Secret Girlfriend (17 page)

Chapter
24

To say Luke’s parents were overjoyed to see him walk into
the gym carrying both of my suitcases would be yet another understatement.

There were hugs and tears and some shouting. In the end, his
parents were just happy to see us safe, and I could tell his dad was a little
proud his son would risk his neck to save a damsel in distress. Having never
been a damsel, I wasn’t quite sure of my role in the drama unfurling.

“Amy! I put a cot at the end for you. And then Rachel said
your dad might need one and so we put another one there, but even if he doesn’t
get here, you get to be an unofficial Parker this weekend, so it’s like having
a sister. How cool is that?” Tom’s breaths came out in little gasps by the time
he was finished.

“That’s very cool. You want to help me unpack?”

Tom took charge of my hamper, spreading sheets, blankets and
pillows and generally making a mess of a small area quicker than the water had
covered the bridge. I sat on the extra cot, trying to pay attention to Tom but
watching Luke behind him talk with their father. As Mr. Parker continued
talking, Luke nodded his head and studied his feet a lot.

“Finally.”
Rachel collapsed on my
freshly made cot. “I was getting really worried. Where’s your dad?”

“I haven’t been able to reach him. Luke’s convinced he
doesn’t exist.”

“Did you try calling him?”

“Yeah, but you know.
Circuits and all.”
I searched for my phone in the pile Tom had thrown on the floor. “I left him a
note at the house in case he made it home, but I don’t think that’s possible.”

“Why not?”

“By the time we got past the bridge, it was completely
flooded. We were lucky Luke’s truck is so heavy so it didn’t get pushed into
the rails.”

Rachel perked up at that. Her hand shot out and wrapped
around my wrist.

“Wait. Luke came to get you? Like rescued you from a flood
most likely saving your life and perhaps
finally
winning your heart in the process?”

I could feel the heat rushing up my neck and over my cheeks.

“Yeah, he was totally knight in shining armor guy. He even
got my mom’s chair upstairs before we left.” I glanced over my shoulder at the
Parkers where Mr. Parker was still lecturing Luke. “I think he’s paying for it
now.”

“You totally need to marry him. You can be the two percent
of high school relationships that end in successful marriages. It’s too
romantic a story to waste.”

“I’m not marrying him. I’m just not mad at him anymore.
There’s still Chris. I haven’t talked to him, and I still need to make sense of
everything. You
know,
the fight and stuff. Luke is a
really good friend and he did rescue me and it was really cool, but he’s still
Luke.”

Okay, even I knew most of that was a lie. But, if you can’t
lie to your best friend, you certainly can’t lie to yourself. For some reason,
no matter how badly Chris had treated me, I had to do the honorable thing and
talk to him first. Tell him I wasn’t interested. End whatever we had before
being able to make a clean start.
Hopefully with Luke.

“And…” Rachel jerked her head at a spot behind my right
shoulder.
“More interesting happenings in the land of the
soggy.”

I shifted to glance where she’d motioned
toward,
wondering what had gotten her attention, thinking it was probably just some
teen drama to fill her time while Jared played basketball.

Unfortunately, the drama unfolding had nothing to do with
the overdramatized teen version and everything to do with adults… and Chris.

Chris stood between his parents, his hand on his mom’s
shoulder, body turned as if she needed protection from his dad. Beside him, his
mom had lowered her head as her hand made angry stabbing gestures where his dad
stood dripping wet with a suitcase in each hand.

But it wasn’t his parents who drew my attention. It was the
younger bottle-blonde woman standing next to Mr. Kent. Before I could pull
everything together in my mind, Mr. Kent stormed off, suitcase and blonde in
tow, leaving Mrs. Kent to collapse against Chris, her shoulders shaking in
quick, snapping shudders.

I should go over there
and see if there’s anything I can do.

“Don’t even think about it.” Rachel’s hand had already
landed on my knee. “That isn’t your deal. You haven’t even met his mother. And,
God forbid you be a girlfriend when he needs you, but not when you need him.”

She had a really great point about not having met his mom.
Plus… my gaze slid back to Luke. Luke. Yeah, that was the “plus”. Plus I had no
interest in being near any guy but Luke.

And that was suddenly very okay with me.

# # #

An hour later, I still hadn’t heard from my dad.

