The Road Trip

• Seven •

I could hear myself talking, but I was confused. My voice sounded weird. "Mom? Mom!"

Where was I? My heart was racing.

I started to swing my arms, but someone was holding my hands.

"Reese, you're dreaming. It's okay."

My brain startled awake. I could make out the outline of Luke sitting next to me on my bed.

"I was dreaming," I whispered like he hadn't just told me that. I rolled onto my side, cradled around his lower back.

One of his hands curled around my waist. "I know. Are you okay?"

I nodded my head against the pillow. "Did I wake you up?"

"Well, you sort of screamed and scared me," Luke chuckled.

I shut my eyes. Who knows what I'd said.

Luke's hand came up to the side of my rib cage, and his thumb fanned out back and forth, rubbing over the fabric of my tank top and my skin. "Does that happen a lot?"

"It's gotten better. I probably drank too much."
While we sat in the dark together my breathing fell into rhythm with the stroke of his thumb or maybe his thumb fell into rhythm with my breaths.

"Do you want to go back to sleep?" Luke asked eventually. "I can go grab us some breakfast."
I was wide awake and had been trying not to freak out about how long Luke had had his hand on me and why it felt so calming.

"No, I'll come with you," I said, sitting up. "What time is it?"

"A little after five." Luke's eyes followed the strap of my top as it fell down my arm. He reached up and brushed it back up over my shoulder before he seemed to realize what he was doing. "Sorry," he said under his breath.

"It's okay." And I meant it because he was still holding one of my hands, and I didn't hate it.

We ventured out into dawn in search of food. I had my head in my phone trying to find the nearest open restaurant when Luke slowed as he peered into a window and stopped short. I looked over my shoulder to see a stupid grin on his face.

"That is Pilates?!"

I looked through the window to see a group of women taking a Pilates class. They were standing on the reformers and doing lunges backwards on the carriage.

"What is that contraption?!" Luke asked, highly amused.

"I would love to see you on one," I countered, but as soon as I said it, I knew I'd misstepped.

Luke's grin turned mischievous, and he grabbed my hand, trying to pull me towards the door. "We're appropriately dressed."

I planted my feet hard on the sidewalk and laughed. "No way."

"Do you think I'll be the only guy they've ever had in class?" His eyes were shining as he tugged me a little harder.

"You are ridiculous."

"You should know by now not to challenge me."
Luke dropped my hand and was inside the door before I said, "Luuuuke," to no avail.

Unfortunately, the next class was in ten minutes, and there were open spots. But surprisingly, it was fun—maybe I shouldn't have been surprised anymore that Luke made everything fun. He made faces at me. He grunted when he tried to over-do it. His legs shook when the instructor would try to push us. He laughed when our eyes would connect in the mirror. He got confused with the machine and how to position his body on it, so the instructor had to keep helping him. He playfully nudged me when I laughed at him. And when it was over, he told me that it was way harder than he thought, and he'd rather work out at the gym any day.