Page 47 of I Love You, I Hate You

In fact, if it wasn’t for Nora’s insistence on anonymity, they probably would have figured this out before they’d ever hooked up. This whole mess was her fault, whether she knew it or not. He wasn’t sure he would have even gotten in this deep with Nora if he’d known up-front that she was Victoria, and he certainly never would have antagonized Victoria until they hatefucked a few months ago. Everything would be different, and he didn’t know exactly how, but he knew it would be. And the fact that it was the way it was right now was on her, not him.

But still, he had a choice to make. Go in and blow it all up, or walk away and let it blow up on its own. The latter choice would at least leave him the option of telling her something had come up so he could think of a way to defuse the situation. He wasn’t sure he even wanted to defuse the situation, but going inside meant it was only going to end one way—with anger and disappointment and probably shouting, given their performances early in the week. Walking away meant maybe it could be salvaged, if he decided he wanted to salvage it. And it would mean preserving his ego, which probably couldn’t take the blows Victoria was about to level at him.

@Lukethebarnyardcat

Hey sorry, was just about to message you. Something came up and tonight won’t work

He pocketed his phone and walked to the corner. The flowers went in the trash and he stuffed his hands in his pockets, shoulders hunched. Not only was he a coward, he hated that it dovetailed perfectly with Victoria’s accusations earlier this week. He did like being the center of attention, and he did like being the hero. And maybe facing Nora-Victoria was the right thing to do, but it would make him look terrible, and he hated that. He already hated that she was pissed at him, even though he was just as pissed at her. He liked being liked way too much.

Traffic streamed past. Owen shuffled his feet, waiting for the light to change, and once again abruptly changed his mind. The flowers might be lost, but he could run back in and explain everything; prove to her that he wasn’t who she thought he was—and conversely, that hewaswho she thought he was, when he was online.

He walked confidently towards the coffee shop. So confidently that he didn’t even see Victoria until she barreled right into him, her arms crossed and body curled protectively against the wind.

She bounced off his chest and his hand went out to steady her automatically. He caught a glimpse of tear tracks on her cheeks and his heart cracked. He had never thought Victoria would be the type to cry, but Nora—Nora might. “Oh for fuck’s sake,” she grumbled, wrenching her arm away. “Could today get any worse?”

She brushed past him and he trotted after her, not sure where he was going with this. “Is everything okay?” he asked, more to get her to stop walking than anything else. He needed to fix this and he didn’t know how, but he was at least going to try.

She scoffed without turning around. “Why do you give a shit?”

“Because.”Because we were both out of line after court. Because you’re Nora. Because I want you to understand I care about you, even if I’m terrified about what that means.

Victoria drew to a stop and her eyes went straight to the trash can. There lay his roses, clearly freshly discarded. They rested there like an ugly scar, proof that Luke had been here and walked away. Her face paled, her eyes went cold, and she rounded on him. “Go away. I had a shitty night, and you—you are not going to make it any better.”There goes that plan.He couldn’t very well admit he was Luke now, not when she knew Luke was a fucking coward. He would have to figure out a better way to come clean.

“Let me try.” The words were out of his mouth before he could stop himself. He couldn’t fix this if they were permanently broken, after all. But maybe he could cheer her up a little, make her remember why she liked the Owen version of him. Then he could figure out a way to tell her so she wouldn’t hate the Luke version, either.

“How?”

He glanced around and his eyes landed on the Depot. “Let’s go ice skating.”

Victoria stared at him, dumbfounded. “I’ve never been ice skating.”

“Never?” Owen asked.

“Never.” There wasn’t much money for activities that weren’t free when Victoria was growing up, and ice skating wasn’t a necessity like learning to swim. By the time she had the disposable income to try it, she was far too afraid of falling and cracking her head open to bother. She blinked back the tears that had been slowly tracking down her face since she found out Luke wasn’t coming and lifted her chin. She wasn’t about to let Owen see her weak like this, not after what he pulled in court.

“Well then there’s no time like the present,” he said, and held out his hand.

When Victoria woke up this morning, she was sure of two things: Owen Pohl was a piece of shit, and she was about to start something wonderful with Luke. And now, with the evidence of Luke’s disgust sitting clear as day on top of the nearest trash can, all of that was upside down. And Owen kept looking at her meaningfully, like there was something more happening here, when just a few days ago she thought they were completely out of each other’s lives for good.

Here was another Moment. She could walk away and be done with both of them or she could throw caution to the wind and accept Owen’s offer, which would at least salvage some of her ego.

Against her better judgment, she took his hand. He pulled her along for a few paces before doubt hit and she dug her heels in. “Hold on, I don’t know if I’m up for this,” she protested.

“Let me guess—you got stood up by some asshole and you want to go home and brood about it.”

She dropped his hand. “I also got reamed out at work this week because of a dirty trick one of the opposing attorneys played on me, who then went on to accuse me of being a heartless bitch. Don’t make this all about some asshole guy.” Calling Luke an asshole hurt, but it also felt right—she didn’t want to mope about him, especially if he was going to be one. Victoria was self-aware enough to know that she was pretty damn good-looking, objectively speaking. The blow to her ego went deeper than that. If he didn’t think she was hot enough for him, then Luke wasn’t the guy she thought he was. But if he thought she looked vain, or shallow, or high maintenance, well, that would hurt. A lot. More than Owen’s words in the parking lot had, and those had cut deep.

Something unreadable flashed in his eyes. “Fair enough. But brooding on all of it isn’t going to help.”

“Plotting a way to get away with your murder might,” she argued, and he grinned.

“Also fair. But are you in?”

Suddenly, she didn’t hate Owen as much as she hated Luke. This was an unexpected turn of events to say the least, but if she couldn’t prove Luke wrong to his face, Owen would have to suffice. If he thought she was a cold-hearted robot, she’d show him otherwise. “I’m in,” she agreed, and once again let him take her hand and tow her down the street. If nothing else, it would be a good distraction from the shitshow of tonight and keep her from checking her phone obsessively.

But once she had the skates strapped to her feet, doubt seized her. She wobbled precariously on the narrow blades and sat immediately back down on the bench, ready to take them off. She had insisted on getting figure skates instead of hockey skates, but when he stood up without a trace of wobble she wondered if she’d chosen wrong. “It’s not the skate, I promise,” he said, reading her mind. “I’m better at hockey skates, but figure skates should be easier for you to learn in.” His eyes glimmered and he leaned closer to her. “If you’re really scared, they have walkers available. You know, to lean on as you learn.”

“Har har, very funny.”