“Luke will be able to access it. He knows a lot more about that stuff than I do. I’ll text him to meet up.” He pulled his phone out of his jeans and hastily tapped out a message to his friend.
“I’ll go with you,” I suggested.
“No,” he answered immediately, keeping his head bent over the phone screen.
“I’m going. I’m not going to let you face this mess all by yourself,” I said, digging in my heels. Neil looked at me then, irritated by my persistence. I didn’t allow myself to look intimidated and crossed my arms over my chest instead, daring him to argue with me. He slid his phone back into his pocket and advanced on me slowly, like a predator approaching his prey.
“Why…” he began, bending his head until our gazes were level, “do you always have to be so fucking pigheaded? Huh?” he whispered, his warm breath brushing against my lips. His placid tone clashed with his obvious attempt to cow me. I shivered a little but didn’t back down.
“And why do you always have to make decisions for the both of us?” I shot back at him. I stared hard at the expanse of his throat left exposed by his sweater and considered pressing a kiss to it. He certainly enjoyed it when I paid attention to that area; maybe I could relax him a little bit. But then he cleared his throat to get my attention, and I looked back at his face, noting his smug smile.
“Okay…” he conceded with a deep breath. “Come with me. But I’m warning you—no chatting with Luke. In fact, ignore him completely. Don’t even look at him,” he ordered sternly, brushing past me to grab his coat and throw it on.
* * *
Half an hour later, we were standing outside Luke’s apartment door.
I chafed my hands together to warm them while Neil rang the doorbell incessantly, waiting for his friend to open the door for us.
“I’m coming!” We heard his voice through the door, which he quickly pulled open with an annoyed huff. When he saw Neil’s irritated glare boring into him, he arranged his face into a serious expression. “You trying to break the doorbell or what?” he chided Neil sarcastically.
“Should have been quicker, Luke. I don’t have time to waste,” Neil snapped, brushing past him with a shoulder-check. As he did so, I took note of the several inches Neil had on his friend. Then I looked at Luke, who had just then noticed my presence.
“Hey, Selene. This prick didn’t tell me you were coming too. How are you doing?” he asked, looking me up and down. I did the same right back at him. I wasn’t attracted to him, just ordinarily curious. He was dressed in all black, highlighting his lean body, chiseled and well-balanced. His blue eyes stood out against his pale skin, while his blond hair looked a little shorter than I remembered.
“I’m good. And yourself?” I answered quickly, trying not to show how stressed and anxiety-ridden I actually was. There was no need to add weight to this already tense atmosphere.
“Parker,” Neil barked out behind him. “You wanna get your ass over here and help me?” Luke rolled his eyes skyward and moved to let me inside.
“Someone’s in a hurry. We can catch up another time, maybe just the two of us,” he winked. I gave him the smallest possible smile and didn’t say anything. I could feel Neil’s burning eyes on me. His eyebrows were arched into a resolute expression, and he appeared to be clenching his jaw deliberately.
I turned my attention to the modern luxury decor of the apartment. I recalled that Luke’s dad was a lawyer and his mother a celebrated journalist. I moved toward the giant leather sectional in the living room and paused in front of a framed photo on the wall there. It was Luke with his parents and a little girl who looked about ten years old, probably his sister.
“That’s Gwen,” Luke said, coming over to me when he spotted me looking at the lovely little girl.
“You two could be twins,” I observed.
“Everybody says that,” he chuckled.
“Are you done?” Neil cut in from behind us. I turned to find him waiting impatiently for us to finish our exchange. He alternated his gaze between us, giving me a look of such pure anger that it gave me goosebumps. “Maybe the two of you can go out one of these evenings and really deepen your acquaintance,” he continued bitterly. “But right now, Parker, I came here for an important reason, and I need your undivided attention,” he said reprovingly. Luke turned away from me and snapped to attention like a little toy soldier.
“I was just trying to be polite,” he said defensively before sitting down on the couch with a heavy sigh. I remained standing, keeping my distance from both of them.
“Sure you were. And I know exactly why,” my Disaster shot back, sounding anything but calm.
“What are you talking about? You’re the one who always has ulterior motives with women, not me,” Luke defended himself, growing more belligerent.
“Oh, my apologies. You’re a fucking saint, I forgot. Xavier is so right about you.” A faint, mocking smile spread across Neil’s face, but before Luke could say anything in response, someone else rang the doorbell. He stood up and went to get the door, shooting Neil a dirty look as he did so.
I was grateful to whoever it was for breaking up their tiff.
I was afraid they might have actually come to blows otherwise.
“Please try to stay calm. How many times do I have to say that to you today?” I took advantage of Luke’s absence to chide Neil, but he just narrowed his eyes at me in an angry glower.
“You shut up,” he snapped, making me flinch. I tugged my coat around me more tightly and practically plastered myself against the wall in discomfort. I hated it when he talked to me like that.
“Ah, there you are. Luke said you all were meeting up about some problem. What’s up, dickhead?” Xavier came into the living room with his typical swagger, flanked by his faithful partners in crime: Alexia, the blue unicorn, and Oops! All Curves Barbie. Goddamned Jennifer.
