“Are you going to yell at me for accepting?” she asked. “It kind of came at me out of left field and I wasn’t sure how you would want me to respond, so I decided to respond how I wanted to. Which was to say yes.” Her tone clearly stated how much trouble he would be in if he told her to back out of her commitment now.
“No, I’m not going to yell at you,” Sealey said, and she could hear a slight smile in his voice now. “I’m just a little surprised. This turned out to be much, ah, easier than I was expecting. I may have to revamp my plan a little.”
“Maybe I’m just that much more lovable than you thought,” Alex teased him. It was a testament to how far they had come in the past few weeks that she could manage to tease Sealey Witchburn.
“Maybe,” Sealey said, surrendering unexpectedly. “Well, let me know how it goes. What are you guys doing?”
“Oh, just going to grab a smoothie. No biggie,” Alex replied nonchalantly as though this weren’t the biggest and most important event in her life up to this point.
“Sounds harmless enough,” Sealey observed. “Well, have a good time.”
“Um, thanks,” Alex replied, surprised that he wasn’t offering her any kind of advice or direction. “Are you sure you don’t have any instructions for me?”
“Not this time,” Sealey responded. “You earned this date all on your own. You got this.”
“Medium strawberry banana, please,” Alex said to the girl behind the counter. The blonde nodded and turned to begin working on the smoothie.
“Large peanut butter protein blast,” Lucas said to the guy behind the blonde waiting to take his order.
After Lucas had paid, the two of them sat down at a nearby table, waiting for their treats.
“So,” Alex began, feeling a little awkward at the silence. “You work for Sealey’s company, right?”
“Yep.” Lucas nodded. “Kind of pathetic, isn’t it? Working as a staffer for my best friend. I try not to let it bother me, but I manage to feel inferior to him pretty regularly anyway. He’s certainly done more with his life than I have.”
Alex looked at him incredulously. “What are you talking about?” she said. “Sure, he may own his own company, but you are probably the most well-rounded person I know. Given your calling and your talents, it’s obvious that you’ve put in a lot of effort in just about every area of your life.”
“Being elders quorum president doesn’t necessarily mean I’m super spiritual, you know,” Lucas said, waving away her comment. “It just means I’m the poor schmuck who said yes.”
Alex smiled. “But you obviously have your spiritual ducks in a row,” she pointed out. “And Sealey told me you do really well in school. And, on top of that, you’re a starter on the football team and you have a job. Only a certain kind of person can manage that many responsibilities at once.”
“The job is only part-time,” Lucas said, running a hand over the back of his head in a way that Alex was beginning to recognize. It was his nervous habit. “You’re giving me a lot more credit than I deserve.” He looked at her ruefully.
Alex just smiled at him. The more she talked to him, the more she found to admire. “So what are your long-term goals, then? Do you want to stay with Sealey’s company?”
“I don’t think so,” Lucas replied. “It’s a good gig for right now because Sealey is really good about working with my schedule, plus he’s giving me lots of exposure to potential business contacts, but I think eventually I’d like to move into a more finance-centered role.”
“You’re an MBA student, aren’t you?” Alex asked, smiling at the girl who had just set her smoothie on the table in front of her. “Do you have an emphasis?”
“Um, finance,” Lucas answered, grinning at her.
“Duh.” She laughed at herself and coughed, nearly choking on her smoothie.
“My dad actually pushed accounting really hard,” Lucas said, smacking her on the back to clear her windpipe. “ ‘It’s the language of business, Lucas,’ he said to me, but he’s already got his CPA clone in the family. And Ashley actually likes accounting, the weirdo.” He grinned. “I like looking at investments and market trends. But actually, more than anything, I enjoy the private equity or venture capital side of things.”
“Come again?” Alex said, blinking cluelessly at him. “I’m pretty sure I’ve heard those words before, but I won’t bother pretending I know what they mean.”
“Well, in layman’s terms, I like the idea of investing in new businesses. The ones with really brilliant and promising concepts, and then supporting them until they’re profitable. If you go about it the right way, you can really make something of yourself.”
