“Really? What was he doing?”
“Just … standing there, looking at me.” It had been unnerving, staring into those deep, brown eyes. Even in my dreams they were probing, as if Dream Luke could see the things I didn’t want anyone else to see. “I couldn’t get away from him, even after I woke up. Every time I fell back asleep, the dream would replay itself.”
Kinsley chewed absently on a piece of bacon. “What do you think it means? Do you have a thing for Luke?”
“No!” I insisted. “I’m with Dain. I want to be with him.”
Kinsley shrugged. “He has one for you, you know.”
My mouth dropped open, my fingers tightening around my fork. “What?”
“Didn’t you know? God, Jenn, everyone knows. At least everyone in the house does.”
“How do you know that? Did he say something to you?”
“He didn’t have to,” she insisted. “It’s so obvious. He’s always had a soft spot for you, but I think he’s just been too scared to say anything.”
“Scared? Luke? Kinsley, come on. I know him just as well as you do, we’ve lived in that apartment together for a while now. Luke isn’t afraid of any girl.”
“Not the ones he doesn’t care about,” she said. “Think about it, Jenn. He hasn’t had a serious girlfriend since Rebecca.”
Rebecca had been Luke’s high school sweetheart. They’d graduated together, but Rebecca had been accepted to the University of Houston, while Luke had chosen UT. The long distance relationship had lasted about a year, and had ended when she’d dumped him for another guy. Luke had been a mess for the first few months after that, and once he’d recovered Luke the playboy had been born. Between him and Christian, they’d gone through more girls than an NBA team.
“Ever since then,” Kinsley continued, “he’s been playing around, but the truth is, he’s pretty much in love with you. Haven’t you ever noticed how protective he gets when you start dating someone new?”
I frowned and tried to remember. It wasn’t like I’d had a lot of promising prospects lately, but now that Kinsley mentioned it, Luke did tend to act weird around my dates. “The guys are protective of all of us,” I argued. “They always have been.”
“It’s different with you for Luke,” she said. “Geesh, I can’t believe you didn’t know.”
“And I can’t believe you didn’t tell me! All this information would have been really helpful before now. Maybe I wouldn’t have been so caught off guard when he kissed me.”
Kinsley’s eyes gaped wide and her mouth made a round ‘o’ of surprise. “What? When did this happen?”
“You can’t tell anybody,” I insisted. “Especially not Chloe.”
“Of course not!” she said, leaning toward me and smiling as if I’d just given her all the answers to this week’s Calculus test. “When was this?”
“Friday,” I answered, “when we were at Kingdom.”
Amazingly, her eyes got even wider. “I was wondering where you guys disappeared to.”
“It kind of just happened,” I confided. “One minute we were all dancing, and somehow the two of us got separated from you, Christian, and Chloe. He went for it and I …”
“You what? Did you kiss him back?”
How to answer that question without giving Kinsley false hope that something could happen between me and Luke eluded me. I had no doubt that if she’d known about Luke’s supposed crush on me all this time, she’d been hoping he’d eventually make a move. “Yes, but I felt horrible after. I think things between Dain and me could really be going somewhere and I almost ruined it.”
“How was it? Was it good? Better than Dain?”
I thought of Dain’s kiss, gentle yet searching, versus Luke’s kiss, possessive and dominating. It was like apples and oranges. “It was different, not better,” I said honestly. “I can’t say it wasn’t good.”
Kinsley squealed. “Oh, I knew this would happen!”
“Nothing is happening,” I said, standing and loading all of my trash onto a tray. “So forget I told you. If Luke really does like me, he has a funny way of showing it. Instead of plowing through half the cheer squad, he could have come to me before and said something. Now, he’s only speaking up because he’s jealous of Dain and I’m not about to let that ruin my new relationship. If jealousy is motivating him, then he’s coming after me for the wrong reasons. I don’t want someone who wants me because he doesn’t want to see me with anyone else. I think I deserve better than that.”
