Without You (Love Wanted in Texas #1)(69)
“Yeah, they do. I say we head back and start making the plans,” Lauren said.
Her smile was so big that I couldn’t help but laugh.
As we all started making our way to the parking lot, Will held me back.
I turned to look at him and smiled. “What’s wrong?”
He shook his head and pushed my hair behind my ear.
I love when he does that.
“I love you, Lex. I’m so sorry I didn’t let you explain everything. I feel like all this heartache was my fault.”
My heart instantly hurt, and I felt the tears building in my eyes. “No, Will. It’s not all your fault. I’m to blame just as much. I came to A&M that day, and when I saw you with that girl, I let my imagination run wild.”
The look on Will’s face dropped. Then it appeared as if he remembered something.
Oh God. Did something happen between him and the blonde?
“Callie? You’re talking about Callie. Alex, nothing at all happened between us. She’s engaged to another guy, and they do all this mission work. I had just told her I would help them over Christmas break. I swear to you—”
I put my finger up to his lips. “I know. I think I knew then, but I was scared, confused, and angry with myself. It was easier to hide than to face everything.”
“Will? Alex? Are y’all coming or what?” Libby called out.
I giggled. “Come on. If Lib’s forced to ride with Luke, Lord knows what will happen.”
Will laughed and put his arm over my shoulders as we made our way to Libby.
Finally, things felt like they were going to be okay.
Three Months Later
The door to my dorm room sprang open, and Luke came barreling in. He looked pissed, beyond pissed.
“What in the hell is wrong with you?”
He spun around and looked at me. “What?”
“You just came storming in here. You look like you’re about to rip someone’s head off.”
Luke glanced around the room. He walked over to his bookshelf and moved a book before pulling out a bottle of whiskey.
“Where in the hell did you get that from?”
He shrugged and opened it up as he looked for a glass. The moment he found one, he poured some whiskey into the glass and downed it. He held the bottle out for me. “Want some?”
I shook my head. “Luke, dude, you have to talk to me. I’ve never seen you like this before. What in the hell is going on with you?”
“Nothing. I just need to release some steam. Too much f*cking bullshit on my mind.”
“Want to talk about it?” I asked.
Luke walked up to the window and stared out. His phone rang, and he pulled it out of his pocket. “Hey, Abigail. Are you free?”
I closed my eyes and let out a sigh.
“I’ll be there in a few minutes.” Luke shoved his phone into his back pocket and walked over to the shelf. He put the whiskey back and then walked into the bathroom.
“Why are you doing this, Luke?”
He poked his head out of the bathroom and asked, “Doing what?”
“Going to Abigail.”
He walked out and looked at me like I had two heads. “I’m going to Abigail because I want to get laid. What’s wrong with that?”
“What about Libby?”
He turned and looked at me. “What about Libby?”
I instantly got pissed off. Lex had talked to Libby over Christmas break, and Libby had finally told Lex what had happened last summer between her and Luke. The only problem was that Luke didn’t remember what he’d said to Libby, and it was tearing Libby apart.
“Do you have feelings for my sister?”
Luke swallowed hard. He shook his head and looked away.
“Luke?”
He snapped his head back and looked at me. “I can’t. I mean, I won’t do that to her. She means everything to me, and I’ll f*ck it up, Will. I already broke her heart with the dick move I made on her before I left for college. What if I can’t…I mean, I don’t think I can…I’m not good enough for her, Will. She deserves someone better, and she found him.”
My eyes widened as I stood there, shocked. “Wait—what do you mean, she found him?”
He let out a gruff laugh. “I mean, she’s dating someone. I saw them just now. I was going to ask her if she wanted to see a movie when I saw her leaning against a building. Then, some dick f*cking kissed her.” He turned away and whispered, “She looked happy.”
My head was spinning. I knew for a fact that Libby was in love with Luke, but even Lex had said that Libby wasn’t going to wait around for Luke to stop acting like a jerk. Even Grace had tried to talk to Luke.
“So, because you see Lib kissing a guy, you run to Abigail?”
Luke reached down for his jacket and grabbed his truck keys. “I haven’t been with a girl in months. I need to get f*cked.”
I grabbed his arm. “Don’t do this, Luke. If you want to be with someone…” I closed my eyes and couldn’t believe what I was about to say. “If you want to be with someone, be with the person you love. Luke, Libby loves you.”
His eyes widened in horror as he took a step away from me. He began shaking his head. “No…she doesn’t love me, Will.”