Chapter Five

Ruby

After we got safely inside, Luke glanced over at me, I quickly glanced back and then away. What had we done, it was bad enough that we had almost kissed out there in the middle of the yard. But we’d been caught at it by Jason. Luke’s best friend, who would probably use it to tease him for the next twelve years.

“Listen,” Luke said, “I’ve got to run up to the store for a couple of things. Feel free to grab a shower if you want. I’ll be right back.”

And with that, he was out of the house so fast even Mrs. Beasley would have been impressed.

I was left there wondering what now? Was he afraid I was going to jump him? That I would throw myself at him and he was terrified of being trapped here with me? Was that it? Because it sure seemed like he couldn’t get away fast enough.

As I stepped out of the shower I grabbed a towel to rub my hair dry and looked at my skirt and top on the edge of the sink. They just didn’t seem right for the situation.

Instead, I grabbed his T-shirt and hoody. The pants were way too wet from the snow, so I’d have to wait a bit. Once I had the hoody on, I had to laugh. It covered more than the skirt.

As I left the bathroom in Luke delicious sweatshirt, I looked at the walls of the long hallway. I hadn’t really noticed before, but all the pictures were of Luke growing up.

I smiled to myself. His parents were proud of him and not afraid to show it.

Starting at the living room, I made my way down the hall, checking out each picture. Luke and the rest of the Lakeland boys in little league uniforms with his dad and what I was pretty sure was Jason’s dad standing to the side. Obviously their coaches.

Next up was the four boys at some lake. He must have been about twelve then, I thought. That long lanky stage. Already a killer smile. The kind of boy who knew how lucky he was. The kind of boy you wanted to be your friend.

That picture was followed up by one of Luke and his dad in a canoe, both of them smiling at the camera. My heart hitched to see the fourteen-year-old boy I remembered from eighth grade. He and his friends would cruise through the halls like they didn’t have a care in the world. Like they owned the place.

Flashing back to that time, I thought of my mom disappearing for two weeks. She never did tell me where she went or even why she came back.

Sighing, I stopped before the last picture. Luke in a suit at a wedding. Probably a cousin or something, going by a slight resemblance to the groom. The boy cleaned up nice, I thought. Very nice, if you were into hot guys in suits.

As I finished examining the last picture, I realized that I was right outside his room and the door was slightly ajar.

Okay, tell me that if he wanted me to stay out, he wouldn’t have made sure the door was closed. Obviously, it was no big deal to him.

I hesitated for a moment, just a moment, then slightly pushed the door open.

Way neater than I expected. The bed was made. No dirty laundry scattered everywhere. No beer bottles or water bongs.

Not your typical boy’s room. Way different than most of the boy’s rooms I had been in.

A single bed with a grandma quilt against the far wall. A bookcase filled to overflowing. So typical Luke, not a shelf with a couple of books. But a five-foot book case.

A desk with a lamp and a laptop computer resting closed. My fingers itched to get onto his computer but I had some morals. Not many, but some. And a guy’s computer was sort of over the line.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped in to the room to check-out what books he liked. I had to smile to myself when I saw everything from Asimov to Tolstoy. The guy had a wide range of tastes.

Running my fingers along the back of the books, I turned  and gasped with surprise.

There, on the back of his door was a full-size drawing of two characters that looked like they had stepped out of a video game.

A big guy with bulging muscles, one hand holding a large silver sword. The other wrapped around the waist of a hot chick in leather, holding her own sword.

Both of them stood on a ridge overlooking a green valley. The combination of worry and confidence on their faces was amazing. The detail of their outfits, the subtle shading of the distant sunset. Everything drew me in.

I studied the picture closely. It was obviously an original. Maybe the mock up for a poster. Luke had probably picked it up in some online auction.

Smiling to myself, I glanced down at the signature and froze.

L.S. ‘16

No way, I thought. It was impossible. No way Luke drew this. It was too good. Luke was numbers. Luke was doing the right thing all the time. He’d never have wasted time learning how to draw like this. The hours and hours it would take. Years really. Only someone whose passion was drawing could put in the time to reach this skill level.

Besides, the picture was art. It would take a poetic soul to capture that look, the emotion. And up until that moment, I had never really thought of Luke as a poetic person.

Studying the picture, I smiled to myself. Well, Luke Sinclair, I thought, what other secrets are you keeping from the world.

The slamming of a car door made me jump into the next universe.

Scrambling, I got out of there and put the door in the exact position I had found it. Taking a deep breath, I calmly walked down the hall as if I had every right to be there.

When Luke stepped in, he smiled at me and held up a bag.

“Mountain Dew and Doritos. You can’t play video games without them, it’s a regulation.”

I laughed, he hadn’t been in a hurry to get away from me.

Luke smiled as he looked at me, then suddenly his smile dropped away as he finally saw me standing there in nothing more than his hoody.

“Um, the pants are too wet, they should be okay in a bit,”  I said with a slight shrug.

