LUKA (The Rhythm Series, Book 2) by Jane Harvey-Berrick Page B

thought about his small freak-out when he’d touched my cheek outside the theater. He was much more at ease with his gay friends.
    I finished my food, sharing my fries with Seth. Everything was so easy with him. Just . . . right.
    “Will you come home with me tonight?” he whispered into my neck.
    “I really need to get some sleep,” I said, arching one eyebrow. “And you look trashed. You’ve been yawning for the last hour.”
    He waved a hand. “I’ll have a lie-in on Saturday. Please, Luka. Don’t make me beg.”
    “But I like it when you beg. A lot.”
    “Fine. Pleeeeease come home with me tonight. Pleeeeeeeeeeeease.”
    I laughed at how ridiculous he was being. And very cute. I couldn’t resist his pleading eyes.
    “Okay, okay, I’ll go home with you!”
    Seth leaned back in his seat, looking very pleased with himself.
    “That was easier than I expected.”
    “Yeah, I’m totally hot to see Michael.”
    Seth cocked his head to one side. “I was right about the ears, wasn’t I?”
    “You are so fucking adorable,” I said, kissing him hard.
    Then I laughed out loud, lighter and happier than I’d felt in years.
    It seemed like a summer of possibilities, but I didn’t want to think what it would mean when the summer was over.

“DON’T TELL THEM you’re bi.”
    I stared at Seth, my forehead creasing in a frown as he cringed and looked away from my stunned expression.
    He was hosting a dinner party on Monday evening, my day off, and had invited several of his friends. I got the impression that it was a big deal for him, although he hadn’t admitted as much.
    I was still staring at him, wondering if I’d heard right.
    “What? Why not?”
    He shoved his hands in his pockets and shuffled his feet, watching me from the corner of his eye.
    “They won’t understand.”
    I could feel a hot burn of anger in the pit of my stomach.
    “Seriously? At a dinner with gay guys, I have to hide my sexuality?”
    Seth flushed, looking upset.
    “Luka . . .”
    “No.”
    I said it quietly, but there was no doubt he heard me.
    “Please.”
    I blew out a calming breath, trying not to over-react, but I was pissed.
    “I can’t believe that you’re asking me to do this, to lie to your friends. Fuck’s sake! You of all people know what that means.”
    “I know and I’m sorry. But . . . I just want the evening to go well.”
    I scrubbed my hands over my hair.
    “This is bullshit!”
    He tried to grab my hands and hug me, but I pushed him away roughly.
    “Please, Luka. These are my friends.”
    “And what am I?”
    “Everything.”
    His reply stopped me in my tracks, but then my lip lifted in a sneer.
    “If that was true, you’d accept me as I am.”
    “I do! I do accept you! I lo—I really like you.”
    I blinked, pain and pleasure shooting through me. He said the words like he meant them. Almost. But what was love? Just one chance to get it right? Or horribly, horribly wrong.
    “You . . . you love me? It’s too soon to say that.”
    “Is it? Maybe, I don’t know. I’ve never felt . . . so much. It scares me how much.”
    His beautiful blue-gray eyes were glazed with passion and a little desperation.
    I dropped my gaze. “I didn’t know that.”
    “Now you do.”
    I chewed on my lip and looked away.
    “So now if I don’t do what you want, that makes me an ungrateful bastard.”
    “That’s not why I said it.”
    His voice sounded pained but lined with exasperation, too.
    I didn’t want to love him—that wasn’t part of the plan. It was supposed to be a summer thing, casual, fun. Not . . . not what it was becoming. I didn’t do serious. I stayed away from complicated. Being bi was complicated enough. People would say they accepted it, but I could see the questions, the doubt in their eyes. Even Seth. Especially Seth.
    I stayed away from relationships and kept everything platonic with my work friends. Or I tried to. But this felt like the beginning of needing someone.
    I was fucking