Shifting Lines

by Abigail Lee

  After the guys showered, and we had dinner on the back porch, we sat around as my mom asked me and Luke a million questions. My dad sat back quietly and listened to the entire conversation, which wasn’t normally like him.

  We left the next morning once we ate the huge breakfast my mom had prepared. After a round of hugs and the approving look I saw my dad send to Luke, we were back in my car and heading back to Austin.

  “You survived.” I leaned over and kissed his cheek since he was driving.

  “I did.” He laughed. “Thanks for bringing me down here this weekend. It was good to see where you come from.”

  “I’m glad you came.”

  We rode most of the way back listening to the radio with me singing along. He carried our suitcases into his apartment as I followed behind him. I could hear construction going on below us and knew he was about to walk down and check on it. I grabbed for his hand as soon as he dropped the bags and reached up for his neck with my other hand. I missed his touch.

  “I can’t believe you wouldn’t sneak in my room either night,” I teased. “You haven’t touched me all weekend.”

  He wrapped his arms around my waist and had a look of lust in his eyes that told me exactly what was about to happen. He lifted me by my thighs and wrapped my legs around his hips. Walking a few steps forward, he set me down on the dining table and quickly removed every piece of clothing that separated us.

  “I plan on doing nothing but touching you for the next two days,” he growled into my ear.

  Hannah and I had finished our last final on a Wednesday and had three nights to celebrate before graduation on Saturday.

  “Where are we going tonight?” she asked as we walked into our apartment.

  Boxes were starting to line the walls since she was moving out next week. Her job in Dallas was starting pretty quick so Trey was helping her move the day after graduation.

  “Probably to Luke’s bar.” I laughed. “Where else do you want to go?”

  “I don’t know.” She shrugged. “It’s my last few nights in Austin, but you’re right. That is where I want to go.”

  We laughed as we put on makeup and dressed up for our night out.

  “Trey and the guys are already at the Italian restaurant a few doors down from The Green Room,” she announced as she walked into my room. “So we’ll just meet them there.”

  “You look hot.” I wiggled my eyebrows at her short green dress and tall silver heels.

  “Yeah, well.” She shrugged. “Gotta remind Trey what he’ll be missing.”

  “Or you could tell him you love him.” I laughed at her as I slipped into my black heels.

  “Now, you’re just talking crazy.” She rolled her eyes and walked back into the living room.

  I adjusted my cream top over my black shorts and applied bright red lipstick. Grabbing my black clutch purse, we were in my black Honda and headed toward the restaurant.

  “Is Luke coming to eat with us?” she asked as she searched through the radio stations.

  “No, he said he was busy.” I knew I was frowning and couldn’t help it.

  “Busy at the bar?” She liked to know all of the information.

  “He didn’t really say.” I pulled into a parking spot behind Luke’s bike. “Apparently so.”

  She followed my gaze but chose her words carefully. “Do you want to go inside and talk to him before we go eat?”

  I didn’t have a chance to answer because Luke walked out of his apartment door and toward his bike. He was looking at his phone and not paying attention to anything around him.

  “Um, hi?” I gave Hannah a confused look as we stepped out of the car and then looked back at him.

  “Hey, baby.” He smiled when he recognized us. “Sorry, I was reading an email.”

  He walked over to me and quickly kissed my lips. Stepping back, he looked down the length of my body. “You look beautiful. Are you girls already heading to the bar?”

  “No, we’re going to dinner.” He was acting weird. “Remember I asked if you wanted to go?”

  “Oh, yeah. It’s been a crazy day.” He kissed me again before climbing onto his bike. “I’ll see you after dinner.”

  I watched as he drove away and couldn’t shake the feeling that he was hiding something from me. Maybe it was just business stuff, he did always have a lot going on. We walked into the restaurant and joined the others who were already seated. After a Coke and a large portion of lasagna, I was feeling happy and full.

