Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
DEIDRE
T he thought of sleeping by myself last night was too much. Visions of my attacker suddenly coming through the windows taunted me. If Mandy was home, I would have slept in her bed. We’ve done that a few times.
I let out a heavy breath and glance over at Luke. Memories of my childhood flood my mind, particularly ones with Luke. There’s an ease with him around which has always been there. I’m grateful that he was the one with me at the party.
Vix doesn’t bother to wake me up to let her out since my whole back wall is floor-to-ceiling windows with a small section that has a doggy door for her to get out to the back yard whenever she wants. I know she’ll want some food soon, but at least I have a few more minutes of solitude.
“Dei!” Mandy yells suddenly, barging through my bedroom door.
Luke and I both shoot up in bed.
She’s standing with a bat raised. “Shit, bitch. You scared the fucking crap out of me.”
“What? Why?”
She takes in the sight before her as Vix barks and jumps around at Mandy’s feet. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to interrupt .”
“You didn’t interrupt anything,” I say. “Why did I scare you?”
“Uh, unknown car in the driveway,” she says. “I didn’t see Tony so I figured that maybe some crazy psycho got in here and had tied you to the bed and slit your throat as a sacrifice of some sort. Clearly, I was wrong…you were doing a different kind of sacrifice.” Mandy winks at me.
“What?”
Mandy winks again. “Don’t mind me. I was never here.”
“Fuck,” I huff, dropping back down on the bed, covering my face with the covers.
Luke starts to chuckle.
“It’s not funny,” I whine.
“It was a little funny. Not the part about me being a psycho or the bat, but….”
When his voice drops off, I uncover my head and see a dejected expression on his face. Is that why he’s been acting weird? He’s not sure what to say or how to act around me because of the attack. That would explain his odd behavior.
I sit up. “Are you okay?”
Luke looks at me, but doesn’t say anything.
“I’m okay,” I fib.
“Yeah?”
“Don’t worry about making weird noises,” Mandy yells from the hall. “I’m not listening.”
“Shut up!” I try not to smile at her innuendo.
“What’s so funny?” Luke asks.
Shit—I didn’t hide my amusement about Mandy’s statement as much as I’d hoped.
“Nothing.”
Luke studies me. “She thinks we had sex?”
“Have you not been here the whole time?” I duck back under the covers.
“No,” Luke admits. “I didn’t hear half of what she said.”
I giggle. “Good.”
“Why is that good?”
I remain quiet.
“Dei.”
“Hm?”
“Why is that good?” Luke peels back the covers to see my face.
“I don’t know,” I fib.
Suddenly, his fingers are on me, tickling my left side.
I scream and twist, trying to get away while also getting even.
I end up on top of Luke, trying to keep his arms pinned as I tickle him.
My body freezes after giving him a second to breathe, acutely aware of our bodies and his morning wood that is pressing into my thigh.
Fright shoots through me first, causing me to pause.
“You okay?” Mandy asks opening the door.
“Jesus, Mandy,” I snap.
“I knew you liked to be on top,” she taunts.
I release Luke and shift off the bed. “For fuck sake, we’re not having sex.”
“Really?” Mandy baits.
“Really.”
“Looks like and sounded like you might have been dry humping him,” she claims.
I hear Luke clearing his throat.
“Would you like to join us to find out?” I ask since she seems so keen on knowing whether Luke and I are having sex or not.
“No,” she objects. “I think you’ve got it handled.”
My eyes close and I shake my head. Any other time, I wouldn’t mind her joking so much. It’s not because it’s Luke. It’s because of last night.
“I’m making breakfast. So, if you’re hungry and want some, you’ve got about twenty minutes,” she teases.
I grab a pillow from the bed and hurl it in Mandy’s direction. “Very funny.”
Mandy squeaks and shuts the door.
I look over at Vix who’s jumping around on the bed.
“Hey,” Luke greets.
“Hey."
Luke shifts up, using his arms to keep his upper body propped.
“Sorry about that,” I say sheepishly, searching for sweatpants.
“For what?”
“That,” I say, pointing to the door. “Mandy.”
Vix barks and starts play biting my feet.
“I should feed her,” I say, shoving a limb through the pant leg. With the waist still around my ass, I leave the bedroom.
“That was fast,” Mandy comments as I enter the kitchen.
“We didn’t have sex.”
“He still slept in your bed,” she muses.
“So?”
She points a wooden spoon at me. “So, you know what that means.”
“Nope.”
“What does what mean?” Luke asks, coming into the kitchen.
“Nothing,” I say, not giving Mandy a chance to say a single word.
I get Vix’s food out of the fridge and put it in her bowl while both Luke and Mandy eye me. Mandy has yet to start breakfast, which means she wasn’t planning on eating—at least not right away. Knowing her, she was planning on listening in on Luke and me having sex.
“You’re the first guy to have slept in her bed,” Mandy blurts.
