17. Luke
Luke
Holy fuck.
Water rained down on me from the showerhead. My third shower in less than twenty-four hours. I wrapped my hand around my cock again. Not that it was helping me get rid of the endless feeling of arousal I seemed to be stuck with.
Scarlett’s long, fair legs. Her beautiful, untamed hair. The freckles that dotted her skin. Christ, I couldn’t get her out of my head.
When she shrugged her pants off last night, I was pretty sure it stopped my heart.
Thank God her phone rang when it did. I was too damn close to doing something really dumb with my best friend—like grabbing her by her waist and hauling her to me.
Kissing her until neither of us could breathe.
Helping her out of her last remaining article of clothes so I could feast on her porcelain skin.
My grip tightened as I continued to stroke myself to the images in my mind.
It didn’t take long before I was spilling cum down the shower drain, the sound of my orgasm masked by the noise of the shower.
It never did now that I had let myself picture Scarlett’s sky-blue eyes looking up at me from her knees or her toned body under mine.
I finished cleaning up and got dressed in the bathroom.
I had left Scarlett alone for twenty minutes earlier today so I could swing home and grab some clothes.
It was the most stressful twenty minutes of my life.
I still needed to figure out who left that note on her car, but investigating would take me away from Scarlett, and I couldn’t do that.
Not just yet anyway. Scarlett wasn’t due back to work until tomorrow night’s shift.
I had called in a favor with Souza to cover my shift today, and I was scheduled to be off tomorrow anyway.
“Hey,” Scarlett called, knocking on the bedroom door. “I’m going to run to the grocery store. Is there anything you want me to pick up?”
I pulled the door open, leveling a hard stare at her.
“What?” she asked, feigning innocence.
“You’re not going anywhere. We don’t know who’s got it out for you yet. We don’t know if they’re following you. We don’t know what this person is capable of.”
“Luke, I can’t stay locked in the house,” she breathed out a sigh. “I’m bored. I need food, especially if you’re staying here for dinner.”
“We can order in. I’ll buy. And if you’re bored, we can always play War again.”
Scarlett’s eyes flashed with surprise as a blush crept up her cheeks. I didn’t know why I said that. Probably because it was the only thing that had been going through my mind for the last eighteen hours.
Scarlett was completely unaffected last night, stripping out of her clothes in front of me. She acted like she would hanging out with a friend—just a friend .
“Listen, Letty,” I said, softening my voice, “I need to keep you safe, and right now, staying in is the safest thing for you. It’s not for forever, and I promise that I’ll figure out who’s threatening you and put a stop to it.
But right now, it’s still too dangerous.
Make a list, and I’ll run out and get everything.
I want to look into some things anyway.”
I hadn’t had a chance to talk to the businesses across from the diner to see if they had cameras that faced the street.
Scarlett was right. I couldn’t put her in bubble wrap and shield her from everything, but I needed more time.
That only worked if I used that time to actually investigate rather than fantasize about my best friend though.
Scarlett still looked apprehensive. She was an enigma of sorts.
She liked to stay in; I knew that about her.
She was never a big party girl. But she also fed off adrenaline rushes, doing crazy things that got her heart pumping.
If it were a regular day in, she would be fine.
But being told that she had to stay in… it was eating her alive, and I could see it.
“Please, Letty. Just stay in for the day,” I pleaded.
“Fine. I’ll stay here.”
“Thank you.” I wrapped my arms around her shoulders. She smelled like the vanilla lotion she liked to put on. Scarlett’s fingers lightly trailed down my back, and my arms tightened around her instinctively.
Shit. There were those images in my head again. I needed to get away from her, put some space between us so I could think straight. All I knew was that she felt so perfect against my chest and smelled so goddamn good. I pulled back with a friendly smile.
“Okay. I’m going to get out of your hair for a while so I can look into some things. Text me your list, and I’ll get everything on it. I can call Wyatt or Reid and see if they can come hang out here for a while.”
“No,” she said. “I’ll be fine here by myself.”
My eyes narrowed, but she just smiled at me.
“Seriously. I could use a little me time if I’m going to be stuck in the house. I promise not to leave without telling you.”
“No,” I echoed her earlier sentiment. “Promise me you won’t leave at all.”
She rolled her eyes, but I didn’t care. It was hard enough to walk away knowing she was by herself, but the idea that she would be out and about in town with some fuckhead threatening her life made me break out in a cold sweat.
I locked eyes with her, intent on showing her how serious I was.
Instead, I fell into her hypnotic gaze. For someone with irises of such bright blue, she had the warmest gaze.
I let my eyes dip to her nose, her cheeks, and then her mouth.
Her lips parted, and her tongue swiped across her bottom lip before she pulled it into her mouth.
“I promise,” she said.
It took me a second to remember what we were talking about. As soon as it slammed back into me, I let out a full breath in relief.
“Thank you. I’ll be back in a few hours. Call me if you need anything,” I told her. She nodded her agreement and then stepped aside from the doorframe for me to pass. I slipped on my shoes and a sweatshirt, pausing at the door. “Stay safe, Letty Girl.”
“Stay safe, Luke,” she replied.