I pushed the speed dial, hoping for the best. When nothing
went through, I set an auto ring-back and shoved the phone in my pocket. It
wasn’t like he’d called me either.

Early evening came and the parents were treated to a
hands-on experience of what the school fed us every day. Good to know that
those square, frozen pizzas stayed “fresh” all summer… or not.

I’d almost forgotten the dial-back and was giving up on
seeing him ever again. Maybe he’d notice when I left for college.

“Amy!” My dad’s voice managed to drown out the entire Parker
man-clan. Oh, and the entire Red Cross and displaced Ridge View populace.

As I scanned the crowd, part of me… okay, a lot of me…
feared I wouldn’t recognize
him
outside
our house. Like when you run into someone you kind of know somewhere you’d
never expect to see them. How could this person who’d become a stranger be so
eager to get to me?

But, the moment the crowd parted, I knew him.

He had the same short haircut, with the gray around his
temples. The black-rimmed glasses he’d had so long they’d gone out of style and
come back in slipped down his nose unnoticed as he rushed toward me.

A woman grabbed a mop-top child out of his way as he stormed
through the gym, his briefcase swinging wildly in step.

“Amy,” he called again, stepping over Tom and Mr. Parker’s
card game. By now, my cloak of invisibility had been completely pierced by his
sonic boom. He drew up short, halting before me where I’d risen at his first
shout. Had we always seen almost eye to eye?

I stared at him, this man who had pushed me aside, refused
to see me, and drifted away day by day over the last six years until he was
nothing more than a stranger wearing my father’s face. His eyes narrowed as he
studied me. I held my breath and worried at what he saw. At how much he saw.

The gym came alive around us again, and I still waited until
the silence between us passed uncomfortable and exploded into agonizing. I
curled my hands into tight, finger-pinching fists behind my back.

A warm hand alighted on my shoulder and slid to where my
hands clasped at my back. It stabilized me, centered me. I glanced over my
shoulder at Luke who hadn’t deserted me in the awkward situation. At that
moment, he was even more of a hero than when he’d rushed up the front stairs
with a river rising behind him.

In front of me, my father still stood there, briefcase
handle clasped between both hands.

“I packed you a bag.” I glanced down at the case and
wondered if there was anything I could have brought for him he would rather
have had. “You
know,
clothes and stuff.”

“That’s good.” He nodded.
Awkward.
Stilted.
“Thank you.”

Behind me, Luke cleared his throat, probably wanting to give
me an excuse to let all of us out of the most uncomfortable situation since
that time on
The Bachelor
the guy
changed his mind
after
proposing. I
threaded my hand through Luke’s and pulled him around beside me. When he
squeezed my fingers, I glanced down and saw we held
hands,
and that I’d grabbed him and was holding tight.
Again.

I dropped that hand faster than I’d rushed at him earlier
when he’d appeared in my drive.

“Dad, this is Luke Parker.”

I could see the confusion on my dad’s face.
Boyfriend?
Friend?
General guy?

“He came and got me. The Parkers saved us two cots with
them.”

The whitening knuckles around the briefcase handle loosened
as Dad reached out to shake Luke’s hand. Just like with everyone else, Luke’s
manners and laid-back demeanor calmed my dad.

“It’s nice to meet you, Luke. I look forward to meeting your
parents later. But, do you think you could give me and Amy a moment?”

All the panic of the day washed over me again. I had no idea
what my father wanted to say. I wasn’t even sure we knew how to talk to one
another
any more
. I mean, look how well “hello” had
gone.
Yeah, not so great.

Luke gave my shoulder a squeeze before he walked away,
scooping Tom up and tucking him under an arm as he went.

I tried to do that waiting thing Luke always does that makes
me want to spill my guts, but I didn’t have the knack. I wondered if he
practiced it in the mirror. The perfect stance, tilt your head just the right
way, quirk your eyebrow but not too much… Just when I was about to give up, my
dad dropped his briefcase and hauled me into his arms, clasping me to him till
I couldn’t breathe.

He kept my hand trapped between his after he eased away, a
vise grip as if he thought I’d flee. And, to be honest, I might have. I felt
hot and itchy, like I was breaking out in hives from some type of allergic
reaction to time with my dad.

He must have realized, or felt the same
uncomfortableness
, because he released my hand and dropped
his head into both of his, shaking it slowly.

