Hey Bartender, Love me (book 2)

Chapter 1

Luke figured he was the luckiest person alive.

After all the trauma he suffered last year, he considered himself pretty fortunate to have friends and family who cared about him—as well as the best boyfriend in the world.

'Sweetheart,

I laid out some clothes for you for tonight. I'm taking you out. I have some things to do at the bar this afternoon, but I'll meet at yours at 5. I love you.

~Ashy'

That was the note that had been left by Luke's pillow when he got up in the morning. Ashton loved to leave him cute little notes to remind him that he was special and loved. He also loved to show Luke off and take him all sorts of places. They'd attended dinner at many five star restaurants around the city, as well as a bunch of hole-in-the-wall places they ducked into on a whim. They went out together, Ashton holding his hand proudly, kissing him in front of people, introducing him to his friends and genuinely wanting Luke to be there.

    It was such a stark contrast compared to him. He now had a boyfriend who cared about his needs first, who was actually proud to be seen with him, and wasn't manipulative or abusive.

Life was good.

After waking up, Luke got dressed and walked to the gym where he took Krav Maga classes.

Since realizing how horrible he was at defending himself, he looked up what kind of things he should do to get in shape and learn to protect himself, as soon as his shoulder healed. He found out about Krav Maga, which was a defense strategy created by the Israeli Special Forces. They came up with a program to teach their soldiers how to implement the simplest techniques to get out of unsafe situations. It was modified for the general public and taught as a self defense program.

Luke was nervous to start classes, but Calum offered to go with him the first couple times, which made him feel better. He and Calum met with an instructor and they went through what would happen in the class, what he would learn, and Luke was able to explain why he wanted to take classes. The instructor was super great about Luke's PTSD and paranoia, and said if he ever felt scared or unsafe, he could stop or leave at any time.

He also offered to work one-on-one with Luke and go through things that Luke wanted to know. They practiced how to get out of situations that he had put Luke in, that way if anything like that ever happened again—which Luke was sure wouldn't—he would know what to do.

It was a great thing for Luke though, to know that he was able to defend himself. He was able to confidently walk through the streets of New York without being terrified of every shadow.

He walked into class with a smile, greeting Joe, the instructor he worked with. Today was one of his personal training classes, not a group class that other people attended. Twice a week, he trained with just Joe, and those were his favorite classes. The main classes taught you how to defend yourself from a situation that could arise on the street, at a bar, or the grocery store, but Joe helped him learn what to do if he was with someone he knew or trusted and they tried to hurt him.

Joe knew what he was dealing with, as he grew up in a house with an abusive father. He often saw horrible things happen to his mom, and when he got old enough and tried to help, those things happened to him, too. When he got out and went to college, he saw an ad for Krav and decided to join. He never stopped, and now was certified to train. When he heard a bit about Luke's story, he felt a connection and decided to help him.

"Hey, Luke!"

"Hey," Luke set his bag down on one of the benches, removed his shoes and socks, and got on the mat to began stretching.