Pretty Little Lies

by Jennifer Miller

  Luke is here! While I’m on a date with someone else!

  Noah looks from Luke to me and back again. “You two know each other?”

  “No.” I say at the same time Luke says, “Yes.”

  I look at him and he is looking back at me clearly amused.

  Damn him.

  oor Noah looks so confused, I don’t blame him. I turn to him, trying to put my back to Luke, but Luke just moves over so that he is standing next to me, “Noah, yes, I do know Luke, he’s an old friend of mine.” I turn towards Luke, “What are you doing here, Luke? I didn’t know you liked to ice skate.” I look past him to see if he’s alone, “Are you here with a friend or something?”

  “Oh, I’m here with someone that is much more than a friend.” He stares into my eyes as he speaks and I feel myself blush, his intimation clear.

  Noah does not have a clue what is transpiring between Luke and I, “That’s great. You and your girlfriend should join Olivia and me if you’d like.”

  With a devilish look on his face, Luke doesn’t look away from me, “Oh no, that’s okay. She won’t be staying here much longer.”

  I raise my eyebrows at him in challenge. “Well that’s too bad you are leaving then. It was nice to see you, Luke. Have a good rest of your day. Bye.” I totally give him the brush off, he needs to go.

  I see humor dancing in his eyes when he looks at me, and in that moment I realize he has no intention of leaving me here with Noah at all. Shit. How the hell am I going to handle this? “Noah, I scraped my hand when I fell, would you mind getting me a band-aid from the desk attendant?”

  Noah looks from Luke to me and back again in confusion, unsure about leaving me with Luke. I smile at him reassuringly, “I would really appreciate it. It’s bleeding a little.” That’s all it takes to spring Noah into action and I’m grateful, because I just want a minute alone with Luke.

  “Oh no. Of course. I’ll go get one right now. I’ll be right back.” Noah takes off, skating toward the exit to go to the attendant station, which I can see has a ridiculously long line, so I turn my attention towards Luke.

  I can’t help the scowl that appears on my face. “What are you doing here?”

  Before answering, he comes toward me and takes my hand in his, looking it over. He brushes his finger against the scrape on my finger and before I can say a word he has my finger in his mouth, sucking on the scrape. I suck in a quiet breath. Oh. My. God. He did not just do that. I start to flush. Everywhere. Pulling my finger out of his mouth, he looks at it again. “Are you okay? Does it hurt?”

  “Uh…” How the hell does he expect me to be able to speak after that? When I can find my voice I answer, “It’s uh fine, it’s just a scrape.”

  He brushes his fingers over it and tingles shoot all the way up my arm. It’s unnerving what his touch can do to me. I’ve never felt this with anyone else before. Ever. I gently pull my hand from his and ask again, “What are you doing here?”

  “Well, what does it look like I’m doing here? I’m skating.” I can hear the amusement in his voice.

  I narrow my eyes at him, “By yourself?”

  “Well sure, why not?”

  “Did you follow me here?”

  He scoffs, “No, of course I didn’t follow you here.”

  I look into his eyes, trying to tell if he’s being dishonest with me, “Need I remind you that we promised each other no lies?”

  “No reminder necessary, angel, because I’m not lying to you. I did not need to follow you to know you would be here.”

  “If you didn’t follow me here, then how then did you know I would be here?” Before he can even reply, I answer my own question. There’s only one other person who knew where I would be this afternoon. “I should have known she was up to something with all those questions. Milk carton prevention my ass.”

  “Mmm, what about your fine ass?” Luke asks huskily.

  I make a gesture blowing his question off, too angry at Pyper, “Damn that red-headed bitch. She’s in so much trouble! Why would she do this?”

  “Oh, don’t be too mad at Pyper. I can be pretty persuasive when I want something, and make no mistake. I want something.”

  I feel a thrill shoot through me, but I ignore it, “What did you do? Bribe her with chocolate?”

  “Close, next best thing.”

  “Shoes? You bought her shoes?! Oh my god! Does she have no shame?”

