Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
MADELINE
Idig through my purse, finding my lip gloss so I’ll stop licking my lips. How come when Luke kisses me, it lingers? There is this tingle and excited flutter inside of me. I have no clue what I’m going to do about him. I hate the fact that I like the way he makes me feel.
My head is spinning from him saying I’m his girl.
I’m chalking it all up to two men who were having a cock fight.
Too much testosterone for one room. Luke’s favorite thing to do is to get under people’s skin.
I mean, I can understand that, but with people who have it coming. Not innocent bystanders just because.
Joey steps back into the office a little later.
“I’m sorry,” I say instantly. “I don’t understand Luke. He’s not my boyfriend.” Hell, he’s not a boy at all, and we’re not friends.
“He does what he wants.” Joey doesn’t lean on the desk this time. Instead, he drops down into one of the worn chairs in front of it. “You need to be careful with him.” He’s trying to warn me.
“Oh, I know, but I can’t really escape him. As you said, no one can control him.”
As pissed off as it makes me that Luke does whatever he wants to, I have respect for it to a degree. He’s not doing things to fit in or letting anyone push him around. He really doesn’t give a crap what anyone thinks of him.
Which is kind of an issue. You should care what the people around you think if you want to be in their lives.
“There are lots of rumors that run rampant. If you stay close to him, it’s going to pull your name into it.”
“Ruin my rep?” I ask with a laugh, and Joey nods.
“I’m not worried about that. I’m not from his world, and the town isn’t mine either.
” I get to walk away come summer. That said, I don’t want my reputation to affect my sister’s.
She’s the only reason I don’t rock the boat too much.
People in this school should be grateful for that.
“Did something happen between the two of you last night?” Joey asks. Not sure he should be asking me that, but he’s only a few years older than me.
“A drunk kiss.” I leave out the dead body that hasn’t been reported missing. Do they have to wait a time period? I suppose it depends on who it was. I really hope it wasn’t a student.
“He gets around.” Joey stands back up.
“I’ve heard,” I tell him. “But thanks for the reminder.” I did need it.
The man banged Lana and treats her like shit.
I need to keep reminding myself that I’m new here and a challenge to Luke.
Once he gets what he wants from me, he’ll grow disinterested.
The same way I’m sure he does with every girl.
“If you ever need anyone to talk to, I’m here. We come from the same kind of background, and I might understand you better than others.”
“Thanks,” I tell him, knowing I won’t take him up on the offer.
He’s being kind. It’s who Joey is, but I can’t talk to anyone about it because I don’t know what the hell is happening.
I have to process my own shit with Luke, especially since our recent argument has left me feeling confused and overwhelmed with all of this.
I manage to push all of my thoughts to the back of my mind and get to work organizing.
I need to get everything in order, and then I can really dig in.
That’s how I spend most of my shift. When Joe Sr. comes in around noon, he and I go over a few of my ideas for what a work schedule will really look like for me.
It’s more about the office stuff than anything.
We work out a set amount of hours I’ll do each week. He doesn’t care when I work, as long as I can handle the paperwork in a timely fashion. It’s all easy enough.
I clean up my desk a little before one and pack up my stuff. The office closes at noon on Saturday, but they are still working in the shop. I tell everyone bye before I head out. When I step out onto the sidewalk, I see Luke across the street.
Has he been there the whole time? Okay, Madeline, get over yourself. He hasn’t been sitting out there all this time waiting for you. Luke stands up from the bench, putting his phone into his pocket before he crosses the street toward me.
“How was work, Buttercup?”
“What is with this nickname? I mean, I know butter is life and all but…”
“Rolls off the tongue.” He runs his along the top of his teeth. Even his stupid smile is perfect. Gah, kill me now. Why are the assholes always so irresistible?
“Why don’t you let it roll off the tongue? Why did you want to meet up after I got off work?”
“Are you really working at that place?” Why is he stuck on this? Then it hits me.
“You really are an asshole, you know that?” I spin around, taking off without him. I’m a little surprised when he doesn’t chase after me, but then he proves me wrong.
“Madeline!” he calls after me, and then I hear his long strides, and within a second, he’s next to me. “Stop,” he orders, grabbing my arm gently, keeping in step with me. “Please,” he says, causing me to stop.
“My dad was a mechanic.”
“Fuck me.” He runs a hand down his face; when it falls away, he generally appears regretful. “I was running my mouth because I was pissed about the Joey kid.”
