Calling Me Home Read Online Free Page A

Luke, but Beth was one of the most perceptive people I knew. I wasn’t sure Luke and I wouldn’t give away where we were in our relationship. I was having a hard enough time hiding it at work.
    “But you’re okay with Luke? It seemed fine yesterday. He was less grumpy than he’s been in a while.” I could tell she was about to ask for a status update about whether or not I was ready to pursue things with Luke, which I didn’t want to get into. Still, I couldn’t help but grin at the thought she’d noticed his mood had improved yesterday.
    “Yeah, everything’s good. Invite him. Seeing him and Beth is always great.”
    “We haven’t talked about it for a while. He seems to be over the Emma thing. You know, what with participating in the triathlon and things. Do you think that maybe you’re ready to explore things with him?”
    Apparently, Haven wasn’t easily dissuaded from asking me difficult questions. I thought I’d gotten away with it. I should have known better. It would have been the perfect moment to tell her that I was more than ready. But my need to be on more solid ground with Luke stopped me. I just didn’t want to create expectations in anyone, myself included. I needed time. “Haven.”
    “Okay, I’ll invite them then. Are you expecting to hear about whether or not you got in to business school today? Maybe they’ll announce it at the mixer. Oh my God, that’s why you’re invited. They’re going to tell you that you got in. This is so exciting. Tomorrow can be a celebration. Oh, this is amazing—”
    “I’m going to have to get back to work, Haven.” Her excitement, her every word, increased my guilt. I was lying to my best friend about what I was doing tonight—about Luke and me. I never lied to Haven. She was my family. I just couldn’t tell her, not yet.

 
    Luke
    I wiped my palms on my trousers. I was actually nervous. Nervous to go to dinner with a woman I’d known my whole life, and had now seen naked on numerous occasions. It was ridiculous. But I wanted tonight to go well. She wanted to date, and I wanted to do whatever made her happy. She needed to be sure of my feelings. I suspected she thought that part of what brought us together was the sex. And she wasn’t wrong. She was the best sex I’d ever had. Every curve of her body, flick of her hips, drag of her tongue drove me crazy, and the way her words were a little dirty and her sounds a little filthy made me want to keep her naked for the rest of our lives. But it wasn’t just about the physical stuff, and I hoped that dating would help her see that. I wanted Ashleigh Franklin, the whole woman. The woman who made me laugh, who I could talk with for hours, and the woman who made me want to kill any man who had come before me. I even wanted the part of her that cared so much what my sister thought, but wanted me anyway.
    I wanted all of her, forever.
    One of her neighbors let me into her building. I rapped on the door, clutching flowers in my other hand. She opened the door with a smile, and instantly, I relaxed. That mouth of hers had magical powers in so many ways. Just looking at it soothed me. I had nothing to be nervous about. It was just Ashleigh, the girl I’d grown up with, the woman I couldn’t be without.
    “Hey, handsome,” she said. “You’re right on time.”
    This was our first official date, so there was no way I was going to be late.
    “And you look super smart. You said casual, right?” She gestured for me to follow her inside. I did as she asked, handing her the flowers before she turned around. Should I have tried to kiss her? I wasn’t sure what the etiquette was tonight.
    “These are beautiful. You shouldn’t have. I have those gorgeous peonies that you sent earlier, and the flowers from yesterday.”
    Maybe flowers three times in three days was too much, but I wanted her to know how special she was. I’d never bought things for girls before, so I’d struggled to think what would be