Chapter 6
The next thing Chloe knows,she and her friends are getting off a plane in North Carolina. Everything feels like a whirlwind, and suddenly she’s in a new state with her friends by her side, and her life is completely and utterly different.
The past week or so has been crazy, to say the least. Luke was so pleased that Chloe agreed to come on tour with him that he didn’t mind Devin and Elena tagging along, though they’re going to have to pay their way more than Chloe. Chloe’s still not thrilled about Luke paying her way, but everyone keeps telling her she’s being ridiculous. She’s trying to believe them.
But Luke’s agreement has been pretty much the only smooth part of the past week. The day after Chloe decided to go on tour, the girls drove back to Nashville to get ready to travel across the country for a month and a half. The three of them went their separate ways, all needing to get their affairs in order.
Chloe starts by telling her mom and her step-dad.
Lisa takes it better than Chloe might have expected. She doesn’t argue or insist Chloe not go. Instead, she purses her lips, her eyes searching in Chloe for something she can’t place.
‘What?’ Chloe finally asks, shifting uncomfortably as her mother studies her. Chloe tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, feeling embarrassed.
‘I understand why you want to go,’ Lisa says finally. ‘I just think this—having him be involved—is going to end poorly. You’re going to end up getting hurt.’
‘I’m not,’ Chloe tells her, but Lisa shakes her head.
‘You’re going to get your heart broken,’ she says and waves off Chloe’s indignant squawks.
Chloe’s step-dad, Charlie, agrees with Lisa. He clearly isn’t happy about this whole situation, and Chloe running off after Luke just makes it worse. Even though he only joined their family when Chloe was fourteen, he still views Chloe as his little girl. His daughter.
‘We’ve already talked about it,’ Chloe explains to him, hoping he’ll understand that she’s thought this through. ‘We’re not going to, like, get together. Date, I mean. We’re just going to be friends—partners, raising a baby.’
Charlie and Lisa share a disbelieving look.
‘If you say so,’ Charlie mutters. But neither tries to dissuade her from leaving; she’d already made up her mind, a deviation from Chloe’s usual way of being.
It’s all they would say for the rest of the week whenever Chloe tried to convince them she isn’t going to let Luke break her heart because if she doesn’t give it to him, it can’t break, right?
The morning Chloe leaves, she has all of her luggage sitting by the front door. Lisa catches her before she starts taking it outside, and pulls her into a big hug. Chloe hugs her for a moment, then pulls back. There are tears pooling in Lisa’s eyes and Chloe’s heart sinks at the sight of them.
‘Mom, I’m going to be fine,’ Chloe tells her. She grabs her mom’s hands and squeezes them tight. ‘It’s just six weeks, and then I’ll be home.’
Lisa nods silently, a single tear falling. She cups Chloe’s cheeks between her palms, rubbing softly with her thumb.
‘You’ll know what this feels like soon enough,’ she says softly. ‘Having to send your baby into the world, knowing it could hurt her but you just have to let her take it. You just have to let her learn how to handle it.’
‘I’m not going to get hurt,’ Chloe repeats for the millionth time, desperate for Lisa to believe her. ‘I won’t let Luke break my heart. I promise.’
‘Sweetie, you’ve always fallen in love too easily,’ her mom says, not unkindly. She kisses Chloe on the head and steps back so Chloe can leave.
Chloe swallows back a lump in her throat, knowing deep down that her mother is right. Though she’s only ever been in two real relationships before, she’s gotten her heart broken over crushes a million times. She falls hard and she falls fast. It doesn’t usually matter what her brain says, her heart always leaps ahead. But Chloe’s not going to let that happen this time. Her mom may not believe her, Charlie may not believe her, but right then Chloe promises herself that she’ll come out of this unscathed. She will not allow Luke Waters to break her heart.
Dealing with her job goes even worse. Sajid had been nice enough to give Chloe the weekend off on short notice, but he’s not thrilled about her request to take six weeks off.
‘It would be unpaid,’ she says, as if that might make it better.
