Undone (15 page)

She felt elated and crushed all at once. She wouldn’t lose her position, but it meant working closely with Luke.
Can I do this?

When Luke reached out again, he didn’t stop himself. Resting his hand on her shoulder, he looked into her eyes. “Look, I know this is a lot to digest, but we can make this work. I want to make this work.”

Embry didn’t hear his words. She was too distracted by the searing warmth on her shoulder. His touch caused a reaction in her that she couldn’t control no matter how pissed off or hurt she was.

Luke continued to speak. “I don’t want you losing your position. I know how hard you work, and the last thing you need is to serve beer on the weekends instead of focusing on school.”

Embry agreed with that. She wanted the research position on her resume. It would open doors for her, especially if Coleman got published and Embry’s name was on the research. But could she and Luke really work together? “Can I think about it?”

Luke dropped his hand from her shoulder and brought it up to rub his neck. “Yes, think about it. But I want you to consider one thing.”

“Okay,” she said, warily.

“If we’re going to do this, if we’re going to make this work, I need you to hear me out first. You have to let me explain why I did what I did.”

Embry sat on her living room floor, back against the couch and long legs splayed out on the carpet. Her hair was in a haphazard ponytail, and her right hand gripped a bottle of her favorite white wine.

“You are one hot mess, my love,” Morgan said, walking into the living room with two plates of steaming hot pizza in one hand and her own glass of wine in the other.

“Hah,” Embry scoffed, taking a swig straight from the bottle. The sweet taste lingered on her lips, and her head was becoming cloudy enough to relax.

“And classy, too. What happened to your glass?” Morgan looked around for the missing object.

“I ditched it about the same time I decided to go to town on the whole bottle.”

“Nice. Not that I don’t love drunk Embry, because I do, but what brought this on?” Morgan slid onto the floor beside Embry.

“Seriously?” Embry eyed her best friend. “You have to ask?”

“I know
who
brought it on. But when I spoke to you earlier, it seemed like you two were playing nice.”

“That was before I had the chance to think about him trapping me into hearing his explanation.”

“Oh, so before the half-bottle of alcohol was consumed?” Morgan countered.

Embry smiled, held the bottle up, and swished the liquid around. “That too.”

“Okay, so what’s really the problem?”

“There is none. I’m okay. I just wanted a bit of alcohol to help me decide if I wanted to spend the rest of the semester working one-on-one with my sexy, kind-of-sort-of ex-boyfriend-turned-professor.”

“Well when you put it that way,” Morgan joked.

“I don’t want to hear his explanation. I would rather just put it behind us and try to have some semblance of a professional relationship.”

“How about this,” Morgan suggested. “Dig into that delicious New York pizza. Let’s polish off the wine and have some fun, and we’ll worry about Luke later.”

“I like the sound of that,” Embry said, taking a large bite. “Oh my god, so good.” Melted cheese and sauce dripped down her chin. “Real pizza … You have no idea how much I’ve missed this.”

“You really are in rare form tonight,” Morgan teased, throwing a napkin at Embry.

The girls polished off the pizza and finished their wine. They talked about school, the past, their families, and everything else while keeping the conversation far away from Luke. Morgan connected her iPod to the speakers, and they danced around the apartment, drinking and singing.

After they collapsed on the couch, Embry rested her head on her best friend’s shoulder. “Thanks, Morgs.”

“That’s what I’m here for,” she said, nudging Embry. “You know Brett’s going to have to come get me since you got me drunk.”

“Brett!” Embry cheered. “I miss him. Tell him to come pick your drunk ass up so I can say hello.”

“You call and tell him,” Morgan said. “Then maybe he won’t yell at me for standing him up tonight.”

“You stood him up?”

“You needed me.”

“I did. Now give me your phone so I can get your man over here.”

“Okay,” Morgan said, tossing her phone at Embry. “I’m just going to lay down in the guest room for a bit.”

“Seriously? You always pass out!” Embry whined, chucking a throw pillow at Morgan as she disappeared down the hall.

A knock sounded on the front door a while later.

Embry jumped up and flung the door open. “BRETTY!”

“Hey, Bree-Bree,” he said, his big brown eyes shining down at her.

Brett swept Embry into a huge hug, completely dwarfing her, and she immediately felt better. Getting teary-eyed, she pulled away from the comfort of his arms.

“Come on in. Your girl is passed out in the guest room,” she said, motioning toward the hallway.

“Typical.” He rolled his eyes.

“Want something to drink?” Embry asked as Brett followed her through the door.

He surveyed the empty wine bottles on the kitchen island. “Is there anything left?”

“Har har. I have beer in the fridge.”

“Sure, whatever you have,” he said, arranging his large body on the couch.

Brett Parker stood at least six feet, four inches. His size and muscles could be intimidating, but he was a big softie underneath. His sandy mop of hair, big brown eyes, and toothpaste-commercial smile gave him that perfect All-American look. He was like the big brother Embry had never had.

Brett, Embry, and Morgan had grown up in the same town. Brett’s parents were close with Embry’s and she’d spent a lot of time with him when they were younger. He had always been Embry’s protector, but by the time she was mixed up with Jack, Brett was away at college.

Embry grabbed a beer, snapped the cap off, and brought it to Brett. She plopped down on the couch next to him and let out a huge sigh.

