Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
LUKE
I ’m a pussy. I chickened out again kissing Dei yesterday.
There were a few times where I could have, not as easy and obvious moments, but there were opportunities.
I’m glad she didn’t catch me returning the book to her shelf while she was working.
That would have been really awkward. I did find another one to borrow and was making mental notes about ones to read next.
I didn’t tell Deidre the whole truth about me being down every week.
I’m scheduled to be here full time starting in a few months.
We’ve just acquired a building, and I’m already in the process of securing two more mergers.
The market here is prime for us to do some great business.
Dad wants things to expand more quickly which works to my advantage for seeing Dei.
I text her in the morning around nine. She responds quickly, which I don’t expect. As we chat, I discover she was up as early as seven. I had gone down to the gym to distract myself from contacting her too early.
By eleven, Dei arrives to pick me up. We’re headed for Malibu where her dad and Irene live.
We’re scheduled to have a relaxing lunch and afternoon with them.
As Tony drives, Dei identifies different things out the windows and even shares where a few celebrities live.
She says she only knows their location because she went to a party at one of their houses within the past year or two.
“Luke,” Mr. Lawrence greets with open arms as we walk into his ocean-front home. “It’s great to see you so soon.”
“Good to see you,” I reply, hugging him.
Irene escorts us through the house, taking Dei, Vix, and me directly to the back patio area. She dotes over Vix as if she’s Dei’s child, which is comical. I knew Mr. Lawrence did well in business, but not this well to have a large house in Malibu.
“Dei said you’ve had a recent promotion,” Irene comments as we sit down at the table.
“Yes."
“He’s not one to brag,” Dei says. “He’s got his own team now, Dad.”
“Really?” Mr. Lawrence replies more as a celebration than a question.
I explain a few details about how my dad’s firm has been doing and how I’ve been climbing the ranks from the bottom. I’m pretty sure that Mr. Lawrence and my dad had a chance to talk at Mike’s wedding, but he still asks a bunch of questions.
“Did your brother call you?” Irene asks, looking at Dei.
“No, but Claire texted, apologizing that they’ve been busy since getting home.”
“Good,” Irene says. “Your dad finally talked to them last night. Sounds like they had a wonderful time on their month-long honeymoon.”
“Did they see a lot?” Dei asks.
“Yes and no,” Irene giggles.
Then, it sounds like they had a great honeymoon. I’m guessing Mike took my advice.”
“About what?” Mr. Lawrence inquires.
“Nothing,” Dei says dismissively.
“We should be hearing about grandchildren soon,” Irene presents. “That is if Dei’s speculations are correct.”
“I hope so,” Mr. Lawrence sighs. “At least one of my kids is on track to give me grandchildren.”
“Dad,” Dei huffs.
“What?” Mr. Lawrence scoffs playfully. “I know you’re not a lesbian. Even if you were, I’d still love you and your girlfriend, or wife, especially if you two adopted.”
“Dad. Stop,” Dei requests as she blushes.
“I don’t see why you don’t date seriously,” Mr. Lawrence presses gently.
“Because I don’t want to.”
“Why don’t you date Luke?” He asks.
I choke-snort on my sip of iced tea.
“Dad,” Dei whines. “Stop.”
“I think you two would make a lovely couple,” Irene adds. “You two looked so cute together at the wedding. You already know each other. And you’d make really pretty babies.”
Dei wipes her face with her palm. “Dad…Irene, please.”
I stay quiet, not wanting to get in the middle.
Can I see myself and Dei dating? Yes. Can I see us getting married and having kids?
Yes. I just don’t want to say anything that would give away that I wouldn’t mind being with Deidre for the rest of my life, especially if that means I’d scare her away.
“Luke’s single,” Mr. Lawrence states. “Maybe you two should go out on a date.”
Dei won’t look directly at me. “We’re friends.”
“Friends date,” Irene says. “That’s how your father and I started.”
“Seriously,” Dei whines. “Luke’s sitting right here.”
“So?” Mr. Lawrence looks at me and then winks.
Dei’s cheeks become a brighter pink.
When Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence won’t stop looking at me, I ask, “What?”