Sajid crosses his arms over his chest and sighs. ‘Chloe, you know I can’t just give you that much time off. PTO or not, the owners would never allow it.’
Tears prick her eyes, and she swallows hard. As much as she’s been frustrated over this job in the past, she does love it. The people at Storyville were some of the best she’d ever known, and she’s enjoyed her time there. But she knows her time there was running out already. She needs a better paying job to take care of the baby—and a full-time one, no less—so she already knows what she needs to do.
She stares at her feet, unable to meet Sajid’s gaze.
‘Then, I guess this is my week’s notice,’ she says softly.
‘Chloe—’
‘I’m sorry,’ she says weakly. ‘But this is something I need to do, and I just—I think this is best.’
And now, here Chloe is. Halfway across the country, without her parents, and completely jobless. It’s a terrifying thought. She thinks that, with enough begging, she could get her job back if she really needed to, but there are no guarantees. Right now, she’s got nothing. Nothing but Luke, at least.
Luke sends a cab to pick the three of them up from the airport, and they arrive at the hotel with little incident. The hotel is nothing short of fancy. It’s easily the nicest building Chloe’s ever stepped foot in, and she tries her very best not to think about how much their room must have cost. They arrive at the room, which is overly large, with two queen beds and a plush couch along the wall. Devin drops her bags in the doorway and makes a running leap onto the closest bed. She bounces before sinking into the mattress. ‘Shit, this is so nice,’ she moans as she rolls onto her back. She spreads out like a starfish, sighing in contentment. ‘I could get used to this.’
‘You’re so obnoxious,’ Elena clucks, half-joking. She kicks Devin’s bags out of her way and drags her own inside. ‘Come get your bags. They’re in the way.’
‘I will in a second,’ Devin says.
‘Devin—’
‘Ugh, okay, Mom,’ Devin grumbles, sitting up. Chloe walks around Devin’s stuff, setting her bags in the corner. She pulls out her phone as she sits on the far bed, the mattress molding to her body like a well-made glove.
Text Thread: Luke Waters
4:12 PM
Chloe
we just got to the room
this is really nice
so thanks :)
Luke
You don’t need to thank me
Only the best for you and our baby ;)
Chloe rolls her eyes, fighting the smile that wants to spread across her face. They’ve texted a lot over the past week. They’ve been researching doctors in upcoming towns so they can set up an appointment soon, and Luke’s been doing his own research on parenting books they should read.
It’s sweet, seeing that he cares so much.
‘Ooh, talking to your boyfriend?’ Devin coos as she kicks her bags out of the way. Chloe scoffs.
‘He’s not my boyfriend, you know that!’
‘Please, you two are totally going to fall for each other,’ Devin says. She flashes Chloe a devilish grin. ‘Elena says it’ll happen by the end of the tour. I say it’ll be before we get to New York.’
Chloe drops her phone. Her mouth drops open into a small “O”. Incredulous, she exclaims, ‘You guys bet on me?’
‘It was Devin’s idea!’ Elena says, pointing childishly at Devin. Just as childishly, Devin sticks her tongue out at her.
‘Devin I can believe, but you Elena? That’s low,’ Chloe says, shaking her head. She’s not really mad—but really? Betting on her life like it’s some TV drama?
Elena sighs. She crosses the room and sits on Chloe’s bed. ‘I love you,’ she says kindly, ‘but I also know you, Chlo. Luke is, well, he’s exactly your type. And you’re having a baby together, spending all this time together. I just don’t see a way this will end without you falling for him.’
Chloe huffs, crossing her arms over her chest. ‘He’s not exactly my type,’ she mutters in vain. Elena sighs and pats her arm.
‘I’ve seen you get your heart broken more than once by the Lukes of the world,’ she says, not unkindly. ‘Those dark eyes, that too-charming smile…He’s exciting, interesting and kind. How could you not fall for all that?’
Chloe tries to think of something to say to that, but before she can, her phone lights up from the bed, a new text from Luke waiting to be read.
And Chloe’s stupid heart jumps at the sight of it. She really doesn’t have a leg to stand on.
