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He tears the corner of the label and begins to slowly peel it away "No But I hang out in bars hoping to see you Eventually all this is going to catch up with me and I’ll look like ht It’s not only that Luke bangs all the wo with hi out somewhere else, you know"
"I don’t really want to, is the thing," he says, and winces a little, as if the ad to him as it is to me
Someone steps up to the end of the bar, and I ht back When I return, he doesn’t look any happier than he did Luke checks his phone and then looks toward the door
"Expecting so up to so How do you know hi "And he surfs, so I see him down at Black’s Beach sometimes"
"Maybe we--" he starts to say, when the outside door opens and a couple of his friends froht make their way inside
"Sutter!" one of the in his direction
"Your fan club is calling," I tell hi up a towel to dry a load of dishes
"When will I see you again?"
"I’ll be here," I say, but I can tell it wasn’t the answer he was looking for He continues to watch lances back to where his friends have begun circling a group of girls playing pool Of course they are He nods to tell the you’d shootlater?"
"You would be correct," I tell hiain, followed by the sound of voices and cheers as another large group of
Luke stands and pulls out his wallet, laying a few bills out on the counter to pay for his drink "Then I guess I’ll see you, Logan," he says, and smiles before he heads to the back
Chapter EIGHT
Luke
I STARE UP AT the ceiling, piecing together the last few interactions I’ve had with London It’s odd to have things ended so abruptly and have no say in it I get why she doesn’t want to hook up again I get why she thinks I’ht now, and there’s no convincing her that I’ot how s
The partners at the firal interns most definitely aren’t included We can barely be trusted to carry a legal brief from one office to the next let alone have input on firm policies and the most critical cases Itis awful I don’t want to be left alone inGrae out of the garage, swi some laps And by the time I need to leave to have lunch with Dad, I can feel the tension inood fuck, but London, Mia, a blur of limbs and mouths and eyes in betweenI can’t seeo ca end to the school year Students lounge on the open lawns, throw Frisbees over clusters of seated groups, and walk lazily down the path as if there isn’t a class to attend
Ahead of uy who looks really familiarit takes my brain only a second to place hi to a fehtly to estures with his hands while he talks There’s nothing remotely sexual in the way he’s so attentive, but even just looking at him I can see how much it
Goddalance over my shoulder down the path, back the way I’ve co around the humanities complex, but for some reason I don’t move, even when the option occurs to me With each second that ticks past, I lose
And then he looks up over her shoulder, and seeshe needs to do to place nition dawn, and then he ss and looks back down to the girl
Within two seconds, she’shis way toward me
What would I do in his shoes? Would I just serve up a right hook? Would I keep walking?
He stops a few feet away "Luke"
"Ansel Hi"
We exchange the briefest, most aard handshake in the history of tiht of the bar, I can tell that he’s got a few years on me It’s not just in the set of his brow, but the way he’s watching me: even, calm, unintimidated