by Meg Buchanan
Tessa put the glass down and rubbed her eyes with both hands. Now her makeup would be a mess. Whoever the girl was, she was attractive. Even in the dim light she could see that and about as different physically from her as it was possible to be. Maybe tall and skinny wasn’t what he liked. Maybe he wanted tiny and curvy all along.
“I don’t know.”
“What happened?”
What happened? She saw Luke kissing someone else.
“He was kissing a girl.” She’d seen that before plenty of times. When girls jumped him, he kissed them. But in a laughing way, and then he’d come back to her and make some joke about it.
“Happens all the time doesn’t it?” Keira stood up and got herself a glass. She filled it with water from the tap and sat down again. “Why did it upset you this time?”
“It’s hard to explain.” It was more the intensity of the kiss, the focus she saw, and then his reaction after she’d spoken to him. It wasn’t like Luke to act guilty. Usually he could justify anything he did no matter how incriminating it looked.
He had said he loved her. Maybe she’d misunderstood what had been happening, and he’d come home and sleep with her like he usually did.
She sighed. “Maybe I read too much into it.” And he’d come home with the others acting as if nothing was wrong.
Keira patted her hand. “I think so. He loves you. You’re upset because he’s leaving. I feel the same way, and I’ve only been with Cole a few weeks.”
Tessa nodded. That was it. She was just upset because he was leaving.
“What are you and Cole going to do? she asked Keira.
“Keep in touch.” Keira shrugged. “He’s nice, but we’re not serious and besides it’s only been a month.”
She studied Keira. And since Milly, Cole had kept things that way with every girl he’d slept with. He was a master at it. Sometimes when Luke talked about the way Cole could just move from one girl to the next and stay friends, he sounded jealous.
She’d talk to Luke when he came home.
At the pub, Luke watched Harry finish the final tidy up.
“Are you sure this is what you want to do?” Harry asked.
Luke nodded. If he stayed here the night, it would give Tessa a chance to cool down. He might have to eat humble pie for a bit tomorrow when he went to the flat, but she’d be all right.
Harry shook his head. “If I had a girlfriend who looked like yours does, I wouldn’t be fighting with her.” He wandered out the side door.
Luke followed him. “Keeps things interesting,” He grabbed a rug from his car. He’d seen Rose leave with her friends, and Cole had told him Tessa left with Keira, so he knew they were both safe. He thought the best way to handle this was to keep a low profile and let them both calm down.
He’d sleep on the couch in the side room. And bloody uncomfortable it would be too.
Tessa went to bed before the others got home but was awake when they arrived. A few minutes later she heard boots in the passageway and expected Luke to come bouncing into her room all confidence and apologies.
But the boots stopped and then a knock on the bedroom door. No way would Luke knock on her bedroom door.
Puzzled she sat and pulled the covers up.
“Who’s that?” she asked.
“Me,” said Adam’s voice. “Can I come in?”
“Yeah.
He came in and sat on the end of her bed. “Keira told me what’s happened. Are you all right?” he asked.
She nodded. When they were at school, and she and Luke had broken up for a few weeks, she turned to Adam for consolation. Unfair of her because she knew he liked her.
She watched Adam sitting on the end of her bed rubbing his palms on the thighs of his jeans. He was tall like Luke, a bit heavier, but a long way from fat. With hazel eyes and hair much the same colour. He looked over at her, the hair flopped over his forehead just right.
“Luke can really be an arse, Tessa.” She bit the side of her lip. Adam had never said anything like this before, and they’d flatted together for three years.
She nodded. “I know.”
“He’s not good for you. He keeps hurting you. I hate watching it happen.”
“And you wouldn’t hurt me?” she asked.
He shook his head. “If you were mine, I wouldn’t, I’m not like Luke.”
“Are you offering to take his place?”
Adam shook his head. “Not yet. I’m not going through that again. I’d have to be sure Luke was long gone. You broke my heart last time.”
And he’d never said that before either. She didn’t really know what to say.
After a while he stood up and went to the door. “I just wanted to say, I’m here if you need me.”
“Thanks, I’ll keep it in mind. But I’m a big girl,” she said.
As he went to the door, Adam flashed her a grin. She really did have gorgeous looking flatmates. She should have stuck with Adam all those years ago. He was lovely and easy to live with. He kept his stuff tidy, did his share of the housework, and turned up when he said he would, not like Luke who turned up when he felt like it, dropped his stuff anywhere, and wouldn’t know a vacuum cleaner if he tripped over it. Adam went out of the room and shut the door carefully behind him.
She slid back down under the covers. She was just her mother all over again, attracted to bad boys and arseholes. But when she was with Adam, he was so nice to her she’d nearly died of boredom. It was like being wrapped up in a warm fluffy blanket all the time. Luke was unpredictable, but it meant being with him was exciting.
She turned over on her side, curled up into a ball, and waited for him to arrive. She loved Luke and he loved her. He just needed to grow up and realise that. She waited for him to bounce into the room asking where she’d got to like he couldn’t figure out what had got into her.