‘You’re both wrong,’ she says anyway. She heads to the bathroom, if only to hide from her friends who know her all too well. ‘You’re both wrong!’
Even through the closed door, she hears Devin’s sly remark about her and Luke “playing house”. She shakes her head, splashing her face with some water to clear her mind.
She’ll show them! Her mom, Charlie, Elena, Devin—whoever else. Chloe’s strong and can stick to her guns. She’ll resist Luke’s charms. For the sake of her baby, and for the sake of her poor heart, she’ll do it.
By the time she emerges from the bathroom, she’s feeling a bit more human and a bit less annoyed. She waves off Elena’s look. She wants the previous conversation to just die so they can move on.
There’s so much going on, Chloe’s head swims with it all. Yet another reason to not let any feelings for Luke bloom. She doesn’t have time for it. She crawls past Elena, laying on her stomach on the bed. The text from Luke is still waiting on her phone, and she swipes it open.
Text Thread: Luke Waters
4:23 PM
Luke
Mav, Quinn, and I are gonna have dinner at the hotel restaurant at 6
You three are welcome to join us if you like
4:31 PM
Chloe
sounds great! we’ll be there :)
She regrets the smiley face as soon as she sends it, but it’s too late.
This might be just a little bit harder than she thought.
By the time six rolls around, Devin is still locked in the bathroom, primping after her post-airplane shower.
‘We’re gonna be late,’ Elena calls, knocking on the door. Devin’s response is totally buried by the sound of her hairdryer. Elena rolls her eyes. ‘This girl, I swear.’
Chloe shakes her head in amusement. ‘Do you expect anything less?’ She raps on the door, as well. ‘We’ll meet you down there, Dev! Don’t take too long, okay?’
Again, Devin’s response is inaudible, but Chloe assumes it’s an affirmative and leads the way out the room. She and Elena make their way downstairs, the both of them gawking at the sheer fanciness oozing from the hotel.
‘I’m pretty sure that painting costs more than my parents’ house,’ Chloe whispers.
‘That vase probably cost more than three months’ rent,’ Elena responds. They snicker, pointing out other expensive items, oohing and aahing over decorations all the way down to the main floor.
The two of them cross the lobby quickly and then stop short at the entrance to the hotel’s restaurant. The glossy wooden doors are shut tight and there’s a small velvet rope in front of the doorway with a brassy “closed” sign hanging. Chloe’s eyes knit together, and she shares a confused look with Elena.
The concierge calls from her desk, ‘Sorry, the restaurant is closed tonight! If you want, I can recommend some similar restaurants nearby.’ She gestures to the various pamphlets arranged neatly on the desk.
‘Oh, um, we’re supposed to be meeting some people here,’ Chloe says, gesturing vaguely to the closed restaurant.
‘I’m sorry,’ the concierge repeats, not sounding sorry at all, ‘but, like I said, it’s closed for the evening. There are some great options in town…’ She pulls open one of her pamphlets and then comes around her desk to show them as she speaks.
Chloe ignores her as she illustrates some of the fancy restaurants in the area and digs her phone out of her purse. Her text chain with Luke is already open when she unlocks her phone.
‘Luke said the hotel restaurant,’ she tells Elena. She looks around, but none of the guests milling around look at all familiar. ‘I don’t know where they are.’
‘Maybe they haven’t come down yet?’
‘You can always suggest you all go to La Petite Cheri instead,’ the concierge cuts in. Elena makes a face, but takes the pamphlet anyway. ‘Or even Chili’s. I hear they have a great combo platter. Very affordable, you know.’
Chloe texts Luke quickly, ignoring the sting of the concierge’s words, tapping her screen with her nails as she waits for a response.
‘This is dumb, we should just go back to the room and order room service,’ she says after a minute. She turns around, but Elena grabs her by the elbow.
‘You’re being dramatic,’ she says. ‘He’ll text back.’
Chloe sighs. She eyes the concierge, who’s gone back to her desk and must be annoyed that they’re still standing in front of the restaurant and not taking her suggestion for the fancy French restaurant across town.
