Grace's Gap Year In Australia

Grace's Gap Year In Australia- Part Nineteen

Smiling, I wrapped my arms around his neck and stared into his eyes. Light flashed over him every two seconds, lighting up his hazel eyes that were locked on me.

“You look beautiful, Gracie,” he whispered, coming close to my ear again. I rested into his neck and closed my eyes, enjoying the feel of him from the same height. Because of my heels, my eyes were level with his, meaning that my lips were, too.

My gaze flickered to his lips for a second, and then returned to his eyes. But he’d already caught me glancing and quirked the side of his mouth. Yet he didn’t advance forward, he just continued staring into my eyes. This was both sweet and frustrating. I wanted to taste his lips on mine, just like I had intended to at the beginning of the party. Yes, I had chosen Luke that day in the park. But now that both Jay and Beau had advanced on me, I was back into the realm of uncertainty. Except, I wasn’t- the pull toward Jay was still ridiculously strong. But was that because I had kissed him and not the others? I certainly wasn’t going to be a complete slag and kiss them all to compare. The music wasn’t helping anymore. I needed fresh air.

“I need some air!” I shouted over the music. Luke nodded and led me out of the room, down the hall and through the front door.

“You okay?” he asked once I had stumbled onto the grass.

I inhaled the night air deeply and closed my eyes. “I just need to clear my head and get away from the swarm for a little bit.”

He came up close behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, resting his chin on my shoulder. “How’s the head?” he whispered.

“Getting better,” I sighed dreamily.

“Do you wanna go for a walk?”

“In these heels?” I questioned. His smile was so cute that I sighed again and began walking down the street, toward the concrete jungle.

He was in stride with me, so he clasped my hand in his. I looked down at them and couldn’t help but smile. When I returned my gaze to his face, I saw that he was also staring at our hands.

When we reached the old couch in the alleyway, he pulled me down onto it so that I was sitting on his lap. I snuggled into his neck and he put his arms around me.

I hadn’t kissed Luke, but somehow just being in his arms felt as right as kissing Jay. Running my hand up his arm, I could feel his blonde hairs beneath my palm. “This feels right,” I told him.

He stared down at me as I stared up at his face, and then craned his head down to kiss my forehead. I closed my eyes and cherished the warm feel of his lips on my skin. Then he pulled away and picked me up, carrying me with his arms beneath my legs and back. He had had the opportunity to kiss me, but had chosen to kiss my forehead. To my surprise- I wasn’t aggravated- I was in awe.

“You should get back to the birthday boy,” Luke chuckled.

I gulped and my mouth twisted guiltily. “About Beau, I-”

“Don’t worry. He has a right to a shot at getting you too, Gracie.”

“I don’t think he has much of a shot,” I admitted, nestling into his chest.

Luke squeezed me tighter to him for a second. “That’s good to hear. But I still have Jay to worry about.”

My body must have tensed, because he looked down at me and said, “Gracie, I know about the kiss with Jay.”

“How?”

He laughed, shaking me lightly in his arms. “You both came out of the garage after a few minutes and when Jay came out, his mouth was smothered in your lipstick.”

“I’m sorry. I-I thought he was you,” I admitted guiltily.

When I looked up at him, he was wearing a fairly smug smile. “So you want to smother me in your lipstick?”

I hit his chest and wriggled out of his arms so that he set me back on the pavement. “Shut up.”

“Well, how was it?” Luke asked. It was kind of weird not having to look up at him.

“Do you really want to know?”

Luke paused a moment, then nodded slowly.

Unable to lie to him, I told him the truth. “It was different than I had expected it to be with Jay. Better than I had expected.”

He sighed and his mouth twisted into a small smile so that only one side of his mouth quirked up. I laced my fingers through his again and tugged so that we were walking hand-in-hand, my head on his shoulder.

“I want you to be with who feels right, Gracie,” Luke whispered, putting his arm over my shoulder so that our linked hands hung at my collarbone.

“The thing is; it all feels right,” I told him truthfully.

Luke squeezed my hand, kissed my head and then released me just before we reached the front door. The pulsing music welcomed us as we opened the door and burrowed through the crowd, back to the dance floor. This time, I didn’t lose Luke, I kept hold of his hand and he took me to the centre of the lounge to dance to Ne-Yo’s ‘Closer.’ It was a contrast to the other songs, allowing everyone a breather from the manic swarm.

I realised that Summer wasn’t on the dance floor. “I’ll be back in a minute!” I shouted to Luke over the music. He nodded and moved to dance with Ari and Leon.

When I walked through the crowd, people parted and made way for me, saving them from being pushed out of the way. I smiled politely at them and carefully trekked up the stairs. My door was slightly ajar, so I pushed it open, thinking the room would be unoccupied. I was wrong. Daniel was on the bed, his body pressed up against the body beneath him. Thinking it was Summer, I moved further into the room to check that she wasn’t being taken advantage of- she tended to get trashed to the point of face-planting the floor.

But when I moved further, the floor creaked and the two heads snapped round to face me. It was Daniel and Roxy.  

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