Leaving Zoe’s side was one of the hardest things he’d done in years. The glow of her smile and weak push as she told him to leave were evidence she was just as affected as he was.
His wallet was empty of condoms and the muscles under his skin were sated.
They’d managed about two hours of sleep before making love one final time.
He had promised himself sometime in the night not to overanalyze what was happening between them. Never once did he think it was just sex. With Zoe, it had never been all about the sex. Yeah, when he was a teenager getting anything had been a priority. If he were being honest with himself, the first time he really noticed Zoe, it had been his dick that stood to attention first. He’d been gone most of the summer, shipped off to his grandparents on his mother’s side, just outside of Seattle. He hadn’t wanted to go, but as the summer wore on, his parents probably had to book his ticket for their own sanity. That was the year he’d really discovered girls, and much to his delight, they discovered him, too. Those months in Seattle had proven one of the best summers ever. Mainly because of the girls who flirted and then some with the kid who wasn’t going to be around to tell their steady boyfriends once school started in the fall. Luke enjoyed the then some with the girls most likely to put out. When he returned to River Bend, his ego had grown along with his confidence he’d get what he wanted.
He distinctly remembered a hot August day when he’d heard that Jo and her posse were going to hook up at the river with a fifth of whatever liquor she could get her hands on and go swimming. There was only one real swimming hole on the river, and all the kids knew about it.
Luke rounded up Baily and Mike and headed to the river to spy on the girls.
They’d parked far from the swimming hole and walked the long way around to stay hidden, hoping the whole time that one of the girls had forgotten her bathing suit.
They hadn’t.
But watching girls in bikinis was almost as much fun as watching them naked. Especially Zoe. Luke had done a double take when his eyes rested on her. She’d always kept herself hidden under big sweatshirts and heavy sweaters. Ugly clothes that didn’t fit and only called out negative attention. Even the bathing suit she’d worn that day hadn’t suited her well. It had been way too small. Her breasts spilled out from the edges of the fabric and the bottoms did a crappy job of hiding her ass.
Luke was bewitched.
They’d sat in the trees watching the girls swim for half an hour before he accidentally on purpose rolled a half-empty can of beer down the bank and gave their location away.
Jo had been the first to notice and start cussing.
Mel ducked under the water.
And Zoe . . . Zoe placed both hands on her hips and stared them down.
By the time they left the river that day, they’d polished off the fifth and the six-pack, they’d sat around a campfire counting stars, and Luke had gone so far as to hold Zoe’s hand.
Yeah . . . it was that big a deal.
He’d gone from getting it to hand holding for the better part of the next year. He’d never looked back.
Luke looked at his bachelor home and small kitchen. Zoe had never cooked there, but he could picture her demanding fresh basil or thyme—whatever the hell that was—while he scrambled over to his parents’ to raid his mother’s garden. Or maybe he should plant one for Zoe.
What was he thinking?
They’d just hooked up for the first time since before he was old enough to drink in a bar.
He smiled at the memory and decided he needed a shower more than a few more hours of sleep. He had some planning to do.
“You do know the blue room is right above mine, right?”
Zoe blinked several times, her mind scrambling for an explanation . . . then decided a lie now would be heartache later. “Luke said it’s the white room.”
Mel rolled her eyes. “The bedspread is blue.”
“I know, right?”
Mel grinned. “So is there something you need to tell us?”
Zoe, Jo, and Mel sat on the back porch of Miss Gina’s inn, looking over bridal magazines and picking out all the crazy crap one picked when planning a wedding.
“What is she getting at?” Jo asked, oblivious to what was obvious.
Zoe picked up her iced tea and said over the rim of the glass, “Luke spent the night with me last night.”
Jo’s eyes drifted from the satin and lace gown on the page. “Spent the night.”
“Platonically slept in the same space?” Mel asked, knowing full well that wasn’t the case.
Zoe started to nod, then slowly shook her head. “We screwed like bunnies until about two, fell asleep . . . and he left around six.”
“Five thirty,” Mel corrected. “After another round.”
“Jesus, Zoe . . . what does this mean?” Jo asked.
Zoe dropped her hands in her lap. “How the hell do I know what it means? It means we like sex and we’re good at it.”
“It’s Luke.”
Zoe found Jo’s eyes. “I know.”
“It’s more than sex if it’s Luke,” Mel chimed in.
Jo’s eyes stared in judgment.
“He came to me in Texas. Talked with one of my neighbors to find the bar we were at that night.”
“This can only end badly,” Jo stated Zoe’s deepest fear.
“Who said it needs to end at all?” Mel asked. “Luke and Zoe belong together.”
“I live in Texas, Mel.”
Little Miss Optimism with her shiny new engagement ring and wedding bells ringing wasn’t thinking about a probable breakup and fallout.
Jo obviously was.
“Did you guys talk about this before it happened? Or did it just happen?”
“A little of both.”
Jo ran a hand through her hair. “I almost had to arrest him last year when you left after the class reunion, Zoe. He has a weak spot when it comes to you.”
This was not something she wanted coming between her and Jo, but she needed to solicit her BFF’s support. “I know you worry, Jo. I’m more than a little confused myself. But ever since Luke showed up in Dallas, I haven’t been able to get him out of my head. Being here makes it even harder to think about anything else other than how it once was with us.”
“You leave in the morning,” Jo argued.
Jo was torn. How could she not be when she had been the one here to pick up the pieces after Zoe had left?
“But you’re going to come back . . . a lot.” Mel was playing middle child, mediating.
“And Luke can get on a plane to visit me.”
“Did he say that?” Jo asked.
“He alluded to it.”
Mel waved a hand between the two of them. “Oh, my God. Stop it, you two . . . this is awesome stuff. Zoe and Luke getting back together is like Sandy and Danny from Grease. It’s epic and wonderful.”
“I think Jo’s concerned about a Romeo and Juliet outcome.”
Jo nodded. “Not the perfect ending.”
“So melodramatic. No one is going to kill themselves.” Mel shoved Jo’s knee and broke the tension. “So how was it?”
A slight lift to Jo’s lips told Zoe she wanted details.
“Is it possible his dick grew over the last decade?”