Page 4 of Truly (Peachwood Falls #2)

L uke

“I don’t know. Maybe I could stay here?”

My steps fall faster, putting more distance between me and … her .

What is she doing here ?

Laina Kelley and her bright blue eyes and dirty-blond hair is the last person I expected to see at all, let alone inside my damn house.

Sweat drips down my back. It has nothing to do with the sun. I swing open the barn doors with more gusto than necessary and step inside.

Rarely do I feel unable to manage a situation. Sure, I sometimes present things to my family with a little extra drama just to keep them on their toes. It’s a good time. But it’s not very often that I find myself in a situation that actually scares the shit out of me.

Laina chose to come here. What the hell ?

“What do I do now?” I ask the empty horse stalls.

My body buzzes with a rush of excitement and a flood of adrenaline.

I played it cool—I think I did, anyway. I didn’t let her see how much she caught me off guard.

But my ability to be controlled and sufficiently detached whittled away at record speed as she looked up at me with unguarded vulnerability.

She may not be mine anymore, but I’d still kill for this girl. That’s a complicated and dangerous place to be.

“I just need to process that she’s here,” I say, pacing the walkway. “Let’s set aside the fact that she broke in without talking to me for years. I’ll deal with her lack of boundaries later and how she stormed into my personal space like we were twenty years old again and made herself at home.”

A grin tickles my lips. I fight it. I try my hardest to stave it off. But the knowledge that Laina knew she could still come to me when she needed help is the best damn thing I’ve heard in a long time.

“Deal with that later,” I tell myself. “Right now, I gotta get my shit straight and get a plan together before I make a fool out of myself.”

I pull a folding chair from against the wall and pop it open. Sitting down, I find my phone and look for Gavin’s name.

“Hey, Luke. What’s going on?” he asks after two rings.

“I kinda have a situation over here.”

“Again?” He sighs. “Dammit, Luke.”

“ No . Stop. It’s not like that.”

“It never is.”

I sigh heavily and look at the ceiling. “I mean it.”

“You always do.”

Asshole . “Look, I’m calling you because?—”

“Because Mallet won’t answer,” he says.

I start to protest, but that’s true. Mallet won’t answer. He blocked me after I sent him too many texts late at night because apparently training for a big professional fight is more important than humoring your little brother.

“And Chase might answer,” Gavin says, “but he’ll make you regret it.”

Can’t argue that one either.

“You could call Kate,” he says. But no one calls Kate with a situation unless you want it blown out of proportion and given the most expensive, over-the-top, time-consuming solution known to man. “Even you aren’t that desperate.”

I suck a breath between my teeth. “I don’t know. I might be.”

“Good. Call her, then.”

“Gavin, stop being a fuckhead. I need your help.”

He groans to ensure I don’t get comfortable calling him for help. Gavin is unequivocally my best friend, but the guy has weaknesses like everybody. He’s a great problem solver and is totally a people person. He just doesn’t like to be my problem solver or involve himself with my people issues.

Tough luck this time, sucker.

“I’m going to give you three guesses as to who is in my house right now,” I say, swallowing past the lump in my throat.

“Is this one of those things I’m supposed to get in three guesses, or are you just wasting my time?”

“I could give you fifty guesses, and you still won’t get it.”

“You’re wasting my time. Got it.”

I roll my eyes. “When people say you have three guesses, they don’t actually mean it. You realize that, right? It’s a rhetorical question.”

“That’s not what rhetorical means.”

“Uh, yes, it is. The question is being asked for effect, not for an answer.”

He snickers. “Okay, boy genius. Do you realize that the way you phrased it wasn’t a question? It’s a rhetorical statement, maybe . But it is not a rhetorical question because there’s no damn question.”

I groan, my irritation growing fast and wild.

“All right. I’m done. What’s going on this time? Who is in your bedroom?” he asks. “And if you say Alyssa after all the shit that went down?—”

“It’s not Alyssa. I haven’t talked to Alyssa in six months.”

“Thank God. She’s a nice girl and whatever, but the two of you are just not supposed to be together, Luke. We’ve all tried to tell you. I know you’ve felt bad breaking things off with her in the past, but I hope for your sake that you mean it when you say you haven’t talked to her in six?—”

“ Laina Kelley is in my house .”

The words shoot from my mouth so abruptly, so powerfully, that I flinch.

“Stop playing with me, Luke, you prick. I have shit to do today.”

“I’m not kidding, Gav.”

“ She got married today . Everyone in the world knows that. Even I’m not dense enough to believe that one.

Now, do you have anything you actually want to say?

Or can I go back to texting Tabitha a sob story that I’m making on the fly because I don’t want to bartend tonight, but I’m also incapable of telling her no ? ”

I work my neck back and forth. Somehow, sharing this with Gavin—even though he’s being a dick about it—relieves some of the energy bubbling in my stomach.

“Luke?”

“Have you checked the news in the last hour or so? I mean, I haven’t, but I imagine you won’t be able to turn on the television or go online without seeing a headline about Laina Kelley being a runaway bride.”

He pauses. The sound changes like he’s put me on speakerphone. Another few beats pass before he gasps. “ You’re shitting me .”

“Believe it or not, this is one thing I wouldn’t joke about.”

“Okay, let me get this straight. Laina came all the way from Los Angeles with half of Hollywood in tow to get married to the biggest star of our generation. But she bails at the last minute and has gone missing in action, according to the media. And somehow, she winds up in your house?”

“You got it.”

He’s silent for a few moments, and I can picture him scrolling through his phone to check the headlines.

