Back to You (13 page)

”
Come sit down.” I do but
hesitantly. “Abby, I’m not going to bite you.” I laugh and sit next
to him.

“
Look, I’m sorry for how I
acted last night. I was paranoid or scared or just-“ He cuts me off
and kisses me gingerly and I realize how much I’ve missed his lips
on mine. My hands rest in my lap while his are in my hair. Its
kisses this sweet that leave me weak in the knees. He pulls back
and my head bobs forward, then back, as I soon realize he’s stopped
kissing me.

“
What were you saying?” He
asks, grinning from ear to ear. I suddenly forget the reason why I
came in here and randomly start talking about the conversation I
had with Ashton. “I talked to Ashton. He invited me over to his new
place. I think I might accept his invitation and get all cozy with
him by the fireplace.” I say trying to get a rise out of him. “He
doesn’t have one, it’s an apartment.” Damn, I guess he’s too smart
to fall for my tricks. “But hey, if you want to hook up with him,
don’t let me stop you.” He tries to act cool but I see a speck of
jealousy in his eyes. Got him. Score for me. I get up and look
around his room, which is like his car neat with everything in
place. The walls are bare, painted a lighter shade of green than
his truck.

“
What were you talking to
him about anyway?” I glance at him and blink before I understand
his question.

“
Oh I was just asking
advice.” He raises his right eyebrow and purses his
lips.

“
About? Did you tell him
about us?”

“
More or less, he kind of
guessed. I just confirmed. But he won’t say anything.” I look away
and sit at his desk.

“
Right.” He sounds unsure.
We are interrupted by the buzzing of my phone.
Shit!
I forgot about Brooke! I open
my phone and check the text.

“
Hey, what are you doing?
Want to go to the mall with me today?”

I promptly write her back,
“
Yeah sure. Give me an hour and I will
pick you up.”
I close my phone and look at
Lucas. “It was Brooke. I’m going to pick her up in an hour and hang
out with her. I will try to come by later, if I can.”

He smiles and pushes pieces of my hair
behind my ear. “That would be great. Have fun with Brooke.” Then he
kisses my temple. I suddenly want to cancel plans with Brooke and
stay wrapped up in Lucas’s arms all night. But I don’t. I get up
and walk to the door, pausing in the doorway, I turn around to look
at him. “Wait for me Lucas.” He walks up to me, kissing me briefly
on the lips and I lean into him wanting more. “I’ll always wait for
you.” Then I leave with butterflies swarming in my belly and a
goofy grin not even a tornado could wipe out.

Chapter 14

“So, what happened after I left? Brooke
pauses for just a moment and then continues. “By the way, I’m so
sorry for making a fool of myself. I feel embarrassed.” I laugh
while walking around the mall with Brooke.

“
Oh, it’s fine. Brady
stayed there and got high as a kite and totally drunk. I left, but
I was pretty sober.”
I was drunk on love
that’s for sure
. I thought. We went by the
food court and my stomach started rumbling like crazy.

“
I love you and miss
you.”

A wide smile touched my lips after receiving
a text from Lucas. He’s so sweet; I wish I could make our
relationship official. But the timing seems off. So I just enjoy it
in secret. “What are you smiling about?” Brooke asks, startling me
and causing me to jump. “Oh I just got a text from Brady.” I lie.
Guilt creeps up onto my face, causing me to curse myself for being
a terrible friend. “Oh, so did y’all do it, at the party?” I give a
small laugh and shake my head. “Nope. He was too busy hanging out
with the guys.” She frowned. “He left you alone? You partied by
yourself?” I nod and she buries her head in her hands.

“
I’m so sorry Abby. That’s
fucked up. I wish I hadn’t left you. Gee this is-“

“
It’s fine. I had fun
anyway and when I was ready, I went home. No big deal Brooke. Let’s
get some food.” I walk and try to decide what to eat. I start
thinking about the night I shared with Lucas, which happened to be
the best night of my life. When I remember his hands on my bare
skin, my body tingles all over and my lips feel hot and moist. I
stand still and nonchalantly, touch my lip and smile. Brooke stops
short, studying me. “Hm, something’s not right. You’re thinking
about Lucas aren’t you?” I quickly put my arm down by my side and
start walking off ignoring her. “Ha! I knew it! You can’t fool
me!”