* * *
Scarlett plopped down on the couch next to me, expelling her breath in a massive huff. I glanced at her from the side of my eye, taking in her frustrated look.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Seriously? I’m bored out of my mind. I’ve been trapped in this apartment for days, Luke. I need to get out. I need to do something. Anything!”
She had, that was true. She had listened to me yesterday, not leaving the house all day. But now that we were on day three, she was clearly restless.
“Okay. Let’s do something today. Anything you want.”
As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I knew I was going to regret them. Scarlett’s eyes lit up, a slow smile spreading across her face.
“Anything?” I could see the expression of hope dancing in her eyes. If I could be the person who put that smile on her face, I guess I couldn’t regret it too much… whatever it was that she had in store for me.
“Yup. I’m following your lead today since you did such a good job yesterday of following mine.”
“Yay,” she squealed. She jumped off the couch with a quickness. “Okay, get dressed, but wear something kind of tight.”
My brows shot to the top of my hairline. “Where the hell are you taking me?”
“No time to talk. Up and at ’em. Let’s go.” She was already running toward her bedroom before she slid to a stop and turned to me. “Actually, I’m going to take a shower first, so you can hang back for a minute.”
I laughed, shaking my head at her excitement.
“Sounds good. You jump in the shower, and I’ll try to find some tight clothes.”
“It can’t be that hard. Everything is tight on your build.” She said the words as she was walking away, so she didn’t see the way they affected me. But they did.
I was so concerned about dressing for whatever this adventure was going to be—and stressing about the adventure itself, knowing Scarlett—I hadn’t paused to think that if I was in tight-fitting clothes, then so was she.
Scarlett came out of her bedroom thirty minutes later, just as excited as she was when she got in the shower.
She had on a pair of skintight bike shorts and a long-sleeve hiking top that molded to her body, the scoop-neck design showing off a fair bit of cleavage.
Her hair was down in a mass of copper curls.
There was nothing overtly sexy about her look.
I had seen her in outfits just like this for years, but lately, I had been thinking about Scarlett differently, and it was getting harder and harder to ignore the fact that she was the most beautiful person, both inside and out, that I had ever met.
“You ready to do this?” she asked. Her head bobbed in excitement as she bounced lightly on her toes.
“Stop that. You’re making me nervous,” I joked. “Where are you taking me, anyway?” I shoved my feet into my sneakers, picking up my wallet and keys from the small table by the front door. I opened the door slowly, assessing the small hallway in front of her door before opening it wider.
Usually, I would have let Scarlett lead the way, but until I knew the danger had passed, I wasn’t taking any chances.
“I want it to be a surprise,” she said. “You’re going to love it,” she added on a chuckle. The kind of laugh that didn’t lend itself to being wholly believable.
I unlocked the doors to my SUV and opened the passenger side for Scarlett. Rounding the car, I hopped into the driver’s seat and started the engine.
“You’re seriously not going to tell me where we’re going?” I raised my brow at her with a smirk.
“You’ll figure it out when we get there.”
“Okay, but you better give me good directions. Unless you just want to drive around for a few hours. I’m good with that too.”
She tried to turn her blue eyes on me with a scowl, but she was just so damn cute it made it laugh. “I did not get out of that apartment just to be trapped in a car instead.”
“I know. I was just kidding,” I said. My hand made contact with her bare knee, my palm sliding up and down her soft skin. Scarlett pulled in a quick breath, and I yanked my hand back.
Fuck. This is why you shouldn’t fantasize about your friend. Because the next thing you know, the lines between fantasy and reality start to get blurred.
“Alright.” My voice came out a little too loud in the small space. I cleared my throat and tried again. “Point me in the right direction, Letty Girl.”
Scarlett pushed her hair behind her ear, looking straight ahead. “Go around the block, back to Main Street, and head north.”
Within a minute, any uncomfortableness from my rubbing her leg dissipated. She continued to give me directions for the next twenty minutes, but it wasn’t until we were almost upon it that it dawned on me .
“At the next lot, turn left into the parking lot.”
“Letty.” A word of warning laced my voice. “The next lot is the indoor skydiving place.”
“I know,” she said slowly. I glanced over at her. She looked so hopeful, a soft plea in her eyes. “Please, Luke. You said we could do anything.”
Shit. I did say that.
I ran my hand along my jaw and pulled into a parking space in front of the indoor sports complex. “Don’t you need a reservation? Do they even take walk-ins?”
“I made us a reservation this morning before I got in the shower.” Scarlett reached out and touched my arm.
“If you don’t want to, we don’t have to.
I just thought it would be fun. And after being cooped up for days, the idea of wind blowing in my hair, the feeling of free-falling and being suspended in air, is exactly what I need. ”
I laid my head back against the headrest and tried to concentrate on the feel of Scarlett’s hand on my arm instead of my already racing heart.
I wasn’t afraid of a lot. My job was on the front line.
I would put myself on the line for my family, friends, and community any day.
But willingly jumping out of a plane thirty thousand feet high had never been on my to-do list.
This was different though. We would be indoors. It was just a simulation of skydiving. Not the real thing. I could do this.
What I couldn’t do was let Scarlett down.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s go,” I said, much to Scarlett’s delight.