They’d talk about it and then make love, and everything would be back to normal. They’d had glitches before. They’d got over them.
Chapter Twenty-One
Tessa had been up since dawn. Luke never arrived. Didn’t ring. Didn’t text, just stayed away. The taste of fear and betrayal sat in her mouth as she showered and dressed carefully. She did her hair and makeup and waited.
Then she heard a car pull up outside the flat and pushed the curtain back enough to see Luke getting out. She watched him slam the car door shut, lock it, stand still for a moment and breathe in slowly.
She had no idea what was coming, except that whatever it was she didn’t want an audience. He was in the same clothes he’d been wearing last night. Wind blasted down the street and he looked cold. She wanted to go out and ask him where his jacket was.
How could she still want to look after him? She’d caught him with someone else, and then he’d stayed away all night.
It didn’t sound like anyone else in the flat was up. Good. She didn’t want to dissect this with anyone now. Besides, Adam and Noah might be her flatmates, but they were Luke’s friends.
As for Isaac and Cole, she was sure they’d say whatever they thought was necessary to support Luke. Whatever the truth was. But she didn’t want to force them to take sides anyway.
Luke walked through the gate and headed for the front door. Instead of using his key like he usually did, he knocked and waited to be let in.
Now she’d bet even if everyone in the flat was awake, they’d let her answer the door. Let her deal with Luke.
She sighed and let the curtain fall back in place. She couldn’t leave him standing out there. It was cold, and he wasn’t wearing a jacket.
She went to the door, opened it, went outside then carefully shut it behind her. She said nothing, just stepped onto the porch still convinced he was there to tell her they were finished.
She knew she looked great. She’d put a lot of time into it. If she was about to get dumped, she wanted to leave an impression.
“Hi,” said Luke tentatively.
“Hi,” she tried. She couldn’t read him anymore. It had been a w
hile since she could.
“I’m sorry,” he said and reached for her.
She stepped back avoiding him. How dare he leave her alone with this all night. And where had he spent the night anyway? They’d known each other all their lives. He’d said he loved her and wanted to marry her. That implied he wouldn’t be with anyone else.
Luke took in the carefully straightened hair, the makeup, the soft grey jersey with the matching scarf hanging loosely over her shoulders, the tight jeans encasing long legs, the heeled boots. Tessa looked amazing.
He half expected to see signs that she’d been crying all night, but she was tough. She’d been brought up to know she had to fight for anything she got in life. She hadn’t ever met her father, and her mother was a complete no-hoper. Sometimes he forgot how hard she’d had it and how amazing she was. The fact Tessa had turned out so sensible and caring was a miracle.
He was going to tell her all that, but she’d stepped back when he reached for her. She’d never done that before.
He’d made a mistake deciding to give her time to cool off too. That hadn’t been the right way to handle her. He should have come back last night with the others and acted like nothing was wrong. He should have said, “What happened to you?” as he walked in the door. Instead, he’d given her time to think. Maybe the plan to joke his way out of this wouldn’t work after all. Or he should have tried apologising last night before she blew what she saw out of all proportion. She might have been a bit cross for a few minutes, but then Tessa would have come around. She always did.
Tessa watched Luke standing there. He looked tired and unsure now. “Sorry for what,” she asked. “Getting caught?”
“It was just a kiss.”
When he reached for her again, she stepped back again. Yeah, she thought, but what a kiss.
“Tessa, it didn’t mean anything,” he said.
“That’s not the way it looked to me.”
He shrugged. “Rose did it as a dare. One of her mates put her up to it.”
Yes, she could imagine them doing that. It was the sort of thing the girls she saw would do.
“So, she has a name.” Rose? That suited the girl she saw. Quiet and classy. “You do know her then?”
“Yeah, she owns the cafe in Paeroa. Her mates had heard Stadium was leaving soon and came over to see us. We went to school with most of them.”
She’d worked some of that out already. “So?”
“They put her up to it.” He gave her that half smile that she loved. “Come on, Tessa. We were just having fun. It’s you I love.” She watched him standing there, and he looked like he already felt confident that this would go his way. That she’d forgive him.
No, that wasn’t going to happen. She’d been willing to let him smooth things over until she saw him, and then all the disappointment and anger she should have felt last night flooded over her.
“You look amazing by the way,” he said and smiled again.
She stood up straighter. No, he wasn’t going to flatter her out of being angry either. She’d found him hiding outside the pub kissing someone else. And he hadn’t come home to her last night. All during the night that kiss had run through her mind like a loop of film.
He’d been secretive. He had taken the girl outside to kiss her. Then he’d acted guilty when he realised he’d been caught.
“Thanks,” she said. Then opened the door, stepped through it again, shut it and locked it behind her, leaving him on the porch. She leaned against the timber. He could freeze. He didn’t deserve to have her looking after him.
She heard him rattle the door handle.
He’d made it so much worse by not bothering to come and find her straight away.
Then she heard the touch of his palms on the door and could imagine him standing there, palms and forehead on the paint he way he’d stood outside the pub.
“Come on Tessa.” His voice and soft persuasive. “Let me in. You can’t leave me out here. We need to talk.” A pause, then. “I’m bloody freezing. Let me in.”
