Second Chances

twelve

a l e x

"What's up?" Luke asked once I answered the call. "Why are your eyes red? Are you okay?"

"We need to talk about what happened or else I won't be able to sleep," I told him, ignoring his comment about my eyes.

He stared at me. "You won't tell me? Fine, but do you think you can change out of your towel before we talk?"

I realized what he was talking about and mentally cursed myself. This is what happens when I'm too focused on something. "Be right back."

My phone was on my bed, facing the ceiling, as I hurriedly changed into some sweats and a t-shirt. "I'm back."

"So, you wanted to talk about what happened," Luke recalled.

"Yeah, I tried to get it out of my mind, but I can't," I grumbled. "You did this to me."

He chuckled. "I guess I'm just that unforgettable."

"You're not helping," I glared at him.

"Well, you're not exactly telling me how I'm supposed to help," he pointed out.

"You and I need to make it clear that what happened was a one time thing and that it most definitely will not happen again," I decided.

He stayed silent.

"Come on, Luke. Please," I pleaded.

"But what if I want it to happen again?" he questioned.

I was slightly taken aback by his words. "What?"

"I want it to happen again," he repeated.

"Luke, you know I'm trying to take things slow," I reminded him. "What happened wasn't supposed to happen anytime soon."

"You can't even say that we kissed. You keep calling it 'what happened,' and that makes me think you regret it," he called me out.

I closed my eyes and sighed. "I'm not going to fight you about this, Luke. I just need you to tell me what I want to hear."

"I just care, okay?" he defended himself. "I don't like seeing you like this, but I also don't want to feel used by you."

His words rang in my head.

"Luke, I'm not using you. You and I both know that I enjoyed the kiss. All of the kisses. I just can't accept the fact that I let my emotions rule over my head."

"Alex, you're a smart person," he acknowledged. "No matter how much your emotions want to rule, you will always let your mind control your choices."

"How do you know?" I mumbled, trying to dry my hair with a towel.

"Because you're Alex," was his short and simple answer. "That's who you are, and that's why I'm so damn attracted to you."

I couldn't help but smile at what he said, but that didn't mean I still wasn't filled with fear. "Luke, this is really going fast. We've gone through this before, and that didn't end very well."

"We don't need labels, Alex," he reassured me. "Not until you're ready."

I stopped trying to dry my hair. "That means a lot. You don't know how stressed I was thinking of all that. Especially what you did before you left."

"Miss me already?"

"If I told you I did, would you come back?" I challenged him.

He adjusted his phone, so I could see his face as he laid down, snuggled up in his pillows. "You know I can't do that."