Two more minutes pass as Chloe stares intently at her phone. Elena’s typing away on hers, looking much more comfortable than Chloe feels.
Both women look up when the heavy wooden doors of the restaurant open and Luke sticks his head out. He smiles, and the anxiety that’s been tightly coiled in Chloe’s chest loosens.
She chooses to ignore the implications of that.
‘Hey, sorry about that,’ Luke calls, waving them over. He nods at the concierge, who’s starting to stand. ‘They’re with us, thanks. I think we still have one more coming.’
‘Devin’s still doing her hair, but she”ll be here soon,’ Chloe tells him, shuffling past Luke in the doorway. ‘So, what’s with the closed restaurant?’ She waves a hand around at the empty and dark room they’re in. There’s light spilling in from one of the adjoining rooms, and, if the noise is any indication, the others are already in there.
‘Oh, Regina called ahead and paid for them to close it for the night,’ Luke says airily, as if this happens all the time. He shrugs and slips his hand into Chloe’s to lead the two of them across the dark room and into the adjoining space. ‘It’s easier to have a nice dinner when we don’t have other people around, gawking and taking pictures.’
‘It must be so hard to be rich and famous,’ Elena says dryly. ‘Fucking rich people.’ Chloe whacks her in the side with her free hand. Rather than being offended, though, Luke chuckles.
‘I know, my life is so terrible,’ he responds, his voice just as wry. Chloe can see the corners of Elena’s mouth twitch up, and she knows Luke is on his way to earning Elena’s stamp of approval.
Not that he needs it, obviously. It’s not like he’s Chloe’s boyfriend or anything.
But still, it’s nice to know that Elena likes him. It feels like a win.
Maverick Carter and Quinn Seong are in a large corner booth in the back, their drinks and a basket of breadsticks on the table in front of them. Quinn spots the three of them first, and the iciness in her eyes is enough to make Chloe want to turn around and run away.
To be honest, she hadn’t thought much about how going on tour with Luke meant she was going to be around Maverick and Quinn a lot, and clearly those two are not her biggest fans. Quinn looks her up and down with a frown on her face, and suddenly Chloe feels very self-conscious of the simple outfit she’d changed into. Chloe’s T-shirt and jeans suddenly feel ratty compared to Quinn’s designer look—her blouse alone probably cost more than Chloe’s car.
Quinn Seong is a fashion icon; a normal person like Chloe could never hope to compare.
It must show on her face because Luke says Quinn’s name in a warning tone. Quinn clicks her tongue and takes a deep sip of her drink.
Elena slides into the booth first and ends up sitting next to Maverick Carter. Chloe doesn’t know how much Elena knows or cares about Reckless 3, but she’s shockingly unfazed as she sits next to one of the most famous musicians at the moment.
Chloe wishes she could be that chill.
Luke plops down next to Chloe. He hands Elena and Chloe menus.
‘The steak is supposed to be really good here,’ he says.
‘I’m a vegetarian,’ Elena says absentmindedly as she unfolds the menu. Quinn snorts quietly. Then, there’s a soft thud, and she winces.
‘Oh, well, I’m sure they have good vegetarian dishes, too,’ Luke says brightly. He nudges Chloe with his elbow. ‘Chloe, what do you think?’
Chloe shrinks, just a little, as all eyes fall on her. She pushes a strand of her hair back, and says, ‘Uh, I don’t know? Maybe the ravioli?’
‘Ooh, ordering pasta anywhere that’s not an Italian restaurant is always a mistake,’ Maverick clucks. Another thud. He winces and adds, ‘But I’m sure their ravioli is good here.’
Chloe nods slowly, sending Luke a side glance. He pretends not to notice, taking special care to run his finger underneath the list of sides as he reads.
Clearly, he’s told Maverick and Quinn to play nice. And clearly, neither of them were very good at it. And it would only get worse once?—
‘See, I told you my friends were here!’ Devin’s voice echoes in the mostly-empty restaurant as she storms past a blustering hotel manager and makes her way over to them. Her red hair blows back like she’s on a runway. Everyone’s eyes are on her and, by the smirk on her lips, she definitely knows it.
