Jesse almost jumped out of his skin. He didn’t know what to say, and just stared at Luke dumbfounded. Phillip jumped up and reached out his hand to greet Luke. “I’m Phillip and this is my friend Jesse,” he shouted excitedly. “I need to go and get another drink,” he added, pushing his half-full beer to the side of the table. “Do you mind keeping Jesse company while I go to the bar?”
Luke shook Phillip’s hand and continued to smile at Jesse. “Not at all, Phillip. I’d be happy to spend some time with Jesse.”
Phillip rushed off and left Jesse alone with Luke. Jesse swallowed hard, hoping that his voice wouldn’t betray him. He felt his eyes start to water and his round cheeks were flushed. He wanted to shout at Phillip for leaving him alone with a strange guy, but he calmed himself down by doing his counting exercises. They always seemed to help him when he became panicked.
“I’m Luke Brennan. You’re in my Psychology class, right?” Luke said, sitting down and taking a swig of Phillip’s beer. Jesse winced at the sight, but decided to do his best to ignore it.
“J-J-Jesse M-M-M-M-Montgomery,” Jesse said, and reached out his hand. He wanted to punch himself in the gut.
“Well, Jesse, I’ve noticed you around in class. You’ve got beautiful brown eyes that I couldn’t miss,” Luke said, seeming not to miss a beat at all. He must have had a lot of practice with picking up guys, Jesse thought.
“Thank you,” Jesse said, and looked away. He felt his heartbeat accelerating. He could hear it clearly in his own ears, and was worried that Luke would see how nervous he was.
Luke stood up and walked over to Jesse’s side of the table, sitting down next to him. “I hope you don’t mind,” he said, and put his arm over the back of the seat behind Jesse’s back. “I just can’t hear you too clearly from all the way over there.”
From up close Luke’s eyes were incredible. They seemed to pierce right through Jesse’s defenses, and Jesse could clearly see why every guy was so taken with him. There was something magnetic about Luke, and he could have his way with anyone he wanted. Jesse was determined not to let Luke get the better of him, although he could already feel himself shrinking in Luke’s presence. That type of cockiness is just too much to resist.
Jesse could feel the heat of Luke’s arm behind his back, electricity flowing between them. His shirt was slightly clammy from perspiration, and Luke’s scent was intermingling with his. For a moment, the entire room disappeared and it was only the two of them. Luke reached up to touch Jesse’s hair, pushing a curl behind his ear, and moved in close, his full, inviting lips only inches away from Jesse’s face. Jesse felt his phone vibrating again, but in that moment he didn’t care. He was under some sort of spell, and he was willing to completely capitulate to it.
The spell was broken by Phillip’s jovial squeal as he returned to the table. “Boys, I’m sorry to interrupt the precious moment here, but I just got the bartender’s number! I had to let you know as soon as possible, Jesse,” Phillip said, holding out a piece of paper with one too many digits on it.
Jesse came back to reality very quickly, realizing how foolish he was to almost make out with a guy in a club. He pulled away from Luke. “That’s great, Phillip. I’m glad the night is working out so well for you.”
Without a word Luke stood up and walked straight back to the dancefloor. He turned around when he got there and looked at Jesse again, full of the same confidence he had exuded before, and waved for Jesse to join him on the dancefloor. Jesse was confused, and he could feel his anxiety returning. He shook his head at Luke to indicate that he didn’t want to dance, and Luke gave a small frown before shrugging and finding his friends on the dancefloor.
“What are you doing?” Phillip demanded. “He clearly likes you! I only interrupted because I wanted to talk you through it all before you made a move. You can’t be moving too fast, you know?”
“You did me a favor. He’s nothing but a playboy. I don’t need a guy like him in my life.” Jesse buried himself in his drink. “Let’s get out of here, please.”
Phillip had a stern look on his face and cocked his head to the side, assuming the pose that he always took when he wanted to give Jesse serious advice. “Listen, Jesse, not every guy is like Martin. Not every guy is going to cheat on you. If you can’t open yourself up to something new, you’ll just end up in exactly the same place you’ve always been. I’m not saying that you should do anything stupid, but at least see where things go with this guy. Put yourself out there. The worst that can happen is he’s not the guy for you, or he’s not looking for anything serious, and either way you’ll have a fun night with a hot guy. I’m going to go over and talk to the bartender again and I expect you to go dance with Luke. Okay?”
Jesse reluctantly nodded, biting his lip. He watched Luke and his two friends dancing wildly and enjoying themselves. Phillip got up and walked back to the bar, and Jesse thought about his options. He stood up and his legs took charge. He ended up walking right out of the pub.
Jesse felt his head swirl with confusion and a heaviness descend on his shoulders. He wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. He pushed through the wild hordes of students at the exit and finally emerged into the cool autumn air. He took a deep breath in relief and stood watching the street in front of Percy’s Pub. He was disappointed in himself, but glad that he could get out of that place. Why couldn’t he just enjoy the company of an attractive guy like everyone else? Why did his anxiety make him such a klutz? The only guy who ever looked past those things was Martin. Even though Martin didn’t treat him that well, at least he understood that Jesse wasn’t very social and just wanted to spend his time quietly at home. Martin would often go out to bars and clubs without him, and that suited Jesse just fine. Jesse checked his phone and saw the message from Martin that he had ignored earlier: I hope you’re having a good night. Would love to talk to you soon. Jesse wanted to believe that Martin had changed. Martin was the safe, comfortable choice, and Jesse didn’t have time or patience for the drama of dating someone new. Especially not someone who could knock him off his feet the way Luke Brennan could.
Jesse began to walk into the night towards his car, tired and dejected. As he took a step forward, he felt a hand on his shoulder and he heard the words: “And where do you think you’re going?” He turned around to see Luke, pouting playfully. There was no escaping now.
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