Stealing Home(59)

Her forehead creased. “There haven’t been any other women after Callie.”

“That you know of.”

She blinked at me. “That I know of for sure.”

I glanced at her, trying to phrase this gently. “You just said Luke wouldn’t introduce his sisters to someone unless they were serious. How do you know he hasn’t had a mess of casual relationships?”

She made a face at me like she was questioning if I was serious. “Because Luke doesn’t do casual relationships. And if he was, he would have told me. He wouldn’t have introduced us, but he would have told me he was seeing someone.”

My eyebrow peaked. “Because twenty-five-year-old brothers share all of their love life and interests with their little sisters?”

Rolling her eyes, she leaned up enough to pull her cell phone out of her back pocket. “This one does.” Scrolling through her and Luke’s texts, she stopped when she presumably found what she was looking for. “Read for yourself.”

When I stalled before taking it, she set the phone in my hand and waved at it.

The date of the first one I saw was from a couple months ago.



Alex: How’s it going?

Luke: Great.

Great? Alex sent first, followed by: Who is she?

Luke: Am I that obvious?

Alex: Yes. Sooooo? Who is she?

Luke: Someone who doesn’t know I exist. I felt a ball form in my throat when I read his reply back to her. I knew he existed—I just hadn’t known he’d acknowledged I did.

Alex: You’re Luke Archer. She knows you exist.

Luke: No, not this one.

Alex: Then let her know you exist.

Luke: How?

Alex: I don’t know. What’s she like?

Luke: Amazing.



And now I was smiling. I kept scrolling through the conversation while Alex tore into a couple more chocolates.



Alex: Amazing details?

Luke: She loves baseball.

Alex: Score.

Luke: She works harder than I do.

Alex: Impossible.

Luke: When she smiles, I can’t breathe.

Alex: Better figure that out. Can’t have you passing out from lack of oxygen. Won’t impress her.

Luke: Good point.

Alex: Ok, so trouble breathing.

Luke: Check.

Alex: Heart palpitations?

Luke: Check.

Alex: Interruptions in sleep?

Luke: Check.

Alex: Smiling like an idiot?

Luke: Double check.

Alex: Yeah. You’ve got it bad.

Luke: I can’t figure out a way to say hi to her without sounding like a moron.



When I chuckled reading his text, Alex leaned over to see which one I was reading. She snorted. “It’s a good thing he’s so good at baseball, because that’s the only game Luke’s got.”



Alex: When you do say hi, make sure to invite me. I want to be there with popcorn.

Luke: She’s an athletic trainer on the team.

Alex: Yikes.

Luke: I know.



When I got to this last text, Alex scrolled through a bunch more, craning her neck until she found what she had in mind.



I think I blew it. was Luke’s text to her.

Alex: Impossible. But how?

Luke: My opening line. I bombed it.

Alex: Oh god. What did you say?

Luke: Whose ass do I need to kick, Doc.

Alex: This confirms it. You really are a moron.



She shook her head with me as we shared another laugh. Then she scrolled down to almost the end of this seemingly endless stream of texts between Luke and her. Tapping the line she wanted me to start at, she leaned back into the stool again and waited.



Alex: Thanks for the fun trip. We all approve of Allie.

Luke: Glad to hear it.

Alex: We like her.

Luke: Good. Because I love her.



“And in case you think that’s complicated, it isn’t. It’s pretty simple actually.” Alex tapped the phone where his message was staring at me. “He loves you. If you feel the same way, whatever it is, you guys can figure it out.”

I couldn’t look away from the words on the screen. I couldn’t stop thinking about what they meant. If that was true—if what Alex was saying was true—none of what Shepherd had said could be. Who did I trust? Luke and Alex? Or Shepherd? That was an answer that didn’t require any contemplation.

What had I done? Why had I believed it so easily?

It didn’t take long to realize why. Believing in the bad was so much easier than clinging to the good. My past had reared its ugly head and sabotaged a great relationship because of a failed one. I’d let my fear feed my insecurities until all it had taken was one drunken lie from one spineless man to ruin it all.

Up until this moment, I’d never realized how truly scared I was. Of not being taken seriously in my job. Of being cheated on again. Of being hurt and left again. Of being alone.

“Alex?” My voice was trembling from revelation overload.

“Yeah?”

“I made a mistake. A massive, colossal, unforgivable mistake.”

She shoved over a few pieces of chocolate. “What do you think I’m here for?”

“To make me answer for hurting your brother?”