Chloe and Elena’s eyes meet and they have to look away to keep from breaking out laughing right then and there. It’s pretty clear why Devin was taking so much longer than usual to get ready.
She has a full face of makeup—this is normal, but although Devin loves a dark lip and bold eyeliner on a normal day, she’s gone far beyond her everyday sort of look. Smokey eyeshadow, bright red lips, false lashes—the works. She’s wearing a dark, form-fitting crop top and short combo that Chloe knows she’s seen Devin wear clubbing in the past. And the final nail in the coffin—she’s wearing her Fuck Me Heels.
Between the three of them (and the entirety of their college campus), Devin’s Fuck Me Heels are nothing short of iconic. She purchased them the summer before senior year of high school, during the only “back to school” shopping trip she and Chloe had been allowed to do on their own. Devin had spotted the ridiculously tall, toothpick thin heels in the window and tried them on as a joke.
‘No one who wasn’t trying to get fucked would wear something like this,’ she’d snickered as she slipped them on. She’d wobbled like a baby deer as she tried to find her balance, and it was all fun and games until she caught sight of herself in the mirror.
Even in high school, Devin was a knockout. And the heels just took her to the next level.
From then on, Devin’s Fuck Me Heels made an appearance periodically. Always when she had her sights set on someone she saw as a challenge. Their RA in freshman year, the hot businessman who frequented the bar they liked in college, her Comm professor.
And now, Maverick Carter.
‘Hey, guys,’ Devin purrs, her gaze locked on Maverick.
‘I am so sorry,’ the hotel manager gasps, grabbing at Devin’s elbow. ‘She just barreled right past. Miss, you cannot be in here, I?—’
‘She’s with us,’ Chloe cuts in. She smiles, hoping it’s charming enough to settle some of the manager’s nerves that Devin clearly has fried.
‘Unfortunately,’ Elena mutters under her breath. Chloe coughs to cover her snort, kicking her friend lightly in the shin.
The manager doesn’t leave until Luke nods in agreement, which irks Chloe just a tad. She doesn’t have a chance to dwell on it though because Devin doesn’t sit on the edge of the booth in the open spot next to Luke. Instead, she grabs one of the chairs from a table nearby and drags it over, sitting as close as she possibly can to Quinn, and more importantly, to Maverick.
Quinn’s nostrils flare, but she manages to hold back a glare that Chloe is sure is right below the surface. Devin practically leans across Quinn’s lap to hold her hand out to Maverick.
‘I’m Devin,’ she says, her voice overly sultry. ‘Chloe’s best friend.’
It’s almost too embarrassing to watch, yet Chloe can’t tear her eyes away from the car crash happening on the other side of the table. Beside her, Luke snorts into his hand.
‘Dev—’ Chloe starts, but Maverick, to his credit, takes Devin’s hand and kisses the back of it like a prince out of a regency romance. Devin’s cheeks color, yet she still looks like a million bucks.
‘Maverick Carter,’ Maverick says. His smile is charming without trying, and Chloe can’t blame Devin for the giggle that slips through her lips.
Chloe and Elena share a look as Devin leans forward, resting her free hand on Quinn’s knee for balance. Quinn makes a noise in the back of her throat, knocking Devin’s hand off and shoving her back into her seat.
‘Hey!’ Devin snaps. ‘That was rude.’
Quinn scoffs in disbelief. ‘That was rude? God, you’re as fake as that fucking hair color.’
Devin rolls her eyes, though one hand does come up to toy with a lock of her bright red hair. ‘At least I’m not known as the biggest bitch in Hollywood,’ she retorts under her breath. She scoots her chair away from Quinn just a tad, enough to give her a better view of Maverick.
‘Devin,’ Elena admonishes, but Quinn’s already snapping back.
‘If you had enough talent to get there, you’d take the title from me in a minute flat.’
