5. Gigi
CHAPTER 5
Gigi
Thank the Lord that we bumped into Luke and his friend, Malakai. Zach and Zoey have been pushing me to go out there and start dating again, with Zach basically serving me on a silver platter to any of his football friends who spare me a second glance.
With Zoey and Malakai flirting with each other as if no one is looking, basically undressing the other person with their eyes, I’m pretty sure I’m going to be stuck with Luke until these two get a room. At least this way, I know nothing is going to happen. No small talk with randos asking me what my favorite color is or where I come from, when they actually don’t care and just want to get me out of my pants.
“You two want to head back to our place?” Kai asks, but his eyes only focus on one person, and it’s not me. “The party is pretty much dead now, anyway.” I do a quick sweep of my surroundings. Sure enough, people are starting to zip up their coats or throw up in potted plants.
“Absolutely. We would love to,” Zoey answers for the both of us. She looks at me for reassurance, and I answer with my face that’s trying to say, go get it, girl.
“Where do you guys live?” I ask the guys.
“Not far from here,” Luke answers.
Kai, the sweet to his sour, gives me something more detailed. “We live off-campus on Covington Street. Just five blocks away.” Kai looks around the house before turning to Luke and says, “I think Toby bailed on us, man. Looks like we’re walking.”
The moment we walk out, the cold breeze slaps my cheek. I haven’t been to a party in such a long time, I forgot what it feels like to walk outside at two in the morning. The copious amount of alcohol I just consumed is not helping to warm me up.
Zoey is torn between continuing to walk beside me, with us linked together, or walking next to Kai. I decide to relieve them both of their misery and unhook my arms from her, letting her go to the guy with dreamy eyes. Just because I won’t be getting any doesn’t mean she has to suffer the same fate.
With the two of them hand in hand, I’m at the back of the group. My feet try to keep up with their pace, but the pavement is glazed with ice and my heeled boots are not helping. Just as I am about to hit my ass on the ground, Luke, by some miracle, turns his head around and approaches me in two big strides.
“Jesus,” he mutters. “How much did you have to drink?”
Luke lets me hold his arm so that I can prop myself up, and I think this is the most contact we’ve had in a long time. Tonight has been the most interaction I’ve had with him since we met, actually. He rarely comes home from college, and when he does, I’m usually in New York, visiting my dad.
“It’s not that. It’s the shoes.” I bend one of my legs and lift it up slightly to make a point, showing him the heel.
“You couldn’t wear sneakers like a normal person?” His tone is condescending, and usually, I let it slide. But tonight, liquid courage is fueling me.
“You couldn’t just walk next to me like a normal person?” I scoff.
He stares at me, momentarily halting his steps like he can’t believe that I just answered back. Once the shock wears off, he shoves both of his hands in his pockets. I don’t miss the way he adjusts to my steps, though. “It’s not my fault you have short legs, Gi.”
“It’s not my fault yours are freakishly long, Luke. What are you? Bigfoot? You sure are as fucking scary as him.” I sound like I mean what I’m saying, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. Luke doesn’t look like a freakishly tall monster who lurks in the shadows. He looks exactly like what he is. With his hair now slightly longer than a buzz cut and his honey eyes, my stepbrother is your typical boy next door that girls, good or bad, crush hard for. According to Andrew, he has the personality to back it up, too. Personally, I have never seen him live up to that claim.
Luke bites his lips, trying to hide the smile that’s forming. The Jell-O shots must be kicking in, because I decide to open my mouth again. “Oh, just laugh if you want to, Luke. God forbid, Gigi actually said something funny or cute.”
He rolls his eyes, but at least he’s letting his lips quirk naturally now. “You’re annoying. Do you know that?”
“Right back at you.”
After a few minutes of walking next to each other in silence, we stop in front of a five-story building. I see Luke’s car in one of the parking spaces, covered in a coat of snow. Memories flash in my head of the day I moved to Ravensfield. Andrew and I couldn’t fit all of our belongings in his hatchback, my mom’s Smart car, and his dad’s sedan. For some bizarre reason, Luke’s father had to force him into bringing a few of my boxes here. Luke didn’t say anything in particular, he never does, but he acted like helping me transport my things in the empty backseat of his car was doing a favor for the devil himself.
When Kai fumbles with his keys, clearly distracted by the full-blown make-out session he’s having with Zoey, Luke grunts and shoves him out of the way. He reaches into the back pocket of his jeans and pulls out his own set, opening the door for us.
The two lovebirds don’t waste any time after the awkward elevator ride up to the second floor. They spare us no second glances and immediately close the door to what must be Kai’s room. I probably would do the same. These two are practically family, right? They know how to spend time with each other, is what they probably are thinking right now.
“Nice place,” I mumble to Luke, not knowing what else to say. The empty cans of soda, beer, and energy drinks on the coffee table aside, their apartment looks pretty decent for a place inhabited by two twenty-year-olds. My dorm room is messier than this.
Luke takes off his baseball cap, giving me a glimpse of the same dirty blond shade that all the Palmers seem to inherit through the bloodline. He runs his hand through the back of his head before resting it on his neck, seemingly unsure of what to do with me invading his space.
“I’ll, uh, I’ll get you a pair of sweatpants,” he finally says. “If you want.”
“Why?” I ask with a cocked eyebrow.
“I don’t think Zoey and Kai will be done anytime soon,” he deadpans.
“I mean why are you being so nice to me? You offering me something so that I’m comfortable is out of character. You love to see me suffer, don’t you dare deny it.”
A smirk comes out of him as he crosses his hands over his chest. “Well, well, well. It seems like Little Miss Sunshine has claws, after all.”
And they come out when I’m drunk. I feel the temperature in me slowly rising, and I don’t know if it’s due to two years’ worth of frustration or if my body is finally reacting to the heating in this apartment. “Whatever fucking problem you have with me, Luke. Just spit it out. I know you don’t like me.”
Luke’s jaw ticks and his honey-colored eyes look at me with disdain. “Oh, I don’t like you, alright.” The second he opens his mouth again, I immediately regret poking the bear. “I know about the letter. I saw what Andrew wrote.”
Suddenly, I’m hit with the emotions all at once. Grief, sadness, embarrassment, and a sobering dose of faltering self-confidence.
“Luke, let me explain.”
Think of happy thoughts, Gigi. Picture the ocean. Picture the park. Picture Andrew kissing you in the dark.
The secret of a dead man.