“Not much.”
“All right, good talk.”
“No, wait.” I gripped the phone tighter. “How’d your test go today?”
A beat of silence, and then, “An hour flat.”
I grinned. Exam blocks werethree.“Luke is so freaking humble,” I’d heard Sage say on more than one occasion, but I’d always thought it was mostly bullshit. Luke had a low-key cocky side to him, and Ilikedthat. I liked that heknewhe was smart, and sharp, and quick as hell…
“Man, I love your brain,” I whispered.
“What am I supposed to do with that?” Luke whispered back after a couple of seconds. “Because I seriously don’t know.”
I was quiet.
“I want to figure this out,” he went on, now an edge to his voice. “Since it’s getting a little confusing. You tell me that I’m yourfriendat homecoming, but after that, proceed to ghost me…and then you said you missed me a few weeks ago.”
Again, I didn’t say anything, and he didn’t either for a while.
“And let’s not forget,” he picked up, “your nighttime English class. I somehow got you back to your room, which, I’m going to be candid with you, was pretty much Mission Impossible, and then you asked me tostay.”
My stomach dropped.Fuck.
He kept going. “You told me to stay, saying that you didn’t want to be alone, that you couldn’t be alone, and that you feel like you’realwaysalone…” He paused. “Unless I’m with you.”
A lump formed in my throat, and I heard Luke sigh.
“Why did you call me?” he asked.
I closed my stinging eyes. “Because I think about you all the time.”
“Likewise,” he said.
So I dared myself to do it, swallowing hard and murmuring, “And I wish I was holding your hand.”
Luke let out a deep breath. “I wish I was holding yours too, C.”
My heart flickered. “What does it stand for?” I asked. “First or last?”
But he didn’t tell me, instead saying, “I should probably go. It’s late.”
Which was probably code forThink about it.
“Okay,” I told him. “Call me over break?”
“Yes,” Luke said. “So please pick up.”
CHAPTER 19
SAGE
This year’s Thanksgiving festivities were infull swing by the time the Carmichaels arrived, for the first time ever.
“It was supposed to be all set,” Nick had said during another movie in my room, a few weeks before that horrible night on the golf course. “But Grammy and Poppy just epically pulled the plug. They want to visit friends in Florida, so everyone else is scattering. No road trip to Pennsylvania for us.”
“Well…” I’d sighed an overdramatic sigh, “I guess you’lljusthave to come to the Morgans’ Friendsgiving!” Without much extended family, my mom and I always hosted a big Thanksgiving party for whoever wanted to come in the neighborhood. Everyone brought food, and the day before was spent moving around furniture to set up as many dinner tables as possible. It was my favorite holiday.
“Yeah, I guess,” Nick grumbled, but with a gleam in his eye. “It won’t be the same as Grammy and Poppy’s, though…”