‘Quinn!’ Luke kicks Quinn in the shin again, and this time she kicks him back. Maverick settles back in his seat, clearly amused by the show. He meets Chloe’s gaze and winks at her.
It kind of makes Chloe feel better, actually. Like Maverick is on her side, and he too finds Devin’s antics funny. Because they are embarrassing as shit, but they’re also really funny. It’s part of her charm.
‘Okay!’ Elena says loudly, effectively silencing the table. ‘I think we should order. Devin, take a look at the menu and shut up a bit, okay? Quinn—er, Miss Seong, uh?—’
‘Quinn is fine.’
‘Quinn. And Maverick, please forgive Devin. She’s just…starstruck and weird about it.’
Quinn glances at Chloe, and Chloe can feel the silent judgment in her gaze. She can’t tell if it’s for having a friend like Devin (who, despite her eccentricities, is one of the best people Chloe knows) or for something else altogether.
Either way, it makes Chloe want to shrink in on herself.
Devin clucks her tongue, but wordlessly picks up the menu. She tugs at the bottom of her crop top, giving everyone at the table a better view of her chest.
‘It’s fine,’ Maverick assures Elena, nudging her in the rib lightly. Elena looks supremely uncomfortable by the casual contact. ‘I don’t mind pretty girls flirting with me.’
Devin winks at him, a self-satisfied smirk on her lips.
‘That’s me you’re playing footsie with,’ Quinn says dryly. The smirk turns into a grimace and Devin slams her menu shut.
‘Your friends are interesting,’ Luke says lowly in Chloe’s ear, making Chloe’s cheeks turn pink.
‘Sorry,’ she says as Quinn waves for the waiter. ‘She’s not normally—well, no, she is normally like this. I really should have expected this much.’
‘Don’t be sorry,’ Luke says. He looks like he’s going to say more, but the waiter interrupts them to get their order.
The food arrives pretty quickly, given the fact that they’re the only customers in the restaurant. Devin practically moans over her steak, complaining when Elena kicks her under the table.
Chloe fiddles with a loose thread at the hem of her shirt, picking at the ravioli she ordered. As the meal goes on, she can see Elena and Devin relax and just be comfortable around the members of Reckless 3. Devin stops trying so hard, quipping back every time Quinn digs at her. Elena rolls her eyes and shares a look with Maverick or Luke.
And Chloe’s just…there.
Luke’s leg is pressed up against her own, and she can feel every inch of it. With every small bite of pasta all she can think about is how the man next to her, and the people across from her are the most famous musicians in the world right now.
About halfway through the meal (or it would be, if Chloe could stomach any of her food) she decides she needs a bit of a breather.
‘Hey, can you let me out, please?’ Chloe asks Luke, since he’s sitting on the outside of the booth. ‘I just need to use the restroom.’
‘Yeah, of course.’ Chloe grabs her purse as she slides out of the booth.
Her face must give something away because Elena grabs her purse as well. ‘I’ll come, too.’
‘That’s okay,’ Chloe says quickly. ‘I’ll be right back.’
Elena blinks, but sets her bag back on the booth next to her.
The restrooms are on the other side of the restaurant, by the kitchen. Chloe pushes into the room and heads straight for the counter. She leans against the counter, squeezes her eyes shut and takes a long, deep breath.
Everything is fine, she thinks. There’s no reason to be freaking out. They’re just normal people. Normal people who happen to be insanely talented and known throughout the whole world. Normal people who can afford to buy out restaurants for the night and have managers and crazy fans and?—
Okay, that isn’t helping.
She takes another deep breath, raising her head to look at herself in the mirror.
They’re just normal people. (Sometimes, everyone feels more normal than Chloe.)
Chloe sighs. She’s just going to have to get used to it, the same way she’s getting used to being pregnant. She splashes some water in her face when her phone buzzes inside her purse. Sitting on the bathroom floor, she digs through her purse until she finds it.
Text Thread: Elena Riera
6:41 PM
Elena
Chloe, is everything okay? You’ve been in there a while.
