“You’d never do that.”
He gives a half-laugh and shoves it into the bag. “Nope, never would.” Bringing his knees up he locks thick arms around them and listens to the pine needles rustling. “Peaceful here. Atlas said he might ask you to marry him. What do you think about that?”
I choke on my last bite, coughing and turning red. Luke glances to me, watching with a cocked eyebrow. I wave my hand reassuring him that I’m not going to die today, and grab my water bottle to get the edges down my throat. “What do I think about that?” I rasp, voice raw.
“Has he done it?”
“You mean has he gotten me a ring and bent down and all that bullshit?”
“Yeah, that’s what I mean.”
Shoving my trash into the bag, I mutter, “No, he hasn’t.” Meeting his eyes, I hesitate, then confess, “Well, he brought it up, but not with all that stuff. He just said…” Under my breath I say, closing my eyes tightly for a second, “I can’t believe we’re talking about this right now, I hate it.” Luke is watching me like he wants to finish the story. Leaning back on my hands I shake my head. “Atlas was being stupid! He said that it ‘made sense,’ and I told him he was crazy. We argued for all of five minutes and then we dropped it.” He hasn’t taken his eyes off me. “You really think I’d marry Atlas?”
“I didn’t know.”
“Now you do.”
“You don’t love him?”
Huffing an ironic laugh I pick up the bag and throw it as far as I can. We watch it bounce down the mountain about fifty feet and get stuck on a fallen tree trunk.
Amused, Luke glances back to me. “Feel better?”
“Yes, actually.” Exhaling I throw my arm toward the litter. “We’ll pick that up on the way back down! I had to throw something and you’re too heavy.”
Luke grins, but drops his gaze to the boulder, smile disappearing. “Had to ask, Soph.”
“But why? I can’t believe you thought I’d want to! Can you really see me and Atlas happy for a lifetime? Would that have made it okay or something? If I loved him like that, then it wouldn’t matter that I’d…done what I did? You know me better than that. Sex has never meant love for me. Or for you! You’ve banged more girls on the road than I have guys.”
He nods, staring off. “Neither of us has ever fucked someone we were in love with before.” Turning his head, Luke’s gaze slowly travels around my face. “I wonder what that would feel like.”
My lips part. “Me too….I’ve been wondering that a lot, lately.”
We don’t break eye contact, goosebumps lifting to a new level. Luke stands and offers his hand to help me up. Normally he wouldn’t do that, and if he did, I wouldn’t take it. But today I rest my hand on his warm palm and watch his fingers wrap around mine.
He lets go, and kneels to climb down.
I ask, “We done…hiking?” because I have to say something, anything.
“Yeah,” he rasps, eyes on the rocks below. “Watch your step on the way down.”
My heart pounds in my throat.
I’ve already fallen.
CHAPTER 29
L UKE
T yler grins as we lean back in our chairs on the outdoor patio of Casa Sedona. “They know how to make a margarita.”
Sofia Sol shakes out her wild hair with one hand as she pulls a nearby, empty chair closer with the toe of her boot. She’s wearing this white halter with lace on the top that I’ve never seen on her, and I can’t take my eyes off it for long. It’s fucking driving me crazy to pretend I’m not fascinated by how beautiful she is tonight. Throwing both boots on the extra chair, she smiles, “See, this is how you do it. Homemade tortillas, messy enchiladas with refried beans, none of that healthy black bean nonsense.”
Tyler eyes her. “I like black beans.”
“Me too,” I mutter, picking up a chip and trying not to stare at her. “But you gotta do it refried every now and then.”
She gives this sexy grin, two margaritas in. “That’s right! You’ve got to!” Reaching for her empty glass she swirls ice around with her straw. “I need another. You guys joining me?”
Tyler raises his glass in a yes and I don’t have to do anything. Two out of three wins the vote.
Sofia whoops and leans back like she wants to be the chair, letting her head fall back, neck exposed, wavy black hair almost touching the ground. And those breasts again, pushed way up and out. “I could use more vacations,” she sighs, hypnotizing me as her lungs expand and deflate. “Only five days but I feel like a whole new woman. Haven’t been this relaxed…in forever!”
I flick a glance to Tyler to find him smirking at me. He covers his mouth, trying not to laugh. I break into a grin, mouthing, fuck you. He snorts through his fingers, making Soph glance up, straightening her arched back and suspiciously asking, “Did I miss something?”
I’m stumped for an alibi.
Ty starts telling a story, “I remember the time when you guys were teenagers, and you were training out back, doing ground work…”
“Which time? We trained in getting out of each other’s choke holds and pins for years.”
“It was one of the last ones, before they banned you from ground work.” Tyler grins, pointing at the memory to explain, “Luke was under you, Soph. You had one knee on his stomach, the other on his thigh, because he’d almost successfully bucked you off of him. But you were a little spider monkey, wouldn’t let go. Our parents were all inside. I was overseeing your training that day, supposed to be guiding it, but you guys no longer needed a teacher, so I was just sitting in a rocking chair, scrolling through my phone. And there
