by Penny Reid
"I was surprised when your engagement ended. You seemed so well suited." Mrs. Miller's eyes flicker over me.
Wow, that stung. My heart races at the snub and my cheeks flush in embarrassment.
"That engagement ended six years ago, Mother, I think you've had sufficient time to get past your surprise."
Six years ago? Six years ago Luke was engaged and I was in high school. I sit on that thought for a moment. Engaged. What did Luke tell me about her? That she was no one important? Yet he was having dinner with her a month ago, and he was with her again when he walked into Grind Me the following week.
"I heard she just took a position running the cardiovascular department at Baldwin Memorial," Luke's father interjects.
"She did, yes." Luke spears a piece of turkey with his fork.
"She was a highly sought-after candidate. Well-regarded."
"She's a very talented surgeon," Luke agrees noncommittally.
I feel so stupid. They work at the same hospital? Is he still with her? She's clearly not "no one" as he indicated to me weeks ago. She was his fiancée at one time. And I'm just a college student. I don't even have a job lined up after graduation.
On that note, as if he's just remembering I'm at the table, Luke's father glances at me and asks if I’m a part of the high-school volunteer program at Luke's hospital.
I'm defeated. These people are awful.
"That's enough," Luke begins to reply before I have to, but he's cut off by Bella. She's been quiet throughout most of the meal, but she chooses this moment to stand on her chair and boom, "I'm having a bay bee!" Then she claps her hands excitedly and jumps up and down on her chair.
I knew I liked that kid. The tension is broken and the attention is now on Meredith.
Heidi clears our plates and offers coffee. She's serving tiny individual pumpkin pies as Luke's phone rings and he excuses himself from the table.
I feel a jolt of panic at being left alone with these people without him, but Kara engages me in conversation now that we can see each other without Luke between us. She's very sweet and I enjoy chatting with her. I don't think she had a clue that her mom and Mrs. Miller were planning to set her up with Luke today.
The pies are served and coffee is poured and Luke is still not back. Everyone continues on without him, and it reminds me of Gina at the restaurant weeks ago. I was right about her being used to the frequent interruptions that accompany time spent with Luke. Though now I realize she can probably relate since she is a doctor herself.
I swirl my fork through the whipped-cream dollop on top of my pie. I love pumpkin pie, but I'm not hungry and I'm a little melancholy anyway. I'm a bit shell-shocked from this day.
Heidi clears the dessert plates and announces there is fresh coffee in the living room. Luke meets us there, finishing his call as he walks into the room. He stops briefly to say something to Alexander before heading over to me, apologizing and stating there's an emergency at the hospital he needs to attend to. No objection here.
Mrs. Estes meets us by the door with our coats. Meredith follows us with Bella on her hip. "Luke, do you need me to drive Sophie home so you can get to the hospital?" She smiles and Bella waves at me. "I'd love more time to chat with Sophie." She grins mischievously at Luke.
"Sophie not have a baby in her tummy," Bella adds helpfully and shakes her head.
Meredith's eyes widen. "Bella!" She shoots me an apologetic look. "I'm so sorry. Stupid parenting books advised to be as honest with her as possible. I wish I had lied and told her a gnome would be dropping the baby off like I wanted to."
“It’s fine.” I wave off her apology.
"Thank you for the altruistic offer, Meredith, but I'm going to send Sophie home in my car and have Alexander drop me at the hospital."
Meredith pouts. "You just don't want me to have any time alone with Sophie."
"You're correct." He smiles at her. "Besides, you can use the time working on manners with my niece," he tells her as he ushers me through the front door.
Chapter 19
"You drive, right?" Luke asks as he walks me to his car and opens the driver's side door for me.
"Of course."
"Great." He reaches past me and pushes a button and the car roars to life. He drops the keys onto the center console before tapping the built-in GPS screen. "I'll grab a cab from the hospital when I'm done," he tells me as he buckles me into the seat and presses a button, sliding the seat forward to accommodate my shorter height.
