The Turnover - Luke Hughes

Chapter 22

Winter 2023 - February

Ana wakes up on Saturday morning, still half-asleep, stretching her arms before closing her eyes again. She didn't check the time, but she assumed it was somewhere around 10:00am or so. She snuggled back into the warm bed sheets tucked around her body, dozing off once more. As the morning light filtered through the curtains, Ana slowly stirred from her slumber, her mind gradually emerging from the haze of sleep. Blinking her eyes open, she found herself in a room that was unfamiliar yet strangely cozy. It took a moment for the events of the previous night to come flooding back to her.

With a jolt of realization, Ana noticed an arm wrapped around her waist.

Without moving, she glanced down, immediately knowing that strong arm with a blue bracelet on his wrist, slender fingers bunched into the fabric of the sheets.

Luke's arm.

Holy shit, Ana said to herself. She shifted slightly, silently, onto her back, now fully aware of the warm body next to her.

Her gaze fell upon Luke, sleeping peacefully beside her, his tousled hair and relaxed expression indicating that he was completely unaware of her internal turmoil.

When did I even fall asleep? She wrestled with the thought in her mind.

As Ana struggled to piece together the events of mere hours ago, fragments of memories began to surface. The laughter, the drinks, the shared glances, the friends, the dancing, all of which had sparked that electric connection between them. And then, the decision to come back to Luke's house to get medicine for her headache, somehow leading to this moment.

Sleeping in Luke's bed together.

She glanced at Luke again as he let out a soft groan, involuntarily clinging tighter around Ana's waist with his arm. The pads of his fingers met the bare skin of her side, where her shirt had ridden up sometime during the night. She stared at the ceiling, not daring to wake him. She knew he always slept better with her.

It was weird. This was awkward. Being here in his bed, after seven months of nothing at all. Ana considered how many times they had woken up like this, day after day in the summer. But this time was an unexpected shot in the dark. She needed to get out of there.

Should I wake him up? She thought. Oh God, what are the girls gonna think? She turned to his nightstand, finding her phone plugged up next to Luke's. Ana eyeballed the picture of them, the happy memory staring back at her. When she tried to reach for her phone, she felt Luke's arm around her go stiff.

Ana turned her head back to him, meeting a sleepy pair of amber eyes blinking open, squinting against the morning light. They said nothing, but they didn't have to. Luke also came to a realization of his own, quickly retracting his arm from around her waist. It was a force of habit, he assumed to himself. Luke's face reddened with awkwardness.

"Hey," Luke finally spoke, a mumble. He yawned, running a hand through his messy curls. She had never looked more beautiful than she did right now, here in his bed. He could tell by the look on her face, though, that she was stressed about the situation they've found themselves in.

"Hey," Ana responded, "Didn't mean to wake you up." Luke nodded at her. "It's okay. I didn't want to wake you up either, so I didn't, and here we are." He chuckled slightly to himself.

"And here we are," Ana repeated. You need to leave now. "Did I fall asleep here?"

"Yeah, it was going on 2:00am and we were talking and then you were knocked out. You never moved the whole night," Luke said. "Oh, I told the girls by the way. They know you're here." I wanted nothing but you to be safe here with me, he said to himself.