Chloe
i’m fine. be right out
Elena
You’re not sick, are you?
Chloe
i said i’m fine. don’t worry about me
Chloe laughs quietly to herself. Somehow, Elena being her normal Mom Friend self helps ground her right now. It’s a touch of normality in an otherwise abnormal situation and it helps loosen the knot in Chloe’s chest.
She wipes at a stray water droplet on her cheek, her other hand falling and resting on her belly.
By the time Chloe exits the bathroom, she feels a little more normal. She tosses her used paper towel in the trash can, stopping short just outside the door. Luke is leaning against the wall, clearly waiting for her.
‘Hey,’ she says, surprised. Luke pushes himself off the wall and slides his hands into his pockets.
‘Hey,’ he echoes. ‘You were taking a while. Morning sickness?’
Chloe shakes her head, her cheeks warming. Something about Luke thinking she’d been in the bathroom vomiting is absolutely mortifying. ‘No, that hasn’t started yet. Thank God.’
‘Oh, good.’ Luke seems to be at a loss for words, and the two of them stand there for a minute.
‘Should we head back?’ Chloe asks finally, though she really doesn’t want to go back to that table. She loves her friends more than almost anyone in the world, but right now their bickering is giving her a headache.
‘Or we could hang out over here?’ Luke suggests, nodding towards a booth nearby. The lights in this part of the restaurant are turned off, but there’s enough filtering in from the next room. Still, it feels weirdly…intimate.
Chloe nods and slides in on one side. She rests her hands in her lap and then on the table. Finally, she clasps them together tightly.
She wished she could regain some of that confidence she had the night they met. After they’d talked, she hadn’t cared what he thought of her or anything. She’d just kissed him. And slept with him. It had been so different from her normal life, her normal choices, that she’d been left buzzing after it was over.
And yet, now she doesn’t know what to do with her hands.
It’s a small comfort to see that Luke looks…well, not quite nervous, but not as cool and collected as normal. He shifts in his seat, running his fingers through his hair.
Chloe remembers just how soft those curls are.
‘So, um, have you told your family yet about the baby?’ she asks quickly, if only to keep her from remembering that night. This is not the time nor the place for those kinds of thoughts.
‘No,’ Luke admits lightly with a shake of his head. ‘I, um, I gotta figure out how to tell my mom, really. She’s gonna flip, I just know it.’
Chloe knows the feeling. ‘Is it just you and your mom?’
‘Oh, no,’ Luke says, ‘my dad—he’s there, but he’s not really there, you know? He just kind of goes along with whatever my mom says. I guess it works for them.’
Chloe nods, chewing on her bottom lip. Luke’s eyes widen.
‘But I’m not gonna be like that, okay?’ he says quickly. ‘Like I said, I want to be involved. I’m not gonna be one of those dads that just says “go ask your mother” and doesn’t parent the kids himself. I mean, I work a lot and that’s not really something I can change, but I’m gonna be as present as I possibly can be. I promise.’
A smile creeps over Chloe’s lips as he rambles. Okay, maybe he’s more nervous than she thought, but it’s sweet to see how much he cares. It’s only been a week and he’s put a lot of thought into the type of parent he wants to be.
‘What?’ he asks. She shakes her head.
‘It’s nothing,’ she says. ‘I just—I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. The kind of mom I want to be. I bought a couple parenting books to start going over, but…I don’t know. There’s so much information out there, so many different ways to go about it.’
Luke reddens a little and fishes out his phone. ‘I’ve already bought, like, ten parenting books,’ he confesses. He shows her the hefty library in the Books app on his phone, and Chloe’s heart warms.
‘Ooh, have you read this one?’ she asks, spotting the cover of a book she’d debated buying herself. She leans in a little, a faint blush on her cheeks from being so close to him. ‘I’ve heard really good things about it.’
Luke nods, and swipes open the book to show her all the notes and highlights he’s made in his ebook. Things to remember, questions to ask a doctor and more.
