Breathe

Chapter 6

"Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?" -L.M. Montgomery

"Hi Jake." I smile.

His arms squeeze tightly around my waist, and I hug him back. Just the sight of Jake makes me happy. I'm glad he likes me.

I hear a clickity-clack approaching behind Jake.  Anne's face greets me, “Hello. Can I help-", she pauses, "Oh wait. Vanessa, right?"

"Y-yes." I stutter.

"Would you like to come in dear? Luke ran into town to pick up a few groceries.  He should be back soon."

"Okay, thank you."

"Would you like to join us for lunch?" She asks me politely.

"Yeah, that sounds great."

We make small talk while we wait for Luke to return.  She asks me questions about myself, and I try to answer honestly in the best way to ensure that she likes me. 

Fifteen minutes later, I hear wheels crunching up the gravel road that leads to the house and a car door slam.

"I'll go help him carry in the groceries." I say to Anne.

I open the door and walk outside.  Luke is behind his car grabbing grocery bags from the trunk.  

"Hey, do you need some help carrying those in?" I ask nervously after tapping him gently on the shoulder.  I'm not sure how he is going to feel about me being here.

"Vanessa?" He chuckles. "When did you get here? I sent you a text earlier."

"Um, about fifteen minutes ago," I sway, glancing at the ground, "When I returned home earlier my dad was annoyed with me for not calling during the weekend and took away my phone, sorry.  I think I might have intruded into your house though.  I rang the doorbell and Jake answered, and  Anne invited me in for lunch."

"No it's fine. I'm glad you're here.  Let's go inside."

"Okay." I smile.  I grab the rest of the grocery bags out of the trunk and follow him inside.

Luke and I make homemade chicken noodle soup along with small sandwiches for everyone.  We talk and laugh throughout the entire meal.  Luke tells Anne that we met at a 'small get together' that he had on Friday.  I silently laugh.  I wonder where she even was on Friday.

After everyone finishes eating, I help Anne clean, dry, and put away the dishes.  We all enter the living room and sit on couches and recliners. 

"I'm going to use the restroom quick." I quietly announce.

When I return, Jake is snuggled by Anne with a disappointed look on his face watching television.  Luke is nowhere to be found.

"He went up to his room.  You can go up if you'd like.  Fourth door on the left when you reach the top of the stairs." Anne explains to me.

I nod and hike up the stairs.  The stairs are located about hundred feet in front of the front door.  There's two separate white marble staircases, with a hallway placed in the center that leads to the kitchen.  The layout of this house still confuses me. I gently knock on his door, and I realize I haven't been in his room yet.

"Luke?" I murmur through the door.  A few seconds later he opens the door half way.  "Can I come in?" He nods.

I follow him over to his bed and stand in front of him between his legs. 

"Is everything okay?" I ask.

"What? Yeah, I'm fine. I'm going to take a quick shower though, if that's alright with you?"

"Okay."

He walks through the second door on the side wall of his room, which leads to the bathroom.  I pace around his room waiting for him to return.  I look at an old picture of him and Jake placed in a black picture frame on his dresser.  A screen lights up right beside me with a loud ding.  I glance at the screen and it reads, "Michael: 5 months? Damn, I'm sorry.  We can talk at practice later? On the bright side, sounds like a good time for that tour that they wouldn't allow. Haha!"

Who's Michael? Wait, tour? Like a tour of the country? Maybe he likes traveling? I'm beyond confused but I leave it alone and walk back to the couch to sit down.

"Hey," he says walking out of the bathroom.  I gape at him, and I can barely contain myself as he walks out with his hair wet and ruffled.  It's very attractive and distracts me as I take an longer than usual moment to reply.

"Hi," I blush and bite my lip, "So, what do you want to do today?"

"Well, did you have anything in mind?"

"I kind of wanted to try out your pool…" I mutter. 

He lets out a small laugh.  "Okay, I'm going to get changed. You can use my bathroom." 

"I have to go grab my backpack out of my car first." I say.

Arriving at the bottom of the stairs, I run into Anne and Jake.  "We're going into town for some ice-cream.  I think he wanted to do some exploring downtown as well.  Could you tell Luke?"

"Yeah, of course. Have fun!" I smile.

"We will," Jake says, and I can't determine the emotion laced through his words.  "Anne, I'll be in the car."

"Anne, can I ask you something?" I ask after Jake leaves.

"Of course."

"Is something wrong?  Everything seemed fine at lunch but now Luke's acting, I don't know, flustered?"

"I-I'm sure he'll talk to you soon," she says as her cheeks go slightly pink. What's going on?  She turns on her heels and disappears into the garage. 

I walk out the front doors to my car.  After grabbing the bag filled with my clothes, I return back upstairs and walk into Luke's bathroom.  I undress quickly and put on my black and white swimsuit.  Using my makeup remover, I swipe off all my eye makeup so it won't smear and run down my face in the pool.  My reflection in the mirror makes me a little less confident than usual.  I sigh and shrug my shoulders as I stuff all the clothes back into the bag and head out the bathroom door.

"Ready?" I ask.

"Wow, um, yeah, but one second I have no clue where my swim shorts are." I swear he always stutters, but it's kind of cute seeing him at loss for words.

"I'll be down by the pool."

I go downstairs and escape out the back door to the pool.  The patio is now consumed by lovely string lights and lanterns. My eyes close, and I absorb the fresh smell of trees and adventure. I love being outside of the city. It's very refreshing. Breaking my trance, Luke comes outside, runs over, and shoves me into the pool.  I brake through the surface of the water and glare at him with my mouth hanging open.   "Luke!"  I yell as he runs and performs a cannonball into the water, splashing me.

We swim over to the cemented stairs that descend into the water and sit on the third step so our bodies are still half submerged in the water.  "Thank you for this," he says smiling, "I really needed this."

"I did too."

After a minute of comfortable silence, Luke speaks up.  "So, I've been meaning to, um, ask you something.  I've never had a lot of experience with this type of stuff.  I asked a few of my friends for help but they just teased me," he pauses and lets out an awkward laugh, "So, I'm just going to go straight for it.  Will you, uh, go out on a date with me tonight?"

His impulsive words make my skin tingle, and I instantly feel my entire body arouse. “Yes," I smile.