The Lascarina Girls

Chapter Thirteen

Two weeks after Frankie died; Luke and Quinn were sitting on the roof of her school building, and in their favorite lawn chairs. That was their new favorite place. They were going to make a deck up there and maybe even put some planter boxes. They were full of plans for the summer.

"Hey..." Luke said gently. "I know this is probably the wrong time, but... I was thinking we might get dinner sometime. If you'd want."

She was slightly confused for a moment. "We just had dinner?"

"I mean... as a date," Luke said, and even from the low light from the lantern they had brought up with them; she could see that his face was red.

She wasn't sure what to say. A part of her almost felt like she owed Luke a date. She hadn't been exaggerating when she told Landon that Luke saved her life. He was her constant companion even from when they were little kids. He used to give her his gloves on a cold day when she forgot her own, and he was the only person she told when she first thought of buying the school. He hadn't told her she was crazy either. He thought it was a great idea, and he did everything in his power to help her. 

She thought of her place as his too even though he owned a little house on the edge of town, but he spent most of his time at her place and sleeping in one of the guest bedrooms. He spent all of his spare time helping her around the school and helping her. How could she just turn him down?

"... Is that a no?" Luke asked when she silently stared at him.

"Aren't you dating Julia?"

"Julie," Luke corrected quietly. "We uh... we broke up. She... she accused me of having feelings for you, and I had to admit it. Hell, everyone knows. I know you probably already know."

"I've suspected sometimes," Quinn admitted; her face flaming hot now too. "I just..."

What was she going to say? That she was waiting for a widow who still wore his wedding ring to ask her out? It seemed so stupid when she thought about it. Surely Landon would have made a move if he was interested. He sometimes sent her a text asking how she was, but that was it. Maybe that night together hadn't meant what she thought. 

She hated feeling so insecure about a man. She always told herself she wouldn't be one of those women, but here she was. It would be stupid to turn down a good guy like Luke just for a daydream. Sure, she didn't feel that way about him right now, but maybe that was because she'd never gave him a chance. She always treated him like a brother. Why not go out on a date?

"We could do dinner," Quinn said finally. "Where would we go?"

A big smile appeared on Luke's face, and she felt terrible. He was clearly thrilled. He was such a sweetheart; Luke with the messy dark hair and the honey colored eyes. He was the same size of her, but with a small but strong build. Women were always telling Quinn how attractive he was, but she never thought of him that way. Growing up he'd always seemed so much younger than her even though they were the same age. Their birthday were only ten days apart. They'd always taken care of each other. He needed a family, and she needed a friend. But was it romantic?

"I have to get going," Luke said suddenly and glanced at his watch; a thick banded one from some random antique store in the city that Quinn had found for him while she was in Boston. He never took it off. "I have to run some errands for Clia."

"Alright," Quinn said; everyone was running themselves ragged with errands for Clia and Iona.

He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, and she continued sitting in the old lawn chair. She felt like the worst person on earth as the stars twinkled above her.