Chapter 7
My first semester of college was going rather well.
Classes were pretty much a repeat of high school, except for Introduction to Finance.
I was good with numbers, but this was new and different.
Still not enough to keep my mind on school and off a certain gorgeous older man.
Or the annoying irritation of hair growing back in places it should’ve never not been to begin with.
Which only brought me back to thinking of my one night with Luke.
Because of course …
What I needed was a distraction, so when Savannah texted me, I’d already said yes in my mind before she told me what she wanted.
Savy
Wanna come to another event with me?
Male or female?
Savy
Ha. You’re not funny. It’s some auction thing. You wanna come and eat free food? You can be anyone you wanna be.
You had me at free food.
Savy
Awesome. You’ll need a tux.
The fuck?
Savy
I’ll pick you up Saturday afternoon.
Would Luke be there? The chances of running into him were fifty/fifty, I supposed; either I would or wouldn’t.
And okay, yeah, I wanted to. Even if he hated me, never wanted to see me again, or speak to me, or exist in the same room together, I still wanted to see him. I wanted to make sure he was okay.
I hated myself for lying to him like that. I needed the torture of seeing what I couldn’t have. Penance for the awful stunt I pulled.
With the dress code requirement for this new event, I called Momma and asked about Ben’s old tux. My stepdad was a little bigger than me, but Momma could make it work. After my last class on Friday, I booked it the three hours to Hickory Bend, cruising the familiar streets before dinnertime.
“My college boy,” Momma gushed as she came out to meet me halfway to the front porch, grabbing my head with both hands and kissing all over my face and hair. “You’ve grown so much. Look at you.”
“You saw me three weeks ago,” I said but laughed at her silliness.
“Bubba. Bubba.” Next out the door were my youngest siblings, May and Lila.
“Good grief— Oof,” I grunted when they launched at me.
At five and seven, they weren’t the little tots who used to climb on my back to try and weigh me down anymore.
They were the big tots who did the same.
“Rawr,” I growled and made to chase them for tickles, but somehow managed to get flat on my back with them tickling me.
“I yield. I yield,” I cried between laughs.
“You’re staying for supper, right?” Momma asked while leaning over the three of us, not trying to save me at all.
“Yessssss,” I managed to squeal while trying not to be as ticklish as I was, and failing spectacularly.
“Girls, bring him inside when you’re done.”
“Momma, wait. Help me.”
Momma waved and smiled and left me at their mercy.
As much as I pretended to hate it, being at home grounded me in a way that was sorely needed. For a few hours, I was given no room to dwell or question anything about anything as my five younger siblings vied for my attention and Momma snuck questions in between them.
With Momma and Daddy having big families, and then my stepdad and Daddy’s first and second wives also having big families, all of us were used to carrying on multiple conversations at once and cutting in when we could.
With May on one knee, I dug into Momma’s huge spread.
Fried chicken, fried okra, black-eyed peas, and a plate of corn on the cob stacked so high, I had to glance around it to see across the table.
Not really, but I made my brothers laugh when I did it.
I got caught up on their schoolwork and new best friends.
Momma was a full-time stay-at-home-overseer of the Brandt household, so she filled me in on her craft projects, trouble the kids got into, and my stepdad’s work.
He wasn’t with us this evening because his dad was in the hospital, and he visited whenever he could.
“How’s he doin’?” I asked when it was just Momma and me washing dishes and putting the kitchen back to normal.
“It’s not lookin’ great,” Momma said with a sigh. “Ben’s workin’ with his dad when he’s awake and capable to get his affairs in order.”
“Oh, dang. It’s that bad, huh?”
Momma nodded. “We’re hoping he makes it to the Christmas holidays, but I’m not so sure.”
“How’s Ben with all of it?” Unlike my brother, Nathan, my only full blood sibling, I didn’t call our stepdad Daddy. I didn’t talk to our daddy all that much anymore, but I couldn’t call another man by that word. It had never fit, and Ben didn’t mind.
“He’s better. I think he’s come to terms with it. I’m glad they’ve had this time to say all that needs sayin’. Ben’ll be the pillar his family’ll need when the time comes.”
“And we’ll be his pillar,” I said.
Momma glanced at me, then nodded with a sad smile. “You always know what to say, don’t you?”
I bumped her hip with mine since both our hands were busy. “Got it from you.”
Her smile wasn’t quite so melancholy this time. Then she glanced over her shoulder, probably to make sure we were alone, and asked, “So any handsome young men you wanna tell me about?”
“Momma.” I rolled my eyes.
“Oh, sweetie, you’re right. You’re right. I’m rushing things, but by Christmas, I expect some news. I need grandbabies.”
“Don’t you have enough kids? Why are you so keen on me addin’ to them?”
Momma sat her wet dish down but didn’t dry her hands before grabbing me and smacking kisses all over me again. “I’ve just got so much love to give.”
I laughed and halfheartedly fought her. “Stop. Get off me.”
“Nooo, it’s bubbled over. I can’t stop it.”
Her shout caused others to come running.
I wouldn’t call it a tradition or anything—okay, maybe it was—but we had this thing about piling on the kisses if we saw them happening.
We didn’t need to know why they were needed; we just joined in.
Soon, I had all but Nathan hanging off me and smothering me with hugs and kisses as I tried to remain on my feet.
