The Upside of Love (5 page)

Luke

I could already tell that Cody was going to be a life saver. She really seemed to know her stuff. Lily looked very uncomfortable when she walked over to the table and I thought she was pissed when she saw us eating together.

“How long have you been dating your girlfriend?” Cody asked.

“About seven months.” I smiled.

“And how about you?” Lucky said as he strolled in.

Cody smiled and shook her head. “Let’s just say that I’m in between boyfriends at the moment.”

“Perfect. It just so happens that I’m in between girlfriends.”

“Don’t listen to him, Cody. He’s living with a woman and she’s having his baby.”

She looked at him in disgust. “How dare you,” she said.

“What? We have an open relationship. She sees other guys all the time. In fact, we’re having some people over for dinner tonight. Why don’t you join us and you can meet all of our friends.”

“Are you going?” she asked me.

“Yeah.”

“Okay. Thanks for the invite, Lucky. I look forward to it.”

I sent Cody to the office to start on some paperwork and then I grabbed Lucky by the arm.

“What the fuck, dude? How could you invite her? Why would you invite her? I told you that Lily isn’t comfortable with this situation.”

“Relax, bro. Lily will be fine.”

I rolled my eyes and went into my office. I didn’t know if I should have told Lily that Cody was going to be there tonight or not. Fuck Lucky for putting me in this position. I went about my day and made sure I left the bar early enough to go home, shower, and change before the clusterfuck of the night was going to start.

****

When I walked through the door, Lily was sitting at the table on her laptop. I walked up behind her and softly kissed her neck.

“It’s so good to be home.”

She cupped the back of my neck with her hand and tilted her head to the side, so I had better access to her soft skin.

“It’s good to have you home.”

My hands cupped her breasts and squeezed them tightly. I wanted her and I wanted her now.

“Stand up, Lily,” I said.

She did as I asked and I lifted her shirt over her head and unclasped her bra, throwing it onto the floor.

“Luke,” she moaned as I took her breast in my mouth.

I unbuttoned her shorts and pulled them down, along with her panties, as my tongue slid down her torso and to her clit. Her moans became louder as I pleasured her with my mouth. She was swollen and about to come.

“Don’t stop, Luke. I’m going to come!” she yelled.

I flicked my tongue around her clit before softly sucking it and plunging my fingers deep inside her. That was all I needed to do to send her over the edge with an orgasm. Her fingers tightened through my hair as she gasped and moaned with pleasure. I stood up and took off my pants as she lifted my shirt over my head. She wrapped her fingers around my cock and stroked me as I passionately kissed her. There was no more time to waste. I picked her up and she wrapped her legs around me. I put her up against the wall as I thrust inside of her, never breaking our kiss. I moved in and out of her rapidly until I was about to come. I couldn’t hold back anymore. I wanted nothing more than to release myself inside her. Her moans excited me. I loved knowing that I made her feel so fucking good. One last deep thrust and we both came together. As I buried my face into her neck and tried to catch my breath, she told me how much she loved me.

“I love you, too, babe.” I smiled as I looked at her. “Don’t you ever forget it.”

She released her legs and I carefully set her down. As we were in the bathroom getting ready to go to Giselle’s, Lily told me she went and saw Dr. Blakely.

“How did it go?”

“It went well. She pointed out a lot of things to me that I really never thought of.”

Do I or don’t I tell her about Cody?
Damn Lucky
. “Lucky was in the bar today and he invited Cody to dinner at Giselle’s tonight.”

She stopped putting on her mascara and stared at me through the mirror. “What?”

“I tried to stop him, but you know Lucky; he doesn’t care and he doesn’t listen.”

“Okay.”

“Okay? You’re not going to yell at me?”

“Nope. It’s not your fault and she seems like a nice girl. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to get to know her better since she’s going to be working with you every day.”

“You’re amazing.” I smiled as I kissed the side of her head.

“Yeah. I know.” She winked.

****

Lily

An uneasiness settled inside me. Dr. Blakely said that Luke wasn’t Hunter and I needed to remind myself of that. She also told me that if I ever wanted to be at peace with what had happened, it would be a good idea to talk to Brynn and Hunter and get my feelings out. I wasn’t so sure about that. I was afraid that I’d murder both of them if I saw them face to face. Brynn still sent me text messages every once in a while, asking for my forgiveness. I never replied back. I just hit the delete button. According to my mother, the two of them were still together and, as far as I was concerned, they deserved each other. Luke and I arrived at Giselle’s house fifteen minutes late.

“It’s about time,” she said as she hugged me.

“Sorry. Luke kind of had me pinned to a wall.”

“Oh my. I can’t wait to get that kind of action on again. It’s kind of hard right now with the large baby bump and all.” She laughed as she rubbed her tummy.

Luke walked right over to where Sam was standing, talking to Cody. Gretchen walked up to me and hooked her arm around mine. Giselle did the same and they walked me outside on the patio.

“Who the fuck is that Cody chick and why is she here?” Gretchen asked.

“Luke’s new assistant and compliments of a douchebag named Lucky,” I said as I looked over at Giselle.

“He’s an asshole. You already know that,” she said.

“I saw Dr. Blakely today and she said a few things that helped. So, I’m trying not to think about how gorgeous Cody is and how she’ll see my boyfriend more than I do every day.” A tear started to form in my eye.

“What are the three of you doing out here?” Luke asked as he and Sam stepped out the door.

“Having girl talk. Would you care to join in on our birthing conversation?” Gretchen asked.

“Um. No. I think we’re good. Right, Luke?”

“Yeah. We are totally good. Go back to talking and we’ll see you inside.”

The three of us laughed. “So, did you find out the sex of the baby?” I asked.

