Without You (31 page)

She started crying, and my voice cracked. I had already bought her engagement ring a few weeks ago. Originally, I had planned on asking Gunner for her hand in marriage and then formally asking her when we all went to the coast this summer.

“Lex, will you marry me and be my secret fiancée?”

She started crying harder, but then she started laughing. She threw herself into my body. “Yes! Oh God, Will, yes, a thousand times.”

She pulled back, and I placed my hands on the sides of her face.

I whispered, “You’re mine,” and then I kissed her.

She smiled. “Always.”

“Promise me,” I whispered.

A tear slid down her face as she whispered, “I promise you, Will.”

Will pulled up to the hotel where Grace and I were staying this weekend and parked his car. I smiled, and I couldn’t wait to tell him that I had a separate room from Grace. His face had fallen when I told him Grace had come along so that we could check out A&M. I had a sneaky feeling that Grace was hoping to run into Noah again, but she’d told me I was nuts for even thinking that.

“Maybe you should go back to your dorm and pack up some clothes and your books.”

Will pulled his head back and looked at me. “I’m not sure Grace wants me bunking with y’all.”

I bit down on my lip and grinned. “We have our own rooms.”

The smile that spread across Will’s face caused me to giggle.

“No shit?”

“No shit. When she said she wanted to come, I told her she had to get her own room, and she agreed. She didn’t want to spoil our weekend.”

“God, I love Grace,” Will said as he lifted his eyebrows.

“Me, too!”

Will reached over and quickly kissed me. “Give me a few minutes to go back to my room and grab some stuff. When I come back, we can get some dinner.”

I nodded my head. “Sounds good. Be careful, but hurry!”

“I will, baby.”

I jumped out and headed into the Hilton Hotel. When I got up to my room, my phone pinged, and I pulled it out of my purse. Grace had dropped me off earlier at Will’s dorm, so I figured she was texting me. Instead, I saw it was from Libby.

Libby: OMG! Grace told me y’all are in town all weekend!

Me: Yep! What are you doing?

Libby: About to go to dinner at Saltgrass Steakhouse.

Me: With who?

Libby: A guy named Zack. We went out to a movie and will be heading to dinner soon.

My heart dropped to my stomach. Libby was out on a date.

Damn it, Luke.

Me: A date, huh? What about Luke, Lib?

Libby: I can’t wait for someone who clearly doesn’t want the same thing I want. Besides, he’s been hooking up with that Abigail girl the last few months.

Me: What about what he said to you, Libby?

Libby: He was drunk. Alex, I’m done waiting. Want to meet us for dinner?

Me: Okay. Will went back to his dorm to get some clothes, so he could stay with me at the hotel for the weekend. Can we meet you there in half an hour?

Libby: Sure! We’re just talking at Starbucks.

Me: Okay. See you soon, sweetie!

I sucked in a breath and let it out as I got up. I changed my clothes and fixed my makeup and hair. I had texted Will and told him a key was waiting for him at the front desk. I also texted Grace and told her we were meeting Libby at Saltgrass for dinner in about thirty minutes.

I heard the door open and close, and I instantly felt my lower stomach clench with anticipation. Will walked in and leaned against the doorframe.

My breath caught for a moment. He was so handsome. His brown hair had just been cut, but it was still long enough for me to run my fingers through and grab while we made love. He hadn’t shaved in probably two days, and he had that perfect scruff look. Will had an amazing body, and I could see his muscles through his tight blue T-shirt. With all that working on the ranch, he didn’t even need to go to the gym, but he did every single day, and his body showed it. His blue eyes made my stomach do crazy flips. I licked my lips as I practically undressed him with my eyes.

“You like what you see?”

I blushed, knowing I had probably been eye-fucking the hell out of him. “I do very, very much. It’s a shame we have to meet Libby and Zack for dinner because I really want to be—”

My phone began ringing. I held up my finger for Will to hold my thoughts. He laughed as he went to sit on the sofa.

I looked at Will with a shocked expression on my face.

Why is Luke calling me?

“Hello? Luke?”

“Hey there, baby girl. Grace told me y’all were in town.”

I smiled. “We sure are. We wanted to come check out the campus. Plus, we both have appointments tomorrow.”

Luke laughed. “Uh-huh. I’m sure that’s the only reason y’all are here. I see Will has already been to our room and packed up his shit.”

I felt my face blush as I looked over at Will.

“Why, I don’t know what you mean.”

“You never could pull off a lie, Alex. Hey, Grace told me about dinner. Gonna jump in the shower. I’ll see y’all there.”

“Okay. See ya.” Then, it hit me.
Shit!
“Wait! Luke?”

He had already hung up, and I looked at Will with a look of horror.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“Oh God, Will. Libby invited us to dinner, and I sent Grace a text to invite her as well.”

He looked at me, confused. “Okay. And what’s the problem?”

“The problem is that Grace invited Luke to come along, and Libby is with her date, Zack.”

Will’s face dropped. “Oh shit, this is not good, not good at all, Lex.”

“What are we going to do? Tell Luke he can’t come?”

He pushed his hand through his hair, and I couldn’t help but be turned-on. I loved when he did that. Hell, anything he did turned me on.

“Maybe we should just tell Luke that Lib is going to be there with a date.”

I shook my head. “You know Luke. That will just make him want to come even more. Has he said anything to you about Libby?”

He nodded his head. “Yeah, today. He admitted to having feelings for her, but he’s afraid of hurting her. Thinks he is not good enough for her. Honestly, I think he’s just scared of how strong his feelings are for her. He saw her kissing this guy, and he took off for Abigail. He thinks Abigail helps him forget about Libby.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yuck. That turns my stomach, Will.”