“Tell me you didn’t do anything to cause this,” he says warily. “Because a ton of shit is floating around online already with all kinds of speculation.”

“The fact you think I would break up a wedding is insulting. But , the fact that you think I’m capable of convincing Laina not to marry Tom Waverly …” I’m smug. “Very flattering. Thank you.”

The sound bobbles again. This time, the roar of his engine cuts through the line, then ceases before he returns.

“Just got home,” he says, a door screeching in the background. “Now, fill me in. What the hell is going on? Have you been talking to her? Have you seen her lately—besides now, obviously? How have you been able to keep this from me?”

I laugh. “I haven’t.”

“You haven’t what?”

“I haven’t been talking to her. I haven’t seen her. I haven’t kept shit from you. Cotton called me this morning to shoe one of his horses. Did that, came home, and found Laina sitting on the couch in her wedding gown.”

“What did she say?”

“She hasn’t said much, but I haven’t pushed her. I asked why she walked out once, and she gave me a deer-in-the-headlights look, so I changed the subject. It’s not really important now.”

“No, you’re right. Is she okay?”

I take a deep breath and try to settle the whisper of anxiety breezing around my insides.

Gavin’s question and vague insinuation make sense.

After all, he knows her. They were once close, too.

Our whole family was close to Laina. She might be fun-loving and spontaneous, but she’s not the kind of person to leave her fiancé at the altar.

Something big must have happened. I just hope that big event was realizing she wasn’t happy and not something … darker.

My shoulders tense as I push the thought out of my mind. For now.

“She seems fine,” I say, running a hand through my hair.

“A little frazzled. But, you know, if she wasn’t sitting in this giant wedding dress, it could’ve easily just been a normal afternoon.

” I laugh at the bizarreness of it all. “Well, as normal as finding your ex-girlfriend who’s now a huge pop star in your house on her wedding day. ”

I pace again, unable to stand still.

“Hey, Luke. Are you okay?”

“Of course, I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”

Gavin’s voice lowers. “Because the one who got away is suddenly back, and I know you weren’t expecting it.”

I sigh and stop moving, my heart pounding. I’m not sure what to say. He'll know I'm lying if I try to say it’s no big deal. But how do I answer that?

Laina is, without a doubt, the love of my fucking life.

She’s unlike any woman I’ve met—a perfect ten in every way. She’s gorgeous and beautiful, talented and hilarious. Sweet but a spitfire. Predictable yet mischievous. Laina is headstrong and determined, too, but none of those qualities are what I love most about her.

What makes it impossible to move on from her completely is that I like her .

I like her as a person. I respect the hell out of her. I enjoy being with her, even when we aren’t having sex—maybe even more when we aren’t in the bedroom.

That’s great when she’s your girl, but it’s not so great when she’s not, and you can’t have her.

Like now .

Because she left me for bigger—much-deserved—things. A brighter, bolder life. I don’t think Gavin is entirely right. She’s not back. She’s just here … for now.

“She needs my help, Gav. I don’t know why, but it doesn’t matter. If she needs me, I’ll be there.”

“I know you will, buddy.”

My smile is faint. “She wants to stay.”

“For how long?”

I shrug even though he can’t see me.

“Look, I have concerns that this isn’t safe for you ,” Gavin says.

“I—”

“But I know you’re going to help her anyway.” He chuckles. “What can I do to help?”

I grin. “Have I ever told you that you’re my favorite brother?”

“Yes. But you usually only say it when you need a favor.”

“Bad idea to mention it now, then, huh?”

He laughs.

I rack my brain for anything that Gavin might be able to do to help.

The only thing I can come up with is that Laina mentioned she doesn’t have a phone or clothes.

Sure, she can borrow both of mine. But she might feel more comfortable not being dressed in her ex’s clothes while she sorts her life with another man.

“Can you get a prepaid cell phone?” I ask. “She doesn’t have hers, and I’m guessing she’s going to want to make calls and not have them easily traced.”

“Don’t ask questions, but I have a prepaid cell that I haven’t activated yet. You can have that.”

Don’t ask questions? Now, all I want to do is ask questions. What are you up to, Gav ?

“Great,” I say instead, staying focused. “And can you grab her a few clothes somewhere?”

“Where do you think I’m going to be able to get women’s clothes?”

I run a hand down the side of my face. “Go to Chase’s and see if Kennedy will let you borrow a few things. She’s a teenager, but I think they’re about the same size.”

“Oh, sure. How should I ask our niece if I can borrow some of her clothes? She’s going to get the wrong impression.”

I laugh. “Make something up. Tell her you have a girl over from out of town or something.”

“That’s not setting a good example.”

“Sure. Worry about that now.”

“Fine, fine. I’ll do it.”

“And, Gav, please don’t mention this to anyone. I don’t want anyone to know Laina is here.”

I can almost hear his smile through the phone. “You got it.”

“Thanks.”

“I’m going to go have a super awkward conversation with Kennedy. Do you want me to bring the stuff over, or are you coming to get it?”

I glance back toward the house. “Can you bring it over?”

“Sure. I’ll let you know when I’m on my way.”

“Thanks, man.”

“No problem.”

“Bye.”

I end the call and sling my arms over the gate overlooking the field. The sun is warm on my face as I stare at the horizon.

“The most important thing is that I keep my head together,” I say, my voice carried off by the wind. “She’s not here for me. She’s here because she needs me as a friend, and I cannot, no matter what, screw that up.”

I pull my arms back and let out a long sigh.

Don’t screw this up. That’s funny. Screwing up is what I do best.

I pivot on my heel and head back to the house.