Luke leaned against the door and listened to her breathing. He could just leave it like this and walk away. Stay in a motel tonight. Be fair and fade out of her life.
But, he didn’t want that. He mightn’t be able to decide what he wanted, but he didn’t want to hurt her.
“Come on Tessa. Let me in,” he tried again. He should have turned up last night and started lying the way he’d managed to do for the last few months. Weaved a web of lies around her that would have convinced her she was still the only one he loved. Besides, half his stuff was in her room. He didn’t even have a change of clothes with him.
From the other side of the door he heard Adam’s voice.
“Do you need help, Tessa?”
Yeah, it would be Adam. He’d always had a thing for Tess.
He straightened up and fished the engagement ring out of his pocket. “Open the door.” Another gust of wind blew through him. “We need to talk.”
“Talk then,” she said, but the door stayed shut.
So, he tried to persuade the ring back on her finger. He sat on the porch and he talked, and almost everything that came out of his mouth was a lie.
He’d been drinking. It was Tessa he loved. He was sorry he’d hurt her. He loved her. She looked amazing. He and Rose were just having fun. It was all strange because he was going away. She was lovely. He loved her. He was sorry.
When he ran out of things to say he stood up and rattled the handle again. “Tess, the kiss didn’t mean anything. You’re over-reacting, I’ve apologised. Unlock the door.”
No response.
“Come on Tessa,” he tried again. “We’ve known each other for ever. You can’t leave it like this.”
But she still ignored him.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Luke sat down on the step again. What to do now? He hated conflict. He hated anyone being angry with him, especially Tessa. Besides, he needed to get inside, have a shower, put some clean clothes on and put all this behind them. Tessa had good reason to be angry with him. But he was pretty sure she didn’t know how good a reason, so he should be able to figure out a way to win her around.
He gave it some thought then came up with a plan. He’d get out the big guns. He’d serenade that bloody ring back on her finger. He left the porch and went to the car. His guitar lay on the back seat. He grabbed it then went back to the porch steps.
He played a few chords to check the thing was in tune. No point in sounding bad if he was going to do this for as long as it took for Tessa to relent.
It was still bloody cold out here. She’d better give in soon, before he froze to death. He could hear the play station beeping and a roar from Cole or Adam every now and then.
It was all right for them. They were warm.
He launched into ‘Unchained Melody’. Tessa always liked that one. He used to sing it to her when they first started going out together. It was corny, but corn worked. He sung the thing straight through, keeping it as intimate and full of melancholy as he could. If she was still standing near the door, it should wrap around her and melt her heart. He sung the last note, played the last chord and waited.
Nothing. Not even the sound of her breathing. Maybe she was in the lounge now and having breakfast. She’d still be able to hear him, even over the noise of the play station. He picked a few random chords and tried to decide what to play next. Not much of Stadium’s repertoire would work in this situation. No amps, no band, no interface.
He looked across at the road way and the cars going past. A few leaves skittered across the lawn in the wind.
Maybe ‘You’re Beautiful’, would do. It was all about someone watching a girl he didn’t know while he was high, but it still sounded good.
He played it, long and sweet, but the door still didn’t open.
Luke started to get cross. How long could she keep this up?
‘He Looked like You’, came next, words suitably modified. Not that Rose looked any
thing like Tessa. In fact, they were opposites in every way, looks, body type, personality. But maybe Tessa would appreciate the humour.
But the door still didn’t open.
He could just use the key and let himself in.
Or go around to the back door. Someone would have unlocked it by now. But he really wanted Tessa to make the first move. To know for sure she was relenting.
He tried, ‘I Need Your Love’ next. Sung with a certain irony because he was sure she’d forgive him. It was just a matter of time, and he only had to go through the motions.
Inside the flat they all sat around in the lounge. No one had commented on why Luke and Tessa were fighting. The sound of the guitar and Luke’s singing floated in through the window.
“Are you going to let him in eventually?” Noah had his arm around Dana and leaned back into the couch.
Tessa shrugged. She hadn’t decided what to do. She had to admit Luke was putting a lot more effort into this than she’d expected.
“His choice to be out there. He’s got a key. And the back door isn’t locked.” This was getting difficult. In a few hours Stadium should be heading back to the pub to get ready for tonight. The crowd would be huge. Word had got around that this was the last weekend they’d be performing, so last night had been big, but tonight would be bigger.
She looked over at Isaac. He’d wandered back into the lounge and sat on the arm of the chair Jess was sitting in.
He’d lied to her last night when she asked him where Luke was. She was certain he knew Luke wasn’t in the toilets.
“What do you think I should do, Isaac?” she asked.
Isaac shrugged. “I’m staying out of it.”
Males! Isaac worked with Luke, so his loyalty was probably twice as strong as the others. And they were bad enough. None of them were saying anything. They all must know more than they were saying.
Dana snuggled into Noah.
Tessa watched them together. She could tell Dana a few things about Noah that would burst her bubble. He hadn’t always been as committed to her as it looked now.