"I'm sorry, Sophie," he says and then he's gone, walking back towards the front door where Alexander is waiting. I'm left alone with a car that I suspect costs more than my college education.
I put it into drive and the GPS immediately encourages me to turn right at the end of the driveway. I'm not even sure if I'm headed to my dorm or Luke's condo, but the car seems to know.
The gates swing open automatically as I near them and I turn onto Monk Road. I'm numb as I drive, replaying the day. Was that as horrible as I think it was? I want to call Jeannie or Everly but I have no idea how to operate the hands-free phone system in this car.
Why did he invite me today? His mother is a nightmare. Was I just a distraction to foil her setup attempt? The only person he introduced me to as his girlfriend was his mother.
Learning Gina is his ex-fiancée makes me uncomfortable, like he lied to me. Did he? Kind of. She's way more than the no one he indicated she was, but was it my business at the time I asked? Whatever, I'm still pissed.
That was the saddest Thanksgiving ever.
The GPS is directing me to his condo. I tap my thumbs on the steering wheel as I drive and I get progressively more pissed off as the miles pass. The garage door at 10 Rittenhouse Square opens automatically as I pull up. I assume this fancy car has a sensor to match his fancy condo. I park in Luke's spot and think.
What am I supposed to do now? Did Luke indicate if he'd see me later? I have his keys. Did he send me home with his car to wait for him? Am I supposed to let myself into his place or did he just want me out of his parents' house?
I'm over this day. I lock the car and take the elevator to the lobby. I know there's a concierge, I've seen him when we've walked through the lobby to the adjoining Italian restaurant Serafina. It occurs to me now how convenient it is for Luke to take me out to dinner at a restaurant in the lobby of his condo. We go from dinner to fucking without ever leaving the building.
My heels click across the empty marble lobby. It's so quiet, everyone has somewhere to be for the holiday. I set the keys on the counter in front of the concierge, a well-dressed man I estimate to be in his forties.
"Would you see that these get to Dr. Miller?"
"Of course, Miss Tisdale." He's the model of professionalism, impeccable in a gray suit and black tie, not a hair out of place. If he finds it odd that I'm leaving Luke's keys with him he doesn't show it, but maybe this is a common occurrence.
Wait. "How do you know my name?"
"It's my job to know." He offers a polite smile and I wonder how many names he's had to memorize. "Do you need a ride somewhere?"
"No, thank you. I can get a cab out front."
"We have a courtesy town car on site," he says, picking up a phone behind the desk. "I insist."
I'm not going to bicker with him about how I get home so I gracefully accept his offer and head out front, where a black Mercedes is already idling at the curb. The doorman holds the car door open for me so I slide in and give the driver my address.
Back in my room, I shut the door behind me and lean against it. It's oddly quiet, most everyone gone for the long weekend. Jean won't be back until Sunday. I straighten and check my phone. No messages. I kick off my heels and peel off my nylons before unzipping my dress.
Rummaging through my dresser, I look for something comforting to wear and find a small wrapped package on top of my flannel pajama bottoms. I slip the pants on with an old Penn tee shirt and sit on the edge of my bed with the package.
; I tear off the wrapping paper and find a pair of brown socks. Huh, kind of boring. Then they unravel and I laugh for the first time all day. They're turkey socks. Toe socks, kind of like gloves for your feet. Each toe is a different color and there's a big silly turkey face on the top and gobble-gobble printed around the top.
I love them, and I love that Jean left me a little surprise just when I needed it most. I smile as I text Jean a thank you before crawling under the covers with a textbook.
A knock on the door wakes me. It's dark outside but my room is ablaze in light. I fell asleep studying with the lights on and now I'm disoriented. The knock sounds again as I walk over and swing the door open. Luke is filling my entire doorway, leaning one arm against the frame.
"How did you get in here?" I'm confused. You can't just walk into the building, even if you're a student.
