HIM
I'm pissed."Come on, guys, let's not do this right now," Austin says as he pulls Jason away from Luke, then looks over at me.
"What the fuck are you thinking, Ali? I told you to stay away from this trash," Jason yells at me as he looks Luke up and down.
Things are about to get very ugly: I can sense it. I look at Jason, ready to speak just as Luke grabs my hand, and we head for the door. Jason reaches toward me, but the guys pull him back. He screams out at me, but I ignore him and keep walking.
"You're a fucking dead man. You hear me. A dead man!" Jason spews.
I never would have thought going to Mary's may have been a bad idea. I was in my own little world filled by Luke that I did not take into consideration Jason may be here, and that an issue would most definitely arise. I know Jason thinks that Luke is bad news because of what happened between him and Bridget. I forgot I also promised him I would stay away from Luke. Shit!
We get outside of Mary's, and I stop Luke. I look up at him, and he's looking forward.
"I'm so sorry that just happened," I say as water fills my eyes.
"It's fine, Ali. Let's go!" he replies.
His face is still red, his breathing is heavy, and his hands are in fists. We walk back to the shop. I can see the anger on Luke's face more prominent now and the pain behind his eyes. I'm sure he's hurt because he doesn't want to fight with Jason, especially not over me. Luke stops and looks at me, and I give him a pleading gaze. His blue-green eyes are so vivid and sharp. He's so fucking hot when he's mad, it's unbelievable.
"I'm taking the rest of the day off. Will you come with me?" he asks.
I smile at him then head into the shop to grab my purse as he walks to his truck. I let Maureen know what's going on and make my way to Luke's truck. We leave the shop and head out of town. Luke stays silent. I feel awful as I look at him. He's tense, his jaw clenched, and is white-knuckling his steering wheel. What do I say right now? What can I say not to make matters worse? I want to calm him down. I grab my phone and skim through my apps. I sync my phone to Luke's truck then turn up the volume. I search for the perfect song to ease the current mood. I press play and look over at Luke.
Eastbound and Down from Smokey and the Bandit begins to play.
Luke smiles while looking forward, watching the road. The tension in his jaw and hands lessens. He looks over at me, smiles again, then places his hand on my thigh. I set my hand on his. He is calming down, and everything is becoming less tense. I let out a sigh of relief.
Chapter Twenty-One
We head down the same road that Luke brought me down yesterday when we had lunch at the lake. He parks his truck, smiles at me, then gets out. He takes off down the trail without grabbing anything from his truck. I get out and jog to catch up with him. It's hot out, and the bugs are being exceptionally annoying right now as they buzz by and crash right into my face. I swat at a few before I fall over into the grass. I roll around for a little bit before sitting up.
"What are you doing?" Luke laughs while extending his hand out to me.
"I got hungry and stopped for a bite to eat," I reply sarcastically while grabbing Luke's hand as he helps me to my feet.
Luke laughs more as he pulls grass, dirt, and leaves from the mess up top on my head; I like to call my hair. I brush the dirt and grass stains off my pants. I guess that is a way to break the awkward silence and tension lingering since we left Mary's.
"Were you late for work this morning?" I question.
"Yea, about an hour. I had a dentist's appointment at eight," he replies.
Now, I know why his smile is so gorgeous, and his teeth are so perfect. He takes good care of them. But I wonder why he didn't tell me last night or at least a quick text this morning. I am technically his boss. Oh shit, having any relationship with him now would technically be unprofessional. Wouldn't it? But do I care? Not one bit!
Luke starts walking down the trail again but holding my hand this time. I'm sure he's worried I might get hungry again. I like walking behind him as it gives me a straight shot to check out his ass. Although his work pants are a little on the baggy side, they still sit nicely off his hips and make his rump look amazing. I don't think there is anything he could wear that doesn't look sexy on him. I want to kiss him so badly right now. I could give him the perfect distraction to take his mind of the heated dispute with Jason earlier.
We get to the grassy opening where we had lunch yesterday, but we keep walking and head over to another trail just past the picnic area. Where the hell is he taking me this time? We keep walking, and I keep getting dive-bombed by bugs. Those fuckers are going to be the death of me today. Man, they're so annoying.
It's so hot out, and I can feel the sweat drip down between my boobs. I can feel the part of my shirt where my underboob area has started to become soaked, real sexy. Luke stops and reaches his hand up over his head, grabbing hold of his shirt. He slips it over his head and tucks it in his back pocket, then grabs my hand again, and we continue walking. Oh.