Chapter 3-1
1761 Words
Chapter 3
Luke put a hand to his head as he woke up. It pounded as if feet had been stomping on top of his forehead. He opened his eyes to the faint daylight that leaked through the blinds. He sat up slowly. His veins were filled with black tar.
He’d drunk too much. Somewhere between when he danced with Kelly and coming home, he drank way too much.
Home. Kelly. s**t.
Luke straightened his back, only to have his stomach heave in protest. Faint memories were fragmented in his mind. Kelly had driven him home, and he remembered her in his bedroom. Why? What was that memory? He looked at the bed. The covers were destroyed. He’d done that alone, hadn’t he? He was sure he’d remember that, especially with Kelly Reeves, of all people.
Oh God! Was that a high heel? He shot up and bent over to retrieve the red shoe off his floor. The motion made his head spin and stomach lurch, or maybe that was caused by the object in his hand. Only Kelly wore red heels like these. Oh s**t. What had he done? Kelly. Not Kelly.
Luke shut his eyes. It wasn’t like she was some random one-night stand he could ignore and never see again. No, he had to choose the one woman who was guaranteed to be part of his future for the rest of his life.
In his drunken stupor, he slept with the one woman he would never, when thinking clearly, sleep with. Hell, he didn’t even seek Kelly out for a conversation.
Kelly Reeves. How was this going to go over? He had no hope Kelly would keep her mouth shut about this. What could he expect from a woman who let nude photos be taken of her for a living? Discretion? Yeah, right. John would know, his parents, and Cassie would know. That’s just what he wanted, his sister-in-law to know that he used her sister for s*x. s*x that he couldn’t even remember clearly. Luke squashed his fingers into his eye sockets. And to top it off, Kelly was staying all week here with him. Between the two of them, they would babysit Tim while John and Cassie enjoyed their honeymoon.
Luke made it to the kitchen, thrilled to find a pot of coffee and the house silent. Now he had to figure out what he was going to say to Kelly. He was finally coherent after a cup of coffee when Kelly came in. She appeared in the kitchen, took one look at him, and broke out in a grin.
“Good morning. I see it’s not so good for you.”
He stared up at Kelly, puzzled. That was it? Acid was eating through his stomach lining and all that Kelly has to say after last night was a chipper, “Good morning?” She was way more comfortable at this than he. One-night stands didn’t exist in his history. Maybe Kelly’s life was a different story. But they did have a history. She should feel something about it.
She was dressed in a sweat suit, which was fine, except for the odd addition of the knee-high boots with long, spiky heels. Who in her right mind walks on the beach in heels? With sweats? Then again, he had a feeling she purposely wore the heels when she was around him just to make him feel inferior. Be taller than him. It pissed him off to no end.
“John and Cassie are coming back sometime to grab their luggage and say goodbye to Tim. I’ll bet they hate to tear themselves away from their hotel room. I imagine there’s nothing like your wedding night. But at least, after their plane ride, they’ll get six more nights together.”
Kelly walked through the kitchen, talking as she grabbed water from the fridge and took a long drink. Really? That’s all Kelly has to say? She chattered on as she passed him. She didn’t make eye contact with him, but neither did she seem to be avoiding him. He shook his head unsure what the hell to do with this, when her stupid chatter finally penetrated his brain. She was looking at him expectantly. Had she asked him something?
“What?”
“Did I leave my heel in your room? I had an arm load last night, and I don’t know where it ended up.”
God, it was nothing to her. She was worried about her shoe. He didn’t know if he should be glad that having had s*x changed nothing for her, or because she seemed so totally unaffected by it. Was he that bad?
“You dropped one by my bed. It’s still there.”
“Great, I’ll grab it on my way up.”
“Yeah, just great,” he mimicked. His bad temper dipped even lower.
She turned to leave, and then looked back at him. “Doesn’t this feel weird? Like we’re right back to where we were before.”
“Before?”
“You and I staying together in this house. Of course, this time we lack all the drama of John and Cassie, but in a way, it’s like we’re roommates again.”
“Yeah, roommates,” he echoed, at a loss of why she sounded so casual about all this. They spent the previous winter nearly trapped in this very house together as they waited out the long ordeal of Cassie’s ex-husband. Cassie was staying with John and Luke while the police tried to locate her ex-husband, who was stalking Cassie and Tim. It was a stressful few weeks that had them all seriously scared. Especially after Marcus Leary, Cassie’s ex, trapped Kelly and beat her up as part of his sick torment of Cassie. It was during those few weeks that John and Cassie had rekindled their decade-old love.
