When Luke didn’t say anything, she couldn’t help but look at him.
He didn’t look heartbroken. He just looked irritated. Mildly perturbed. “Move on?” he repeated. He yanked his trousers up, movements sharp.
“Yeah.” Her shrug was loose, casual, utterly fake. “I just think it’s time.”
Luke stared at her like she was speaking a language he suddenly didn’t understand.
“Because of the date stuff?” His voice was clipped. “You said you got it.”
She kept her smile in place. It felt like it had been nailed there. “I do get it. And that’s why this makes sense.”
His jaw clenched.
“Look,” he said. “If you’re upset, you can—I don’t know—take a few days and think it through. You don’t have to rush into ending things.”
Grace watched him button his shirt, each button a wall going up between them. “I don’t need time to think about anything,” she said. “It’s the right call.”
Luke ran a hand through his hair. He looked… rattled now.
“Grace,” he said, his voice was rough. “C’mon. Don’t be like this.” He exhaled hard, rubbing both hands over his face. “I thought you were smarter than this. I didn’t think you’d… make this sort of fuss.”
The fucking nerve of this man. Heat flooded her face. Humiliation, thick and choking.Hewas the one who said itwasn’t anything serious and now he was acting like she needed to give this decision more consideration.
For a moment, she couldn't breathe. But she kept her smiled fixed in place anyway—he wouldn’t see her cry. “This just isn’t enough for me anymore.”
Luke’s eyes narrowed. “I know you were satisfied. You weren’t faking that.”
The words were unexpected. They were humiliating, intimate in a way she hadn’t expected from him.
He kept going.
“Iknowyou enjoyed yourself. Tonight. Every time.”
She felt stripped. Exposed. Something special weaponized into something ugly. Her cheeks burned, but she didn’t look away. “Things change,” she said woodenly.
CHAPTER 6
Luke
Luke feltthe first coil of regret tighten in his gut. He hadn’t meant to say it like that.
Grace had gone still.
Too still.
He swallowed hard, suddenly wishing he could rewind five seconds. Five minutes. The whole damn night.
“Gracie,” he said, softer, reaching toward her without thinking.
She moved back just enough that he didn’t make contact.
His hand dropped.
She wasn’t supposed to just end it.
Not when he still needed?—
“Look,” he said, forcing calm he didn’t feel, “I’m not trying to be an ass. I just thought we understood each other.”
