Page 40 of Charm Me
“No. I mean ... I don’t know. Why are men so confusing?”
He laughed and reached for a bottle of Glendronach 18, the good stuff. “Men aren’t confusing. We’re pretty simple creatures, actually.”
“Simple? There has never been anything simple about the men in my life.”
Luke sat my drink on the bar and leaned forward. “Don’t be so sure. All you have to do is listen to what we say, or don’t say. We typically always mean the things we say, good or bad. It’s the things we don’t say that you need to listen to.”
“What does that even mean? Everything you just said is confusing.”
“I assume you’ve met a guy you like, and you don’t know if he feels the same way about you?”
“Yes, but I was so sure he felt the same way. When he had to leave, he promised it wasn’t goodbye.”
Luke took care of another customer before he turned back to me. “He actually said that?”
“Yes, his words.”
He shrugged his shoulders and leaned forward. “Then he meant it. Except for a few rare assholes, men don’t say things they don’t mean. Trust me.”
I took a gulp of my whiskey and downed most of the glass. I winced at the burning sensation that ran down my throat. Not exactly how one should drink the good stuff, but I didn’t care right now. “Then why did he stop communicating with me?”
Luke smiled and poured another shot of whiskey in my glass. “You’re really bent out of shape over this one. I’m not used to seeing you like this.”
I picked up my glass and gave it a swirl. “And I’m not used to being like this. It’s killing me.”
“When’s the last time you heard from him?”
“Like, a week and a half. A few days after he left, he texted me and said he missed me, and it’s been radio silence since then.”
“Why did he leave?”
“Family emergency, I think his sister is really sick.”
“Listen.” Luke tossed his hand towel over his shoulder and crossed his arms in front of him. “I can’t tell you why he hasn’t contacted you, but I’d guess nothing good is going on in his life. If he didn’t want to see you, he would’ve left without saying a word. Of that, I am certain.”
I swirled the ice around my glass and took a sip of my whiskey and savored the flavors the way it deserved. “I hope you’re right.”
“Sounds like someone is falling in love.” Luke laughed as he walked to the other end of the bar to wait on a few customers.
I called after him. “Now you sound like my mother. I can’t love him. I only spent a week with him.”
Luke pulled a beer mug from the chiller and held it under the tap. “Well, if it’s not love, it’s damn near close to it.”