The Bartender and The Injured

Chapter Ten: Kaylee

Chapter Ten:

Kaylee

Shit. I shouldn't have looked at him. He was too perfect. I knew that. Maybe not in anyone else's eyes but in mine, he was absolute perfection.

I could tell that my recent freak outs were starting to bother him. I just couldn't cope with the fact that I'd gotten a night with him and now life would go back to normal. I wanted more. Now that I'd gotten a glimpse at him, the older him, I didn't want to go back.

I wanted him. I wanted a friendship at the very least. And I was afraid that that wouldn't be what he wanted. I was already starting to pull away from him, knowing that he'd most likely try to turn everything back to the way it was before last night ever happened.

And now I was crying and driving at the same time. Luke seemed to notice this as he ordered me to pull over. Shaking slightly, I moved the car so that it was on the side of the road and put it in park.

"Kaylee. Please tell me what's wrong," he begged.

I shook a little more as a sob came over me.

"Kay I didn't mean my slap on your ass to get you so sad. God, it was only a joke," he whispered.

This only made me cry more.

"I won't call you babe anymore," he suggested.

And again, I sobbed louder.

"Damn it Kaylee!" he yelled, slapping his hand down onto his knee. "Tell me what's wrong! You've been acting weird all morning and I can't stand to see you cry like this," he said, his voice growing softer by the second.

            In a sudden move, he had taken his seatbelt off and roughly unclipped mine. He pulled me onto his lap, making sure that I didn't hit anything getting out of the seat. Once sat on his lap, he tucked my head under his chin and just held me.

            "Please, Kaylee. Tell me what's making you so sad," he said, his voice sounding broken.

            "I..." I tried finding my voice. I cleared my throat once and tried again. "I just can't..."

            He sighed. "Can't what Kay?" He stroked my hair.

            "I don't want...I don't want to go back...to the way things were before," I said. I hid my head in his chest further. Now my words were coming out in a rush. "And you probably do. You're the kind of guy that doesn't have relationships or girlfriends, or even friends that are girls. You just have acquaintances and I don't want to be that. I..."

            I was becoming frustrated at my own stupidity. Why would he want to be with me?

            "I just can't stand to let myself have even an ounce of lust for you because I'm scared if it turns into more, I'm gonna end up hurt!"

            He stared at me. Shit. Had I really just said all that out to him? Idiot. I was blushing redder than a fire truck.

            Luke took my face in his hands and tilted it towards him so he could see into my eyes.

            "Kaylee. First things first, I'm not exactly a player like most people think. They're rumors. Granted, I let them happen, but most of the time they're not true. I haven't slept with a single cheerleader we have. I haven't played every girl I've ever met."

            That made me smile, just a teensy bit. He kept gazing at me.

            "Kay, I would never hurt you," he said.

            Luke looked into my eyes again before pulling me back into his embrace. If only he realized that he had, in fact, already hurt me. Back in fifth grade. When he just stopped being my best friend. But I was a child. And now, being a legal adult, I realized that the feeling of loss had never really gone away.