Got No Shame » l.h.

3. What The Shit, Nancy Drew?

S T E L L A

"I think we lost them, Luke. You can stop driving so damn fast now."

"You think this is fast?"

I rolled my eyes, sitting uncomfortably in the passenger seat of Luke's mustang. Even in the dim environment, I could see his smirk grow with every passing streetlight. I knew that if my first impression of him was not a snarky, street hoodlum, I would probably enjoy his expression more. Although, I was not in a scenario that was in his favor and the dirty blonde was currently not exactly my favorite crayon in my box. If he was really a crayon, he would be a broken, nubby brown one in the back row.

"Listen, Stel," Luke's voice shifted into a softer, almost apologetic tone. It surprised me, as he cut some underlying tension with his words. "I won't tell your brother so if that's why you're fidgeting so much, you can stop shaking your leg now."

I looked at Luke with a puzzled stare before looking down at my leg that was closest to him, involuntarily bouncing up and down.

"Sorry." I mumbled, forcing my leg to stay down.

He was right, in a way, as I was thinking about how the last place I would ever want Calum to find me would be in the front seat of Luke's racer. I was relieved at the fact that Luke could effortlessly outdrive the police car that was pursuing us, as he lost them a couple miles back. Being in the clear from arrest was a nice weight off of my shoulders, but I have no idea what Calum would do to me, or Luke for that matter, if he found out. In his obnoxiously, brotherly voice, he would make it very clear to me that the racetrack is no place for a girl like me. I never understood what he meant by 'a girl like me' but I would keep my mouth shut and nod my head every time. All I knew was if I stepped foot onto any racing grounds, it would probably be the death of me.

Luckily, Luke did not want to end up on Calum's blacklist either, assuring me that he would drop me off at Gracie's. After that, we would not speak a word about this night ever again.

With all of the possible ways that my brother could end me flooding through my mind, the feeling of Luke's warm hand startled me as he clasped it softly onto my thigh. My eyes were instinctively frantic, bolting up to silent man. His face was emotionless, keeping his focus strictly on the road ahead.

"You're doing it again." He muttered as I look down at his hand, still baffled by his actions. He applied pressure to my leg, pushing it down slowly to halt my mindless fidgeting. His touch lingered longer than I expected, before he removed his hand from my leg that was enveloped by fresh goosebumps.

"It's a habit." I replied calmly, rubbing my skin before crossing one leg over the other.

"I know." Luke replied in a matched tone, making a turn into Gracie's neighborhood. "But it's usually a nervous habit. You should have no reason to be nervous."

"Just because I have a habit of bouncing my leg, doesn't mean it's from nervousness. Don't assume things." I reply quickly, realized how defensive I sounded as soon as I finished speaking. "It's just a mindless habit. People do it all the time."

I could see Luke rolling his eyes as he pulled into Gracie's driveway with a smooth stop. I watched as his icy gaze slowly fell onto my face, a small laugh escaping from his lips.

"You're a good liar, Stella. I know it's enough to fool your brother," He admitted, resting his hand on my thigh once more. "But not me. I can see through you like glass."

*

"Wow. He really just pulled a fuckboy maneuver on you then?"

I resisted a laugh, looking up at Gracie while she lazily stirred in cocoa powder into a hot cup of milk.