and my mom walked out, talking about how someone at the country club had spoken so highly of the new tearoom, Becca glared at Luke.
He grinned.
I was just glad they were okay.
“So Bec, I think the realtor wants to go to Malibu and take new photos or something. Probably later this week? I’ll let you know, and you can come with us to pick out what you want.”
“Sounds great, thanks,” she said. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“Not at all.”
We stopped near her car, and she paused before she got in. “In all seriousness,” she said, “I’m glad it worked out with you two.”
I slung my arm around Luke’s shoulder. “Me too.”
He put his arm around my waist. “Have fun at high tea.”
She pulled a face at him. “Have fun shopping with both of them. Ooh, maybe they’ll want to go house hunting with both of you too. That would be so much fun.”
Luke sighed. “Please don’t.”
She laughed, blew him a kiss, got in behind the wheel, and we watched them drive away.
Luke sighed. “Well, that happened.”
“It did. And I’m kinda glad too. It’s done now.” I kissed the side of his head. “You and Bec are okay? Despite the sibling sabotage.”
He snorted, and taking my hand, we walked back inside. “Yeah, she’s fine. She’s excited about getting her place, hanging out with her friends more. And you know what?”
“What?”
“I think she’s realized she just wasn’t that into you.”
I snorted. “Was I that bad?”
He laughed. “No. Not at all. But it’s like you said before, she said much the same. It just kinda happened out of convenience, and she knew you were never in love with her.”
“Is she going to make us pay forever? Do we really have to bring our moms shopping with us? Because, dude.”
Luke laughed and led me toward the hall up to my end of the house.
I went willingly, of course, but gestured to his end. “I thought we might pick up where we left off.”
“The mood is definitely gone,” he said, getting to my bedroom door. “Should we move your clothes down to my room now? Just a few things, even.”
“Yes. God, yes. Pretty sure I could keep my favorite twenty things and give the rest to charity.”
He gave me an odd look. “Your house, your clothes. Youwant to get rid of everything.” He shrugged. “I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing.”
“I want to get rid of all the superfluous bullshit,” I said. “I don’t need any of that, and I feel like...”
“Like what?”
“Like I need to get rid of all the noise. The mess. I need to let go of the past. I want to start over. With you. And having new stuff in our new place, wherever that might be, would be nice. No reminders of things we don’t want to be reminded of. It’ll be ours, not yours or mine.”
Luke leaned up on his toes and kissed me softly. “I like the sound of that.” Then he nodded to the record player I didn’t even notice on the bed. “What about that?”
