Dating: For the Assist

by Stephanie Street

  I smiled because he was right. It was such a Piper thing to do.

  “You ready for tonight,” I asked because I didn’t know what else to say.

  Luke gave me a funny look before shrugging. “I guess. It should be fun, huh? If nothing else, I have a hot date.” He winked when he said that last part.

  “Yeah, well, just trying to do my part, you know. To help you get Abby back.” I probably shouldn’t have said it. And by the look on Luke’s face, he wished I hadn’t. But I couldn’t seem to help it. I had to be real. With him and with myself.

  “Right,” he agreed, stopping to look deep into my eyes. “Well, I appreciate the effort regardless of the reasons. You’re beautiful.”

  Aw, man. Why’d he have to go and be sweet? If there was one thing I knew it was this, I was helpless against a handsome, sweet, and attentive Luke and it was prom night. He looked amazing in that tux. He was practically contractually obligated to be attentive since I was his date. Add sweet into the mix and I was a goner!

  As it turned out, we didn’t have to rely on Piper’s timer to get out of our mother’s photographic clutches. We quickly posed for no less than a hundred clicks on their phone cameras with several minutes to spare. Piper grabbed Drew’s hand when my mom paused to post a particularly good shot (her words) to her Instagram and made a run for it. Luke and I were quick to follow, or as quick as I could in four inch heels.

  Out front, two black limousines waited.

  Luke pulled up short when he spotted them. “Hey, how come there are two?” He glanced at me and then at Piper. “I thought we were going together.”

  Piper grinned. “Change of plans. You guys get your own ride and your own dinner, too. We made separate reservations.” With that, she and Drew darted toward the first car and slipped in. Grinning hugely, they both waved out the window as it pulled away from the curb.

  “What?” I squawked just a little too late considering they were halfway down the street by the time the word left my lips. That hadn’t been the plan. Different cars, sure. But different restaurants, too?

  Luke turned to me. “You didn’t know about this?” It sounded like an accusation.

  I had known about the cars, that must have been what he saw when he looked into my eyes. I wasn’t a good liar and Luke knew it.

  “Argh!” he growled, throwing his head back and dropping his shoulders. “This is some kind of setup?” Straightening again, he focused his gaze directly on me.

  I knew exactly what he was getting at. He thought I was trying to trap him into something. And, I guess, he was partially right. It had been the plan for us to have some alone time by taking a separate car from Piper and Drew. I should have realized Piper had more up her sleeve. It didn’t make sense to take two cars to the same place, after all, and we were best friends. Luke was her brother! Why on earth wouldn’t we drive together to dinner and to the dance?

  Officially, I was an idiot.

  “I’m sorry,” I said placing a hand on his sleeve. “I knew about the car, but not the dinner reservations. We were supposed to go to the same place.” I glanced at the remaining limo and hoped to all heck he knew where we were supposed to be going.

  Luke stared at me, probably deciding if he believed my story or not.

  “I swear.” Confession time. “I think Piper was playing a bit of matchmaker, but I had no idea they were ditching us completely.”

  It was a moment or two before he responded. And then it was as though I could see him visibly shrug off whatever irritation he was feeling with the situation.

  “It’s okay.” He smiled as he slung his arm across my shoulders. “We’ll have more fun without them anyway. The last thing I needed tonight was to have to watch Thompson stick his tongue down my sister’s throat.” Luke made a face. I knew exactly what he meant. Piper and Drew had no issues whatsoever with PDA lately.

  I shuddered, half because I agreed with him that Piper and Drew were gross and half because any kind of physical contact with Luke seemed to have the effect on me. Good thing I had the Piper and Drew thing to attribute it to.

  “Should we go?” he asked.

  “We might as well. Since the car is here. And it’s paid for,” I added.

  Luke threw his chin back and laughed. “It is paid for. I wondered why it cost so much.” He shot me a deadpan look. “Because there were two. Blast Drew. I should have stuck him with the price of them both.”

