Prologue: Luke
If you’d asked me a couple of months ago if I’d be in this predicament, I’d have laughed in your fucking face. Maybe I lacked the imagination needed to forecast the clusterfuck that is now my life, and that’s on me. Hell, this whole deal is on me. The thing is, I’m not in any hurry to remedy the situation because I know if I do, she’ll be gone. And by gone, I mean gone-gone. I don’t want that. I want her here—just not like this. No, I need to figure out a way to nip this in the bud without upsetting the delicate balance that is Tayler and me.
God, I should be pissed as hell. What am I saying? Iampissed as hell, but she wouldn’t understand because I’ve never really talked to her about my past. Since I met Tayler, we’ve talked a ton. Almost daily. And in that time, I’ve neglected to tell her why I am the way I am. Why I’ll never be able to give her what she wants—love, a ring. I can give her sex, yes. I can fuck her all day every day, but that’s not enough. It’s all or nothing for her, and I get it. I hate the fuck out of it, but I get it. She deserves more.
So she’s going about things in a new way. Tayler thinks she’s being clever right now. She’s wheedled herself into my world, the bar, all in hopes that I’ll finally do something. That I’ll commit. But she’s going about it all wrong. While she thinks changing the bar is going to make me happy, all it does is piss me off because it’s the same as trying to changeme, and that’s never going to happen. My ex-wife figured that out the second I served her with divorce papers. I’m not changing. Not again. Not even for Tayler Sorenson. Nope, not even for her.
