Page 20 of Challenging Luke

Despite the dressy clothes, she was very much the opposite of prim and proper. At least when she wasn’t in work mode. What the world saw and who she really was were two completely different people.

“I look forward to that side of you.”

She wasn’t so sure about that. Not that he couldn’t handle that side of her. One night together proved he indeed had what it took. She just didn’t know if she had it in her to be that person anymore. So much of her time was spent acting one way, she didn’t even know if that other side of her still existed.

“You and me both.”

Mornings weren’t her favorite. They hadn’t been in college and they still weren’t years later. She considered saying fuck it and not try to beat Carmichael into the office, but she wasn’t there yet.

It was true, after Ash’s pep talk and her time with Luke, she was ready to take some of her life back but baby steps. She didn’t need to rock the boat all in one day.

Tossing back the covers, she tried to ignore the dull ache in her head. She was regretting the amount of wine she consumed the night before. Damn Ash and Trista for plying her with alcohol. Although, she couldn’t blame them entirely. It had been her stupid ass who opened the second bottle, despite Ash insisting it was a work night. Sometimes she forgot she wasn’t twenty-one anymore.

Speak of the devil. There was that obnoxious tone that alerted her it could be one of two people. However, at this time of the day, it was more like it could only be one person.

BFF: Good morning, sunshine. I hope I’m not disturbing anything. ;)

MONICA: Kinda late now if you were. And why are you up so early? I mean I know why I am but you should be able to sleep in.

Ash was the early riser of the group. Both she and Trista preferred sleeping in. The later the better but that hardly ever happened anymore, not since she tried so hard to make a good impression at work.

BFF: I have a five-month-old who eats as much as her father. There’s no such thing as sleeping in. Besides, when she falls back into a milk coma, I get to do my morning yoga.

Some things never changed. She never got the appeal even after being dragged to a million sessions. There was just something about the quietness of it that made her stir-crazy.

MONICA: No wonder your body bounced back so quickly.

BFF: Ha. That’s called breastfeeding. It does wonders for a woman’s body.

Good to know for the future. Where did that thought come from? She wasn’t considering children anytime soon, or really, at all. Work was her only focus and the thought of marriage and children had long since been forgotten about. She was going to be a spinster and the cool aunt that Mallory always wanted to come visit.

But what about Luke?

BFF: So did Luke spend the night?

No such thing as subtlety in this friendship.

She glanced back at her empty bed. Not only had Luke not spent the night, he had left with nothing more than a kiss on the forehead after telling her he couldn’t wait to see the other side of her. Understandable considering how much she drank, but damn his chivalry.

MONICA: Sadly no. He refused to take advantage of me in my “drunken state.” His words, not mine. I wouldn’t have minded being taken advantage of.

It was easy to admit that to Ash because she knew without a shadow of a doubt that her best friend would never judge her. Quite the opposite. Considering her lack of sex lately, Ash would probably cheer the idea on.

BFF: Ugh! I knew he looked like the chivalrous type. Those men are all the same. What does a woman have to do to get her ass bent over the bed and spanked some days?

TMI and oddly specific. Somehow Monica had the feeling the conversation was no longer about her and Luke.

MONICA: Projecting much?

BFF: Maybe a little. Ever since I had Mallory, Bentley has been gentle with me. He says it’s because I pushed a watermelon through my vagina, but damn it, I don’t want gentle.

That was definitely more than she wanted to know. Even if she had been there and could attest to the fact that Ash had indeed pushed a watermelon out of her cooch. That didn’t mean she needed the dirty details of her friend’s sex life. She got enough of that from Trista.

MONICA: I think this is a conversation you should be having with your hubby not me.

Morning yoga used to relax Ash. Her best friend sounded the opposite of relaxed at the moment.

BFF: Oh I have, and don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with our sex life. I just want my damn hair pulled already.