Read Online A Different Christmas (University Park #5) by CM Doporto - Free Book Online Page A

playing football gone, I honestly felt like I had nothing to offer her.” I turned toward him. “Without a degree, what was I going to do to provide for us? I knew she was better off with Collin, not me. I had to leave…get my head straight.”
    “All you had to do was call her.”
    “Believe me, I wanted to. But I couldn’t get the nerve to pick up the phone. Every day I thought about her — day and night, without fail.” 
    Luke remained quiet for a while, mulling over what I had told him. He turned to me and asked, “When you first met her, did you know she was engaged?”
    His question took me by surprise. We’d never brought up Collin, but I had a feeling it was going to happen right now. I raised my head and squared my shoulders. “No. And that’s the God’s honest truth. I did suspect it because I saw a ring on her finger, but I figured it was a promise ring.”
    “Compared to the huge diamond you gave her, I can see why.”
    “Josh and Shawn told me to ask her, but every time I convinced myself to do it, something happened.”
    “But would it have stopped you from coming on to her?”
    Luke wasn’t letting me off easily. Then again, I couldn’t deny what I felt for his sister or how we ended up together.
    It was fate.
    Lexi and I were meant to be.
    I knew that without a doubt.
    “Probably not. Lexi had me totally sucked in to her sweetness. She was like no one I’d ever met before. But at the same time, I knew I wasn’t good enough for her. And that thought was what fueled my decision to leave her when I got kicked out of school.”
    “Thanks for being honest.” His shoulder lifted and then relaxed.
    “My intention was never to come between them. I used girls to my satisfaction, but ruining someone’s relationship wasn’t something I did. I might have been a dog, but I did have some standards.”
    Luke let out a snort. “The Raven actually had standards?”
    “Come on, dude. Give me some credit.”
    “Sorry.” He raised his hands in defense. “Totally uncalled for.”
    “Don’t worry about it. I’m not proud of my college days. But that’s in the past.” I refocused on the main topic. “The day I was going to ask her if she was engaged, she found out you were screwing her best friend and roommate.”
    Luke’s head spun around. “What?”
    “Yeah. We were having a tutoring session in one of the study rooms at her dorm and she ran up to the room to get something. When she came downstairs, she was freaking out.”
    “Oh, shit.” He blew out a heavy breath. “Why am I just finding out about this?”
    “I don’t know.” I shrugged. “She never told you anything? I even mentioned it to Delaney. I honestly thought Delaney was screwing her fiancé or boyfriend because I couldn’t figure out why she was so upset.”
    “I’d strangle Delaney if she were screwing Collin, but seriously, Lexi was that upset?”
    “Yeah, dude. I had to take her for a beer to calm her down. And once that happened, it was all over for me.” I’d never forget the day I took her up to Josh’s parents’ suite in the football stadium. I fell for her feisty attitude and refusal to give into my flirtatious behavior. I never had a girl keep count of the reasons not to be with me. When she told me that, I knew I had to get to know Lexi Thompson, no matter what it took. “I wanted to kiss her so damn bad, but I refused to make the first move.”
    “So, she never cheated on Collin with you?”
    “Nope.” I shook my head confidently. “Your sister has higher standards than me.”
    Luke smiled. “And you just proved you do, too.”
    “I guess,” I said with a slight chuckle. “She’d refused to see or talk to me after that day, and apparently, that’s when she called things off with Collin. I didn’t find that out until I ran into Delaney on campus. I was concerned about her because I received a message from the Writing Center saying she had quit and wouldn’t be tutoring me. I asked Delaney how