“Amy.” His voice came a little muffled before he raised his
gaze to me again. “Dear God, Amy-girl. I came down the last hill and saw the
bridge submerged. I thought I’d…” He collapsed onto the cot my sleeping bag
covered, groping for my hand and pulling me down beside him. “When I saw the
bridge washed out and the water flooding up the hill… and there was no way out
to the cottage… and the phone kept saying no lines available. I thought—I
thought I’d lost you too. I thought you’d both left me.”

I looked at him, trying to meet his gaze but realizing he
stared at me and through me at the same time. I thought of all those mornings
he was gone before I got up and the nights when I’d first
laid
in bed waiting to hear his car drive up until I learned to sleep in an empty
house.

My hand tingled under his. I didn’t know whether to be happy
or upset that it took scaring the snot out of him to maybe get him back.

Chapter
25

In the far corner the generator kicked on. The low buzz of
the lights was lost under my internal voice screaming that I was an idiot. I
rolled on my side and scooted to the edge of my cot till Luke’s face became
clear in the dim light.

With his eyes closed and the hair flopping over his
forehead, he looked almost as young as Tom, his perfectionist streak and
stubbornness both hidden by the lash-framed lids closed in dreamland. That’s
when it finally dawned on me how lucky I was this perfectionist may just be
perfect for me.

I hadn’t realized how badly I’d messed things up until then.
I’d seen all the mistakes and moments scattered as little puzzle pieces. But
lying there, watching him sleep after he’d braved a flood to rescue me, I
learned one of those lessons I’d wished my mom had been around to teach me.

There’s a huge difference between your dream guy and the
real deal. If you’re a lot lucky and a little smart, maybe—just maybe—you’ll
find both.

Those dark lashes fluttered and Luke’s eyes opened,
adjusting his sleep-heavy gaze. He stared at me with that word-searching look,
unsurprised to see me so close, to see me awake in the middle of the night.

He reached across the three-inch canyon between our cots and
pushed my hair out of my face so he could see me too.

“My God,” he whispered. “You’re so beautiful.”

His hand slid down and cupped my cheek as he shifted quietly
toward me.

“You really are,” he said, as if he knew I was arguing with
him in my head about it, even if I hadn’t said a word.

He rose up on his elbow until he seemed to hover just over
me, his hand still cupping my cheek, his thumb rubbing softly against my skin.

Before I could start thinking, he shut my mind off
completely. His lips brushed over mine once and then returned to kiss at my
lips as if learning them, studying them.

I forgot we were in a gymnasium with half our town sprawled
around us in the middle of a natural disaster. The fact that my father slept on
the cot behind me, or Luke’s entire family was just beyond
him,
was so unthinkable it never dawned on me to be appalled for falling into his
kiss. He leaned away and slid his hand down my arm until he held my hand in his
larger one. Pulling them toward him across the gap, he kissed my palm and
wrapped it in his own before tucking both our hands under his head.

And fell back asleep.

“Luke?”

Seriously.
Asleep.

“Luke?”

I totally don’t get guys.

# # #

I’d cheated on my
secret-kind-of-could-be-but-I’m-not-so-sure-anymore boyfriend.

Somehow in the middle of the night I must have reclaimed my
hand because, when I shot up nothing tethered me. Nothing held me to Luke but a
sweet memory that, for
all my
deluded mind knew, could
have been a dream. It certainly felt like one.

I had to tell Chris. Not because confession was good for the
soul blah, blah, blah. Because, let’s be honest. I was over it—over him. I’d
finally realized that through this entire thing, there was only one guy who saw
me, who knew me, who would drive over a bridge about to collapse to rescue me.
And it wasn’t Chris.

Part of me—a big part—doubted he’d really care. Even now I struggled
to see which Chris was real. But the reality was
,
it
didn’t matter. Because, the truth of the whole thing was, being with Luke had
nothing to do with whether Chris was lying or not and everything to do with
deciding what—who—I wanted.

And that was a no-brainer.

Okay, so it took me a while to get to the no-brainer part,
but once I was there, I was
so
there.
But, honor said I needed to say the words to Chris first so I could start fresh
with Luke. I could start
right
with
Luke.

