Picking up the Pieces by Jessica Prince Read Free Book Online Page B

she said, attempting a sultry voice that came out sounding like baby talk.
    I just couldn’t help myself. When someone gives such a perfect opening, you just have to grab it.
    “And I bet I know what it is,” I sing-songed. “Just remember Luke, herpes is the gift that keeps on giving.” With that I booked it to the bar with Lizzy and Savannah behind me, howling with laughter. Stacia was still by the stage, singing along with Gavin and the rest of the guys. Her attention span rivaled a three year old, and the minute I walked away from Luke, she’d forgotten all about our standoff.
    “Unbelievable,” Lizzy declared. “Not only is it bad enough he’s actually here, but is he really stupid enough to show up with her ?”
    “Obviously, he is because here I am, and there they are.” I pointed out to the dance floor where I’d left Luke with his slut de jour.
    “I want to claw her eyes out,” Savannah told us, positively seething.
    I looked over at my friend with an evil smile spreading slowly across my face at the visual she just created. “Well, if that bitch has the nerve to approach me, you’ll get your chance, Wildcat.” I tried my best for the next half hour to ignore the both of them. But even with all my best avoidance maneuvers, I still wasn’t good enough to get away from Luke. They must have taught him that shit in the Marines or something, because he eventually had me cornered at the bar. I’d gone up for a refill and he took the opportunity to pounce.
    “I didn’t come here with her, you know.” He spit the words out so quickly I almost missed their meaning.
    “It’s really none of my business, Lucas. You can come here with whoever you want. No accounting for taste, of course.”
    He rubbed the back of his neck, and I remembered from our childhood that that was something he did when he was extremely nervous. He locked eyes with me again and continued. “I wouldn’t do that to you, Emmy. She caught me outside as I was walking in.”
    If I could have killed him with a look, there was no doubt he’d be lying on the floor in a puddle of blood right then. “You wouldn’t do that to me? Really ? Because I seem to recall, in vivid detail I might add, that you’ve already done exactly that to me once before.” I tried to push him away but he was too strong. It was like trying to move a brick wall.
    He wrapped his hand around my arm and towered above me, getting so close we were practically nose to nose. “I fucked up. I know that, but I’ve been trying to talk to you about it since I got back to town.” He might have been whispering, but that didn’t take away from his menacing tone. “You haven’t given me one fucking chance to explain…”
    I cut him off right there. I jerked my arm out of his hold and pushed him back with all my might. I no longer cared about making a scene. “ Explain?! ” I yelled a lot louder than I intended. “You want to fucking explain? You’ve had eight years to explain, Lucas. Eight. Fucking . Years !” I was beyond livid. “You want to explain to me why I walked in on that slut deep-throating you one day after you slept with me? You honestly think you’ve got a good excuse for that?”
    When I finally stopped yelling, I noticed that the band had stopped playing and everyone in Colt’s was staring in our direction. “Yes!” he roared. “I want you to let me fucking explain why I did that!”
    “Oh, please,” I said, so much sarcasm dripping from those two words you could drown in it. “Let me know what excuse you have that’s so good it can fix the damage you caused that night. I’d just love to hear it.”
    He grabbed me by the arm and jerked me through the crowd toward the door. He handled me roughly, but it was still evident that he was holding back his strength because he wasn’t hurting me at all, just taking complete control. We made our way out the door and into the parking lot, Savannah, Lizzy, Jeremy and Brett hot on our heels.
    “If