Ryan Clifford is 23 years old and she has never had a boyfriend. Her parents think she will end up alone if they don't find someone to marry her, so that's exactly what they do. They find the perfect man for their little girl: Luke Robert Hemmings.
...
When I got home, I ran up to my room and stared at my closet to try and figure out what I was going to wear.
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I decided to change into a simple black t-shirt, ripped light grey skinny jeans and white converse. I also took out my grey jacket to slip on before I left. I pulled my hair out of the low bun I had put it in after I showered this morning, but was disappointed when I found it to be all tangly. I decided to just brush it out and put it back into a high messy bun. After all, Luke did say to dress comfy, right? Then I brushed my teeth, put on some deodorant and dabbed on a bit of perfume.
Fortunately, it didn't take long to get ready and I still had a solid hour and a half before Luke would pick me up. I rushed downstairs and found Calum sitting with Michael playing video games.
"Hey, Ry. Where have you been all day?" Calum asked, looking away from the game. Michael paused the game and looked over to me when he heard Calum's question.
"I was at Luke's. We watched a movie and he's going to pick me up in about an hour and a half," I answered.
"So, are you two, like, a thing?" Michael asked me. I quickly shook my head. To tell the truth, I didn't know what we were. I knew I liked him—maybe I was even falling in love—but I had no idea how he felt about me.
"I've seen the way he looks at you, Ry. He's head over heels for you." Calum announced, reading my mind. Hearing Cal confirm this made my heart warm and butterflies erupt in my stomach. "And I think you like him too," Calum added. My cheeks started to blush and I quickly ran over to the couch to spill my heart out to Cal and Mikey.
I told them everything. How I felt about Luke, how confused I was and about our pact.
☆
By the time I was finished talking with Michael and Calum, Luke had come to pick me up. We left the house and he opened the passenger door for me then quickly ran over to his side to start driving. He said the mystery destination was a thirty minute drive.
When we arrived, it turned out to be an abandoned park. There were three old swing sets, a broken jungle-gym and a rusty monkey bar set. There was a small patch of green grass on a little hill, underneath a big tree at the back of the park. Laying there was a blanket and two pillows. Luke guided me over to the blanket and we sat down, cuddling in each other's arms.
"When I was at my lowest point, I was driving one night and I came across this abandoned park. I don't know why, but I just kept coming back. I wanted to share this place with someone," he paused. "You—I wanted to share it with you."
When Luke said this, I felt my eyes welling up and tears threatening to slip out. I tried to hold them back, hoping Luke wouldn't see, but it was too late when he turned towards me. "Ryan, what's wrong?" Luke asked, sitting up and cupping my face in his hands.
"Nothing, nothing. It's just... no one's ever done something like this for me before," I confessed. I felt overwhelmed with emotion as Luke's thumbs wiped my tears.
"So you're not sad or mad at me or anything?" He asked me to make sure I was alright. I shook my head and quickly wiped away my tears, smiling up at him. "Good. The only way I want to make you cry is with happy tears." He chuckled, laying back down. My head lay on his chest and we both looked up to the sky, his fingers tangling themselves in my hair.
"The stars are so beautiful tonight," I cooed.
"You're so beautiful tonight. And every night." Luke replied, my breath getting caught in my throat. I wasn't sure if I was happy he said that or scared. I didn't want Luke to fall in love with me because I knew I would hurt him.
"It's getting late. We should probably clean up and head back." I said, quickly sitting up with my back to Luke. I knew he didn't deserve the way I was treating him but I didn't want to hurt him. I knew if I let things go on this way, I would only end up breaking his heart in the end and he did not deserve that.
"Oh, okay. Yeah." He mumbled, quickly gathering the blanket while I grabbed the pillows. We walked over to the car and saw that it was already 9 o'clock.
☆
When Luke pulled up to my house, I turned to him and placed my hand on top of his that was resting on the gear shift.
"Thank you so much for tonight. It really meant a lot." I flashed a comforting smile.
"Did I do something wrong? One second we were lying down comfortably in silence and the next you were rushing to get out of there." He asked, looking to me with a painful expression. That felt like a bullet to my chest.
"God, no. Luke, you were perfect tonight. It's just... remember our pact? We promised we will only be friends. We said we wouldn't fall in love with each other."
"Right... yeah, I know," Luke mumbled. I realized I upset him, but before I could ask about it he spoke up. "Well, goodnight. Maybe we can hang out tomorrow or something? I'll text you." He rushed, leaning over me to open the car door. I just mumbled a 'yeah' and quickly left the tension-filled car. What had I just done?
☆
Luke's POV
Fuck. Fuck. FUCK. How could I be so stupid?! Why do I always fuck things up?! I just pushed Ryan away even more by telling her she looked beautiful. I mean, she was beautiful—perfect even—but she literally told me not to fall in love with her. And I did.