He gulped and slowly nodded. Suddenly unable to look at me directly. Instead, it was a sideways glance. I had to smile. I knew that guy look. That hungry look. Luke Sinclair thought I was hot.

An idea I was totally okay with.

As we started down the stairs to the basement, Luke started listing off a dozen different games for me to choose from.

“Medal of Honor,” I said, surprising him.

He spun around on the stairs and looked up at me.

“You serious?”

“What? You think that’s only a guy’s game. Come on, I’ll kick your butt and you know it.”

He laughed and hurried to get the game going before I changed my mind. The boy was in for a serious lesson in humility.

As we settled down on the couch I shivered and pulled the quilt over my legs.

Luke frowned with a concerned look that melted my heart, “You cold?”

I laughed, “Don’t worry about it,” I answered as I grabbed the controller.

“Hey, I’ve got an idea,” he said as he jumped up and hurried out the back door.

What now? I wondered as I bent to try and see what he was doing out there. My curiosity was pretty high, but not high enough to get out from under that quilt.

I needn’t have worried as he stepped back in, his arms loaded with firewood.

“Give me a minute and I’ll have you as warm as bread toasted on both sides.”

I could only stare in disbelief as he squatted in front of the fire and started arranging some newspaper and kindling. Those narrow hips in those tight jeans made my stomach curl up into a tight ball.

Once he had the starter stuff going, he added the larger logs and stepped back.

So, Luke Sinclair, I thought. He could get a fire going in three minutes.

“That will warm the place up in no time,” he said as he rejoined me on the couch.

I could only nod and stare dumbfoundedly at the yellow flames dancing in the fireplace. A warm, comforting smell of charred pine washed over me and I sank into my dreams.

After that, the day took on a hazy, foggy around the edges kind of feel. Mrs. Beasley made her way down to be petted. We pigged out on  a Dew and Doritos, and played every game in his library.

I laughed when he looked at me with a shocked, surprised expression the first time I kicked his butt. It was so darn cute. Of course, I didn’t return the favor when he kicked mine.

Nope, instead, I buckled down and made sure it didn’t happen too often.

The day flew by, Luke and I joking about the games. Luke putting another log on the fire, Mrs. Beasley purring in my lap, Luke knocking my shoulder with his when he won, me slapping his shoulder when I won.

Like I said, a sickly sweet wonderfulness.

After a long day of death and mayhem, he yawned for the third time and shook his head.

“I’ve got to grab some sleep,” he said as he yawned again. “I’ve got a double tomorrow.”

My heart felt a sudden jolt of disappointment, I didn’t want the day to end. And what about tomorrow? Where would I go while he was at work?

Suddenly I felt a sense of shame. He’d spent his whole day entertaining me. He had to have a thousand other things he’d rather be doing.

“No problem,” I said as I started wrapping up my controller cable.

“No,” he said, “I want to try this run one last time. I think I can get it.”

“I bet you don’t,” I said with a taunting smile.

“Oh yeah, You’re on,” he said as his brow narrowed with concentration and he started the run on the game.

I studied him for a long moment, he really was handsome, even with his glasses. They just added to the whole intelligent, steady, solid look.

I glanced at the game and saw that he was doing pretty good. We couldn’t have that, nope, not if I had my way.

Slowly, I pulled the blanket back and exposed one long, bare leg. I flexed the leg as if I had been sitting on it too long.

Luke shot it a quick glanced and froze for just a moment. Just long enough for his game character to get into serious trouble.

He scrambled on the game and got things back under control.

Okay, this called for the big guns.

Leaning over I whispered into his ear, “You are very good.”

I saw his neck muscles gulp as he fought to keep his focus.

“So good,” I continued, my soft breath tickling his ear lobe. “So big, so strong, oh Luke,”

That was it, the game let out the sound of defeat as his character shriveled up into nothingness.

I leaned away, smiled, and cocked an eyebrow at him.

“You are a mean person,” he said as he shook his head.

“And don’t you forget it,” I answered as I got up to put the game away.

He smiled and shook his head, “Who knew that playing video games with a  girl could be fun? I should have done this years ago.”

When I was done, an awkward silence was threatening to descend like a December storm, when Luke got up and started up the stairs.

“Good night Ruby,” he said as he slowly shook his head.

“Why are you in such a rush, Are you really that upset about losing that last run.”

He stopped and turned back to look at me. Then his eyes took on that serious, hungry look that turned my soul to mush.

“I’m going upstairs now,” he said, “Because, if I stay down here any longer, you will end up falling asleep in my arms and I’ll lay there all night, unable to sleep. Lost in the Nirvana that is you. I’d never get to work tomorrow. So sweet dreams Ruby, I’ll see you in the morning.”

My mouth dropped open, I know it did. How could he say something like that and then walk away?

I swallowed hard and tried to gather myself. One thing I knew for sure. I wasn’t going to have a peaceful, easy slumber. Not tonight. I was pretty sure that my dreams were going to be filled with Luke and what he had just said.