“Are you seeing anyone?” he asks.
“Dating? No."
“See, he’s single,” Mr. Lawrence says, looking at Dei.
“Dad, stop,” she commands softly. “You’re embarrassing me.”
“Why? How can I be embarrassing you unless you want to date him?”
Deidre’s eyes bug out as her jaw drops. “I don’t date. You know that. Luke and I are just friends.”
“You’re going to scare a lot of boys away with that kind of statement,” Irene says.
“Good,” Dei retaliates. “I don’t want to date. You two know that. Even if I wanted to date, which I don’t, I would date men.”
“You need to stop blaming your mother for your reasons not to date,” Mr. Lawrence says.
“I don’t blame her.”
“Then, why don’t you?” her father asks.
“I have my reasons.” Her eyes dart to mine and hold my gaze for a few seconds like she’s begging for assistance.
“Mr. Lawrence, Dad told me you’ve been in a new industry for some time now.”
“Luke,” Mr. Lawrence replies. “Call me Randy, please.”
“Okay.”
“And yes,” he chuckles. “I’m still in the transportation industry, but it has changed about how I’m involved since moving to LA.”
“Interesting. Who do you work for and how did it change, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Dei mouths thank you .
As the maid brings out the food, Randy elaborates as I ask more questions.
Randy was in the transportation industry, working for a prominent car company in the Bay Area as the director of a particular department.
After they moved south, he started working for a company that supplies vehicles to television and movie networks.
The owner had been looking to retire, and since his daughters didn’t want to take over the family business, Randy purchased controlling ownership from the owner just a few years ago.
Our conversations bounce between present and past topics and memories.
On occasion, my mind ponders our previous conversation when we first arrived.
What would make Deidre not want to date?
If she claims it has nothing to do with her mother, then why not?
Did she have a bad breakup with a previous boyfriend?
I can’t imagine it would be that, or else Randy, or someone else, would have mentioned it at some point.
After our meal, the four of us and Vix head down to the beach.
Dei gets out some surfboards and teaches me the steps of how to surf before we get out to the water.
I’ve never surfed before. I do my best to remember each step Dei says, but my mind wanders as I stare at her practically naked body.
It doesn’t help that her perfectly round breasts bounce the way they do.
Unfortunately, the glorious sight of her body gets hidden by the bodysuit at the end of my lesson.
We get into the ocean, each on a separate board.
After about ten attempts, I know that I’m not doing something right.
My confidence lessens, and it doesn’t fare well either when Dei laughs after each of my failed attempts.
By my twentieth attempt, Dei heads to shore, leaves her board, and swims out to me.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m getting on.”
My fingers dig into the sides of the board as I feel her body press into mine. I look back and find her kneeling between my legs. “How are we both going to surf on the same board?”
“Easy,” she replies. “As we take the wave, “I’ll pop up first and keep the board steady as you work your way up to a standing position.”
“It won’t work.”
“It will,” she states confidently.
“How do you know?”
“I’ve done this before,” she states. “With me in both positions.”
“That’s what she said,” I blurt.
Dei cracks up. “Nice.” A few seconds later, she says, “Hold on and pop up after I tell you.”
“Okay.”
Our board starts to move forward, and she tells me to paddle.
We glide faster over the water as the wave approaches us from behind.
She gives the command to stop paddling and get ready.
The board shifts slightly as Dei announces that she’s up and that I can join her any time.
I count to three in my head and start to move.
As soon as my feet land, my arms stick out for balance. Two seconds later, I feel us wobbling, and I fall into the water. When I come up for air, I find Dei righting the board.
“Not bad,” she says with a smile.
“I fell.”
“Yeah,” she giggles. “But, you got up for a second. Wanna try again?”
“Sure.”
We take our spots again, and I wait for her direction. Dei’s encouraging, telling me that I’ll be up this time.
Once she’s up, I count to three and get myself standing.
I feel her hands on my hip as she verbally directs me to inch back a little.
My body is tense, but grateful for our contact.
I try to focus on how the board feels under me while she gives directions to prevent the blood from flowing down to my groin.