“So you fund the businesses and Sealey promotes them?” Alex smiled. “You two should set up shop together.”
“Nah, Sealey is much more ambitious than I am,” Lucas said as he took the peanut butter smoothie from the neon green–shirted employee who was holding it out to him. He nodded his thanks. “For all Sealey’s claims that he’s rooted locally, he really does have big dreams for his company. There’s no way he’ll be content staying here in Logan.”
“But you don’t want to leave?” Alex asked. “You have no ambitions outside Logan?”
“Well, I wouldn’t limit myself to Logan,” Lucas claimed, taking a sip of his smoothie. “I’m originally from Salt Lake, so I think after graduation, that’s probably where I’ll head. But I don’t really have any ambitions outside of Utah right now. There’s a lot of opportunity in state. It’s a good place to get started.”
“So when do you graduate?” Alex asked.
“Not for a while,” Lucas said with a grimace. “I’ve had to keep my credit hours relatively low while I’ve been playing football, but this is my last season, so I’ll be able to up my credit hours considerably next year. I’ll have about a year and a half left. They’re going to let me integrate into a normal MBA schedule at that point. The business school has been really great about working with me and my football schedule.”
“Well, chances are, they want you to excel at football as much as you do,” Alex said, winking. “We all have a stake in your success.”
“Oh, don’t say that,” Lucas said, rubbing a hand fretfully over his flat stomach. Alex saw the defined outline of his muscles as his cutoff T-shirt momentarily tightened over his chest. She felt heat creep up her neck and onto her face, and she determinedly looked away to keep her expression under control. “I can’t handle the idea that so many people are watching me and relying on me to uphold their school pride. It makes me seriously nervous.” He winced and played with the straw in his smoothie.
“Well, with great talent comes great responsibility,” Alex replied loftily and then laughed at his panicky expression. “Honestly, you’re just really fun to watch. Even I enjoy it, and I’m nowhere near a football aficionado.”
“Now that, I can handle,” Lucas said, pointing at her. They sat grinning at each other in silence for a few seconds. “So, would you be interested in maybe seeing a movie with me sometime or something?” Lucas suddenly asked. “Whenever you’re free. I’m pretty open most of the time. I mean, as long as I don’t have practice. Or church responsibilities. Oh, or a huge school project. Or, you know, client meetings for work.”
Alex looked at him incredulously and laughed. “I’d love to, but why don’t you let me know when you’re free? I think you and I have two very different definitions of the word.”
Lucas smiled at her and reached across the table to place his hand softly over hers. “Deal,” he said. “But let’s plan on sooner rather than later, okay? I’m not sure why, but I have a feeling you are going to be a very important part of my life, Alex Foamer.”
Staring at him, Alex couldn’t trust herself to speak.
The next few weeks passed in a haze of tingly butterflies for Alex. Lucas took her out twice, once to dinner and a movie and once to a concert. Each time she felt herself falling faster and further for him. He was considerate and c
hivalrous, affectionate and complimentary. Alex thought she must have found the one perfect man on earth.
She continued to call Sealey after every date, reporting on the general happenings, but leaving the truly personal stuff out wherever she could. Sealey seemed to be growing less and less demanding, and Alex took that to mean he had grown more confident in her ability to handle herself. He hadn’t mentioned Olivia again since the day of the football game, but Alex was sure that the beautiful missionary was often on Sealey’s mind. Alex felt strangely satisfied that Sealey trusted her to attract Lucas’s attention on her own, and therefore he didn’t need to worry about his chances with Olivia. As for the ethical ramifications of helping Sealey to steal his best friend’s girl, Alex tried not to think too deeply about that.
Lucas had yet to specifically mention Olivia to Alex, and she had no plans to ask. As far as she was concerned, the further they stayed away from that subject, the better.
“But don’t you think you should at least test the waters?” Meredith had asked her after she had returned from her last date with Lucas. “Just to see how attached he really is to her?”
