Luke grabs my arm and jerks me away from Dustin. “Jera, what are you doing?”
My bubble pops, the safety of Dustin’s arms ripped from me. I’m suddenly in the middle of a massive crowd of people, all staring at me. My throat tightens and I can’t breathe.
Luke stares at me, his face flushed. “Are you cheating on me?”
My head starts to spin, and the room folds in on me. I shake my head, sure that Jera told me she was no longer seeing Luke. “We broke up.”
Luke narrows his eyes at me. “Is this why you wanted to break up with me? Because of him?”
“No—I…” My vision blurs and I can’t think. Why is Luke making this into such a big deal? He’s not even dating my sister anymore.
Dustin pulls me to his side. “We’re just friends,” he says, his voice firm but calming.
I cling to him, desperate to make the horrible buzzing stop. Luke grabs my wrist and tugs me away from Dustin. All my security is gone. The room presses in on me. The people, the noise, everything smothers me until I can’t stand it anymore. “Stop!” I jerk my hand away and collapse to the floor, pressing my hands to my ears.
“What is this?” Luke says, like I’m trying to pull something on him.
Dustin is by my side in an instant, holding me, cocooning me. With his help I stand again.
“What is going on?” Luke grounds out, practically growling.
Dustin holds out a hand in a “calm down” gesture. “Let’s go somewhere to talk,” he says, glancing around at the crowd of people all staring at us. He still has his arm around me, and that’s the only thing holding me together.
I nod, frantic to get out. “Yes. Let’s go talk.”
“All right.” Luke grabs my hand and tugs me toward the elevators. At this point I don’t even care that he’s manhandling me, I just want to get away from all the people. When we get to the elevators I try pulling away, but he’s got my fingers in a vice grip.
“Luke, let go. You’re hurting me.”
Dustin grabs Luke’s arm. “Did you hear her? Let go.”
Finally, he does, but the anger on his face scares me. “I can’t believe you would do this to me.”
The elevator doors open, and I push past Luke to get away from everything. Dustin steps next to me, shielding me from Luke, who looks like he’s about ready to rip me to shreds.
After the doors close, Luke faces me. “Is this about Debra? Because I told you, Debra was a mistake. I’m not even into her. You’re my everything.”
My heart is pounding, but now that I’m away from the crowd, the buzzing has stopped and I’m able to breathe again. And now that I can think, I can’t believe what a jerk Luke Carter is turning out to be. I straighten my spine and glare at Luke. “We broke up. I have nothing else to say to you.”
He rolls his eyes. “You break up with me all the time. This time is no different. You love me. You’ll be back.”
This guy is a piece of work. And if Jera needs me to finally kick him to the curb, I’m happy to do that for her. “Listen.” I take a step toward Luke, and he backs up. I poke him in the chest. “We are through. Don’t call me, don’t text me. It’s over between us. This relationship,” I say, pointing to him and myself. “It’s all done. Finished, concluded, and terminated!”
“But—”
The elevator doors open, and I grab Dustin’s hand. “Goodbye, Luke!”
I rush out into the lobby with Dustin. I don’t even care if Luke follows us. I’m done with this gala, and I’m ready to leave.
“Wow.” Dustin looks down at me. “That was amazing.”
We near the doors, and I stop, not ready to go out and be hounded by the media. I glance back at the elevators, but Luke isn’t there anymore. Either he went back up to the gala, or he left out the back. “Do you think he got the picture?”
Dustin lets out a breath. “I think so.”
“Good. Are you ready to leave?” I bite my lower lip and hope he doesn’t want to stay longer.
Dustin’s thumb grazes over the back of my hand. “Let’s go.”
He calls for his car, and a few moments later it pulls up. We walk past the cameras again and I try not to trip or otherwise embarrass myself as we climb into the limo. After I’m settled into my seat, I turn to Dustin. “I’m sorry, you didn’t even get anything to eat. I bet you’re hungry.”
He shakes his head. “I’m okay. How are you doing?”
His gaze intensifies, and I know what he is asking. “I’m good.”
He picks up my hand. “You’re shaking.”
“Oh.” I didn’t notice. My heart is starting to calm down and beat at a normal level, and I finally feel more like myself.
His eyebrows pull down. “Are you really okay? I had no idea crowds affected you so much. You’ve hidden it well. And seeing Luke again had to be difficult for you.”
“I’m much better now.” I exhale and sit back against the seat. We sit in silence for a moment before I turn to him. “Thank you for what you did in there.”
“What did I do?”
“You kept me focused so I wouldn’t think about the crowd. And you made sure Luke didn’t eat me alive.” I put my hand on his knee.
“You were quite forceful with him. I don’t think he’s going to bother you again.”
“I hope not,” I say under my breath. Jera doesn’t need a guy like Luke. I pray she meets someone else and forgets all about him.
Dustin places his hand on mine. “Let’s get out of these stuffy clothes and order delivery.”
My stomach is finally ready to eat. “That sounds like a great idea.”
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