Luke straightened his glasses. “Yeah, I know,” he said. “But it’s not because I didn’t have a good time. This weekend…” He looked at me and smiled. “It was thebestweekend of mylife.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
He glanced away. “It’s just, I wish things could be like that all the time.”
“You mean you two being on vacation?”
“No, not that.” He shook his head. “I mean, how thingswerebetween us while we were there.”
My stomach sank, suspicions confirmed.
“I’m so mad at myself,” he murmured. “I told myself it was fine, that I didn’t mind keeping things a secret.” He sighed. “But that was before I realized what it would be like if weweren’tone.”
I fumbled for something to say, but he kept going.
“He held my hand, Sage. Everywhere we went, walking through town, walking across campus, he held my hand the entire time—kissed me on the cheek, even.” He smiled. “There were people everywhere, and theyknewwe were together, and Ilikedthat. I liked walking down the street and knowing that the people we passed knew that we wereus.I’m trying to be patient…God, I’m tryingso hard…but suddenly it’s impossible. He means so much to me, and I want people to know that.”
I took a breath. There it was: Luke Morrissey was human. He’dbeen such a saint in only being with Charlie behind closed doors, but now he wanted more. Which made me wonder… Would Charlie give it to him? Or would he run away?
Or would Luke be like Nick andwalkaway?
“So what does this mean?” I asked gently.
Luke reached up to run a hand through his hair, and his sweater sleeve pulled up just enough for me to see Charlie’s bracelets on his wrist: one was a black-and-red striped tie bracelet, and the other a faded green-and-white knotted rope one. A lump formed in my throat, since it was another testament of how much he loved Luke. Those bracelets were Charlie’s, and Charlie’s alone. He never let anyone else wear them.
“I don’t know,” Luke said, looking more disappointed than I’d seen him in months. “I don’t know.”
The vibe at Pandora’s was pretty low-key that night, so we studied without distraction until the door’s bell rung, signaling someone’s entry. Luke looked up from his laptop and raised an eyebrow. “My, my,” he said, and I turned to see Nick at the counter, backpack slung over his shoulder and hair matted from hockey practice. “What a coincidence.”
Before I could stop myself, I jumped up and was waving at him.
“Subtle, Sage,” Luke whispered. “Real subtle.”
“Shut up,” I whispered back as Nick jokingly glanced over his shoulder, as if thinking I meant someone else. Then he cocked his head, smirked, pointed to himself, and mouthed:
Who, me?
My heart cartwheeled for the first time in a long time. “He’s flirting, right?” I asked Luke, to make sure I wasn’t losing it.
“Yeah.” Luke nodded. “Not very well, but yeah.”
I grinned. Nick had never been the best flirt, but I loved flirting with him. I’d forgotten how fun it was.
He joined us after ordering one of Pandora’s bottomless pasta bowls.Chicken alfredo, I knew without having to ask. “Addison didn’t step up tonight,” he explained, sliding into the booth next to me. “Something resembling meatloaf?”
“But do theyeverstep up?” I joked.
“That’s why I always do the make-your-own stations,” Luke said, then shook his head. “I really don’t understand how you guys have survived four years on Bexley food.” He gave us a look. “You know our food provider also stocks a bunch of prisons?”
“What?” I exclaimed.
He nodded. “The terminstitutional fooddoesn’t just include schools.”
Nick chuckled. “Don’t tell my dad that! He and my uncle Theo always talk about how much they miss the food here…” His phone chimed. “Charlie,” he announced, skimming the message. “He tweaked his ankle at practice and went to the trainer’s for ice, and now wants to know if he should swing by?” He glanced at Luke. “You haven’t answered his texts?”
Luke ignored the second question. “No, that’s okay,” he said. “Tell him to meet me in my room.” He began packing up his stuff, and I caught him roll his eyes. “Provided he can make it upstairs on his ankle.”
“They sure don’t call it ‘deadpan’ for nothing,” Nick commented once Luke was gone. “His sarcasm is deadly.”
