He doesn’t take it. Instead, he studies me with that subtle intensity that always makes me feel he sees more than I want him to. So I place it beside his plate so he can clearly see her phone number.
“Why would you give me that?” He inclines his head toward the table but doesn’t look away.
Because you told your brother I’m just your friend.
Because I need to know where I stand.
Because I refuse to look foolish.
I swallow the truth before it spills out too harshly. “If you’re interested in her, I won’t stand in your way.”
The words scrape like glass shards in my throat as they leave.
His posture shifts immediately. “Did Brandon call you or something?”
“What? No.”
“You wouldn’t go out with him?”
“No,” I answer firmly. “I wouldn’t.”
He studies my face like he’s struggling to solve a puzzle that keeps rearranging itself, and I know that if I don’t say what’s between us, it’s going to rot there.
“I heard you last night, Luke.”
He goes still in a way that tells me he already knows what I’m about to say.
“You were outside with Brandon. I was cleaning up and came around the side of the house. You were loud enough that I didn’t misunderstand you.” My voice is steady, even though my pulse isn’t. “You said we’re friends and that you won’t call it something it’s not.”
Silence settles between us, heavy and uncomfortable.
I never meant to tell him that. I told myself I would swallow it and let it fade. But I am so tired of trying to decode him. For most of that night, I truly believed he was ready to take a chance. I saw it in the way he held me, in the way he looked at me. And when I heard what he said to Brandon, I felt like a fool for believing any of it.
“I’m not mad,” I say quietly, because that part is true. “But I can’t keep doing this. I don’t do one-night stands or friends-with-benefits. If you want me as a friend, I cando that. But it has to be clean. No flirting, no touching, and no mixed signals.”
My throat tightens, but I push through it because I refuse to pretend any longer.
“And if you want more, you have to be sure. I can’t go back and forth. Not with you. We can’t build something real on hesitation.”
He exhales slowly, and for the first time tonight, I see something break open in his expression. Not defensiveness. Not ego. Something closer to regret.
LUKE
This is exactly what I deserve.
I thought I was protecting us by not naming it. I thought that if I didn’t say it out loud, I couldn’t break it. But hearing her repeat my words back to me makes me realize how careless that logic was.
She ignored my texts last night and didn’t come to the gym today. I convinced myself she was already pulling away, that I had crossed an invisible line when I told her I wanted her.
Now I understand why.
I reach for her hands before I lose my nerve. I’ve given her nothing but mixed signals, and if I’m honest with myself, I’ve been hiding behind that uncertainty because it felt safer than admitting how much she matters.
“Andi, I didn’t say that because it’s how I feel,” I tell her quietly. “Brandon was pushing. He turns everything into a challenge. I didn’t want to say anything to him before I’d even said it to you.”
She doesn’t look convinced, and I don’t blame her. The truth is, I’ve been afraid to say it to anyone at all.
“I’ve never wanted anything this much,” I admit, my words rougher than I expected. “And that scares me.”