  We slowly made our way over to the bar, and by the end of the night, the place was full of a lot of celebrating college students.

  “Let’s dance.” Hannah stood up and grabbed my hand.

  I hadn’t even attempted to dance again since Spring Break. I wasn’t sure how Luke felt about it, and honestly, I didn’t want to open up old wounds that were finally healed.

  “I’m just going to sit here.” I shook my head. “You guys go.”

  “Are you serious?” She glared at me. “We only have a few of these nights left, Riley.”

  “I might come out there in a little bit. I’m still full from dinner,” I lied.

  She rolled her eyes at me as her and Brandie made their way to the center of the floor. I smiled at them and secretly wished I were out there with them.

  “Why aren’t you out there dancing?” Luke’s voice cut into my thoughts.

  “I wondered when I was going to see you.” I turned in the tall seat and tugged on his belt loops.

  “Why are you sitting here all alone?” he asked again. “I thought you liked to dance.”

  “I do.” I shrugged.

  “Well?” He was waiting for me to explain.

  “I just haven’t really danced at all since Padre, you know? I didn’t know if you wanted me to or not.” He wanted the truth so I gave it to him.

  He dropped his head for a second before looking back at me. “Baby, I was a dick in Padre. I won’t be mad if you want to dance with your friends.”

  I watched his face relax again as he watched me. To be honest, I could just sit here and stare at him for the rest of the night.

  “Come on.” He grabbed my hand and helped me down from the stool.

  “Where are we going?” I asked as I followed him through the crowd.

  “To dance,” he shouted back at me.

  We found the rest of the group on the dance floor, and Hannah shouted in approval as Luke’s chest pressed into my back, and we began to move to the music. I had never seen him dance before, but he knew what he was doing with his body. I turned to face him and wrapped my arms around the back of his neck. He ran his hands down my sides and rested them on the tops of my hips.

  “I’m about ready to rip these clothes off,” he growled into my ear.

  I laughed because I knew he probably would later. This man really needed to start buying my clothes if he was going to keep ripping them. The beat changed to a song that none of us knew. The dance floor cleared, and we made our way back to the table.

  “Have fun.” He kissed my temple. “I’ll come back in a little bit. I need to go check on some things.”

  I watched as he walked away and looked up to see Brandie smiling at me.

  “What?” I asked her.

  “Sorry for staring.” She was blushing. “I just think it’s so sweet how much you two love each other.”

  I smiled at her and thought about how far we’d come over the last few months. At the end of the night, once the bar doors were locked, I let Luke lead me up the stairs to his apartment. After a semester of working and studying and with my finals officially over, I was exhausted. He pushed the door open and let me walk through first.

  My breath caught as I looked around to see every counter, table, and shelf holding bouquets of red roses. A few candles were burning, and the shadows they cast made the flowers seem larger than life.

  “Congratulations on graduating college, baby.” He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me back into his chest. “Y
ou did it.”

  “Is this what you’ve been doing all day?” I asked as I looked around the room.

  “Yeah, most of it.” I heard him laugh. “You just missed the delivery guy when you showed up earlier.”

  “Thank you.” I turned in his arms and hugged him back. “They’re beautiful.”

  “When is Hannah moving to Dallas?” he asked as I put our breakfast dishes in the sink.

  “On Sunday.” I frowned. “Her new job starts pretty quick so she wanted to get up there.”

  He sat in silence as he watched me walk back toward the table.

  “What are you going to do?” he asked.

  “I was going to go watch your TV.” I tugged on his hand and pulled him toward the couch.

  “No, I mean with your apartment.” We sat down, and I found a movie for us to watch. “Are you moving or staying there?”

  “Well, all of the furniture in the apartment is mine, so she’s really only moving her bedroom stuff,” I informed him. “I was planning on staying in the apartment for now. Mainly because I hate packing and unpacking.”

  “Are you getting another roommate?” he asked.

