Overheard (Unspoken #2)(22)

She walked out of the bedroom and headed for the kitchen. She could hear the guys talking in low voices and smiled. As she got closer, she stopped in her tracks. She kept out of sight and listened to the conversation unfold in the kitchen.

“I have to admit, when you came up with this idea, I was skeptical,” Wes said. “I wondered if you’d really heard Gracie right.”

Gracie wrinkled her brow. What on earth was he talking about?

“You don’t think that now, though,” Luke said with a laugh.

Wes chuckled. “Hell no. It’s obvious she really wanted this. It’s too bad you didn’t overhear her a lot sooner.”

“I doubt she and Michelle discuss it that much,” Luke said. “Gracie’s a private person. If she hadn’t just broken up with dipshit, I doubt she would have said anything at all.”

“You’re probably right. Still, it worked out great. You were able to set up this entire weekend, and I think she really enjoyed it.”

Luke laughed again. “See, there are advantages to eavesdropping. Gracie would kill me if she knew I’d listened to her conversation, but it worked out great in the end.”

Gracie’s mouth fell open and a wave of humiliation rolled over her with the speed of a Mack truck. She could barely process what the conversation meant. She was too busy trying to control the burning in her cheeks.

The whole thing had been an elaborate set-up because Luke had overheard her talking to Michelle about her fantasies?

She didn’t even realize she’d stumbled into the kitchen until Wes and Luke looked up at her. Guilt flashed in Luke’s eyes, and hurt washed over her again.

“Gracie…” Luke began.

She held a hand up, trying to control the shaking. She’d already made a big enough ass of herself. Oh God, when she remembered all they’d done, she just wanted to bury herself in the ground.

“Is that all this was?” she said in a trembling voice. “Were you two just cashing in on my fantasies? You see a way to have a good time at my expense? You are supposed to be my best friends.”

“God, Gracie, no, you can’t think that,” Wes protested.

They both started toward her and she shrank back. Her bottom lip trembled and she bit down, ignoring the pain.

“I thought…I thought this week happened because you cared about me,” she said painfully, her gaze focused on Luke. “I feel like such an idiot. Why the games? Why the elaborate charade? Why let me fall in love with you if none of this was real?”

“Gracie, you have to listen to me,” Luke said desperately.

She spun away, grabbing the keys from the coffee table.

“Gracie, wait!”

She ignored him and ran from the house as fast as she could. She hurled herself into his truck and locked the doors even as she jammed the key in the ignition.

Luke ran out of the house toward the truck, shouting her name. He tried to open the door as she began to back up.

“Damn it, Gracie, don’t go!”

She rammed her bare foot on the accelerator and gunned the engine. When she’d backed far enough out of the drive, she threw it into drive and whipped around.

She raced down the highway, her embarrassment so acute she wanted to curl up and die. If you looked up ass in the dictionary, there had to be a picture of her.

A tear slid down her cheek and she wiped angrily at it. Could she have misread the situation any more? She’d just made the biggest fool of herself ever. With guys she considered her best friends on earth. Guys she couldn’t even look in the face anymore.

The forty-five minute drive back home seemed interminable. She’d been stupid to take Luke’s truck. She’d be lucky if he didn’t have her arrested. But then she’d done a lot of stupid things in the past week.

She drove up to her house and parked Luke’s truck next to her car. She left the keys in it, knowing he’d come by looking for it. She went inside long enough to get a pair of shoes and her jacket then she got into her car and took off.

She was being hysterical and unreasonable. She knew that much. She’d carried on like a complete nitwit, but she’d been so humiliated to learn the real reason why Luke had gotten close to her.

She drove with no real sense of direction until she found a quiet, secluded place to park. She needed to calm down, start acting rationally again. Again. Ha. She hadn’t acted rationally in months.

Her first mistake was going out with Keith. She’d only compounded that mistake by allowing herself to fall in love with her best friend. Her third mistake had been thinking he had feelings for her beyond those of friendship.

She wasn’t going to cry. Even though she felt the sting of tears, she was determined not to give in. She’d already made a big enough ninny of herself.

She sat there, staring at the sky, numb. For several hours. Luke would have his truck back by now. He and Wes would be home, probably wondering what the f**k her problem was.

Emitting a weary sigh, she started the engine and drove slowly toward the main road. She instinctively headed for Michelle’s. It was late. Or early depending on your point of view, and she hated to disturb her friend’s sleep, but she needed a shoulder to cry on in the worst way. This whole stiff upper lip was getting old fast.

It was nearly four in the morning when she pulled into Michelle’s driveway. She turned off the engine and slowly got out. Before she closed the door, she saw Jeremy hurry down the steps and stride across the lawn toward her.