Kinsley followed suit, draining her Styrofoam coffee cup before slinging her backpack over her shoulder. “You’re right,” she answered. “I guess I didn’t see it that way. Dain’s a nice guy and you’ve been happy since you started dating him. Forget I said anything about Luke.”
Easier said than done, when he was everywhere, all the time.
Chapter 9
Day 23
“Would you stop fidgeting? You look perfect.”
I double checked my make-up in the flip-down mirror on the passenger side of Dain’s truck before flipping it shut. He was right, I was obsessing, but it was only because I was nervous. “I’m sorry,” I said, leaning back against the leather seat. “I’m freaking out a little bit.”
Dain held the steering wheel with one hand, reaching across the center dash with the other to clasp my hand tightly. “Relax, my parents won’t bite.”
Biting, I wasn’t worried about. “What if they don’t like me?”
“Not a chance.”
“What if I say something embarrassing?”
“Wouldn’t be normal if you didn’t.” I pinched his arm in response and he laughed. “It’ll be fine,” he said. “I just want them to meet my girl.”
He made it sound so simple, but to me this was huge. That he wanted me to meet his mother so soon after we started dating told me everything I needed to know about his feelings. This, I thought, is how a guy acts with a girl he’s serious about. I glanced over at Dain, slightly calmed by his steady presence. He was relaxed, and stunningly handsome in his dark jeans and white, button-up shirt. A casual dinner with Dain’s parents; how hard could it be?
“You must really like me or something,” I quipped.
Dain squeezed my hand as he turned into the parking lot of Chez Zee, the restaurant we were meeting his parents at. He swiveled the large truck into a parking space before turning to me. “Like is an understatement,” he declared. “I want you to know that I’m serious about us, Jenn. I know things have moved kind of fast, but I can’t help myself when it comes to you.”
My heart hammered in my chest and I leaned closer to him over the center dash. “You don’t have to introduce me to your parents for me to know that,” I replied honestly. Dain did little things almost every day to make his feelings known. Phone calls, flowers, visits, kisses that left my head reeling. So far, there hadn’t been any other opportunities for us to go all the way, but I wasn’t stressing about it anymore. I saw it as an eventuality, one that would happen when the time was right. Just being with Dain was enough for now.
“I know,” he answered, coming closer to kiss me gently. “When it comes to you, I can’t stop myself from wanting to move forward. I want so many things with you, and I want them all at once. If I’m rushing you, you can say so and I’ll slow down.”
“No,” I insisted, kissing him back. My breath sped up, matching his as he reached up to tangle his fingers in my hair. “I don’t want you to slow down.”
Dain pulled back, smiling. “Good,” he said. “Then you’ll let me give you this.” He reached across me and into the glove box, coming out with a small, white gift bag. “When I saw it, I thought of you immediately.”
Inside the bag was a small jeweler’s box. “Oh, Dain,” I exclaimed as I opened it, revealing an oval-shaped pendant with a pink stone in the middle on a gold chain. “It’s beautiful.”
“Just like you,” he murmured, removing it from the box and unclasping it. I leaned forward as he fastened it
around my neck.
“You really shouldn’t have,” I whispered as I fingered the pendant lovingly. “It’s too much. I can’t accept this.”
His fingers gently massaged the back of my neck where the clasp rested against my skin. “Yes you can, and no it’s not,” he said. “Not for you. Do you like it?”
“I love it.”
He nodded. “Good. I see my mom’s BMW over there, they’re already here. Are you ready?”
The night passed by in a blur, so quickly that I barely remembered any of it after it was over. After meeting Ronald and Hannah Peterson, it was easy to see where Dain got his looks and charisma from. They were just as perfect as he was—tall, blond, charming. His father winked at Dain and congratulated him on nabbing a pretty girl. His mother exclaimed over the necklace Dain had given me and immediately started talking about weddings and grandchildren. Dain laughed her off and told her to relax before she scared me away. The dinner went smoothly, surprisingly, and I even managed not to say anything embarrassing, trip over my own two feet, or spill my iced tea.