  The driver, obviously having seen Drew and Piper’s mad dash, waited by the curb to open the door. How awkward! I wished we’d been faster and didn’t have to stand on ceremony. Luke nodded to the man and held my hand while I sat down in the seat, scooting over to make room for him beside me. He held back his grin until the door shut and then we both burst into laughter.

  “Oh, my goodness,” I gasped. “How embarrassing!”

  Luke chuckled beside me. “No kidding. I had no idea what to do. Should I have shaken his hand? Offered a tip?”

  We both laughed again at the absurd situation when we heard a throat clearing from the front seat.

  My eyes widened.

  Oh, no! The divider separating the driver from the back seat was down. He’d heard everything we said since getting into the car.

  I squeezed Luke’s hand. He glanced down at me, his face blanched.

  I giggled. Luke widened his eyes in a what are you doing? kind of way before a laugh burst from his lips. We giggled like little kids for several moments before we were able to get ourselves under control.

  Finally Luke took charge, leaning forward to talk to the driver. “Sorry about that. We’re new at this.”

  “Not a problem,” the driver said. He was a middle aged man with kind eyes that sparkled with amusement in the rearview mirror. “I get that all the time.”

  That probably wasn’t true, but I appreciated his kindness trying to alleviate our embarrassment.

  “My sister didn’t tell me until about three minutes ago that we were heading to a different restaurant. Do you happen to know where we are going?” Luke asked, impressing me with his good manners.

  The driver nodded. “Yes, sir. I have your itinerary and directions right here.” He pointed to a display on the dash.

  “Awesome.” Luke glanced at me. I could tell he wanted to say something along the lines of ‘let’s get a move on!’, but that would have been rude so he stayed quiet.

  “Are you both ready,” the driver asked, obviously reading the situation correctly.

  Luke’s shoulders sagged with relief. “Yes, thank you.”

  The driver nodded again. “Yes, sir. I’ll put the divider up.” The twinkle was back in his eyes.

  “Thanks!” Luke called out just before the divider closed.

  For a few seconds all was quiet. The car pulled away from the curb. Luke and I glanced at each other and that was all it took for us to start laughing again.

  “Oh, my gosh! I can’t believe that just happened!” I said gently wiping the moisture from below my eyes from laughing so hard.

  Luke scoffed. “It wasn’t that bad. I’ve had way more embarrassing moments than that one.”

  I stopped messing with my eyes and faced him. “You have? When? Tell me!” He’d made me curious. I thought I knew about all there was to know about Luke Hines. Hearing about his most embarrassing moment was right up there with knowing boxer or briefs (it was boxer-briefs, by the way) and that he used to play Barbies with Piper and me when we were younger.

  Before he could say anything, the driver’s voice filled the back of the limo. We both jolted at the sound.

  “If you need to speak to me there is a button on the door beside you. Otherwise, the divider is sound proof. My name is Tim and I hope you have a pleasant evening.”

  Luke and I both glanced at the door. There was indeed a button labeled ‘intercom’ in the same place where the door lock and window controls were located.

  “Should we respond? Let him know we heard?” I whispered even though Tim said he couldn�
�t hear us unless we used the intercom.

  Luke’s brow furrowed as he looked at the button again. “Probably, huh?”

  I elbowed him. “You do it. But hurry. If you wait too long it will be awkward.”

  “Really? More awkward than it already is?” he said, his hand poised over the intercom button.

  “Just do it, you idiot!” I cried pushing at his arm.

  Luke rolled his eyes as he pressed the button. “Thanks, Tim.”

  Luke sat back with a sigh of relief. We’d done it, er, he’d done it. Talked to our limo driver.

  Throwing my arm over my forehead, I leaned back against the seat dramatically. “Whew, I’m glad that’s over.”

  Luke grinned as he settled in beside me. Our arms touched. The warmth from his body seeped through the fabric of his tuxedo jacket and for the first time since this whole thing started, I thought maybe we might have a fun night.

  12

  Luke

  Less than ten minutes from my house, the limo pulled to a stop. Before I could decide if I should just open the door myself, literally I had no idea about limousine protocol, Tim was there doing the honors with a flourish.