“
Drop it Brooke! You don’t
know what you’re talking about.” But she could see right through
the bull shit. Still I didn’t let her know that she was
right.

“
Ooh, I want chicken. I’ll
meet you at a table in a few minutes.” She walks away to the
chicken place while I stand here dumbfounded and unsure about what
I want to eat.

“
I miss you too. Brooke
won’t shut up about you. But I can’t stop smiling and thinking
about that wonderful night with you. Can’t wait to see you
later.”

I text him back really quick and finally
choose Subway to eat. I feel like being a little more healthy than
I normally would be while shopping. I order my food and find
Brooke.

“
Over here.” I hear Brooke
yell. I sit at the table across from her and start inhaling my
food. Brooke gives me an incredulous look.

“
Damn, you’re really
hungry!” I snort and keep stuffing my face, dismissing her remarks.
As long as I have a mouth full of food, she can’t pester me about
Lucas or Brady.

I drop Brooke off at home after spending
hours in Forever 21 while she is trying on outfit after outfit. It
was a battle, Brooke always takes a long time trying on clothes. Of
course I love to try on stuff and feel sexy when I get new clothes,
but the actual trying on part sucks! I’d rather buy them then try
them on at home and if it doesn’t fit, I take it back for another
size. Not Brooke, she would live in a dressing room if she could. I
get home and find Brady sitting on my porch bench. My heart races
and I start to wonder if he suspects something.

“
Hey.” I say as I walk up
the steps. His expression is unreadable and I start to
panic.

“
Hey, I’m sorry to just
drop by. I wanted to see you.” Shit!

“
It’s okay, how are
you?”

“
I’m sorry for ditching
you at the party. I feel awful. I just was drunk and wanted to hang
out with everyone. I really wanted you to hang out with us as well.
But I understood you weren’t up for it.” He gets a faraway
look.

“
It’s really okay. I had
fun. I was tired and more worried about Brooke. And all I really
wanted to do then was to go home and sleep.”
Or spend the rest of the evening with Lucas

“
Anyway, I wanted to make
sure we were okay and you weren’t mad at me.” Crap! Why is making
me feel so shitty?

“
We are fine and I’m not
mad. Really.” Finally, he accepts and starts walking off, not
before turning around and saying over his shoulder, “I love you.
I’ll call you later.” And he leaves. I turn to go into my
house.

“
So how was the mall?” My
mother asks as I enter my home.

“
It was nice. Brooke tried
on every outfit in sight. But she found some cute stuff.” I walk in
my room and plop on my bed exhausted. All of a sudden I hear a
noise coming from the other room. I sit up in bed and move to the
door.

“
I can’t believe he dumped
me! What a fucking asshole!” Sarah is obviously speaking to someone
on the phone. Lucas dumped Sarah. A smile forms on my lips and I
strain to hear more of the conversation.

“
No, he said I was too
young. What the Hell kind of excuse is that? We never even had sex
yet. No, but I’m seriously going to kill Abby if she’s the reason.”
I flinch at that comment and move back to my bed. I lay on my
stomach with my chin on my arm. Then I hear my phone buzz and I
grab it off my desk.

“
I miss you. I guess by
now you’ve heard?”
A text from
Lucas.

“
Yes, she’s on the phone
crying loudly to Haley I’m assuming.”
I
answer.

“
Yea, sorry I couldn’t
keep up the charade any longer.”
Neither
could I.

“
It’s okay. I love you for
doing it, regardless. I will come by tonight.”

“
I’ll be waiting.”
I close my phone and lay there for a little
bit.

“
So I guess you heard?
Lucas broke up with me!” Sarah storms into my room like the
police.

“
Yea, you’re pretty loud.
Sorry to hear that.” I don’t sound the least bit sympathetic and
she knows it.

“
Cut the bull shit Abby! I
know you had something to do with it.” She glares at me and I laugh
inside.
You don’t deserve him.
I think to myself.

“
Well if I did, I didn’t
know.” She’s not buying it.