The last thing Luke wanted, however, was to be roommates with Kelly Reeves. Their relationship didn’t even warrant sitting together over coffee.
Luke showered, hoping the hot water would clear his head. He met his parents at the door to gather Tim, and he tried to not cringe in pain over Tim’s voice chatting as they moved about the house together.
It wasn’t long before the newlyweds made their appearance, still smiling and making sure to touch each other at every opportunity. He couldn’t meet Cassie’s gaze. She was not going to like that he’d slept with Kelly. Cassie was blindly devoted to her younger sister. No matter what Kelly did or didn’t do, Cassie defended her like a mother bear.
Cassie cornered Luke in the kitchen. “Are you all right?”
“I’m all right. Quit looking at me as if I’m going to fall apart.”
“It’s just the wedding had to remind you of Shelly and everything.”
“It did. But I’m okay. Really. I’m happy for you and my brother.” He leaned into the counter, pushing a glass back and forth, he avoided Cassie’s gaze. “But I have to tell you something.”
“What?”
“Last night I ended up pretty drunk.”
“I know—I saw you. Don’t give it a second thought.”
“No, it’s not that. I don’t know how to tell you
this.”
“Just say it.”
“Well, I think we were both drunk, and that’s no excuse…”
“But what?”
“Kelly and I slept together last night. I wanted you to hear it from me.”
Cassie didn’t react. Nor did she speak. She tilted her head, her eyebrows lowered, puzzled. “No, you didn’t.”
“What do you mean no, I didn’t?”
“Well, first of all, she did put you to bed. But that’s it. Nothing happened.”
“But I remember…”
“You remember asking her to stay with you.”
“Yeah. How do you know?”
“Kelly told me. But she wouldn’t sleep with you. You were drunk. You were missing your wife. And besides, Kelly isn’t like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like the kind of girl to sleep with you because you were drunk and missing your wife.”
“Oh,” Luke said, nearly struck mute by Cassie’s glare. He opened his mouth but nothing came out.
Cassie continued, “And second, this is between us, but you need to hear it because I know what you think of Kelly, and everything you think about her is wrong. Kelly would never sleep with you. Not like that. She doesn’t have one-night stands. She doesn’t have casual s*x. Contrary to what she portrays. Whatever she makes you think she is, the real her is the opposite.”
Luke didn’t believe her, but Cassie looked so intense he didn’t dare argue.
“You don’t know her at all. What you don’t notice is she’s the one who waited around to get you home safely last night. She is not the kind of woman to take advantage of you or seduce you.”
“But all those stories. The way she talks. Her shoes were in my room.”
“All those stories are just that.”
“She lives a thousand miles from you, how do you know?”
“I just know.”
Cassie stared into his eyes. He crossed his arms. What? What had he missed about Kelly? Kelly didn’t do casual s*x? Why? Had there been something in her past? Kelly was an open book, an obnoxious one at that. But suddenly, he was wrong about her?
“You’re not the only one who has been hurt in the past.”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
“She was r***d by my mother’s boyfriend when she was thirteen.”
Luke flinched. No. There was no deep-seated past to Kelly Reeves, Supermodel. There was Kelly, annoying and stupid acting. There was Kelly on magazines and tabloids with nasty rumors and stories, there was not Kelly Reeves, suddenly the wounded, hurt woman.
“It’s a strange situation. In fact, it’s the only sticky issue between my sister and me. She refuses to talk about it or listen to anything I have to say.”
“Why?”
“Because she denies it happened. But I know it did because I walked in on the man doing it. I remember it clearly. I told our mother, but she refused to believe me because she claims she didn’t have anyone over that night. But she did, I saw him. I saw what was done to my sister. And that’s why I know my sister doesn’t sleep around, and everything you’ve ever thought or heard about her is wrong.”
Luke swallowed. “I had no idea.”
“Of course not. That’s what Kelly wants. No one can hurt her. And the only reason you are hearing this is because I trust you. And you both are now in Tim’s life as his aunt and uncle, and you will inevitably be together throughout the years to come. So, for my sake and Tim’s, please make some kind of peace with her.”
“I didn’t know.”
“She’s still a little girl inside, playing dress-up, hiding who she is so she’ll be accepted. People judge her now on things that aren’t real, so it doesn’t hurt her.
Just give some thought to what I’ve said.”
“You can trust me.”
“I know, that’s the only reason you know any of this.”
- Writer