“The answer is in that big box in the living room. I brought in a bunch of blue and pink balloons to the doctor’s office and I had the nurse find out the sex of the baby and then put the appropriate color balloons in the box. So, when we open the box, we’ll all know at the same time.”

“What a fabulous idea. I’m so excited. Let’s find out now.”

“After dinner. It’s almost ready. In fact, we should get back inside.”

I noticed that Luke and Cody were talking alone. I walked over to where they were standing and made sure she knew he was mine. I wrapped my arms around him and laid my head on his shoulder. I was staking my claim.

“Hey, babe. Are the three of you done with your conversation?”

“Yes, we are, and it’s almost time to eat, so we better sit down.”

I was on alert as to where Cody thought she was sitting. Next thing I knew, Lucky took hold of her arm and led her to the seat next to his. Luke and I sat down and he poured me a glass of wine. I smiled and thanked him with a kiss on the lips. Giselle kept looking at me and rolling her eyes as Lucky fed Cody his lines of bullshit. Once dinner was over, we all gathered into the living room and sat down, except for Giselle and Lucky, who stood in the center of the room behind the box.

“Okay. Is everyone ready to find out what gender our kid is?” Giselle asked with a smile.

Lucky carefully ran the box opener across the top and a bunch of pink balloons came out. Lucky hugged Giselle and everyone screeched and clapped, but I thought Luke was the loudest when he stood up and yelled, “YES! THANK YOU, GOD!”

Gretchen and I ran over to Giselle and hugged her tightly.

“Dude, what the hell was that for?” Lucky asked Luke.

“Paybacks. You’re having a daughter and there will be guys exactly like you trying to get into her pants.”

“The hell they will. My daughter isn’t allowed to date and I will protect her against guys like me.”

I looked at Lucky and smiled as I hugged him. “Congratulations on your baby girl. May you have many sleepless nights when she’s a teenager.”

“You two are mean people,” Lucky pointed out.

Giselle was so excited that she was having a girl that she could barely stand it. Luke and I decided it was time for us to leave because he needed to be at the bar early in the morning and I had to be at the studio.

Lily

Two weeks later…

The studio was finally finished and everything was set in its place. Cameron did an amazing job and I couldn’t be happier. I hung up Rory’s picture of her and the girls and a few of Charley that I’d taken. Giselle and Gretchen stopped by a lot and helped me organize things. In just a few short days, the doors would be ready to open.

Later that night, Luke got home from the bar later than usual. When he walked in, I could instantly tell he was in a bad mood.

“What’s wrong?” I asked as he walked over and gave me a kiss.

“Just a bad day, babe. The liquor order didn’t show up today, the dishwasher broke, and the toilet overflowed.”

“I’m sorry.”

He walked to the refrigerator and grabbed a beer. He threw the cap on the counter and looked at the box that was sitting on the table.

“What’s in the box?”

“Pictures I took when I left Seattle. I just took it down from the closet shelf. I haven’t opened it or looked in it since I first arrived in Portland and had them developed. I was going to see if there were any pictures I could blow up and put in the studio.”

“Great idea, babe. Do you mind if I open it?”

“No. Go right ahead. I have to brush my teeth real quick. I’ll be back in a second.”

I went into the bathroom and brushed my teeth. When I walked back into the living room, the pictures from the box were scattered all over the table and floor and Luke stood there and did nothing but stare at me. I stopped dead in my tracks because suddenly I got the feeling that something was wrong.

“Luke, what is it?”

The look on his face was one of pure anger. It was a look that I’d never seen before.

“Luke! What’s going on?”

“It was you,” he said with a low voice.

“It was me what? What are you talking about?”

He held out a picture to me. I walked over and took it from him and gasped when I saw the couple sitting at the table. It was Luke and Callie. Tears immediately filled my eyes as I looked at him.

“You were the woman who gave us the tickets to Aruba. It was you. The night Callie was killed was the night that we were on our way home from the airport from Aruba. The trip YOU gave to us.”

I began to shake and I felt like I was going to pass out. “Luke. I—”

“You what, Lily? Answer me one question. “Did you remember me when you saw me?”

“NO! Of course not. I would have said something. You didn’t remember me?”

“I thought you sort of looked familiar, but I blew it off when I found out that you were Johnny’s daughter. I can’t believe this. I can’t believe that I—”

“That you what? What exactly are you saying?” I yelled as tears poured down my face.

“If you had never given us those tickets, we wouldn’t have gone, and Callie would still be alive today.”

The knife that plunged into my heart at that moment hurt like nothing else. I’d never felt such pain as I did right then. Not even when I caught Brynn and Hunter together. This pain was far worse and something I’d never experienced before.

“Are you blaming me for Callie’s death?” I screamed.

He stood there and then turned away. “I guess I am. I have to get out of here,” he said as he walked to the bedroom and slammed the door shut.

I felt so shaky and out of it that I needed to sit down on the couch before I collapsed. I couldn’t believe what had just happened and I couldn’t believe Luke blamed me for Callie’s death. He came out of the bedroom with his bag and headed towards the door.

“Where are you going?” I cried as I jumped up from the couch and grabbed his hand.

He jerked away from me. “I can’t stay here for a while. I need to think about things.”

“Think about what? Please don’t leave me, Luke.”

“I need space, Lily. This is too much for me to handle right now.”

“If you walk out that door, then you’re blaming me for Callie’s death and that’s not fair.”

“I’m leaving before we both say something we’ll regret.”

“It’s too late! You already said it!” I screamed as he walked out the door.

I grabbed my head and paced back and forth. I picked up the box from the table and threw it against the door. I fell to my knees and sobbed like a baby. How could he do this to me? How could he blame me and then walk out and ruin us? I didn’t know what to do. I needed him. I needed him to hold me and tell me that everything was going to be all right. I curled up into a ball in the middle of the floor and didn’t move.