Alex shook her head. “To be perfectly honest, I don’t really want to know. He’s a good, honest guy. If he were truly devoted to Olivia, he wouldn’t be wasting his time with me. The fact that he keeps asking me out makes me even more confident that he never made her any promises before she left.”
“I don’t know, Al,” Meredith said, biting her lip. “He hasn’t made you any promises either. Just because he likes you doesn’t necessarily mean he’s stopped liking her, does it? She’s coming home in a month . . . are you sure you’re prepared for that?”
“I really haven’t thought much about it,” Alex lied. “And, anyway, it’s not like my worrying about it will keep her from coming home. I just need to make the most of the time I have left. Maybe if I can make Lucas fall hard for me in this last month before Olivia comes home, I won’t have anything to worry about when she finally arrives.”
“Okay,” Meredith capitulated, but she didn’t look convinced.
Neither was Alex, really. But she didn’t know what else to do, except to keep accepting Lucas’s invitations to go out. Their next date was to Lagoon, the only real amusement park of which Utah could boast. And to tell the truth, there wasn’t much to boast about. But since they were now in the first week of October, Lagoon was hosting their annual “Frightmares,” for which the amusement park became a Halloweentown of sorts. Nothing overwhelming, but it afforded a bit more interest than usual. And, of course, Alex was looking forward to simply spending time with Lucas, regardless of where he wanted to go.
It was a crisp and cool October afternoon when they walked through Lagoon’s parking lot toward the park entrance. Alex couldn’t help but think of one of her favorite quotes from L. M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables as she walked. “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” With her hand warm inside Lucas’s and her lungs full of the smell of October, she didn’t think life could be more perfect.
The park entrance was haunted by various ghouls and zombies, mulling through the crowd with shuffling steps. The gruesome specters stopped for pictures with people, grimacing as their photo compatriots grinned with excitement. Alex dodged a particularly miserable-looking zombie as she and Lucas made for the ticket counter. Within five minutes, hands stamped, they were in the park.
“So, where to?” Lucas asked, rubbing his hands together with relish. “I haven’t been here in forever. I want to ride everything.”
Alex laughed. “Hey, I’m up for anything. I haven’t been here for years myself.”
“Okay, let’s go . . . this way,” Lucas said, leading them off to the right. “Let’s start with something fast.”
They were off. They focused on the most intense attractions in the park, Lucas’s hair getting more and more disheveled as they exited each ride. They wandered through the Halloween attractions and got their pictures taken with various bloodied and battered characters. Alex was having the time of her life. They took a break from rides around dinnertime and stopped at a sandwich place inside the park for a bite to eat. They talked and laughed animatedly through the entire meal, anxious to get out on the midway again.
“So . . . you up for something really scary?” Alex asked, poking Lucas in the arm.
“Scarier than we’ve already done?” Lucas asked, eyebrows raised. “We’ve ridden all the fastest rides in the park, haven’t we?”
“Not yet, we haven’t.”
Lucas looked slightly apprehensive at the adventurous look in Alex’s eye. “Which one did we miss?”
“The Sky Coaster,” Alex said with increased drama. “You know, it’s that one that’s like a giant swing, where they stick you in a harness, strap you to a cable, take you up a hundred and fifty feet, and then . . . they just drop you and you swing back and forth. It’s spectacular.”
Lucas looked faintly ill.
“It costs some extra money to ride, but it’s my treat,” Alex claimed. She nudged him again. “Come on, Riley. You can’t possibly be scared. A big, tough football player like you.”
“I’m . . . not scared,” he protested weakly. “I just . . . don’t love heights.”
“You’ve been riding roller coasters all day!” Alex laughed. “That’s kind of a key component of a roller coaster, you know.”
“Right, but I’ve had a track and a seat beneath me for all of that,” Lucas reminded her. “On the Sky Coaster, you’re just kind of, you know, hanging there, face down.”
“I swear to you, you won’t regret it,” Alex promised.
Finally, Lucas nodded weakly. “Okay,” he said. “But if I scream like a little girl or throw up or something like that, you’re sworn to secrecy.”
