However, I know I have a lot of explaining to do and a lot of amends to make. I don’t even know if the void I created where my relationship with Luke was can ever be filled. I wouldn’t blame him if he couldn’t forgive me.
“I don’t know where to go.” I whisper. “I understand if you don’t?—”
“You’re going to stay with me.” He cuts me off.
I realize that I don’t know anything about his living situation. “Really? Do you live alone?”
He shakes his head. “I have three roommates. I live with three of my teammates. We used to live in the Gamma house last year, but some of our alumni built new dorm houses for the athletic department. The frat house was fun, but too crowded. As seniors, we would have been entitled to our own rooms this year, but sharing with three people is easier than having to deal with twenty to thirty other guys.”
It makes sense. “Luke, if you live in the dorms, I don’t want you to get in trouble for letting me stay.”
He tucks one lock of hair behind my ear. “They’re condo style houses. We share a living room and kitchen, but each of us has their own rooms with a private bathroom. We even have a small deck outside. As long as you don’t throw a rager and keep us up all night, the guys won’t mind.”
I wish I shared his confidence. It’s not like I’m not used to living in shared housing, but we’re talking about three strangers here. Four, if I count Luke. We were about to turn eighteen the last time we saw each other. I have no idea of who he is now, or the man he’s become in these three years, during the entirety of his college career.
“I’m not going to stay long.” I say. “Just until I figure out what’s next.”
He looks at me for a long moment. His green eyes, identical to mine, bore into me as if he were trying to read deep into my soul. “You can stay as long as you need, sis. Let me worry about my roommates. There are just a couple of things I need to know.”
I swallow the lump of anxiety lodged in my throat. I know that I’ll have to explain a lot of stuff. Own up to a lot of things I’ve done. “Ask away.”
Luke’s hand cups my shoulder. He squeezes gently, which is surprising since he has such big, strong hands. “Whatever this was,” he points at my wedding dress. “Is it over? Or are you going to go back to whoever you were about to marry?”
I close my eyes, suppressing a shudder at the thought of my fiancé—now my ex, I guess—Kurt. “It’s over.” I thank all the gods that I chose a halter dress, and not the one with the sweetheart neckline that would have shown the bruises around my throat.
Luke nods. “Right. The other thing is… I’ll just come out and say it. I have a boyfriend. We’ve been together for almost a year now. I would love for you to meet Shane, unless you have a problem with it.”
By it, he means his sexual orientation.
I hang my head in shame. “No, Luke. I have no problem with whom you love. Or with who you are. I know I should have stood up for you when Byron kicked you out. I have no excuse for staying and for my behavior for the past three years. I don’t even know why you’re helping me. If you wanted nothing to do with me, I’d understand.”
“Never, Bexie-Boo.” He pulls me back into his arms, but it’s fleeting. “Look, we have a lot to talk about. A lot to figure out. Tomorrow. Just know that I understand. We were only seventeen. If you had tried to leave and come with me, he would have come after you.”
Luke is right, but that doesn’t justify my behavior and all the decisions I made after Byron—Dad—shunned him.
“I know, but?—”
“Tomorrow.” Luke’s tone brooks no argument. “It just so happens that you arrived during Star Cove’s County Fair. This is the last weekend of the year. The entire pier is open. There are games, award-winning fried pickles and shots. Lots of shots. We turned twenty-one three days ago, and I say let’s party tonight. I don’t even have practice tomorrow morning, so fuck the hangover. Come on, let’s forget the past three years ever happened, and we’ll talk about the rest tomorrow.”
And just like that, I let my twin brother lead me back out onto the pier.
We return to his table, where two tall guys are now sitting with huge mugs of beer in front of them.
“Hey babes,” Luke kisses the lips of the one with pitch black hair and dark brown eyes. “This is my twin sister, Rebecca. Everyone calls her Bex. Bex, this is my boyfriend, Shane.”
There’s a moment of uncertainty.
Shane and Luke look at each other in some kind of silent communication. Whatever they are discussing with their eyes is solved in mere seconds and Shane’s lips open in a bright smile. “Bex, it’s so nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
He offers me his hand to shake, but when I take it, he pulls me into a hug.
I doubt that the things he heard about me were good, but I’m grateful for the welcoming reception.
“Shane plays right wing on our second line. And this over here,” Luke says. “Is my roommate, Connor. He plays defense.”
Emerald green eyes meet mine, and heat floods to my face the second Connor nods in my direction.
His smile is warm and inviting and makes his already handsome face look even more attractive. “Hey Bex.”
