Page 107 of The Long Way Found

Luke tossed a throw pillow at him.

"Listen to you! Sound like Tyler."

"Am I wrong?"

"No. Oh, no. Henry Cavill can get it."

Jack pulled Luke to him and growled.

CHAPTER 41

LUKE

Luke was drowning.

The fundraiser was Saturday, just three days away, and everything was falling apart at once.

He'd been at his desk for six straight hours. The coffee had gone cold twice. His neck ached from hunching over the laptop. Amir had knocked once to ask if he needed anything, taken one look at Luke's face, and quietly backed out.

The caterer sent an email on Tuesday afternoon: They were now out of business.

Just like that. No warning, no Plan B.

Then, the AV company emailed on Wednesday morning: Their main tech was sick. And could they use backup equipment?

The university's PR department kept sending revision requests for the program. The printer needed the final copy of the program by noon on Thursday.

And now the caterer was ignoring his messages about getting the deposit back. After losing a couple of sponsors lately, a financial hit like this could really cause trouble—especially if they didn’t hit their goal Saturday.

He left another voicemail and dropped his head into his hands.

Breathe. You've handled worse. You'll figure it out.

He took three slow breaths and silently recited the Serenity Prayer. What could he change about this? That was the key question. The donors at the black-tie portion of the event would expect a certain level of sophistication and –

The door opened.

Luke looked up, ready to tell whoever it was that he'd handle it later.

Jack stood there with two takeout bags and a determined expression.

"What are you doing here?"

"Bringing dinner." Jack set the bags on the desk and frowned as he took in the disaster zone: seventeen browser tabs open, papers everywhere, Luke's hair a mess. "When's the last time you ate?"

Luke tried to remember. "Breakfast?"

"It's seven p.m."

"Is it?" Luke looked at his watch. "Shit."

Jack started unpacking the containers of Thai food, Luke's favorite. He took Luke’s phone away and closed Luke’s laptop.

Jack scooped the rice, chicken, and sauce onto two paper plates and gave each a spring roll.

When they finished, Luke closed his eyes and said, “You were right. I really needed to eat.”

Jack gave him his phone back, and they opened their laptops, sitting shoulder to shoulder.