Luke tore his lips from hers, panting. His eyes were filled with desire. “Embry.”
She coaxed his mouth back to hers. “Shhh,” she said, between kisses. “No talking. For one night, let’s just pretend—”
He pulled away, a pained look crossing his face. “Pretend what?”
Pushing up onto her toes, she pressed another kiss to the corner of his mouth. “Pretend for one night that you’re not my professor and I’m not your student. That we’re just us.”
Luke’s body stiffened. He dropped his hands from her hips and stepped back. His entire demeanor changed. “I’m done pretending, Embry.”
She was completely thrown. He was giving her whiplash with the speed in which his mood changed. He went from seductive to pissed off in the span of a two-syllable word. “What?”
“You want to pretend. Why? So you can push me away again?”
Embry’s eyes widened. She crossed her arms. “Push you away? You mean like you did to me last night?”
“I heard you lie to Morgan about being with me. You were getting ready to give me another one of your ‘We can’t do this, Luke,’ speeches, so I figured I’d save you the trouble.”
Her jaw dropped. The bitterness in his voice cut her to the core. “Why did you come here tonight? Why did you find me on the dance floor? Why did you kiss me?”
He ripped off his mask and ran his hand through his hair. “I came here to get away from you. I had no idea you’d be here. I just wanted one night without having to think about you … about us. But then you walked in, and I couldn’t stay away. I can never stay away.”
He had such a look of disgust on his face, Embry felt as though she’d been slapped. “There is no ‘us,’ Luke, so don’t let me stop you from whatever it is you came here to do.” The words flew out of her mouth before she could stop them. She didn’t mean a word of it, but she wanted to inflict as much pain on him as he had her.
She wanted him. She wanted everything. But she couldn’t tell him that. Pushing past him into the hallway, she tried to hold back the tears threatening to fall. Embry made a beeline for the bar. Time to drink away the tears and get the night back on track after being derailed by the freight train that is Luke Brody.
Luke followed her out and came up beside her at the bar, his mask back in place. He leaned forward to get the attention of the beautiful bartender. She walked over and leaned in, practically shoving her cleavage in his face. Embry couldn’t hear their muted conversation over the music, but soon the woman put a shot of whiskey in front of Luke. He slammed it back, winked at the bartender, and threw a few bills on the bar before walking off.
Embry’s head spun. She was pretty sure it had nothing to do with the alcohol and everything to do with her run-in with Luke. She scanned the dance floor for him and saw Morgan and Brett. She waved, and they made their way off the dance floor.
“Where’ve you been?” Morgan asked. Brett headed to the bar for more drinks. “We saw you dancing with Jeremy, and then you disappeared.”
“Oh, I found another dance partner,” she said.
Morgan must have picked up on her tone because she rolled her eyes. “Seriously? You just can’t help yourself, can you?”
“What can I say, I’m a masochist.”
“Clearly,” said Morgan, looking around the club. “Where is Mister Tall, Dark, and Academic?”
Embry shrugged. “Not sure. We had a bit of a blow up.”
Morgan eventually turned back to Embry with sympathy pouring from her eyes. Grabbing Embry’s hand, she walked away from the dance floor. “I think we should probably head out.”
Embry pulled against Morgan. “What? I just found you guys. Why would we leave?”
“Trust me, let’s just get out of here.”
Embry wasn’t buying it. She looked over Morgan’s shoulder and into the crowd, trying to find what her friend had seen. She scanned the sweaty, euphoric faces, their bodies swaying to the slow beat of Blackmill’s “Let it Be,” until she found him.
She wished she hadn’t. Embry couldn’t look away as she watched a girl grind against Luke. Her back was to his chest, her ass rubbing into his groin. His hands gripped her hips as he moved behind her, but his eyes were trained on Embry. His stare was unwavering and intense, a million emotions in his steely gaze. She saw every feeling she was experiencing mirrored in his eyes: desire, frustration, pain. She realized in that moment that no matter what they did, they were helpless—slaves to their feelings for each other.
The girl spun around to face Luke, clueless to the fact that his attention was elsewhere. She ran her hands up and down his chest, causing a pit to form in Embry’s stomach. Seeing someone else’s hands on him was more than she could take. The pain it was causing her was reflected in his eyes, but she saw something else as well … determination. As much as it killed him, he wouldn’t pretend anymore. He wouldn’t play games. It was all or nothing.
Tears streamed down Embry’s face as she realized, with complete certainty, that she was losing him. Even as the tears fell, she felt her anger brewing. How dare someone else put their hands on Luke? How dare he let her? They weren’t over. They weren’t finished. They were just getting started. Those thoughts tried to break through her drunken haze, but at the moment, she couldn’t process anything except another girl’s hands on Luke. All Embry could think of was removing those hands and giving him a piece of her mind.
Ripping off her mask, she started toward Luke and his dance partner, ready to unload all of the emotional turmoil that had been tearing her apart inside. She made it all of two feet before two large hands clamped down on her arms and pulled her back.
“Cool it, sweetheart,” Brett whispered. He wrapped his forearm across her collarbone, trapping her against him.
Morgan came up in front of her, blocking her view of Luke. “Whatever he’s doing, however much it’s hurting you, you cannot do this here. I know he has a mask on, but if you make a scene, someone is bound to notice. Neither of you can afford to take that risk.”
“I don’t care,” Embry snapped.
“I know you don’t, but when you’re sober, you will. You both will. You and Luke will figure things out, but this is not the time or the place to do it.”
Morgan was right. Embry couldn’t do anything other than hope that things between her and Luke weren’t beyond repair. A drunken fight at a club wouldn’t help anything. She let Morgan and Brett lead her out, but not before sparing a quick glance over her shoulder to see Luke’s pained eyes following her across the floor.
20
Embry slept fitfully, constantly waking up to check her phone to see if Luke had called. She wasn’t sure why she thought he would, but she couldn’t help hoping. After waking up with those hopes dashed, she was thankful to have a study date with Jeremy. He showed up at her apartment with a bag of greasy egg sandwiches and her favorite coffee. She was so happy for the distraction she could have kissed him.
When Jeremy left, Embry was finally alone with her thoughts. There was nothing left to keep her mind from wandering to where it really wanted to be … Luke. She’d slipped on his sweatshirt and made her way out to the balcony. Sitting on the mesh chair, she watched the rain fall, one drop chasing the next onto the pavement below. Pulling her knees to her chest, she snuggled into the sweatshirt, fighting the chill in the air as the wind licked at her cheeks and blew her hair in every direction. Overwhelmed by her thoughts, she played and replayed the events of the previous night in her head. She’d reached for her phone numerous times, desperate to connect with him somehow, but she didn’t know what to say. She eventually resorted to staring, unseeing, into the stormy sky, trying to make sense of her muddled feelings.