We ride the wave straight in toward the beach and jump back into the water to go another round.
Once we’re in position, Dei says, “This time, we’re going along the length of the wave instead of straight with it.”
“Okay.”
“It’ll feel different and you’ll need to be aware of how much you lean to one side or the other,” she states.
“Got it.”
Once I’m standing, Dei returns at least one of her hands to my hip and gives guidance on how to move.
It’s similar to when we were paddleboarding, but there’s enough of a difference that makes this more challenging.
After a few more rides together, Dei gets off and stays in the water to let me try by myself.
She tells me when to paddle, and I take off.
By my fourth attempt, I’m able to stand and ride the wave the whole way to shore. By my eighth time, I’m catching a wave.
When I’m constantly falling off the board rather than staying on, we head to the beach to relax.
Dei’s father and stepmother stay with us for a while, but then head inside, claiming they need to get dinner ready.
Randy winks at me. I immediately understand what they’re doing.
They’re trying to give Dei and me some alone time on their private beach.
I lay next to Dei in the sun on the large blanket, needing to rest my eyes.
Vix chews on her bone as my gaze darts to Dei as she’s turning onto her stomach.
She rotates in my direction, giving me a full view of her breasts and the curve of her hips.
I flip over, needing to hide the erection that I’m having trouble controlling.
It doesn’t get any easier when Dei unties her bikini top, revealing the sides of her breasts as they’re pressed between her and the blanket.
At some point, I wake to Dei gently shaking my shoulder.
We head inside and rinse off before dinner.
We hang out with her dad and Irene for a little bit afterward until we need to get dressed to go to some kind of event Dei needs to attend last minute for business.
Her PR person has some kind of a connection that allows Dei and the app to be seen by the press.
Dei’s wearing a simple dress with heels that give her sex appeal that any straight guy would grow an instant boner—like me.
“Where was Tony the whole time we were with your parents?” I ask once we’re on the road.
“Around,” Dei answers. “Dad doesn’t know about Tony, nor does he know about…the incident.”
“I’m sure he’d be happy to know you have protection.”
“Yeah,” she sighs. “Just…not yet. Dad can only take in so much new stuff at a time with me. He gets overwhelmed sometimes if I tell him too much too quickly.”
Tonight’s event is at a bar on the Sunset Strip.
When we arrive, Tony hands the keys to the valet and then circles to open the door for Deidre and me.
There’s a red carpet and a bunch of cameras flashing the second she steps out of the vehicle.
She says to stay close to Tony as she makes her way inside.
Dei seems like a natural with all of the attention and even strikes a few poses for them, especially with her phone, making it look like she’s flirting with someone.
By the time we get inside, the photographers are no longer seen, and the sound of the music hits your chest like a tidal wave.
Tony signals me to join Dei while he steps back and watches from the shadows.
Deidre wraps her arm around mine and escorts me toward the bar.
She gets us a few beers and then starts eyeing who’s in the building.
She makes introductions to everyone we meet.
I’m a bit envious when she exchanges kisses on the cheeks with a few of the celebrities.
There are a few sports players I recognize, and Dei makes a note to introduce me to a few of them.
The guys order a few rounds of drinks, and Dei winks at me when there are two extra beers delivered to us.
Tony must have made the arrangement for us to have two empty bottles.
The guys flirt with Dei, and she flirts back as we down four shots of Suicide, chasing them with our fake beer each time.
Hearing everyone chat, I learn that Dei knows a few of them quite well and has even been seen in public with one of them.
Dei and Scott were never officially dating, but from the sound of it, and by how he looks at her, the two of them hooked up, and he’s hoping for another chance.
About an hour or two later, Dei signals with a head tilt that she wants to get out of the place. I nod in agreement. We wait with Tony in the valet area for the car to return, which doesn’t take long. The drive back to my place is fast this late at night.
Before exiting the car, I lean in and kiss Dei on the cheek and wrap one arm over her shoulders.
I pull back slowly and our gazes catch. Still too much of a pussy, I say goodnight without kissing her anywhere else.
I seriously need to grow a set of fucking balls and just kiss her before she starts hooking up with someone else.