  I nodded to him once I got out then offered my hand to help Dannika. Her dress was long and not so tight she couldn’t move and I was glad. I hated when girls wore dresses that were so impractical they couldn’t get in and out of a car with out flashing everyone or ripping a seam.

  Dannika took one look at the restaurant and grinned. My sister knew me well. The restaurant she chose served my favorite, authentic Italian cuisine. I much preferred pasta over steak. Not that I didn’t enjoy a nice slab of meat every now and then, but in my opinion, nothing compared to a hearty lasagna. The good news? Dannika loved Italian, too.

  Since we had a reservation, we didn’t have to wait to be seated at our table in a corner booth. It was a nice restaurant, but not everyone was dressed as fancy as us. Some people were in jeans and others in what my mom would call ‘Sunday best’. There were even a few other couples that were obviously on their way to prom after dinner. We were a bit conspicuous as we followed the hostess through tables and chairs until we reached our booth. I noticed more than one mom-type nudge a dad-type to get a load of us.

  Maybe they were remembering their own proms.

  That thought made me not mind the attention so much.

  It didn’t take us long to look at the menu and decide what we wanted. Once our waiter took our order, we made small talk about how much we loved Italian food, how big of jerks Piper and Drew were for ditching us, and how we were determined to have more fun than them tonight.

  How we planned to accomplish that or judge it, I had no idea.

  “Oh, my goodness! This is so good!” Dannika moaned around a bite of her lobster ravioli once it was brought to our table. I wasn’t a fan of seafood, especially in my pasta, but I could appreciate a girl who appreciated food. Abby’s taste in food was less refined. She preferred diner food, particularly breakfast for dinner, and rarely wanted to go out someplace nice. That had been good for my wallet, not my pallet.

  “Mine is, too. Want a bite?” I stabbed a portion with my fork and held it out.

  Danni’s eyes lit. “You don’t mind?”

  I shook my head and then watched in wonder as her still ruby lips enveloped the lasagna on my fork. I’d never been so entranced by a pair of lips in my life. And that lipstick! How did she keep it from fading? It had to be some kind of girl magic.

  “Mmm. That is good,” she moaned.

  I almost slid off my chair.

  The girl was sexy. I had no idea when it happened or why I hadn’t noticed before we kissed, but it was true. What was worse, I didn’t know what to do with that information.

  “Do you want some of mine?” she asked forcing me to pull my thoughts away from launching myself over the table and kissing her.

  “Wha-?” It took me a second to catch up. “Oh. No. I’m good. I don’t do seafood.”

  Dannika frowned. “Seriously? I’ve seen you eat almost a whole tray of fish sticks before.”

  “Apparently, I only like formerly frozen and breaded fish. And only if it’s dipped generously in tartar sauce.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “That’s gross. I can’t believe you’ll eat fish sticks and not lobster smothered in a delightful cream sauce,” she said repeating the description from the menu.

  “It’s a mystery,” I replied making her giggle. She had a nice giggle. It wasn’t annoying or overused.

  “No, the mystery is why you want Abby back.”

  Ooh! She wasn’t holding back! “Ouch, Danni. Why don’t you tell me how you really feel?” I feigned stabbing myself in the heart.

  She made a face. “Seriously, though. She dumped you for another guy. Why would you want her back after that?” She shook her head. “That doesn’t make any sense to me. Do you really love her that much?”

  Whoa, whoa! Love?

  “Who said anything about love?” Love? I was starting to feel a bit faint.

  Across from me Dannika narrowed her eyes, her pretty lips pinched as she considered me.

  “You don’t love her?” Danni threw her hands in the air. Thankfully there were no bits of lobster in a delightful cream sauce attached to her fork or they would have gone flying. “Then what the heck is all this?”

  My forehead pinched as I worked to decipher what she was talking about. “All this what?”

  She gaped before getting a hold of herself. “This date! This you and me. Here. Going to prom. And whatever else you’ve been doing to try to win her back.”

  Uh.