“
If I find out you did so
help me God Abby!” I stand up and get in her face so fast she backs
up. “You’ll what, yell at me? I don’t care Sarah! He deserves
better than you anyway! I’m glad he ended it! Now get the fuck out
of my room!” Our mother walks in.

“
What’s going
on?”

“
Lucas broke up with me
and I suspect its Abby’s fault!” My mother looks at me for a minute
then turns to Sarah.

“
Honey, you are a bit
young for him.” Sarah glares at her.

“
Are you serious? So you
were against us being together too?”

“
Well, yes actually. First
of all, he was Abby’s ex boyfriend and that’s not right to date
him. He’s off limits.” Judging by her posture and the look in her
eyes, I can tell she wants to punch my mom in the face.

“
I can’t believe this
shit. I’m going to Haley’s house. Screw this family!” She stalks
out of the room. I sit back down on my bed, my mother follows
suit.

“
Well thank goodness for
that.” She says and we laugh. She pats my leg and gets
up.

“
Hey mom, can I go hang
out with Brooke tonight?” I hate having to lie to my mother, but I
really wanted to be with Lucas, and I knew that Brooke would
totally cover for me if I asked her to. I just have to make sure to
talk to Brooke about it, and figure out a plan. But then again, my
mom would never think twice about my whereabouts if she thinks I’m
with her. I quickly text Lucas before getting ready.
“
Getting ready now, be there
shortly”

I get a response
immediately. “
Okay, we can go to the river
when you get here.”
I smile right away at
that. I’ve wanted to go back to our spot, well for awhile now. I
throw my phone in my purse and pick out something sexy from my
closet. I find my recent purchase on a hanger and grab it out,
taking it to the bathroom. It’s a fuchsia scoop neck Chiffon dress.
It’s hot and perfect for today. I slip it on over my head and fix
the straps. I fix my hair and makeup-perfect. Satisfied with my
appearance, I glide out of the bathroom and grab my purse and keys
from my bedroom.

“
Ooh, you look beautiful!
What’s the occasion?” I turn to my mother, giving her a sideways
glance and guilt takes over. I shove it down hard and smile. “Oh,
we’re not sure yet. I just felt like dressing up for once.” It’s
not a total lie. I give her a peck on the cheek and head out the
door. “Don’t wait up for me! Love you!” I skip to my car in a daze.
I can’t wait to see Lucas.

Shit, the first thing I think when I arrive
is I need to hide. The second thing I need to figure out is what
Sarah is doing there and how I’m going to get to him. I send him a
text.

“
What is Sarah doing at
your house?”

“
Where are you?”
He replies quicky.

“
Down the
street.”

“
Shit! I’m sorry, she
showed up out of nowhere. But I will make her leave.”

“
Okay. Text me when the
coast is clear.”

I set my phone down, it
buzzes right away. That was fast, I think. But then I look and see
her car still parked in the same spot. I look at my phone and see
it’s a text from Brady.
Damn

He always has perfect timing. I scowl,
ignore it and lean my head back on the seat rest. I must have
conked out because the next thing I know Lucas is tapping at my
window. I sleepily lift my head and open the door.

“
Hey, I’m sorry about
that. Sarah wanted to tell me off and call me every name in the
book. Gee, the mouth on that girl is-“I close the distance between
us and kiss him next to my car, catching him off guard. He wraps
his arms around my waist and I wrap mine around his neck. He pulls
back and studies me for a minute. “I’ve missed you.” I smile and
nuzzle his neck. “I’ve missed you too Luke.” He untangles himself
from me and gives me a once over.

“
Damn Abby. May I say you
look hot! It’s definitely going to be hard to keep my hands off of
you!” I laugh and kiss his shoulder. “Yea, I thought you’d say
that. But I’m sure you can make it for at least a few hours.” We
walk hand in hand to his house and I turn around and say “Wait,
shouldn’t I move my car closer to your house?” He thinks about it
for a minute and shakes his head. “No, in case Sarah comes back,
you don’t want her to see your car there. She’d freak.” Good point.
We head to the front door holding hands; he grabs his keys and a
picnic basket. I glance at him in wonder. He packed us a lunch? I
get all giddy inside.