Drunk on Love(23)

Avery laughed again, and this time he laughed along with her. It was funny. He supposed.

“I gave her my number. Monday morning, after I drove her home,” he said.

Avery stopped, her hand on the car-door handle.

“Wait. I thought this was just a one-night stand. You were going to see her again?”

“I wanted to,” he admitted. “She was . . . We had a great time.” Avery got that grin on her face again. He was suddenly irritated, far more than he probably should have been. “That’s not what I mean.” Well. Not just what he meant. “We talked, for a long time. At the bar, I mean. I really liked talking to her. She’s smart, funny, interesting, easy to talk to. We had fun.”

Avery’s eyes were wide.

“Did you want to date her?”

He shook his head.

“Date her, no, I’m not going to be up here for that long. But I thought maybe Margot and I could be . . . friends.” He couldn’t hold back a smirk. “The kind of friends who have really great sex sometimes.”

Avery made a face.

“Ewww, I wasn’t asking for details, but okay.” She opened her car door. “Now can we please go inside and get some drinks and food? I need wine after that conversation.”

Luke laughed and got out of the car.

“How’d your mom take the news?” Avery asked after they sat down at a table and ordered drinks. “Of you quitting your job and moving up here and all?”

Funny that she asked.

“Mmm. About that. I didn’t . . . quite . . . tell her that I’d quit.”

Avery raised her eyebrows at him.

“You didn’t ‘quite’ tell her you’d quit? What did you tell her?”

He sighed.

“I told her I was on sabbatical. Which, yes, was a total lie. It’s just . . . it had already been a long day, what with the Margot thing and all, and my mom is just so proud of me, and I didn’t want to . . .”

Avery put her hand on his arm.

“You didn’t want to disappoint her. Especially since you feel bad about quitting in the first place. I get it.”

He looked up at her.

“How did you know I felt bad about quitting in the first place?”

Avery rolled her eyes.

“Luke. How long have we known each other? Come on.” She patted his arm. “What did your mom say to the sabbatical thing? Did she believe it?” She looked at him and then narrowed her eyes. “Oh no. What’s wrong?”

Avery really was going to kill him.

“The thing is . . . when I told her I’d come up here to help you move, and everything”—Avery looked away at the reminder of her breakup, and he quickly rushed on—“I—accidentally—said something that led her to believe that we were together. You and me, I mean.”

Avery’s eyes widened.

“Your mom thought we were dating? Oh no. She must have been even more disappointed when you told her it wasn’t true.”

Luke looked down at the table.

“LUKE.”

He cleared his throat and looked up. She was giving him her fiercest glare.

Where were mashed potatoes when he needed them?

“I didn’t . . . exactly . . . tell her it wasn’t true.”

Avery kept staring at him.

“See. It was just that . . . her whole face lit up when she thought I told her we were together. She didn’t question the sabbatical thing at all.”

Avery picked up her glass of wine and took a long gulp. Luke sighed.

“I know, I know. I lost it, Avery. I should have prepared a better story to tell my mom about why I suddenly quit my job and what the hell I’m doing with my life and I’d planned to figure all of that out on Sunday night and Monday and then Sunday night I met a hot woman at a bar and Monday I found out she was my new boss and that drove everything else out of my head so I was vastly underprepared for that dinner with my mom and so when she beamed at me like that when she thought I said you and I were dating I just went with it.”

He shook his head and took a breath.

“I’m not usually like this. I procrastinated applying for new jobs for weeks, I lied to my mom—I don’t do things like this! What’s wrong with me?”

Avery patted his hand.

“You’re having a quarter-life crisis. I didn’t expect it to happen to you, of all people, but that’s exactly what this is.”

“A quarter-life crisis? I’m twenty-eight. Exactly how long do you think I’m going to live?”

She brushed that off with a quick flick of her hand.

“That job did a number on you! Those people sucked, that job destroyed your confidence, it made you feel unworthy, which you’re not, but I know you won’t believe me.” He tried to smile at her, but she just shook her head. “I’m glad you’re going to be up here for a while—you need to get your swagger back.”

He hoped his face looked as skeptical as he felt.

“How long have you known me? I don’t think I’ve ever had ‘swagger,’ Avery.”

She rolled her eyes.

“You know what I mean.”

Yeah, he knew what she meant.

“I did sleep with my new boss the other night, if that counts?”