  I quickly schooled my features to look less deer in the headlights and more suave. From the way she rolled her eyes, I’d guess I wasn’t doing a very good job.

  “You mean you haven’t been trying to win her back?” Dannika asked, clearly exasperated.

  I started to squirm in my seat before I could catch myself. Nothing said ‘lacks confidence’ quite as succinctly as fidgeting like a first grader in the principals office.

  “Oh, my goodness!” Dannika threw her head back and stared at the ceiling.

  I studied her slender throat for several long seconds and then her eyes met mine again. She put her hands on the table, palms down, and leaned forward.

  “Okay. First. We have to discuss something.” She sucked in a deep breath and closed her eyes while shaking her head. “It’s going to be truly horrible.”

  I waited, but she didn’t say anything more. And I was dying. What was this truly horrible thing we needed to discuss?

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Feelings, Luke. We have to talk about your feelings.”

  “Ehh.” I recoiled. The last thing any guy wanted to talk about was his feelings. I shook my head. “No. Nope. Just…no.” Especially, not with Dannika about whom my feelings were decidedly- confused.

  Across the table, she made a face. “Listen, this whole thing was about you getting Abby back. Are you telling me you want her back and you don’t even love her?”

  I wished she would stop bandying that word around. Who, at our age, could say they were in love? We were too young, weren’t we?

  “I never said that.” That’s right, Luke. Stall.

  Dannika sat back, her penetrating gaze pinning me to my chair. What did she want from me?

  “So, you are in love with her?”

  I tugged at my collar. Was it getting hot in here?

  “Luke!”

  “No!” I practically shouted, planting my palms on either side of my plate. “No. I’m not in love with Abby. Okay, are you happy now?”

  “Luke?” A very small, very familiar voice spoke at my elbow. I glanced up.

  “Abby?” What was she doing here? My gaze darted around the room. “Where’s Aiden?”

  Instead of answering, her pretty blue eyes, lined with too much black, filled with moisture. I watched with horror as her bottom lip trembled.

  Oh, no. She’d obviou
sly heard me tell Dannika I wasn’t in love with her. Of course, I’d never intended to say that where Abby could hear. And now she was crying.

  I scrambled from the booth. Gripping her arms, I tried to comfort her as I scanned the dining room for Aiden. Where was the guy?

  “Luke?” Abby spoke into my chest. I backed up a step and bent my head forward so I could hear better.

  “Yeah?”

  “You don’t love me?” she sniffled. “I thought we had something. I thought I meant something to you.”

  “Was that before or after you dumped him for the baseball star?” Dannika asked. She still sat on her side of the table, arms crossed over her chest while she watched the scene with Abby unfold, a look of disgust on her face.

  Abby gasped, whirling to face Dannika. “You’re just jealous. You’ve had a crush on Luke forever and everybody knows it!”

  Dannika’s eyes widened before narrowing. I knew that look, but I was too stunned to do anything about what was going to happen next.

  Danni slowly rose from the table. Glancing around, I was glad for the moment no one was paying any attention to us. For all intents and purposes, we looked like friends who’d paused from eating to say hello. That was so not what was happening.

  “Danni-” I started to say, but she stopped me with a hand on my arm.

  “Babe, don’t worry. I got this.” Her hand slid from my arm to wrap around my waist.

  Babe?

  “You know, Abby, I really should thank you.” Dannika batted her eyes and I got the feeling Abby didn’t have a clue what was going on. I had a feeling maybe I didn’t either.

  Abby crossed her arms over her chest and cocked one hip. “Oh, really? What for?”

  Danni didn’t miss a beat. With her free hand, she reached out to trace her fingers over my chest. She toyed with the edge of my jacket before slipping her hand inside it.

  Whoa.

  Jerking my eyes to meet hers, I was struck by the emotion swirling in them. I was spellbound. Dannika had me firmly in her sights and while a part of me knew I should end whatever it was she was doing, namely making my heart race and stealing my breath, I couldn’t find it in myself to do it. Basically, I was too excited to see what she would do next.