He takes me in for a moment then places his hands on my hips, backs me into the room and shoves the door closed with his foot. Then his mouth is on mine like he's starving for me and I gasp when he wraps a hand in my hair and tugs, angling my head exactly how he wants it.
"Why did you leave?" He stops kissing me and stares at me, waiting for an answer.
I pull away from him and put some space between us. "How did you get in here?" I repeat.
"Did you not want me here?"
"Stop!" I'm louder than I meant to be and I lower my voice. "Just stop it with your non-answers."
He crosses his arms across his chest and rubs his bottom lip with his thumb. Which is annoying, because it always does things to me and I'm trying to focus. "A blonde girl named Paige told security I was with her and brought me up." He drops his arms and stuffs his hands into his pockets. He's wearing the same thing I saw him in earlier, but he looks wrinkled now, tired. "You weren't answering your phone," he adds. "Are you ignoring me?"
"I fell asleep," I say, picking up the phone and glancing at it. "I forgot to turn the mute off when I left your parents' house."
"You put it on mute to meet my family?" he asks with a tiny smirk.
"I wanted to make a good impression," I reply, then sag as I recall the day.
"You did," he assures me. "You did make a good impression."
I look at him in disbelief. "They hated me. Your mother tried to set you up on a date while I was sitting right next to you."
"You made a good impression with me," he clarifies. "And that's all that matters."
My eyes burn then. Tears form and I fight them off. "Those people are awful, Luke." My voice catches. "Who raised you?"
He closes the distance between us and wraps me up in his arms, my head resting under his chin. He kisses the top of my head as he says, "A lovely British woman named June."
I laugh. "Really?"
"Of course. You don't think my parents got their hands dirty, do you?"
"No," I sigh and bury my face in his chest. He still smells of aftershave and faintly like hospital disinfectant, but I like it. "I was too upset to eat the pumpkin pie."
"I'll buy you all the pumpkins in Philadelphia and we'll make our own." He runs his hands up and down my back. "I'm sorry, Sophie, I shouldn't have brought you there."
What? "You didn't want me to meet them?"
"I wanted you there for myself, Sophie, because you make everything better. It was selfish of me to bring you." His hands slide under my flannel pajama bottoms and cup my ass. "I should have ordered takeout and kept you naked in my condo all day persuading you to let me fuck this perfect ass."
I shove him away. He looks surprised for a second until I say, "Gina."
His expression closes, giving me nothing. "Gina is a non-issue, Sophie."
"You were engaged to her!" I'm outraged. How can he be so dismissive of his relationship to her and my feelings about it? Will I be nobody to him someday too?
"A long time ago."
"I was in high school."
He looks confused for a moment then asks, "When I was engaged to Gina?"
"Yes," I reply, but I don't meet his eyes.
"That bothers you? That I was engaged or that you were in high school when I was engaged?"
"Both. Neither. I don't know."
I'm staring at my toes as Luke tips my chin up to look into my eyes. "I'm a lot older than you, Sophie. Is it an issue or not?"
"It's not." I shake my head. "Unless I'm thinking about her." I stress the last word.
"She's hardly the only woman I've…" He stops when I glare at him and laughs.
"Why is she still around?" I sound like a crazy person. He can't be friends with his ex? But she was a bitch to me, wasn't she? "Never mind."
"We have business together, that's all, Sophie. She's no one to me." He says that last part with his lips hovering over my ear and his breath tickles me, making me shiver. He cups the back of my neck and runs his thumb over my earlobe. I nod and then wrap my arms around his neck as I kiss him.
"I kinda love imagining high-school you not putting out," he says when I break the kiss. He glances around my tiny dorm room with interest. His eyes move over what is obviously Jean's side of the room and stop on my side. Our room is small and messy. My dorm may not be far from Luke's Rittenhouse Square condo physically, but it's a world away financially. My room is quite literally the size of his walk-in closet.
He steps over a foot and examines my corkboard. God, what do I have on there? The bra I wore today is hanging over my desk chair. He fingers it as he peruses the top of my desk, a messy assortment of textbooks and notes. He's probably wondering what he's doing with a college student. Fuck, are those panties on the floor next to his toe?