  “I wasn’t planning on it.”

  His questions stopped as we began to watch the movie. We laid down on the couch together and within a few minutes, I heard his breathing slow, and I knew he was asleep again. It made me wonder if he always planned to keep the late hours at the bar and sleeping throughout most of the day.

  I woke up to the vibrating of my phone and quickly grabbed it off the coffee table. It was text from Hannah.

  We’re going to Frankie’s tonight. Get your cowboy boots on!

  I typed back. Is everyone going?

  Yep!

  The clock on my phone showed it was almost one o’clock. When I stretched out on the couch, I found that I was alone. I threw back the blanket that was wrapped around my body and began to walk around the apartment. He wasn’t anywhere. I needed to get back to my apartment anyway. I grabbed as many vases of flowers as I could carry and walked down to my car.

  “Hey, where are you?” I called him as soon as I got in my car.

  “Hey, I had to run some errands and didn’t want to wake you,” he answered. “Do you want me to come pick you up, and we can grab some lunch?”

  “No, I just left. I’m going to hang out with Hannah for a little bit before we go out tonight.”

  “You guys coming to the bar later?” he asked.

  “She said we’re going to Frankie’s.” I laughed. “We’ve only gone there once since we’ve turned twenty-one, but I guess they want a country bar.”

  He didn’t answer, and I know it’s because he prefers when we’re at his bar.

  “You want to ditch your place and check out your competition?” I tried to lighten the mood.

  “I can’t tonight, but you guys have fun.” I heard him talk to someone in the background. “Hey, I’ve gotta go. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

  “’Kay.” I hung up the phone as I pulled into my parking spot.

  Gathering the flowers in my arms again, I made my way up the stairs and walked into what would soon be my own apartment.

  “Oh, you shouldn’t have.” Hannah took two vases from my arms and placed them on the end tables in the living room.

  “Only the best for you, my dear.” I laughed.

  After a quick wardrobe change, we left to eat lunch and then spent the rest of the afternoon at our favorite spa.

  “I’m going to miss this,” I whined as we walked back into our apartment. “Are you sure you have to leave me?”

  “I won’t be that far away.” She hugged me to her. “And you know I’ll come visit often.”

  “Yeah, and be with Trey the entire time.” I raised my eyebrows.

  “Whatever.” She lightly pushed me toward my room. “Let’s get ready for tonight.”

  After a long shower and some time spent in front of the mirror, my hair was curled, makeup was perfect, and I was dressed in a short jean skirt, white lace top, and my favorite pair of cowboy boots.

  “I think Frankie’s is the first bar we ever went to together.” I was trying to remember as I walked back into the living room. “Because we didn’t have to be twenty-one to enter.”

  “Exactly.” She nodded her head. “The next couple of days are all about reliving some of our favorite memories.”

  Frankie’s was a large country western bar located on the west side of Austin. College students loved it because you only had to be eighteen to enter, and once you were old enough to legally drink, the beer was the cheapest in town. We’d arrived at the perfect time and were able to find a large table by the edge of the dance floor. Tommy and Colin walked over and placed four buckets of beer on the table. Each bucket of ice contained six bottles of Bud Light.

  “Beer,” I groaned.

  “Free beer.” Hannah handed me a bottle as she grabbed one for herself. “Can’t complain about that.”

  “Touché,” I laughed.

  We watched older couples show their two stepping skills on the dance floor and younger couples try to keep up. Hannah and Trey and Brandie and Tommy danced a few times. I was starting my fourth beer, which was tasting better with each drink, when a guy I had seen on campus before approached me.

  “You’re Riley, right?” He leaned against the table and a little too close to me.

  “I am.” I wasn’t sure how he knew my name.

  “I’m Mike,” he went on. “We had a few classes together last year.”

  “Oh, okay.” Still wasn’t sure how he knew my name. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “Would you do me the honors of a dance?” He nodded to the dance floor.