“Mandy!” I chide. “We didn’t sleep together.”
“Yes, we did,” Luke counters.
Mandy looks back and forth between Luke and me as I stand in complete shock. My head shakes as he continues to speak.
“This is the third time we’ve shared a bed,” he reminds. “Sex was not a factor during any of them.”
“When were the other two times?” Mandy asks seductively.
“None of your business,” I say.
“At my place,” Luke shares openly, seeming to enjoy torturing me. “The first time I came down, she stayed the night.”
I don’t know why Mandy’s pushing. She knew I hung out at his place once before.
“Luke,” I call through a clenched jaw.
“She tried to sleep on the couch when I told her to take the bed,” he continues as if I’m not in the room. “Dei tried to fight me on it, so we both ended up sharing the bed. Third time was last night after the party.”
“How was the party?” she asks.
“Good.”
“It was noisy,” Luke comments. “Lots of people…lots of alcohol and who knows what else.”
“We didn’t stay long,” I add. “Just what…an hour or two?”
“Right,” Luke agrees.
“What did you do after?” Mandy asks.
“We got some ice cream and then watched a movie,” Luke shares. “Dei was out halfway through it.”
“So, when are you leaving us?” Mandy inquires.
“Mandy?” I scold.
“What?” she replies. “It’s not like I’m trying to get rid of the guy. I’m just trying to find out how much longer he plans to stay.”
“Why?”
“Just in case I need to give you two some more time alone,” she teases.
“We don’t need time alone,” I say.
“Yeah, you do,” she laughs. “The sexual tension in here is fucking crazy.”
“Mandy!” I yell. I look at Luke whose expression is stoic and unreadable.
“What?” she balks. “It’s not like you’ve gotten any recently.”
“Mandy! Please.”
“See what I mean?” Mandy asks, looking at Luke. “She’s on edge since she hasn’t gotten any action other than her vibrators.”
“You’re a dead woman.” I charge towards her.
Mandy yelps and darts past Luke and down the hallway. I’m quick to follow, but I miss pushing her door in on her within just a few seconds.
“Just remember, I love you!” Mandy yells from behind the door.
“That’s not going to save you,” I say, yanking on the knob. “You’ve got to leave the room at some point, and I’ll be waiting.”
I head back into the kitchen and find Luke watching me with a nervous smirk on his face. “Hungry?” I ask, deflecting everything that just happened. “I can make eggs, pancakes, waffles, smoothie…we have bagels and….”
“Vibrators?” Luke says in a sly voice, enunciating the final syllable. “As in more than one?”
I do my best to gain my composure before turning to look at him. “A girl’s got to have options. Now…what would you like?” My voice catches in my throat as Luke steps closer to me.
His eyes search mine for something. “Make whatever you want. I’ll help…cooking…and eating.”
After a few moments of weirdness between us, Luke and I settle on some homemade chocolate chip waffles topped with fruit and whipped cream.
When we’re just about done, I insist that he takes a shower first. When I’m the only one left in the kitchen, Mandy carefully arrives, waving the white flag of surrender.
I slide her a plate of waffles I made at the very end for her.
She apologizes, but I know she really doesn’t mean it.
I know what she’s trying to do, and I can’t really be mad.
I know I would have done the exact same thing.
If she knew what happened to me at the party, she wouldn’t push.
Instead, I ask about her night. She shares details of her interesting one-night stand which is why she didn’t get home until this morning.
I listen intently, but find myself distracted at times.
Normally, I would encourage her to share as much detail as she’d like, but I feel far away.
When Luke comes out, I instruct Mandy to behave while I’m in the shower. God only knows what she may say to him. I pray that she keeps things rated at least PG-13.
By one in the afternoon, just after we finish lunch out on the back patio, Luke gets his things together to leave. When he reminds me about the car, I offer that Tony and I can take it back for him. Luke opposes, not wanting me to bother, but I end up winning the debate.
Mandy insists that I ride with Tony and Luke to drop him off in the hopes that Luke might make a move. I brush off her insinuation, but she pushes, making more uncomfortable comments and threatening further embarrassment if I don’t go.
When Tony pulls up to the airport departures area, Luke and I look at each other for a few seconds. We’ve sat in the backseat together the whole ride, not uttering a single word.
“Thank you,” I say, afraid to look him in the eye.
Luke remains quiet.
“Thanks for the other night,” I sigh.
Luke places his hand over mine. My eyes lift to his face. It’s hard to make out what he’s thinking.
“Say something,” I coax.
“I don’t know what to say,” he replies.
My eyes fall and I shift back to my seat.
Luke catches my wrist. “Yet…there’s so much I want to say.”
Our eyes meet again. I nod, feeling the same way.
Neither of us says or does anything until there’s a tap on the window. The door opens and Luke’s hand squeezes down on mine for a brief second. It isn’t until I feel the door being closed that I realize that Luke’s already gone.