Alex crossed her heart.
“Oh, and if I die, I’m not leaving you anything in my will,” he tacked on for good measure.
“Well, if you die, chances are I’ll be in the same situation, so I agree to that condition as well,” Alex said, rolling her eyes and pushing him out the door of the little deli toward the attraction.
Given the intensity of the ride, there were very few people in line. After paying the extra charge and getting their tickets, they waited for ten minutes or so in the shelter of the ride shack. In which time Lucas had the chance to turn slightly green. When it was finally their turn, he was oddly silent as the park employee strapped him into his flight suit and led them to the launchpad.
“You okay, there?” Alex asked, trying not to laugh.
“No comment,” Lucas muttered, barely opening his mouth.
Once they were attached to the cables, the bottom dropped suddenly out of the launchpad booth and Lucas gasped as they flew forward, suddenly parallel with the ground. They hung, suspended six feet in the air, Alex laughing as Lucas attempted to catch his breath. And then, they began to rise. Alex thought Lucas might begin whimpering as the ground sank further and further away. Once they reached the top, the tiny park employee below instructed them through the speaker to “Fly!” Alex paused, her hand on the ripcord, to look at Lucas. His eyes were tightly closed.
“Lucas Riley, I am not pulling this cord until you open your eyes,” she said sternly. “You won’t get the full effect otherwise.”
“I don’t want the full effect,” he gasped, squeezing his eyes even more tightly shut. “I’m really okay missing that part of this experience.”
“Luke,” she said, making her voice soft and soothing. It was the first time she had ever used his nickname and her honeyed tone of voice made him look at her. “Trust me,” she said softly as his eyes stared into hers. And she pulled the cord.
They immediately went into a free fall, the ground racing toward them at eighty miles per hour. To his credit, Lucas did not scream, but it might have been because he looked too horrified to manage it. By the time the cable caught them, six feet from the ground, and they began to soar back and forth, Lucas’s face had broken into
an exhilarated smile. He whooped and spread out his arms, enjoying the sensation of flying. Alex laughed, watching his face.
Once back on the ground and free of their flight suits, Lucas watched the pair after them plummet toward the ground, howling and laughing.
“Wow, is that what we looked like?” he cried, his voice full of excitement. “Man, oh man, what a rush!” Alex laughed again, and he looked down at her, his eyes bright with energy. “Thanks for making me do that,” he said, his voice softening a little. “I never would have dared do something like that on my own.”
“No problem,” she said, staring up into his sea-foamy eyes. “I told you you wouldn’t regret it.”
She leaned into him, meaning to nudge him playfully, but he used her momentum against her, grasping her arms and pulling her tight against him. He studied her face, his expression mesmerized as they slipped over her features. He slid an arm around her, holding her firmly against his solid frame, and pushed her long, dark-red hair away from her face with his other hand.
And then he kissed her. Her breath stopped as his lips pressed warm and confident on hers. Her legs immediately went weak. She was grateful he was holding her up, because she was certain she would be shaking and tottering like an idiot otherwise. He slid his hand underneath her hair, pulling her closer and deepening the kiss. Alex could have sworn her feet had left the ground.
When he finally pulled away, she was sure she would have to reteach herself to breathe. The air felt lodged in her chest and her head was light and fuzzy from either lack of oxygen or an excess of Lucas.
“I’ve wanted to do that all day,” Lucas said, his breathing slightly quickened. “Thanks for giving me the perfect opportunity.”
“Oh . . . well . . . sure,” she said stupidly, her head still buzzing.
The rest of the evening passed quickly and dreamily. Lucas stopped suddenly in his path on two separate occasions as they walked through the park, just to kiss Alex quickly. And he kept his arms looped comfortably around her as they waited in various lines throughout the night. As they drove back to Logan, their hands clasped between the seats of his car, Alex wondered if she would be able to find words to describe to Meredith how happy she was when she got home. It seemed unlikely.
Catching Lucas Riley Page 10