On the far side of the gym, a bunch of smaller boys played a
miniature game of dodge ball. Luke stood by, jumping in occasionally and
watching his little brother. A shudder of self-realization rocked through me as
I watched him. I’d known Luke less than two weeks, but if I spent senior year
learning anyone, I wanted it to be him.

Grabbing my toiletry bag, I made my way to the girls’ locker
room and showered away the gym scum that seemed to float in the air. Heading
back to stow my stuff and search for Chris, I slowed as I heard voices coming
from one of the classrooms.

It wasn’t the voices or the laughter that got my attention.
It was the conversation.

“So, you didn’t start seeing Rick until after you’d dumped
Chris?”

I could have kept walking—I
should
have kept walking—but the voice that answered drew me up
short.

“Yeah.
Plus, he was getting weird.
Like he didn’t want to be around me all the time.
He’d get
distracted and stuff.”

“So, seriously, you aren’t, you know, considering getting
back together with him? I mean, like after last night and all?”

Cheryl’s voice floated out all light and airy like those
little white wispy things you blow off dandelions. Footsteps echoed behind me,
but I didn’t move away. I was too curious.
Nosy
.
I was too nosy.

“No, don’t be silly.” She laughed again and lowered her
voice.
But not enough.
“That was just sex.”

Okay, I’d obviously stayed too long. I really did not want
to know that. I mean, really. And I’d been feeling guilty over a pre-official
breakup of the non-relationship kiss.

“Amy.”

Oh, crap.

I spun around hoping Chris hadn’t heard what I had. Not for
his precious ego, but because that was a conversation I
really
did not want to have.

“Amy, I swear to God, it isn’t what you think.”

I tried not to laugh at that. I mean seriously, was he
trying to be the Ridge View Bill Clinton?

“Okay. It is what you think. But it was a mistake. I’ve been
thinking all morning and I realized a lot of things. I’ve been stupid.” He took
a step toward me, his hand out as if to snatch me if I tried to run. “I
realized The Plan was a bad idea. It was one thing to mess with someone like
Cheryl, but not with you, Amy.”

I don’t know where Cheryl fell into all this. Maybe he was
sorry because she dumped him. Maybe he was sorry
and
she dumped him. Who knows? But the real question had become,
who cares?

“That’s okay. I mean, we were not really
on
or anything.” I hurried around the
corner, hoping to end the conversation. Not to mention really, really hoping we
weren’t as easily overheard as the girls in the classroom.

When he followed me, I knew I wasn’t going to escape having
The Talk there and then. Most of me didn’t care. All that mattered was getting
it done with and getting back to Luke.

I rested against the locker facing Chris. He hovered over
me, looking a little unsteady. A flash of memory took me back less than two
weeks when the same stance would have made my knees weak.

“Whatever this is—” I waved my hand between us. “I need you
to know it’s done. I’m not here anymore.
In it.”

His brows dropped over his eyes, confused.
Worried.

“Amy, no.
I want to work on this.
And not just because of the team. I want to hang out again like this summer,
but not like this summer.” He shoved his hair out of his face with a nervous
twitch I’d never seen before. “Give me a chance to do this right.”

Wow. I could see he meant it. I could also see he had no
idea what it meant.

“Chris, you may not believe this, but this isn’t about you.
I have a lot of things I could say. The honest truth, I’m not even angry with
you.” I smiled at him, the dream that had died a slow and slightly painful
death. “I’m not mad because I’m too happy to be mad. I’m too happy without
you.”

He was shaking his head no through the whole thing.

Before I could stop him, he trapped me against the locker
and kissed me. It was somehow sweet and desperate and angry and confused, and I
had no idea how to get away until I heard something slam against the lockers
next to us.

That something would be Luke’s fist.

Chris did the most shocking thing. He stepped away from me,
keeping his body between Luke and me in a surprisingly protective stance. His
hands up, he looked… not annoyed… more worried. “Listen, Parker. I’m not
screwing with her. I’m serious this time.”

Luke’s fist still rested in the dented metal, snug and
tight. I shoved past Chris, trying to get to Luke.
Trying to
explain.

“I swear this is not what it looks like,” my voice squeaked.
I wasn’t even embarrassed by that. I just needed Luke. “I was telling him I
wasn’t interested.”

“You have an amazing way of expressing that.” He pulled his
fist down and brushed his knuckles across his pants. “I’m done.”