Afterward, we said good-bye to Dain’s parents and only managed to leave once Hannah had secured a promise from me to join them for Sunday dinner sometime. As Dain led me back to the truck, my step was light and my nerves were gone.
“See?” he teased. “Didn’t I tell you it would be fine? They loved you.”
“That’s because I’m a loveable girl,” I replied with a wink.
Dain grinned and wrapped his arms around my waist, pressing me up against the truck. “And what about me?” he asked.
I held on to his shoulders and stood on my tiptoes to kiss him. “You are perfect,” I answered. “Almost too perfect. Are you sure those are your real parents and you weren’t created in a lab somewhere?”
He laughed. “Oh, I’m real, all right. If you come home with me, I’ll show you just how real.”
I melted into him as he kissed me again, his hips flexing against mine. In the darkened parking lot, we were practically invisible to the people coming and going behind Dain’s massive truck. “Yes,” I panted against his shoulder, as his hand slipped under my dress to find my hip. “Let’s get out of here.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” he said, giving my hip a squeeze before moving his hand, allowing my dress to fall back into place. Between us, I could feel his phone vibrate in his pocket. “Damn it,” he mumbled as he went for the phone. The blue light of the screen illuminated his face as he stared at a text message. He frowned. “Sorry, babe,” he mumbled. “I really want to—God, you don’t even know how much—but it’s work.”
I groaned, fisting my hands in the front of his shirt. “Do you have to go?”
He nodded, disappointment clear on his face. “I do if I want to keep my job. I’m sorry.”
I sighed, but nodded in understanding. “It’s okay.”
“How about this,” he said, opening the passenger door for me. “I’m having a costume party Halloween night, just a little get together, mostly people from work. Christian’s coming, and I was thinking you should, too. It’ll be fun. And then after everyone leaves, we’ll have the apartment to ourselves. You can stay the night.”
My skin tingled with anticipation at the thought of an entire night with Dain, uninterrupted. Finally. “That sounds great. I have the haunted house earlier, but that’s over at nine.”
“Perfect,” he said as he slid into the driver’s seat. “The party starts at eight. In fact, why don’t you bring your other roommates, too?”
Thinking of Luke and Dain in the same room left a sour taste in my mouth, but I forced the thought aside and nodded. “Sounds great.”
His hand rested on my leg as he pulled out of the parking lot. “I can’t wait.”
“Me either,” I answered honestly. Finally, the moment I’d been waiting for was near. That fact that I had about a week to plan made it even better. Even if Luke was going to be there for the party, I wouldn’t let anything spoil the night. It was going to be perfect.
Dain left me at the front door of my apartment with a kiss and I floated inside on cloud nine. All it took was the sight of Kara and Luke to bring me crashing down again. I froze at the top of the stairs, watching as they stood framed in his bedroom doorway, kissing. Luke was shirtless, as usual, one arm propping him up against the door frame and the other hanging at his side. Kara clung to his neck, standing on her toes as she snaked her tongue down his throat. Nausea rolled over me at the sight and I reached up absently, clinging to the pendant Dain had given me.
It doesn’t matter, I told myself as I slowly crept past them. I don’t care.
Then why couldn’t I stop watching with a tight fist of revulsion in my chest? Why didn’t I just go in my room and close the door?
When Luke’s eyes flew open and met mine over Kara’s shoulder, I could only stand there, locked in his stare. Silently, he broke the kiss. Grabbing Kara’s hand, he pulled until she was over the threshold. His jaw clenched, he reached for the door and swung it closed. Only after they were out of sight could I force my feet to move. Alone in my own room, I leaned against the door and closed my eyes, my fingers still tight around the pendant. Eventually, my legs gave out and I sank down to the carpet, my head resting against the wood behind me.