  “I actually have a boyfriend, sorry.” I was polite but honest.

  “Well, I haven’t seen you with him tonight.” He leaned a little closer.

  At the perfect moment, Adam came up beside me and placed his arm around my shoulder.

  “Hey, babe.” He looked at Mike. “Who’s this guy?”

  Mike leaned back and stood up straight. He looked Adam up and down before he finally walked away.

  “Thanks.” I laughed and quickly hugged Adam. “He wasn’t going to leave anytime soon.”

  “No problem.” He took the seat next to me and grabbed a new beer. “Do you know him?”

  “I’ve only seen him around.” I was trying to think. “On campus and at the grocery store once, I think.”

  “You still going to hang out with us even after Hannah moves?”

  “Why wouldn’t I?” I laughed. “Are you kicking me out of the group?”

  “No.” He shook his head. “Just making sure you know we like having you around. Plus, I’m hoping you come across a new hot friend at your job that you’ll set me up with.”

  We laughed as we continued talking and even joined the others on the dance floor for a few songs. By the time we got back to our table, it was almost one o’clock, and the place was packed. Colin walked up to the table and passed out shots to everyone. We clinked the glasses together before tilting them back against our mouths. The alcohol was flowing through my system, and my toes were beginning to feel numb.

  “I love you so much.” I hugged Hannah next to me. “You shouldn’t leave me.”

  “I love you, too,” she laughed before leaning back in her chair.

  “I’m going to the bathroom real quick.” I stood up from my chair and tried to walk in a straight line to my destination. I turned the corner down a dark hall and realized that I had gone the wrong way. Before I could turn around, a hard body slammed into mine, and I went crashing into the wall.

  “I knew you’d come looking for me,” a low voice growled in my ear and spun me around.

  My back was pressed against the wall, and his chest was pressed against mine. I could barely breathe as I tried to scream at the guy who had approached me earlier. He immediately moved his hand over my mouth and gave me a threatening glare.

  “Don’t say a fuc
king word.”

  He pulled his hand back and barked when I bit into the flesh he had crammed into my mouth.

  “You bitch.” A hand came across the side of my face, and my head slammed into the wall behind me.

  The sudden impact sent me into a state of shock and fear, and I began throwing every free body part I had at him. This only caused him to push me harder against the wall, and I felt his hand move my jean skirt up around my hips.

  “Get off of me,” I yelled. “Don’t touch me, you asshole!”

  “I like that you’re a fighter.” His hands were pulling down my underwear and grabbing at my breasts.

  “Don’t touch me!” I yelled again and suddenly his weight was lifted off my body.

  I saw a blur lunge past me and begin pounding into the mass that was now laying on the floor. A few people were starting to gather at the entrance of the hall, but I couldn’t hear anything. Where the hell were all of these people two minutes ago? I slid down the wall and pulled my knees against my chest as my chest began to heave in and out. I knew I was going to throw up, and I just hoped I could make it to a trash can or toilet before it happened.

  Arms wrapped around me and pulled me to my feet.

  “Don’t touch me.” I started pushing back again unsure of who had me.

  “It’s me.” Adam held me close. “It’s Adam. You’re going to be fine. It’s Adam.”

  The tears flooded from my eyes as I let him hold me. I looked over to see Mike not moving on the floor.

  “We need to get out of here.” He started walking us back out into the crowd that was still watching us.

  We walked past the security that was heading toward the hall and through the exit. I hardly remember walking to Adam’s truck other than not letting him go. My body was trembling, and the side of my face stung. I clung to Adam’s chest and sat in his lap as soon as his truck door slammed shut.

  “I’m going to take you home.” The truck came to life, and I wrapped my arms tighter around his neck.

  I felt the truck move, and Adam’s voice in the distance. Who was he talking to? Not long after we started driving, his truck pulled to a stop and the engine died. The door swung open, and I heard Luke’s voice.