His gaze drifts down, a smile still tugging at the corner of his mouth.‘Didn’t peg you for a heels-on-a-Friday-night kind of woman.’
I lift a brow.‘You bagged me out for wearing heels to a working farm, remember?’
‘Ah, yes,’ he says, eyes warm.‘How could I forget?’His gaze lingers, head tilting slightly.‘You fell at my feet.’
I try to laugh.‘Youknockedmeover.’
‘Lies.’
I shake my head, but I’m smiling.It’s stupid.It’s familiar.And it’s suddenly too easy to forget that there was ever a version of us that didn’t laugh like this.
It’s just a compliment.Just a look.
But something inside me shifts – soft and cautious – and maybe I could let this happen.
Maybe I want to.
I set my glass down too carefully, fingers wrapped tight around the stem.‘I owe you an apology.’
Luke’s eyebrows lift slightly.
I exhale through my nose.‘For a lot of things.But mostly … for not saying goodbye.For not saying anything at all.’
He nods once.As if he’s already had this conversation in his head.‘Abbey said you saw me.In Darwin.’
I wince.‘Abbey talks too much.’
He tilts his head, unreadable.‘So, why didn’t you speak to me?You flew all the way there.’
‘I know.’
‘Then why?’
‘Because …’ I trail off, staring into my drink and praying it might offer a better answer than the truth.‘I saw you.With Lauren.’
His face shifts.Not anger.Just a quiet,Oh.
‘She’s a friend,’ he says.‘Practically family.We grew up together.It’s never been that way, not since we were teenagers.’
I nod too fast.Too many times.‘Right.Of course.That’s – you looked so happy,’ I say, and it comes out too small.
He meets my eyes, and for once, he doesn’t smile.‘I was trying to be.’
I look down at my hands in my lap, knuckles pale.‘Well.That’s embarrassing.’
The ache hits me then – sharp and sudden.It shouldn’t still hurt.It shouldn’t still matter.But it does.
And the worst part?He’s still looking at me as if it doesn’t ruin anything.He sees all of it – my jealousy, my fear, my pride – and he stays anyway.
His cheerful smile from earlier has faded, replaced by something quieter.Something that feels like it’s been sitting at the bottom of his chest waiting to be said.
‘I didn’t mean it,’ Luke says.
I blink.‘What?’
His eyes lock on mine, and there’s no hesitation now.Only him, honest and wide open.‘When I told you not to come back.I didn’t mean it.Not even a little.’He swallows.‘The second I said it, I wanted to take it back.But then …’ He pauses, dragging a hand through his hair.‘I was pissed.You left.No call.No explanation.Nothing.’He exhales sharply through his nose.‘And yeah, maybe that’s a pattern in my life.People leave me.They always do.But you …’ He shakes his head.‘I didn’t expect it from you.’
That one lands.Right in the centre of my chest.