“Wanna talk about it?” he asked.

“No. But I probably should.”

“Morgan gave me the Cliff’s Notes version. What’s going on?”

“Well, you probably don’t know the newest development. Luke is not only my professor, but he’s taking over my research project as well.” She filled Brett in on their conversation as well as Luke’s ultimatum: if she wanted to keep her position, she’d have to hear him out.

“Okay, so what’s the issue?”

“What good will it do?” Embry threw her arms up in the air. “We’re done, over. Even if he explains himself and I understand or forgive him, we can’t be together, so what’s the point? I’d rather not rehash our feelings when there’s nothing we can do about them. I just want to move on.”

Brett looked on with sympathetic eyes as Embry continued to relay her feelings about Luke. Before she knew it, she had given him the entire back-story and he was completely up to speed on their screwed up attempt at a relationship.

“You want honest or you want sugar-coated?” he asked.

“You know I want you to be honest with me. You’re the one person I know always will be.”

“You’re hurting, I get that. He fucked up. But that’s what guys do. We fuck up. Especially when a beautiful girl is involved. From what Morgan said, she hasn’t seen you this happy since …” Brett’s fists clenched in his lap.

Embry knew it was hard for him to talk about Jack. He carried a lot of guilt over the fact that he hadn’t been around for Embry during such a bad time. She put her hand over his, drawing his attention back to her.

He blew out a breath. “She said she hasn’t seen you this happy since before Jack. I get that Luke lied and hurt you, and now you’re in an impossible situation. But I think the real reason you don’t want to let him explain is because you’re afraid.”

“Afraid of what?”

“You don’t want to deal with your feelings for him, and if you never let him explain, you’ll never have to. You can put the blame on him, never face what you felt for him, and pretend to move on. But you won’t move on,” Brett said.

“And why is that?” Embry asked somewhat defensively.

“You were falling for him.”

Embry blanched at the easy way such a big statement rolled off Brett’s tongue. She knew she was falling for Luke, but hearing it out loud made it real. All of a sudden, that deep ache in her chest began to throb. She crossed her arms, looking like a five-year-old on the verge of a tantrum. “Was not.”

“You’re not ready to admit it, and that’s fine. I’m not saying you should go all
Say Anything
outside his window, but if you keep all your feelings stuffed inside, they’ll eat you alive.”

She sank into the couch, feeling defeated.

“Or if you’re dead set on shutting him out and losing a great job,” he continued, “I hear Hooters is hiring.” Brett nudged her, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Oh shut it, Parker,” she said, smacking his arm.

Morgan chose that moment to stumble down the hallway rubbing her eyes. “What about Hooters?”

Brett let out a hearty laugh and stood to greet his girl. “Hey, the party has arrived!” Morgan face-planted into his chest. He shook his head, wrapped her in his arms, and planted a kiss on the top of her head. “Girls’ night was successful, huh babe?” He shot Embry a wink over Morgan’s head.

Morgan groaned and mumbled something unintelligible.

Brett laughed again. He pulled back and forced Morgan’s head back to look at him. “I’ll take that as a yes, baby?”

She smiled at him, whispered, “Take me home,” and lifted up onto her toes to plant a kiss on his lips.

Embry blushed and looked away, not wanting to intrude on their private moment. Had she and Luke looked like that? Happy and in love? Well, maybe not
in
love, but getting there. The realization that she would never have that with him broke her heart.

“All right!” Brett announced, bringing Embry out of her thoughts. “Time to take my lush of a girlfriend home.”

Morgan smacked his chest playfully. “Hey, I’m an overworked law student, it doesn’t take much these days.” She pulled Embry into a hug. “You okay?”

Embry nodded into Morgan’s shoulder. “I’m good. Thanks, M.”

Morgan smiled. “Anytime, you know that. Take care of you, Breebear.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Brett grabbed Embry in another big hug. “Good to see you, beauty.”

“You too. Thanks for the advice, big bro.”

He gave her one of his award-winning smiles and started toward the door where his girlfriend waited. “Just remember, guys do stupid shit all the time, but the majority of the time, it has something to do with a girl.” He winked. “Hear him out, B.”

Brett and Morgan walked out, and Embry settled back on the couch. Her head was all over the place. She was pissed at Luke, but she missed him. She was torn between hearing him out and staying as far away from him as she could. Flipping on the TV, she attempted to distract herself with late-night reruns. Even an hour of mind-numbing reality television didn’t help, so she shut off the TV, cleaned up the kitchen, and headed to bed.

Sleep wouldn’t come easy, and she knew it. Staring at the ceiling, she let her thoughts drift to Luke. He’d probably have a good explanation. It may not excuse him from lying, but somehow, she was sure he’d had good intentions, however misplaced. But then where would she be? Her anger at Luke was the only thing keeping her sane, helping her keep distance between them. If she heard him out and forgave him, then what? Brett was right—she was in an impossible situation. Was it easier to stay mad at him and ignore the feelings that kept rising to the surface?

She knew she was kidding herself. There was no ignoring Luke. The best she could do was figure out a way to coexist with him. Before she could change her mind, she grabbed her cell phone and typed out a quick text to Luke.

Okay, let’s talk.

Butterflies took up residence in her stomach as she hit send. Too nervous to wait for his response, she shut off the phone and went to sleep.