  He just laughs, not the least bit ashamed at his actions, “I didn’t buy her shoes, just waved a gift card around in front of her face. She’s easy to bribe.”

  “She is so dead. I can’t believe a pair of freaking shoes mean more to her than my privacy. She is going to rue the day!” I even laugh at myself with that comment because I catch myself shaking my fist too. I might be irritated with Pyper, but I admit I find her amusing too. I know she didn’t have any ill intentions with revealing my date plans to Luke.

  His laughter fading, a stern look appears on Luke’s face and I see his jaw tighten before he asks, “So, is that Noah?”

  I glance over to where Noah is still standing in line at the counter, waiting for the attendant to finish with the people in front of him. I’m pretty sure I sense a bit of sarcasm in Luke’s voice at that question. “Yes, that is Noah.”

  “And you actually like that guy?” he asks sounding indignant.

  “Yes, I do.” Except for the whole living–with-his-mommy thing, but Luke doesn’t need to know that.

  He scoffs at my comment. “Oh, please.”

  “What do you mean ‘oh please’? He’s a really nice guy. He’s also sweet, goal oriented, good looking,” Luke’s eyes narrow at that but I continue, “and we have a lot in common.”

  Luke scoffs at my comments and if I wasn’t so annoyed with him, I would laugh at his obvious jealousy, “Oh give me a break, angel, he’s boring as hell and you know it.”

  My turn for indignant, “What?! He’s not boring! He’s anything but boring!” I tell him adamantly.

  Luke and I are still standing on the side of the rink and I’m surprised no one has yelled at us to get off the ice since we’re just standing here. Normally they don’t want you in the way of other skaters. I look over to the rink attendant and see the teenager in charge blatantly checking out some girl’s ass as she skates by his chair, while he talks to yet another female standing next to his chair. Obviously, he is focused on other things right now.

  “Oh please, you know you would be having much more fun if you were out on a date with me right now.”

  I’m dumbfounded; I don’t even know what to say. We are supposed to be starting over as friends, but he just said date. Friends don’t date. Forget the fact that my hearing him say the word date made a thrill run through my body. Before I can even acknowledge his assumption, Noah has skated back to my side.

  “Finally! I’m sorry it took so long. The people in front of me took forever,” he hands me the band-aid, “here you go.”

  I smile at Noah, and when I reach out to take it from him he takes my hand in his instead and looks over my scrape just as Luke had done before him. Bringing it to his mouth he kisses it, “I’m sorry you got hurt, I tried to take the brunt of the impact.”

  “It’s okay,” I murmur, purposefully keeping my eyes from Luke’s face.

  Noah proceeds to unwrap the band-aid and while he’s focused on that, I stupidly chance a glance over at Luke and see his lips pressed together in aggravation.

  “There,” Noah says, “all better.”

  I shiver a little because the fact that Luke is jealous right now is totally turning me on. I know it’s wrong. Here Noah is being so sweet, but my whole body is tuned in to Luke and his reaction. It’s distracting. Noah misunderstands my shiver and wraps his arm around me, “Are you cold?”

  I open my mouth to answer but Luke, who’s frowning even deeper now while scowling at Noah’s arm around me, snaps, “Of course she’s cold, she fell on the freezing ice. The least you could have done was bring
her a cup of hot chocolate to warm her up.”

  Noah’s mouth falls open and his face flushes slightly, “I’m so sorry, Olivia, he’s right. I didn’t even think about getting you a warm drink. I guess because we aren’t allowed to bring food or drink out here on the ice, and I was so consumed with getting you a band-aid, it didn’t occur to me.”

  “That wouldn’t have stopped me.” Luke says looking rather proud of himself. The ass.

  “It’s okay, Noah. I don’t need a drink, I’m fine. Really.”

  “No, it isn’t fine. I’ll go get you something right now.”

  Poor Noah turns and makes his way back to the exit to get me something to drink. I turn toward Luke and shoot daggers at him with my eyes, making my anger evident. He’s being an ass and it is pissing me off, “What the hell? That was mean.”