I'm not sure what to say as he continues looking his fill. I'm not going to apologize for my room. I might be a little embarrassed, but I'm not apologizing. He lived in a dorm room once too, I'm sure. A long time ago. Damn it. Is that what he's thinking about? How long it's been since he was a student? How different we are?
He turns to me with a sly grin. "You've never had sex in here."
Obviously I haven't. He's the only person I've had sex with and that's all been at his place. "No."
"We can rectify that now." He grins.
Oh, that's what was on this mind? He wants to be the one to fuck me in my dorm room? "Yes, please."
"Yes, please?" he repeats back to me. "So polite, you little hussy," he says as he covers the three steps that separate us. "Should I be polite?" He bends and kisses me under my left ear, not waiting for an answer. "Come on, Sophie, let me make love to you, baby. I'll make it good for you, I swear." He's kissing me along my jaw and keeping his hands chastely on my hips, over my pajamas. I'm not sure what is happening right now. "I'll just put the tip in, okay?"
I laugh. He's giving me clichéd college sex lines.
"I'll still respect you in the morning, baby."
I'm laughing when he covers my mouth with his. He keeps whispering ridiculous lines to me, but his mouth and hands are their usual Luke perfection. I play along because it's funny, but it's hot too. Also, I love it when he loses focus and smirks at something I've said. He takes his time, probably more time than he's ever needed to take.
"Can I take off your shirt?" he asks, as if there's a possibility I might say no.
Jesus, yes! I want to scream at him. He's got me so worked up and we've still got all our clothes on. Heavy petting is bullshit when you've already ridden the bull. I unbutton his pants and ask for permission to "touch it." This earns me a laugh and I think I might have him then, ready to end this game and pound the fuck out of me on my twin-sized bed, but no. He regains composure and guides my hand up and down the length of him.
"I want you to be my first, Luke. I know you'll make it good." I am laying it on now. "I've wanted you inside of me since the first time I saw you." It's getting harder to speak with his hands down my pants. "Your fingers, God knows how I loved watching them as you brought your coffee cup to your perfect lips. I'd go home after my shift and lie in this bed and touch myself while thinking about you. Before the
clinic, before I even knew your name, I'd lie right here thinking about you while making myself come."
"Fuck!" Luke roars. He's so loud in the quiet room it startles me for a second before he's ripping my flannel pajama pants down my legs and lowering his own. He doesn't even get his pants all the way down before he's inside of me.
He strokes back and forth, so deep, kissing me long and hard while he's burrowed within me, before pulling back enough to watch himself slide in and out of my body.
"I won't come in you, Sophie."
It takes me a moment to realize he never put on a condom. I'm not sure if we're still roleplaying or not, but I trust him enough not to worry about it further. I'm on the pill, which I take every day faithfully.
He gives up watching to drive into me. He's still got his feet on the floor and my back is on the bed with my pelvis raised, legs over his shoulders. He pounds into me, our skin slapping in the quiet room, my moans as quiet as I am able to keep them.
He changes the angle and presses down on my clit with his thumb and I come all over his cock. He pulls out and orders me on my knees. "On the floor, now. You're going to suck my cock and swallow." He has to help me off the bed, my body a wet noodle after that orgasm, but I obey and sink to my knees before him. He slides into my mouth the moment my knees hit the floor.
"Taste yourself, Sophie. You just came all over me and now you're gonna swallow my come."
I moan around his dick and he asks me if I like it. The insides of my thighs are slick and his words are making me wetter.
He grabs the side of my face and fucks my mouth. No gentle teasing now, he just takes. His hands are knotted in my hair when he comes and it's easy to swallow it all at this angle, most of it bypassing my tongue and going straight down the back of my throat.
He picks me up off the floor when I'm done and lays me on top of him in my small bed while our heart rates decrease. "You filthy bitch." He slaps my ass as I lie on top of him, running my nails lightly across his chest.
