Saving You (Love Wanted in Texas #2)(10)
Author: Kelly Elliott

Luke pulled his head back and narrowed his eyes at me. “I’m not allowed to help you now, Lib? I thought we were friends.”

I let out a laugh. “That’s right; you haven’t reminded me of our friendship in a while. We certainly aren’t on the level of friends that you and the brown-haired Barbie doll at the library are. She seemed a bit pissed I walked up and interrupted your porn talk.”

“What did you hear?” Luke asked as he stepped around the car and walked toward me.

Swallowing hard, I watched his muscles move under his tight T-shirt as he made his way over to me. His eyes looked up and down my body and I was cursing myself for wearing sweatpants and an A&M T-shirt. I was sure I looked frumpy. I went to talk but nothing came out. I cleared my throat. “Enough to turn my stomach.”

Luke stopped walking. His eyes filled with something I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen before. He turned and started toward his truck as my heart starting beating faster. “Where … where are you going?” I called out.

He looked over his shoulder. “To my truck to get tools. I need to take your battery out and take it in to be tested.”

Glancing back to my car I nodded my head.

I SAT IN Luke’s truck and watched him walk out of the auto store carrying a new battery. I jumped out of the truck. “Your battery was no good.”

“How much do I owe you for the new battery?”

Luke set the battery in the bed of his truck. He looked at me and said, “Nothing.”

He opened the door to his truck, got in and started it. I sighed as I got back in the truck and I leaned my head back against the seat. The drive back to campus was no better than the drive to the auto store. Luke didn’t utter a word to me. The radio was playing and when the first few beats of the song came on my stomach dropped. Blake Shelton’s “Do You Remember” was filling the silent air in the truck cabin. It was the song Luke and I danced to the night he first kissed me. He told me it would always be our song. I turned and looked out the window. Luke probably didn’t even remember. Seeing as he was able to kiss me and leave like nothing magical had happened between us.

I felt the tears trying to build in my eyes and I refused to shed any more tears over him. He didn’t want me. He’d never want me.

Closing my eyes, I listened to the lyrics. I was instantly brought back to that night. The smell of his body invaded my senses. His green eyes looked into mine lovingly. He had been more than my best friend. He was my everything.

He still was. As much as I wanted to say he wasn’t … he was.

“Libby, I need to tell you something.”

I shook my head. “Please don’t talk to me, Luke.”

We drove the rest of the way listening to the song before it finally changed to a faster, louder song. The moment he parked his truck, I got out and made my way to my dorm room. As I walked by my car, Will started toward me. “Lib? Libby, what’s wrong?” he asked as he forced me to stop walking.

I tried to smile. “Nothing, Will. Just trying to figure out how to move on.” I looked back over my shoulder to see Luke standing there. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to talk, but he quickly shut it again.

Looking down, I turned my head back to Will. “I have a test to study for. Can you just be sure to bring me my keys?” I handed my keys to Will and walked away as I made a plan to avoid Luke Johnson as much as I possibly could.

I HAD SUCCESSFULLY avoided Luke up until Christmas break. Now that we were back home, he was everywhere.

“Let’s head to the barn and see what the boys are up to,” Grace said as she held her arm out. I laced my arm with hers and we headed to the barn. Taylor and Lex were talking about Taylor’s last year of high school.

When we entered the barn, we could hear the guys talking. Grace put her finger up to her mouth and began tiptoeing up the stairs.

I heard Colt talking as we made our way up. “Makes me want to give up on women altogether.”

“No! Don’t ever talk that way, dude. A man needs a vagina to function,” Luke said.

“Really? You just said that?” Will asked. We were almost to the top of the stairs.

Luke chuckled. “Hey, I could have said pussy, but I kept it clean. It’s true though. A man does need pussy to survive in this world.”

Colt began laughing. Grace stopped walking and turned and looked at me. I was furious hearing Luke talk like he was. I moved past Grace and stopped at the landing of the stairs. Luke was sitting in a chair, pushed back balancing on the back two legs.

Colt was shaking his head as he said, “Damn, Luke. What is wrong with you?”

Luke held up his hands and laughed. “Keeping it real. Just keeping it real.”

I felt the heat move through my entire body. All I could picture was that day in the library when I overheard him and Abigail talking. The idea of Abigail having Luke and not me turned my stomach. Hearing him talk like this made me wonder if Luke was even capable of loving anyone. Maybe all he wanted was his fuck buddy.

“That’s why he has his fuck buddy. No strings. Just a fun way to survive in this world. Isn’t that right, Luke?”

Grace started giggling behind me as Will turned and looked at us. Luke looked over at me with a shocked look on his face.

“What?” he asked as he lost his balance and dropped backward onto the floor. I smiled and shook my head. That’s what the bastard gets.

I glanced over and looked at Will. “I’m heading out for a while to meet someone. I don’t have my car. Can I borrow your truck, Will?”

Grace bumped me from behind. “Libby, don’t do this.”

I ignored Grace as Will stared at me. “Uh …”

Jumping up, Luke looked at me with a stunned, almost frightened expression. “You’re going out? On Christmas night? Who are you going out with?”

The anger kept building up. How dare he ask me who I was going out with it! I glared at him and he took a step back.

I had no idea where I was going to go and then I remembered Jason had texted me. “Jason’s in town and he asked if I wanted to meet him for dessert.”

Luke started laughing. “What kind of dessert, Lib?”

I was about to say something when Will did. “Watch it, Luke.”

Walking over toward Luke, I smiled. “The kind you’ll never get from me, Luke.”

I walked up to Will and held my hand out for his truck keys. I needed to get away from Luke. Being around him was more than I could take anymore.