“Holly, this pain in the ass is my best friend, Luke Christof. Luke, this is Holiday Bradbury.”
Luke stood up, extending his hand to her. The charming smile he gave her made me want to hit him all over again. “It’s really nice to meet you.” He shot me a smug look. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
She shook his hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you too.” Looking over her shoulder, she shot me a wink. “The fifth best player on the team, right?”
Luke made a choking sound, his eyes bugging out while I nearly fell over laughing.Christ,this woman. She undid me at every turn. What I felt for her only grew stronger every damn day. I’d never felt this way before, and I never wanted it to end.
“Oh, I like her.” Luke chuckled, looking back to me. “You put her up to that?”
I shook my head, feeling proud as hell. “Nope, that was all her.”
He let out a belly laugh. “Good to know. Should we sit?” he asked, waving a hand to the empty chair at our table.
“Oh, you know what?” Holly started once we’d all taken our seats. “We should get more salsa. It’s the best you’ll ever have. Trust me. It’s so good they actually bottle it up and sell it.”
I thought Luke was going to pass out from excitement. “You, Holiday Bradbury, have just become my favorite person.”
She let out a giggle that sounded like wind chimes. “Glad to hear it. And you can call me Holly.”
“Well,Holly. Why don’t you point out something on the menu that’s as good as this salsa? I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starving.”
Dinner went off without a hitch,and by the end of it, Luke and Holly were going back and forth, keeping each other in stitches. She told him stories about the more eccentric people in town, and he filled her full of embarrassing stories about me that might have pissed me off if my girl hadn’t been smiling from ear to ear the entire time.
She’d won him over without even trying, just like I knew she would. After we finished our meal—a meal in which Luke ate so much he was groaning in misery—we walked Holly to her car. She insisted that Luke and I hang at the cabin without her, and while I wasn’t exactly fond of the idea of sleeping without her, I appreciated that she wanted me to get in as much time with my friend as possible before he had to hit the road.
“Dear god. My stomach feels like it’s split right down the middle,” Luke complained as we climbed the cabin’s front steps.
“No one said you had to order three different entrees. That was all you.”
“Worth it,” he grunted, patting his stomach. “I mean, that restaurant alone is worth a return trip.”
I punched in the code for the front door lock and pushed it open, waving him ahead of me.
“Well, I’m glad you enjoyed it.” I followed him into the living room where he collapsed onto the sofa.
I took the oversized chair near the fireplace and was about to ask him what he thought of Holly when he spoke. “You aren’t coming back.”
It wasn’t a question so much as a statement. Letting out a heavy sigh, I scrubbed my hand down my face as ideas of what my future may look like spun around inside my head. “Nothing’s set in stone yet.”
He cut his eyes at me and snorted. “You’re joking, right? Tan, you’re in love with the woman.”
I opened my mouth, to say what, I didn’t know, but no words came.
“Buddy, it’s written all over you. But if it’s any consolation, I’m pretty damn sure she feels the same way about you.”
That was a direct hit to the chest, and I had to reach up to massage my sternum. If I were being honest, that was something I’d worried about, but hearing him say that made me feel a hell of a lot better. I arched a brow as I took in the man who was more brother than best friend. “I half expected you to tell me I was insane and that we’re moving way too fast.”
Luke’s head tilted to the side in thought. “Would it make a difference if that’s what I thought?”
I didn’t hesitate in answering. “Not one bit.”
A slow grin curled the corners of his mouth. “Good. Because I don’t think that. Every relationship is different, man. All you can do is go with the flow. Just because yours flows a little faster than someone else’s, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s wrong.”
Blowing out a heavy sigh, I dropped my head back against the chair, my gaze traveling to the wall of windows opposite me. From my seat, I could see the stars filling the dark sky. “I don’t know, man. I know I need to decide sooner or later. Alan’s losing his shit that I’ve been ignoring his calls and texts.”
Luck snorted, waving the statement about my agent off. “Man, Alan can take a long walk off a short pier. At the end of the day, they’re in it for the money, not for the good of their clients. You’ve said it yourself, you feel better physically than you have in years. Maybe that should tell you something.”
Hearing him say that made it feel like a two-ton weight had been lifted off my chest. “So, what you’re saying is you don’t care if I don’t come back.”