  “Oh, please. He should at least know how to treat a woman.”

  “How do you know he doesn’t? Maybe he treats me just fine, Luke. Maybe he treats me just right.” I don’t know what is wrong with me. Noah and I haven’t even kissed, but I’m making an innuendo all the same, making Luke think that we’ve done more, much more, than that because I know it will make him mad.

  Luke’s eyes harden and he grabs hold of my arm. He tows me towards the rink’s exit.

  “What are you doing?”

  Ignoring me, he doesn’t let go of my arm and instead, hauls me toward the back of the rink where there is a hallway that’s hidden off to the side, leading to an employee area, restrooms and a back door. Walking isn’t easy in these blasted ice skates. I’m glad Luke has a firm grip or I would have fallen already.

  “Luke, what are you doing?” I ask again, “Where are we going? I’m on a date, you can’t do this.”

  He doesn’t listen; he just keeps on walking, not paying any attention to what I’m saying, dragging me along behind him. He isn’t hurting me, he’s just being insistent. He heads out the back door and before I know it, we are standing outside.

  “What the hell are you doing?” I ask him yet again. I’m standing on the pavement trying to stay upright without letting my ankles twist in my skates, waiting for him to answer me.

  He responds to my question by pressing me against the brick wall as soon as the door closes behind us, and before I can even take a second to process what he’s about to do, he crushes his lips against mine. He traces his tongue along the seam of my lips, begging for entry. When he moves closer to me, pressing his body flush against mine, a moan escapes my mouth, making my lips part. Taking full advantage, Luke explores my mouth with his tongue, stroking my mouth over and over. He’s not being gentle. One of his hands is at my waist, fingers digging into my side, while the other is fisted in my hair, tugging my head back, giving him easier access to my mouth. His hips repeatedly push into mine, making a slow heat start in my belly and head south.

  When he pulls away from me after a moment, both of us are breathing hard. I couldn’t hide the fact that his kiss affected me even if I wanted to. It’s obvious, in the need that is no doubt in my eyes, the flush that’s bleeding into my cheeks, and the embarrassing groan of unhappiness I made when he pulled away from me.

  “Leave with me, Olivia. Right now.”

  “What?” I feel disoriented. For a moment, I completely forgot where I was, but the fog is lifting and complete mortification is taking its place. “Oh my god, I can’t leave with you. I’m here on a date! I have to get back in there. He’s probably wondering where I am.”

  “No. Don’t go back in there. Come with me. We can go anywhere and do whatever you want. Just don’t go back inside.”

  “Luke, you know me better than that. I’m not going to just leave him here. That is not me at all and I won’t do it.”

  “Angel, don’t make me beg.”

  “I’m not standing him up like that. He doesn’t deserve that.”

  “Fine, but I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to be here the whole time.”

  I groan. “What the hell is this? You and I are supposed to be trying our relationship again as friends. This…this…” I gesture between the two of us at a loss for words. “Whatever just happened between us is not a good idea.”

  “You’re wrong, Olivia. What happened between us couldn’t be more right. The last time I felt that complete, was the last time I held you in my arms. You own me in every way. Do not even try to tell me that you didn’t feel something too. No lies remember?”

  I look down at the ground, take a deep breath, feel my heart pounding double time in my chest, and think to myself, no lies. “I’m not trying to tell you that I didn’t feel something too,” I say softly, “but that doesn’t change the fact that this should not have happened. We are working on being friends. Plus, standing up Noah is not okay and I won’t do it.”

  “Okay fine, I get the standing up Noah thing, but angel, in case that kiss didn’t make it clear, hear me now. You and I will never be able to be just friends. We are the other half of each other’s heart and soul. I cannot apologize enough for what happened between us. I will never forgive myself for losing you, and I will spend every day the rest of my life working on making it up to you, if that is what it takes. But the fact is, I don’t give a flying fuck if Noah or anyone else is freaking prince charming in the flesh, I want you back and I will fight anyone and do anything I have to in order to make that happen. The worst day of my life was the day you ran away from me, and I have spent countless moments since wondering about you, missing you, comparing every woman I’ve ever been with to the fucking ghost of you. It is not an option for me to let you get away again or to just be your friend.”

