Somewhere in the Middle

Dirty Details

"Hey," Evie said, sitting down close to Lucas on the wraparound couch in the lounge.

He was smiling as soon as she opened the door, but now he was grinning so wide, she thought she could see all of his teeth.

"Hey yourself," he said, tugging an earbud out of his ear.

She glanced at his computer. "Am I interrupting?"

"Nothing important," he said, closing the laptop and giving her his full attention. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"

Evie shrugged, still smiling. "Just... boredom I guess."

"No better prospects out there?" he asked with a smirk.

"It's not that," she defended.

"No, no I get it. I was the last resort."

She would've been nervous if he weren't still grinning. "Kind of."

He gasped. "I take offense to that."

"I'm sorry, it's just, Greg is face timing his girlfriend again, Jamie's M.I.A., and Pete's reading, so I -"

Lucas nodded. "Lucky me, then."

Her heart gave one big thump in her chest. If anyone else had said it, she would've thought it was sarcasm. But from the way he was looking at her, smiling at her, she knew it wasn't.

"What did I interrupt?" she asked, needing to change the subject.

"Nothing. Just messing around."

"You produce, too?"

Lucas looked at her, brow furrowed.

"I noticed before you closed your laptop," she said.

His brow relaxed again. "It's just a hobby. Nothing I'd ever release."

Evie met his eye. "Can I listen?"

"No." He shook his head, and for the first time, his smile seemed embarrassed. "No, I, uh, I don't -"

"Come on."

"No, I don't - it's not just you, I don't let anyone listen to it." He set the laptop down beside his legs on the cushion farther away from Evie.

"Then what's the point?"

Lucas was thoughtful for a moment, but still didn't look like he'd budge.

"It's just me," she said then, eager to hear what he was trying so hard to hide.

He met her eye, that smile growing on his lips again. His eyebrow quirked up. "Just you?"

"Luke..."

"Evie," he returned, amusement coloring the sound of her name.

They'd done so well these past few days. Since their breakfast, things had been almost easy between them. Sure, the attraction was still there (at least on her end), but Lucas had kept his word. He hadn't made anything that could even be misconstrued as a move (except opening doors for her) since their chat. But now, sitting so close—why did she sit so close to him—it was hard to not feel the things she'd been repressing.

"Can I ask you a question?" she said then, figuring that changing the subject again was better than reopening that conversation.

"Shoot."

"What's the story with Jamie?" She couldn't tell from his reaction—a quick lift of his brows followed by a short laugh—if he was surprised or annoyed.