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stronger man than anyone I’ve ever met, and falling short in his eyes is the last thing I would ever want to do, aside from spending any amount of time with his spoiled rotten brat of a daughter, of course,” he sneered.
    I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t breathe. There were no words for the emotions Luke evoked in me. I stood, frozen by his presence and silenced by his speech. Guilt flooded my entire body, along with another emotion, one I hadn’t expected or experienced in a long time. Desire .
    No matter how ill suited we were for each other, I was still painfully attracted to Luke in a way I couldn’t explain. It was more than just the way he stood up for my dad or even the way he looked. He’d grown up over the years. Luke was right—I was still a spoiled rotten child hell-bent on getting my way. Tears gathered in my eyes but I didn’t bother to brush them away. I was afraid if I moved, Luke would stop staring at me with that hungry gaze.
    I bit my lip and his eyes flicked to the movement. When he looked back to my eyes, his were even hotter and I thought he might kiss me. He leaned in closer and I closed my eyes. His fist slammed into the concrete wall next to my head and my eyes flew open, surprised to find him leaning away.
    “This is stupid, Mal. We need to stay away from each other,” he whispered. He looked at his hand and not at me. “Come on, I’ll take you home.” He turned away and went back into the hallway.
    The tears fell, unhindered and unbidden.
     
     

 
     
    Chapter Four
    Luke
     
    I didn’t bother looking back to see whether she followed me. If I were honest with myself, for even a second, I would admit that I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to push her against that wall and kiss the breath right out of her. It was out of the question, though, no matter how much I wanted to. Not only was she the girl who’d broken my heart three years ago, she was the daughter of the man I’d come to think of as a father.
    Joe Wells had been my rock when Mallory went to college. I had been beyond lonely and Joe reached out, inviting me to dinner and out to batting cages.
     
    Joe was gone for the weekend to take Mallory to college. I felt nothing but emptiness in the cavity my heart used to occupy. My apartment was on the second floor of the building and full of treasures from my relationship with Mal. She’d been an expert at helping me make the place feel more like a home. There wasn’t a single thing inside that didn’t remind me of her.
    She’d convinced her dad to buy new living room furniture last fall so I could have their current set. The dishes were a mismatched set she found at a yard sale last summer. The rug in my bedroom was found when we went into a second-hand store downtown. The place was full of her.
    I couldn’t escape her presence in my life. Everywhere I went, I saw her, a smile plastered on her face. She seemed genuinely happy about going to Boston and leaving our relationship in the dust. It tore my heart to pieces every time she pretended not to see me. Eventually, I just started getting up at six so I could get my errands in town done first thing in the morning and have less of a chance to have a run-in with her.
    But news in a small town spreads fast, and Baker had come over that morning to fill me in.
    “She’s on her way to Boston, dude,” he said, taking a long drag off his cigarette. “Her dad drove her down himself.”
    No matter how many times I told him I didn’t want him smoking in my apartment, he ignored me and did whatever he felt like doing.
    I hadn’t said much and eventually Baker left me alone with my thoughts. She was really gone. For the first time in my life, I cried. I welcomed the release of tears, vowing never to tell a soul about it. I needed to mourn her and our relationship.
    It was about a week later when my phone rang and her familiar number flashed on the screen of my cell phone. My heart stuttered.
    “Hello?”
    “Hey, Luke, it’s Joe Wells.