“Luke, wait.”

I tried to follow him, but Chris caught my arm, stopping me,
and staring as if I were a stranger. Then his face changed, softened like I’d
never seen and he fell back, looking at me as if he’d never seen me before.
Maybe he hadn’t.

“I really screwed that up for you, huh?”

I watched the corner Luke had disappeared around, hoping
he’d come back. Hoping he’d be just angry enough to yell and not finally give up
on me.

“Listen, I’ll go after him. Tell him the deal. Say the
word.” Chris took my chin in his hand and turned me to face him. “But I’d
rather you give me a chance.”

Wow.
Again.

Every dream I’d had of this boy for the last six years had just
been handed to me on a silver platter. The only thing going through my head was
Luke’s voice as he said “I’m done.” My eyes fell shut. Logic said take the boy
who wants you.

Logic didn’t win.

“I never thought…” He laughed an odd, grating sound and continued
before I opened my eyes. “And that’s the problem, isn’t it? I never thought.
It’s too late, isn’t it?”

I
nodded,
my throat overfull with
words I couldn’t say.

“I deserve that.” His thumb rubbed across my cheek once,
twice, and then it was gone. “I am sorry. I tossed away everything I should
have kept.”

He stepped away from me, his gaze never leaving mine, still
asking me things I’d already said
no
to. “I’ll talk to him. If I can fix it for you, Amy, I will.”

So, this was fate. I thought I’d really liked him when he
was an ass, and now he’d turned into this sweetheart and my heart didn’t even
stutter-step standing this close to him. I laid my hand on his arm.

“Please don’t. I think I need to see what I can do. But
thanks.”

He nodded and stepped away from me for the last time. I felt
his gaze heavy on my back as I turned the corner and headed toward the gym.

# # #

I stood at the edge of the gym, watching for a tall, dark
head shadowed by a bobbing shorter one. When I found him, he was moving his
bedding to where a bunch of the team
slept,
his
duckling behind him with blankets and pillows.

Knowing I couldn’t do anything except humiliate myself
further and piss him off more, I made my way through the maze of cots to
Rachel’s family. Not surprised to find her asleep still, I crawled over stuffed
animals and little sisters till I reached her cot and crawled onto it with her.

She blinked her eyes open and caught sight of me curled up
beside her. Scooting over, she gave me my own pillow and took my hand in hers.
Before I knew it, tears were flowing down my face and she threw her arm around
me, capturing me in a tight hug.

“Wrong guy, huh?”

I nodded, wondering how she always managed to know.

“You’ll fix it.” She sounded so sure. I’d kill for that kind
of confidence.

“I don’t think so. It was bad. It was actually worse.”

“
Than
what?” she asked.

“Anything.”
I thought about losing
my mom and changed that.
“Almost anything.”

“Don’t worry. He can’t stay mad.” She glanced across the gym
to where the boys kicked a ball around. “He’ll see you just needed time.”

I coughed out a small bitter laugh. “I don’t think it was
the time that did it. I think it was the kissing him and then him seeing Chris
kissing me.”

“Oh, Amy.”
She let out a groan and
threw her arm over her eyes.

“It all happened so fast. I was trying to tell Chris there
wasn’t anything between us and he turned into John Cusack in
Say Anything
and then he was kissing me
and before I could do anything Luke was maiming lockers.” I snuggled into the
pillow, the tears coming again. “And he’s right. I’d be mad too. And he’s Mr.
Manners
guy so you know this was not something he’d see and
go, oh yeah, oops.”

I sniffed, trying to hold back the tears and waiting for her
to say something, anything that might at least ease the pain.

“Amy?” A small voice came from the end of the cot. Tom stood
there, the picture of child-patience with both hands behind his back, glancing
over his shoulder occasionally. For one wild moment I thought Luke had sent
him. “Amy, are you crying?”

I wanted to say no, but that seemed dumb, what with the
tears, sniffles, and red eyes. Rachel pulled the cot next to hers closer to
make one big space and room for Tom.

“A little, Tom.”
I was surprised to
find him in girl territory. “What’s going on?
Everything
okay?”

He sat cross-legged at our feet and bit his lip. Sucking in
a deep breath, he gushed, “Luke’s really mad and I thought you could maybe come
make it better. He’s never mad when he’s with you.”