***
Day 29
My plan to avoid Luke backfired on Halloween night, big time. For one thing, I’d forgotten that we’d signed up to man the pie throwing booth together months ago. Since everyone else who’d volunteered for the festival and haunted house had their assignments, there was no chance of a switcheroo—not even with Kinsley, who was running the apple bobbing booth dressed in an authentic Indian sari sent from her grandmother in India. When I arrived, dressed in my Bettie Boop costume—complete with little red dress, heels, and black wig—Luke was already setting up in the pie toss booth. Dressed like a greaser from the 50s, he was adorable—as much as I hated to admit he was—in tight jeans and white T-shirt, with a fake pack of cigarettes tucked into his sleeve. He frowned when I approached, although his eyes did skim my bare legs a bit before he went back to setting up.
“Hey,” he grunted.
“Hi,” I answered, in an attempt at civility. The setting sun made his slicked-back hair gleam golden brown. I put down my box of empty pie tins and went about setting up the banner we’d made advertising the pie toss. All around us, volunteers were stringing up lights, putting up booths and signs, and filling bins with stuffed animals and other prizes. At the end of the row of booths was the haunted house, which had been set up inside a massive tent, the inside blocked off like a maze so a person had no choice but to walk all the way through. Chloe was manning the entrance, collecting tickets dressed like Glenda the Good Witch. Christian, dressed as Superman, complete with cape and slicked hair, was frying Twinkies at the food stand.
We worked together in silence for a while, only coming face to face when it was time to fill the prize bins.
“Let me do that,” he said, gently pushing me aside to tote the heavy bin closer to the booth. Soon, we were all set up and people started trickling in, some in costume. Students mingled with families and kids. Luke took his place behind a wooden board we’d painted to look like a clown, sticking his face through the hole. We’d decided he would be the pie target, and he’d been good enough to go along with it. I giggled at the sight and he scowled. “Laugh it up, Jenn,” he mumbled. “If I were you, I’d be worried about these kids’ aim. A stray pie would be all it took to ruin that dress.”
I wrinkled my nose at him and busied myself filling the pie tins with the spray cans of whipped cream nearby. A line of people had already formed. “If I were you, I’d be less worried about me and more worried about washing this crap out of your hair when this is over.”
By the time I got ten tins filled, my first customer had lost his patience. Bouncing up and down in front of the booth, he held two red tickets up to me, his eyes wide.
“Hey little guy,” I said with a s
mile. “Think you can hit my friend here in the face with a pie?”
“I’m the pitcher on my baseball team,” he answered proudly, smiling and showcasing the gums where his two front teeth used to be.
“Oh, well you’re an expert,” I replied. Handing him a pie, I stepped aside and watched as he missed. Twice. Disappointment filled him until I led him to the prize bin. “Everyone gets a prize. You get one of these smaller ones just for trying.”
He grinned again as he selected a plush baseball. The next few kids missed as well, as did their parents, who were taunted by Luke every step of the way.
“Aw, come on!” he bellowed at a man dressed like Captain America. “You couldn’t hit the side of a barn!”
Red-faced, the man gave me another ticket, taking the pie tin before I’d even finished filling it. The pie hit just above Luke’s head and a tiny plop of whipped cream landed on Luke’s forehead. He laughed as it sluiced down his face, lapping at it once it had touched his lips.
“Mmmm,” he said with a wink. “Tasty. All right, who’s next! Try your luck!”
A little girl in a Tinker Bell costume was next. She was so adorable, it was all I could do not to tilt my head to the side and go ‘awwwwww’!
“Can I try?” she asked, handing me one crumpled ticket.
Luke smiled. “What a little cutie,” he said. “Come on, princess, give it a shot. Think you can hit me?”
She slipped a finger in her mouth and shrugged. “Sure you can,” I said, handing her a tin. “You know why? Because little fairies get a special advantage.” I rounded the booth and knelt the pick up the little girl. She clung to the pie tin as I brought her into the booth, holding her right up in front of Luke’s face. “All right, sweetheart, let it fly!”
Laughter erupted behind me as she smashed the pie right into his face. I sat her on her feet before handing her the biggest prize there was—a humongous, pink, stuffed unicorn. She ran back to her parents happily as Luke glared at me through a mask of whipped cream. It was too funny not to laugh. I doubled over, clutching my stomach, taking several minutes to compose myself before I could go back to running the booth.
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