“Seriously!” He shook his head and grinned. “How sad is that?”
“Tragic, to be honest.”
“Well, hold your pity for a second,” he said, holding up his palms. “She keeps coming after you because she thinks you stole me away from her.”
“What are you talking about?” I frowned. “How would she even know we hooked up in New York?”
“No, no,” Luke said, disbelief in his voice. “Back in high school. Crazy, right?”
My mouth dropped open like the truth was too big to swallow. “Yeah, it’s crazy. That never happened. Unless I’ve forgotten way more than I think I have.”
“Hey,” Luke said. “If we had gotten together back then, I promise it would have been unforgettable.”
He wasn’t wrong. I would have been replaying that in my head for the last decade. “So she’s been bearing a grudge against me for something that never happened? Is that what you’re telling me?”
“Yeah, unfortunately. I think I know why, though.”
He told me about the argument he and Dixie had gotten into after the Christmas Spectacular. Luke had told her stealing the part from me had been a shitty thing to do and it made her a bad person. The fight escalated into them breaking up for good.
“You fought with her about that?” I asked softly, hating the warm feelings his story awoke in me. “You defended me?”
He looked a little embarrassed, which was unusual for Luke. “Yeah, well, it wasn’t right. Someone needed to stand up to her.” He sighed. “Anyway, my theory is that Dixie needed someone else to blame for the breakup, that it couldn’t possibly be because she had hurt someone to get what she wanted. So yeah, it feels like my fault.”
I got to my feet, ready to go back to the high school and dropkick that bitch off the stage. The anger roared inside me, but then the flames flickered and faded just as quickly. “It’s kind of a relief,” I said. “Not that her motives mattered all that much, but it’s nice to know she didn’t just hate me for no reason. I mean, she did, since I never stole you away from her, but you know what I mean.”
“I suppose so,” he said. “But I want to apologize for that anyway. It feels like I keep finding ways to mess up your life.”
“Not always,” I said, shuffling my feet and not able to meet his gaze. “Ganymede offered me that job with her again. That woman is insistent.”
He took another step toward me, his face lighting up. “That’s great. But that was all you, Clara. You earned that.”
“I’m not taking it.” I kicked at a speck of dust on the stage. “You’ll be free of me when you leave again.”
“You know that’s not what I want.” His voice was rough with emotion. I couldn’t look at him, unable to bear the pain I knew I would see on his face. “You should take the job.”
“New York doesn’t hold the same appeal it used to,” I said, trying to hide the bitterness in my voice.
“Because of me? Dammit, Clara, don’t do that. I can understand if you’re scared to take that next step, but don’t use me as an excuse.”
“You don’t get to tell me what to do, Luke!” I said a little louder than I meant to.
He stepped back. “Sorry, I won’t. I just don’t want to be responsible for fucking up your dreams. So myopinionis that you should think about the job without including me in the equation. It’s a big city. There’s absolutely enough room for the both of us.”
I sniffled. “I’ll take that under advisement.”
“Clara, I know I made a mistake, and I’ve been hating myself for not being honest ever since. I want to be honest with you now.”
I cleared my throat. “Okay…”
“The honest truth is… that with you, I make time to just be in the moment and enjoy life. I never really did that before.” He growled. “I don’t want to lose that. I don’t want to loseyou. I know I messed up, but I also know something else. I know I love you, Clara Snow.”
His voice echoed through the theater. The old girl still had amazing acoustics.
“You don’t love me,” I said, feeling frozen under the spotlight.
Luke took another tentative step closer. “I should have told you before, when I knew, because I’ve known for a while, longer than I’ve let myself believe. I love you. I didn’t want you to leave.”
“And I didn’t want you to lie to me, but here we are.” I looked at him then. “I don’t want to give up on my New York dreams, either, but I’m only human. I can only take so many upsand downs before I need to get off the ride altogether. Maybe I should just be an accountant.”