He nodded his head. “How do you think I feel? It’s my sister.”

Thirty minutes later, Grace, Will, and I were sitting down at a table at Saltgrass. Libby had sent a text saying that Zack had to run back to his dorm and change, so they would be a few minutes late.

I looked up to see Luke walking in.

Grace jumped up and stopped him. “Hey, do you want to go see a movie?”

Luke looked at her funny. “After dinner?”

“No, now. Let’s you and me grab something fast and go catch a movie.” Grace tried to take Luke’s arm and pull him back toward the door.

Luke laughed. “Damn, girl. I don’t want to see a movie. I want to visit with you and Alex. What’s wrong with you?”

Grace’s mouth dropped open. “Brother, sister”—she pointed between herself and Luke—“togetherness. Don’t you miss me?”

Luke leaned down and kissed Grace on the cheek. “I miss you more than you’ll ever know, sweet pea.”

He stepped around her and made his way to the table. I looked at Grace, and she shrugged. I smiled and stood up when Luke walked up to me.

He kissed me on the cheek and hugged me. “I’ve sure missed you, Alex.”

Luke truly was a sweetheart. He was going to make someone very happy one day—if he could just learn to open his heart and not be so afraid. He’d never really had a serious girlfriend. Every time he’d tried to date, the girl would get jealous of his friendship with Libby. When the girl forced him to pick, he would always choose Libby.

If Libby were in the same situation with a guy she was dating, she would do the same and choose Luke.

We chatted for a few minutes when Grace kicked me under the table. I looked up, and Libby and Zack were walking up. Libby’s smile dropped the moment she saw Luke.

She quickly looked at me.

I mouthed,
Sorry.

Will stood up, which caused Luke to look.

His smile instantly vanished, and he muttered, “Son of a bitch.”

Libby and Luke both stared at each other.

Libby forced a smile. “Hey, y’all. Um…Zack, this is my brother, Will.”

Zack stuck his hand out for Will to shake. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Will.”

Will smiled and nodded.

“This is Alex,” Libby said.

Zack reached over and shook my hand. I smiled as I looked into his light blue eyes. He was about five feet ten with dark blond hair, and he had a smile that would melt a girl’s heart.

“Alex, it’s a pleasure. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

I smiled. “Nice to meet you, Zack.”

Libby turned to Grace. “This is Grace.”

Zack smiled. “Grace, pleasure to finally meet you. Lib’s been talking about you and Alex a lot.”

Oh God, he called her Lib.

Luke was the one who had started calling her Lib.

Libby swallowed hard and turned to face Luke, who looked like it was taking everything for him to stay calm.

“Um…Zack, this is, um…this is Luke. Luke and Grace are brother and sister.”

Poor Zack.
I felt so sorry for him.

Luke reached out his hand and shook Zack’s. He didn’t give Zack a chance to talk first. “Hey there, Zack. So, how long have y’all been dating?”

Libby’s mouth dropped open as she glared at Luke.

Zack looked back at Libby, and she quickly smiled.

“What? About two weeks now?”

“Yes, almost three,” Libby said.

Zack pulled out her chair. Libby sat down, and Luke, Will, and Zack followed.

“What year are you, Zack?” Luke asked.

Will gave Luke a look. Luke peeked at Will and smirked. The boys were always overprotective, but I could hear it in Luke’s voice. He was beyond jealous.

“I’m in my sophomore year,” Zack said.

“Where are you from?” Luke asked.

Will cleared his voice.

“With the twenty questions, I’d think Luke was the brother,” Zack said with a laugh.

Both Will and Luke snapped their heads at Zack, and Grace chuckled nervously.

Libby attempted to laugh. “Zack, one thing you need to know is we are all very close. We grew up together. Will, Luke, and Alex’s brother, Colt, have always been a bit…overprotective. Let’s chill out on the questions, Luke. Okay?”

Luke glared at Zack and then looked at Libby. “Fine,” he said between gritted teeth.

“Well, to answer your question, I’m from Colorado Springs.”

“I love Colorado,” I said with a smile.

Zack turned to me and smiled.

“So, what? No good schools in Colorado? You had to come to Texas?” Luke asked.

Zack’s smile lessened just a bit. “No. We have plenty of good schools. My father lives in Austin. I wanted to be close to him while I attended school. My mother passed away during my senior year of high school.”

Grace and I both sucked in a breath of air. “I’m so sorry,” we both said at the same time.

Luke looked down and then back up at him. “I’m really sorry to hear that.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Zack,” Will said.

“No worries. Thank you though. It’s much appreciated.”

For the rest of dinner, Luke didn’t utter a word to Libby or Zack. He never even so much as looked at them. He mostly talked to Grace about UT and us coming to A&M next year. He asked about her plans for the weekend, and then he made arrangements to show her around tomorrow and Saturday.

My heart hurt as I watched the whole thing play out. I couldn’t help but notice Libby looking at Luke. I could understand her wanting to move on since Luke hadn’t made a move.

Dinner ended, and we all made our way out to the parking lot. Luke kissed Grace and me good-bye.

He turned to shake Zack’s hand. “It was nice meeting you, Zack.”

“Same here, Luke.”

Luke turned to Libby. His whole body seemed to slump over, and his eyes looked so sad. “Lib, I’ll see you around.”

I saw the light from the streetlamp catch Libby’s eyes. They filled with tears as she nodded her head without uttering a word back to Luke.