Chapter 11
ANGEL IN DISGUISE
I scanned the room. Tailored suits, high heels, and expensive fabrics were on display wherever I turned.
The partygoers were having a good time, some laughing while others attempted to talk over the loud music.
It was Alex's big night. Not only was she turning twenty-four, but we were also celebrating the beta launch of her dating app.
Beside the birthday girl and the other bitches, I shook my ass to the music.
"Incoming," Mei whispered into my ear.
I braced myself; it had to be Luke. No one else warranted that sort of warning.
When I felt an arm around my waist, I didn't even look back.
"Hi."
His lips brushed my cheek. "You ladies look smoking hot." Before I could let his words go to my head, he added, "Especially the birthday girl."
I watched him kiss Alex just as he did me.
"Where's Solenne tonight?" she asked.
"She can't drink and decided to stay home."
Can't drink? What? Was she better than the rest of us, raw dogging life and all its difficulties?
Alex's eyes opened wide, but for once, I couldn't read her telepathically.
"Get yourself a drink and mingle. Don't forget you owe each of us spinsters a dance," Demetria joked.
Luke nodded with that familiar half smile, then his lips brushed my cheek, leaving a warmth I couldn't shake, and worse, making me wish he wasn't walking away from our group.
"Olivia. Did you hear him?" Alex asked.
"Yes. He’s getting a drink."
She slapped my shoulder as if I had missed something. "What?"
"Solenne can't drink. Maybe she’s pregnant."
A thought came to me, but Mei said it first. "Maybe Luke doesn't love her as he claims. Instead, he’s doing the honorable thing."
Now, this theory I liked very much. Anything was better than Luke loving someone else.
"She isn't pregnant," Demetria, the killjoy, said. Maybe it had something to do with her being six years older. Demetria always had a level head. She'd never let us get carried away, not ever.
"You don't know for sure," Alex said. "If she’s pregnant, he doesn't have to marry her. People don't do that anymore. They can share custody."
Demetria sighed and gave an exhausted look. However, from the look on Mei’s face, she wasn't certain.
Tired of guessing, I left the group to find Luke. This was one question that wouldn't be difficult to ask.
I found him leaning against a bar in the back. His head was lowered on his phone, fingers moving quickly as he typed, completely absorbed in whatever held his attention.
"I've figured it out," I announced when I was by his side.
Luke slipped the phone into his pocket and smiled. "Huh? What mystery did you solve since I left you on the other side of the room?"
Pitying him, I took his arm. "Why didn't you just tell me?"
"Tell you what, Liv?" Luke asked with one brow raised.
It was time for answers. "That Samleni was pregnant." I spoke quickly and now waited, heart pounding. It felt like forever, but in truth, only a few seconds had passed.
"Solenne isn't pregnant. She's just on antibiotics."
Confusingly, relief shot through me. If Luke ever had a child, it should be mine. Which was interesting since I never wanted to have any.
"She isn't?"
"No. I'd be the one to know. Solenne isn't pregnant."
I looked back over at the girls and shook my head. Alex covered her mouth while Demetria just gave an all-knowing shake of her head.
"Oh, sorry," I said, ready to rush back to the safe part of the room.
Luke wouldn't let me flee; he reached out and held me in place. "Why did you think she was pregnant?"
"Well, it would explain you marrying her so suddenly. I figured you’re doing the honorable thing."
Briefly, we just faced each other, seemingly unsure of what to say.
Luke spoke first. "You can't just accept that I love her, can you?"
No! I can't. You loving anyone but me makes absolutely no sense. I chose not to say that. Instead, I said, "Guess I have no choice but to believe now."
Luke stared at me for a long time. "Liv, I know you don't have much experience with love, but when you find the right person, you just know."
Thank goodness I brought my drink with me. I downed the rest of my vodka cranberry, and it burned my throat. I pictured it turning the same deep red as my ears and cheeks.
"Fine," I said, desperate to make my escape, but Luke still held me.
"Let's dance."
I could think of a million things I'd rather do than dance with him, but my body betrayed me, nodding before my brain could protest. We danced to a few pop songs. Luke had always been a good dancer. He wasn’t self-conscious.
I found myself smiling back at him. When we walked off the dance floor, my girlfriends surrounded us.
"Luke, you still have some nice moves," Mei teased.
I scanned the line at the bar. I needed another drink.
"Let's have a photo with the birthday girl and her friends," a photographer said.
I forced a smile on my face, and Luke stood beside me as the girls surrounded us.
"This is exactly the same photo we took during college graduation," Demetria yelled over the music.
Perfect. A glossy new photo to replace the one on my desk. Maybe for some, people could be replaced as easily as images in a frame. Well, at least I had one last memento of us before Hurricane Samleni made landfall.
"Say cheese!"
Luke hung around for a little while after the photograph was taken and then announced, "I have to go check on Solenne."
Isn't he sweet?
After kissing all our cheeks (again!) Luke fought his way out of the crowd. My heart felt like it was shattering as I watched him get farther and farther away from me, knowing he was going to her.
"Shit, Liv, I'm sorry," Alex began.
I lifted a hand to stop her. "It's okay."
All their doubtful looks said that no one believed me. They knew me too well.
Luke was gone by then, and I made my way to the bathroom.
Thankfully, it was empty. The music outside pounded through the walls, the bass vibrating the tile under my feet.
Laughter and voices leaked in from the hallway, reminding me I wasn't in the mood to be here right now. I slipped into a stall, locked the door, and dropped onto the toilet seat. Hugging myself, I lowered my head to avoid the harsh bathroom light. My shoulders shook as I tried to muffle the sobs, but they came anyway, thick and uneven. Each tear felt hot against my skin, sliding down my cheeks like they had weight, like they carried everything I couldn’t say.
My chest ached, not in some poetic way, but in a deep, raw throb that made it hard to breathe.
This was the kind of pain that didn’t just hurt, it drained me.
I clasped my hands in my lap as if holding myself together could stop any more tears from falling.