BAD FOR BUSINESS
CHAPTER ONE
chapter summary: Luke sees his childhood best friend at a party and is jealous. Little does he know that this is the start of something he could of never seen coming.
warnings: oc x luke hughes, written in second person, slightly toxic luke?, cheating mentioned, alcohol mentioned, Luke calls oc 'bunny.'
author's note: I'm so glad I finally wrote the first chapter of this! I entered a flow state... let's hope I can keep it going. Also, the same OC (cause I'm lazy), but this has no correlation with the "Call It What You Want" social media story. I don't know why I wrote it in 2nd person, it just flowed better that way. Feel free to self-insert! I tried to keep the character description to a minimum. Let me know your thoughts and questions. I love feedback! Thanks for reading <3 <3
word count: 1,209
Chapter One
He was staring again. He knows he should stop, that it’s embarrassing, glaring at the guy you’re talking to as if he has some sort of stake of claim on you. He hates the way his hand lays on the small of your back as you lean in to hear what he’s saying in the crowded room, probably telling you some half-assed joke. He hates the way that your head tilts back and that even from across the party he can hear your laugh ringing out. It makes him sick. He can feel the bile rising up in his throat from one too many drinks. It would be so fucking lame of him to barf on the floor of this party because another guy is touching you.
“Luke, can you make your staring anymore obvious?” Ethan claps a hand on Luke's right shoulder, likely having come from the kitchen considering his drink is filled to the brim again.
“If you’re going to stare at her all night you might as well go talk to her.” Mark appears on his other side.
Luke shakes his head, bile still threatening to rise. “No. I can’t do that.”
“Why not? You’ve been into this girl for like years, dude. You have to make a move at some point.” Mark wraps his arm around Luke’s shoulders, pressing his face into his so that he too can see you through all of the people moving around the party. Luke takes his eyes off of you for a split second to glance at Mark. He’s not looking at you weird is he?
“Yeah, you gotta make a move or move on bro,” Ethan shakes his head.
“It’s not like that. She’s not into me like that. And I did make a move.” Luke shimmies out of Mark’s grasp, annoyed. He doesn’t like that their attention has shifted to you now.
“What? Back in middle school?” Marky laughs, “You’re both adults now, maybe things have changed.”
“She has a boyfriend.”
Mark cringes, “Doesn’t look like it,” and he’s right with the way you’re letting that man touch your waist. Did you break up with him and not tell Luke?
“Fuck it.” Luke sighs handing Ethan his drink and then moves to make his way over to you. He should say hello to you at the very least. For his mother’s sake. You’ve known each other since birth. He owes you a hello… at the least.
At this point your hands were wrapped around the mystery man's neck, your body pressed into him, as his hands were practically feeling your ass up. Fuck, he really hopes he doesn’t throw up.
He taps his hand on your shoulder casually but lightly, to garner your attention. You flinch immediately, pulling back from mystery man in shock, but the second your eyes meet Luke’s they widen.
You let out a high pitch squeal, “LUUUKKEEEYYYY” and he has to fight to hold back his cringe from showing on his face. The way you squeal at him reminds him of that time your parents got you a family dog that one year at Christmas. You’re squealing at him as if he were some pet and not a guy you have a crush on or even would want to impress.
He pulls you into his embrace, squeezing tightly, “Hey Bunny!” a nickname he coined for you back when you were toddlers. You had this silly white bunny you couldn’t bear to go without, you carried it around until you were at least 10 years old. It was borderline embarrassing but one of the many reasons he loved you.
You let go of him taking a step back and he doesn't miss the subtle way you look behind to see if mystery man has waited around to be introduced. He didn’t. When you look back at Luke he notices the slight pink of your cheeks, visible even in the low light of the room. You’re embarrassed. Good, he thinks and then immediately regrets it. He shouldn’t shame you for being with someone just because it isn’t him.
“What’re you doing here?” Though you pulled back he still hadn’t let go of you, his arms still wrapped around you. It wasn’t weird or even flirtatious. You’d spent a lot of your childhood together and you cuddled together all of the time… even with his older brothers too. Not that he would do that now. Not that you would want to with him. It was normal for him to be touching you like this…. Right?
“Fran and Katie convinced me to go out after the hockey game! They said we should celebrate your big win.” You squeezed his bicep on the word “your.” He had scored the final goal that had won them the game tonight and so his teammates had thrown a party afterwards. But Luke wasn't thinking about that now he was thinking about you and how you looked in the stands. Plastered in the yellow and blue colors of Michigan and wearing his number across your neck. The same necklace that you were still wearing now. He was fucking salivating over that necklace. When did you get that? He was surprised he could focus during that game, let alone score a goal.
“I didn't know you were coming. You’re not usually the party type.” True. You didn’t text him and tell him you were coming to his own party, which he was slightly annoyed about. And you weren’t a partier. You had sworn off of alcohol at the age of six because of your dad. And by the way your face fell and your eyes softened, he could tell that you knew he was upset.
“I know. It just happened so fast. I was going to text you, Lukey but-” but you were with another man? Luke huffed out a sarcastic laugh which was all it took for your face to scrunch up in annoyance.
“Oh, don’t be like that, Luke.” You scoffed, removing your arms from his biceps to cross them angrily.
“Well you have a boyfriend, Ro. And you know I hate that guy's guts, but what the hell are you doing?” Luke pressed in closer to you, letting his thumbs swirl circles over your hips. He did hate Bryson, honestly he wouldn’t fault you for cheating on him. But it didn’t seem like something you’d ever do. He wasn’t trying to scold you… he was worried. And jealous.
“We’re on a break. And he’s probably partying with girls in California right now, so don’t make me feel bad Luke.” You winced, and it was the way your eyes started to get glossy that made him pull you back into his arms, resting his head on top of yours.
You shove your face into his chest and mumble out, “I’ve missed you Lukey” which is what gives him the courage to say, “Me too. You want to get out of here? We can go to my dorm and talk.”
He expects you to make up some lie, like you have to get back to Francesca, or that you have an early flight tomorrow, and should head to bed. But you look up at him, eyes no longer glassy, and smile.
circa 2021