“Kid?” I say in a bark of surprised laughter. “Are you jealous?” I thought he was being his normal asshole self, trying to get under my skin.
“I don’t know what I am, Madeline.”
“Well, thank you for reminding me you’re a giant asshole and I can get over my stupid crush now!
” I shout the last part before I try to storm off again.
He pulls me back into him, this time with a touch more force.
It doesn’t hurt, but it does bring my body flush to him.
His warm, earthy scent fills my lungs. It’s manly but not in an overpowering way.
It’s perfect. Just like his smile and his handsome face.
“You have a crush?” I open my mouth to scold him again, but his expression has softened, and I see a peek into another side of him. It’s more open and, dare I say, vulnerable? “Shit, sorry.” When his face starts to morph into panic, I melt. How can I be such a sucker?
“You ever said sorry before?”
Luke relaxes marginally. “I can’t recall offhand.”
“All right, then try again.”
“Yes, I was jealous, and it pissed me off.”
“Anger is an emotion.”
“You’re telling me to calm down?”
A small laugh leaves me. “Suppose I am. Why don’t you calm down and then come talk when you’re not still pissed at me.”
“Pissed at you?” His brows rise. Well, crap. I’m pissed at him because I get jealous when I hear about him with other girls. I need to refine my projection.
“You’re not?”
“You’re a brat, but I’m not pissed at you,” he admits.
“Is this your apology? Calling me a brat? Cause I gotta be honest, it kinda sucks and needs some work.”
“You’ve called me shit a million times worse.”
“Oh, it gets worse. Imagine what I say when you’re not around.” I’m teasing. I’ll say it to his face too. “But,” I start again before he can, “the rules are different for you and me.”
“Is that so?”
“Yep.”
“Do I get to make up rules too then?”
“You don’t have that privilege; now unhand me, you brute. People are watching.” I’m not pissing off the other students. In fact, they appear shocked at our interaction.
“Let them; I don’t give a fuck.” Luke doesn’t take his eyes off me to even glance at who might be around. I’m his sole focus.
“I do.”
“Didn’t take you as the type of girl who cares what others think.” He raises an eyebrow at me.
“I do care. It’s just that care is selective.”
“And you think those selective people would judge you?”
“Well, I don’t want the boys around here to think I’m a puck bunny.” Luke has a reputation, and his sudden attention toward me is going to garner a lot of unwanted attention from the wrong people.
“They won’t,” he says with a strong finality.
“And Georgia.”
“She’ll care?” I’m still pressed flush against him, and the more I settle into him, the more I start to become aware of my rising arousal. Luke’s is already fully there, going off the hardness pressed into my stomach.
“Can we step back?” I try to wiggle away, and a small groan leaves him, making me freeze. A flush rushes to my face, and my cheeks start to warm. Great; of all the times to blush, this isn’t one of them. Not that it is controllable. But still.
Luke sucks in and releases an audible breath. “Answer the question and I’ll let go.”
“My best friend doesn’t like you. Therefore, I don’t like you.” I shrug my shoulders. It’s as simple as that. Mess with my best friend and you’re basically my enemy for life.
“You have a crush on me.”
“I’ve got a crush on Loki, but I’m not pursuing that either.”
“Loki? Interesting.”
“Now, are you going to release your hold on me?”
“No.” It tightens a fraction. What is happening here?
“Did you forget your meds today?” He’s giving me whiplash, but I suppose I’m not much better. We’re both all over the place when it comes to interacting with one another.
“I’m really starting to believe I might need some.” His face is so serious I burst into laughter because I don’t know if he’s joking or not. “Glad you think it’s funny,” he grumbles in an almost pouty way.
“But jokes aside—”
“Haven’t been joking,” he mutters, but I ignore him and keep going.
“I’m deadass serious about Georgia. She’s been my friend for years, and I know how all of you have treated her.”
“What did I do?”
“Luke, come on.”
“I never sought Georgia out to do shit.” That first day I met him, it had been Georgia that bumped into him, but he could have moved.
“That doesn’t let you off the hook. You’ve borne witness to it. To how she was treated by them.”
“And that’s my problem?”
“It seems now it is.”
“All right.” He drops his hands holding me and takes a step back. Wow, okay. “Don’t look disappointed, Buttercup.”
“I’m not,” I say way too defensively, clueing him in to how I really feel.
“I’ve gotta make friends with Georgia and find a dead girl. Starting to think you’re high-maintenance.” He smirks, knowing damn well what it does to me. Why do I have to be so attracted to this man?