Nathan, too big for this now, stood in the doorway and laughed.
“You could help me, traitor,” I accused.
“All you, bro,” he said.
My family was ridiculous, but I loved them.
Saturday morning, I had Ben’s tux ready to go and said goodbyes with promises to be back soon. Three hours wasn’t that far, but, well, okay, no excuse. It wasn’t far. Momma texted Savannah to take pictures of me in Ben’s formalwear, and my now ex-favorite cousin said she would.
I went straight to Savannah’s instead of the dorms first. She had to be at the venue early to do her thing, so we got ourselves ready at Aunt Penny’s before we left together.
The venue was similar to the hotel where the charity event was held two weeks ago. A different hotel, but they looked the same to me. Pretentious and stuffy.
Savannah was in her groove, jumping from station to station, fixing hair and painting faces, readying a dozen models to assist with showing off the items on the menu for this auction.
I almost asked her to work her magic on me, and I’d find a dress, because the women were doted on way more than the few men, but she already had her hands full.
Instead, I lounged in the staging area, chatted with the male models, who were very nice, and waited for the thing to start.
Nerves were high as most of these models were new to the business and working their way up at events like this. Their sponsor mistook me for one of their ranks, which boosted the ole ego, but I was glad I didn’t have to be on this time.
The ballroom was full of people by the time I came out of the prep room.
Tables and more tables were set with food shaped as all sorts of things, like animals and flowers.
Champagne flowed. The bar was slammed. I was tempted to see if I could get an adult drink, but I was already event crashing and didn’t want to draw any attention.
I grabbed a sparkling water and people-watched from various positions in the room.
At one point, a balding man in glasses got onstage to announce the auction would start soon.
He said something about the cause and thanked everyone who had donated something to be auctioned.
That was cool, I supposed. So these fancy pants just tossed out things they didn’t use any longer and made money for good causes? I’d never understand this social level.
This was Luke’s level.
He hadn’t said that, but given the event where we met and his snooty-britches mother, I could do the social math. We were leagues apart. Maybe his reaction to my true self was exactly what should’ve happened. What did a starving nineteen-year-old college student have to offer a man like him anyway?
Savannah came around a few times in her black cocktail dress, which reminded me how ill-fitting my clothes were. The trousers were loose, and the jacket didn’t hang across my shoulders correctly, making it droopy instead of sharp. Nothing like Luke’s had fit him. He’d probably had it tailor-made.
Ugh.
Fuck.
I’d never get that man out of my mind.
Once the auction began, I hung out where others who weren’t participating gathered. Rows of chairs were set up near the stage, where a few pieces were already displayed. Paintings, sculptures, an envelope—mysterious—and a few bottles of wine.
It was just as I imagined, with a gavel to open each bidding and close it. The auctioneer had a weird way of speaking that those bidding understood, I supposed, while another man spoke normally about each object.
“The next item is a lovely 1989 Vie de Ruisseau Chardonnay from the personal collection of Luke Dorset.” The man gestured to the side just as Luke stood and bowed several times as the crowd clapped softly for him.
He was here.
Fuck.
He was here.
What should I do? Should I make him aware I was here? Would he think I was stalking him if I didn’t do it before he saw me?
Luke bowed one last time, then smiled toward the back of the room. Smiled in my direction. It hadn’t been for me, because when he saw me, he froze, paled like he was about to faint, and quickly turned around.
Fuck!
This was bad. At best, he had to think I was indeed a stalker, and at worst, I was planning some huge scene to out him for kissing a guy.
Jesus, of all the dumb ideas. I didn’t belong here, and I was never giving in to Savannah again.
The auctioneer started with an opening bid of two thousand dollars, and people actually bid on it. For one bottle? Hands were lifting left and right, and the amount kept getting higher. When it was finalized, Luke’s wine was sold for twelve grand. For one bottle of wine.
Unbelievable.
The man who purchased it made his way to Luke, who stood, looking not so pale now, and they spoke for a minute.
The cat was already out of the bag, but I didn’t feel right staying here any longer. It’d been entertaining when I could people-watch and inwardly chastise their oddities, but now, Luke was here. I’d been mocking the same social class he belonged to. The fun was gone, and guilt replaced it.
I slunk as far away from the auction as I could.
Savannah still had to be here for hours, so I couldn’t leave, not yet.
I glanced over my shoulder. Luke spoke with a few others in a small circle of men ranging in ages.
He seemed confident in that space, no longer ashen and wilting. God, he was fucking fine.
He’d gelled his hair again tonight, and not a strand was out of place. It suited him as much as the wealth surrounding him. His clean jaw was boxy but not brutishly so. It was his wide smile that softened him. And when that smile rose high enough to light his eyes, he was fucking beautiful.
When the men around him laughed heartily at something that was said, Luke’s smile fell as he glanced around the room. Before he returned his attention to the small crowd, he regained control of his expression.
I turned and studied the food. Luke wasn’t my anything. I didn’t deserve to ogle him from afar like some heartsick weirdo.
Other items were sold for the remainder of the evening as I waited for Savannah to be dismissed for the night.
Staying in the back of the great ballroom, hiding, ducking, facing away, I all but stood in a corner with my tail between my legs to not be noticed again, to not intrude, to not scare him more than I already had.