Page 99 of Playing for Keeps

“So…this…” Anthony finally said, waving his hand to take in both Luke and me. “Does Char know?”

Luke inhaled sharply, his eyes fixing on a point on the ground.

“No,” I said. “No, she doesn’t.”

Anthony pushed his glasses back and gave us both a stare that took me back to when we were teenagers and he caught us taking his Mercedes for a joyride around the block.

“Are you planning on telling her?”

I flicked a panicked glance at Luke. Because what the hell could we say to that? We hadn’t talked about what this was, where it was going.

“I don’t think this is the right time or place for this discussion,” Luke said.

Anthony’s shoulders slumped. “I guess I should just…” He gestured at the door.

Luke gave a stiff nod.

Anthony looked down at the liquid that was splattered all over the tiles. “Sorry about the mess.”

“It’s okay.” Luke’s voice was quiet.

He waited until the front door had shut before he whirled around, clawing his hands through his hair. “Fuck.”

I whole-heartedly agreed with his assessment of the situation. There was really no other word that summed it up. But Luke looked so traumatized I felt compelled to reassure him.

“It could have been worse.”

His eyebrows shot up. “How the fuck could that have been worse?”

“Well, we could have been at the point where you had me bent over the counter.”

Luke winced.

“Or your mother could have been with him…” I continued.

Luke held up a hand. “Okay, stop. You’ve made your point.”

But some of the tension had dissolved in his face and he gave a dark chuckle. I wrapped my arms around him. He leaned into me, and for a few seconds we stayed like that.

“I better clean up the mess,” he said, pulling away.

“I’ll help you.”

Luke got a brush and pan and started to carefully pick up the broken glass while I grabbed paper towels and began mopping up the whisky puddle.

I couldn’t help the ominous feeling that stirred in my stomach. The feeling that this mess was just the beginning of things to come.

At least this was an easy mess to clean up.

Chapter24

Luke

Iclutched a bottle of wine as I stood on my parents’ doorstep.

My mother had decided we were going to have a family dinner to celebrate me making the New Zealand team.

Which was a nice thought. But I’d left a bed with a naked Ethan Lewis in it to come here, which demonstrated a level of self-control beyond what I thought I possessed.