The time moves swiftly after that as they fall into discussions on the things they’ve read in their parenting books. Thoughts on Gentle Parenting, on disciplining children, on being present in their lives and so much more. Chloe is more than a little surprised that their opinions line up again and again.
‘It’s really important to be there for your kids,’ Luke says firmly. There’s a passion in his voice, and Chloe can tell it’s coming from personal experience. ‘They won’t remember how hard you worked or why you were busy, but they will remember that you showed up for Parents Day at school or their first play or their baseball games. That’s the stuff that really matters.’
After a little while, the conversation shifts to more personal things. Luke tells Chloe about almost getting arrested in Singapore when he was nineteen.
‘You did not!’ Chloe exclaims. She giggles at his sheepish expression.
‘I did! It was awful,’ he confesses. He runs his fingers through his hair, his cheeks reddening. Chloe has to resist the urge to reach forward and pinch them. ‘Mav totally left me behind, and so did the girls we were with. I had to run from the cops for ten blocks before I was sure I lost them.’
Chloe just shakes her head. It’s all too easy to picture a nineteen-year-old Luke, still fresh from a growth spurt and not quite as toned as he is now, scrambling through the streets of a foreign country.
Quite the difference from his current, twenty-four-year-old self, who always seems to know where he’s going and how to figure things out.
‘Did you get lost?’ she asks.
‘Oh, yeah,’ Luke says easily. ‘It took me three hours to find my way back to the hotel and Mav was dead asleep in our room, the asshole. First time touring without an appointed guardian, and it really blew up in my face.’
Then, Chloe regales him with stories of her college days, where the only trouble she ever got into was thanks to Devin.
‘There was this one time Devin had a huge crush on the TA for our Public Speaking course,’ she says. She keeps her voice low, although Devin is with the rest of the group on the far side of the restaurant and definitely can’t hear them.
She tells Luke all about Devin’s crush on the TA—Brandon? Brayden?—and how she would make Chloe stay late after class with her every week. They’d pretend to pack up slowly, spill the contents of their purse or drop their papers, so Devin could eavesdrop on the TA chatting with the professor.
‘One day, he mentioned he was throwing a party at his apartment with his friends,’ Chloe goes on, ‘and Devin gets the bright idea to crash it.’
‘Oh no,’ Luke says with a smile in his voice.
‘Oh, yeah. Of course, I get dragged along, and Elena too, and so we’re dressed up for, well, for a frat party. Short skirts, low-cut tops, the works.’ Chloe pretends she doesn’t notice Luke’s gaze slide downwards for just a second, then his eyes snap back up to her face. ‘I hated dressing up like that, but Devin insisted we needed to in order to fit in.’
Luke watches her softly as she talks, describing how the three of them—all eighteen-year-old freshmen—found where the TA lived and showed up for the party, expecting a rager.
‘Devin had been to a couple frat parties by then, so she thought she knew what to expect,’ Chloe says, laughing at the memory. ‘We waltzed in, ready to blend in at the party and “accidentally” bump into him, and then…’
‘Then what?’ Luke prods when her voice trails off. Chloe’s almost surprised to see him so invested in her story, as if a stupid college story could ever compare to the wild stuff that happens on a band’s tour. It’s nice, though, to have his attention like this.
‘It was a dinner party,’ Chloe tells him. ‘The guy was twenty-six, apparently, and was above the kind of college party we were expecting. There were only, like, six people there and there was wine and hors d”oeuvres…and it was so painfully obvious what we were doing.’
Luke’s laugh is loud, infectious, and all-encompassing. His whole body shakes as he tries to compose himself. Chloe can’t help but laugh along with him, feeling free and comfortable for the first time that night.
‘We got written up by the dean!’ Chloe says between laughs. ‘It went on our record, and we had to be transferred to a different class. It was mortifying.’
‘Ugh, that reminds me,’ Luke says, and then launches into a story about his first Hollywood party.
It almost feels like a date, she muses as Luke talks. She catches herself, corrects herself. This is not a date—it cannot be a date. They’ve already established this. It can’t happen.
But as Luke continues to talk, she kind of wishes it could.