Page 29 of Whispers and Wildfire
They all looked at me with raised eyebrows.
“Sorry. See? No filter. I’m somewhat of an expert at making things awkward.”
“Oh, me too,” Audrey said. “It’s nice not to be the only one.”
“I’m sorry about your divorce,” Marigold said, patting Emily gently. “But it sounds like it was for the best. And it’s so lovely that you’re back in Tilikum.”
“Thanks,” I said with a smile. “I’ve missed it.”
“Speaking of making things awkward,” Annika said, her voice hesitant. “Does Luke know you’re back in town?”
Marigold raised her eyebrows, a look of curiosity on her face.
“Oh, come on, that’s not awkward.” That was a lie. Just the mention of his name made me want to squirm. “We dated a million years ago. And yes, he knows. I almost ran him off the road. But in my defense, I didn’t hit him.”
“Um…” Audrey paused. “Why did you almost run him off the road?”
“He drives too fast.”
She opened her mouth again as if she wasn’t sure what I meant by that.
“Oh!” I laughed. “You thought I meant I did it on purpose. No, it was an accident.”
“Sorry,” Audrey said.
“It’s okay. I probably seem like someone who’d run her ex-boyfriend off the road.”
That made all four of them laugh.
I was being flippant about Luke. And not because seeing him hadn’t made an impact—it had. I’d been looking over my shoulder everywhere I went, wondering if, or maybe when, I would see him again. But I wanted—or maybe needed—to pretend I didn’t care. That our relationship was in the past and I didn’t feel a thing.
In reality, I felt about a million things. But, despite my lack of filter, I wasn’t prepared to admit to any of it.
Because, honestly, what was wrong with me? Why were a couple of chance encounters with my high school boyfriend bothering me like a splinter in my toe I couldn’t remove?
“I saw Theo at the Timberbeast the other night,” I said. “That was fun. Until Luke showed up and called dibs on Tilikum and then stormed out.”
“Luke stormed out of the bar?” Audrey asked. “That doesn’t sound like him.”
I took a sip of my coffee. “It doesn’t? It sounds very much like him.”
“Are we talking about the same Luke?” Harper asked. “Luke Haven? Because he seems so easygoing.”
“He usually is,” Annika pointed out.
“I probably bring out the worst in him,” I said. “But it’s only fair because he brings out the worst in me. Kudos to the three of you for tackling Haven men. I tried that once, and it was a disaster.”
“You were both so young, though,” Annika said. “We’re all idiots in high school.”
I shrugged. “Maybe. But he and I don’t seem to have gotten any better at not wanting to murder each other.”
“Anyway, enough about Luke.” Annika waved her hand. “Sorry for bringing that up. New subject. What do you do?”
“I’m a voice actor.”
“Really? What kinds of things do you work on?”
“Whatever I can get. I’ve done commercials, some low-budget documentaries, a cartoon series.”