  Luke steps towards me again. He places his hand under my chin and stares into my eyes for a few beats before he says, “Olivia, listen closely please. I want to make sure you hear me. I. Want. You. Back,” he says very slowly, “Make no mistake of what my intentions are here. I will not lose you again. I wouldn’t survive it a second time. Maybe that makes me an asshole…I don’t know, but what I’m trying to be is a guy that will do anything because he desperately wants his girl back.”

  I’m speechless and his declaration leaves me breathless. He’s being forceful, but yet he’s so different from Deacon in every way. He isn’t hurting me, ridiculing me, yelling at me. His fire comes from passion, not anger. I realize that I want him to fight for me too. I desperately want the other half of me back too, but what I can’t admit to him is that this feeling scares me. I don’t trust him yet; I don’t trust myself anymore either.

  I nod my head so that he knows I heard everything he said to me, but I don’t reply because aside from not being sure I can find my voice, I also need time to digest his words. He removes his hand from my chin, brushes the back of his fingers on my cheek and then backs away from me just a little. “Go ahead and do what you have to do and date who you have to date. Get it out of your system if that’s what you need to do, but know that I’m not going to make it easy for you. I’m going to be there every time you turn around, reminding you of what we had and what we will have again. When you finally admit to yourself that you want that too, I will be here with open arms. I’m going to be waiting for you to come back to me.”

  My mind is reeling. He takes another step back from me, his eyes full of heat locked on mine.

  My heart wants me to stay but the fear takes over and it takes everything in me to turn away from him and go back inside looking for Noah.

  o say that things are awkward when I return to the ice skating rink is an understatement. Fortunately, it isn’t because Noah is walking around like mad trying to find out where I had gone off to. I lucked out because he waited in line long enough that he had just begun to notice I was missing by the time I returned. When I walk up to him he says, “There you are!” I tell him I had been in the restroom. I didn’t promise him not to lie. He doesn’t question me, which makes me feel guilty, but I’m admittedly relieved at the same time.

  The rest of our date is uneventful; Luke keeps his word and does
n’t leave. When Noah and I return to the rink to skate some more and talk, Luke sits at a table drinking coffee, eyes on me while I go round and round the rink. I finally decide I’ve had enough, I’m cold and tired, not to mention uncomfortable with Luke sitting and staring at me. Noah and I make our way to remove our skates and return them to the person manning the skate rental counter. While there, I notice Luke out of the corner of my eye, leaning against a counter, still watching me. How Noah doesn’t notice him, I have no idea.

  I don’t think it can get more awkward, but I’m wrong. While walking me to my car, Noah turns to me so we can say our goodbyes. He leans in for a hug, “Thanks for a great date. I really enjoy spending time with you.”

  Noah is so tall that when I hug him I place my head on his chest turning it to the side. Within my line of sight, I see Luke leaning against his car watching me. He has his hands crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face.

  Noah pulls away from me and leans in. I feel dread enter my belly. If I thought a hug was uncomfortable, a kiss is going to make me throw up knowing Luke is watching. I feel my eyes widen just before Noah places a brief kiss on my lips, then he pulls back and looks at me questioningly. I know he would like more but I have a horrifying vision of Mr. Peeping Tom stalking over here and ripping Noah’s lips from mine should I give in. The truth is, I pull away from Noah and smile because I feel nothing for him. He’s a nice guy and damn fine looking, but there’s no chemistry.

  I try my best to forget about the man watching us from the back of the parking lot, “I had a nice time with you too.”

  “I would really like to see you again. I will give you a call this week and maybe we can go out again?” he seems shy when he asks me, and I am angry with myself a second later when I realize that before answering, I subtlety looked over at Luke.

  Feeling unsure about seeing him again I don’t make any promises, “I will talk to you later.” I may have said that rather loudly hoping my voice would carry a bit.