Howl

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

As had become usual during the winter break, Emma found herself at Lukas’ place. While her place offered more privacy, since Lukas did have roommates, she loved staying at his place. He did have the entire basement to himself, and his roommates rarely ventured down there. In fact, after catching them kissing on the couch one day, Bryan and the others living there were very good about not going into the basement.

She also liked being at his place because his kitchen was stocked much better than hers, despite his best efforts to keep real food in her apartment and teach her the basics of cooking. She really was a complete failure when it came to cooking, but they came to the agreement that Lukas cooked and Emma cleaned.

Because it was cold, they often found themselves having dinner and watching movies, although they often weren’t paying too much attention to the movie itself. Only when they rented a movie did they bother paying attention to the screen, which was what they did every Tuesday. Because it was the Tuesday after New Years’, they had three bottles of sparkling cider that they had lifted from the party they attended.

No one really cared about the sparkling cider, which was only there for those under twenty-one, but because they ended up drinking alcohol anyway, Lukas and Emma decided to drink all the sparkling cider themselves. They ended up sharing a bottle at the party and then they stuck the other three in Lukas’ trunk. Now, they were drinking it for their movie night.

“So,” Emma said as the credits started to scroll on the movie, “I finally told my parents about you.”

“Oh, really?” Lukas said with a smile. “And you just met me, right?”

Ever since Emma had gone to visit her parents at Thanksgiving, she’d been constantly apologizing for not telling them about him. She really did feel bad that she didn’t want to tell them, but at least Lukas understood. In fact, he even joked about it, referring to himself as her secret boyfriend.

“I didn’t give them a timeline. I just said I was seeing someone and told them your name.” She had spent Thanksgiving and Christmas with her parents down in Colorado Springs, and although she spent New Years’ Eve with Lukas, she did drive down to see them on New Years’ Day since she had the day off.

“Did you do it when you were walking out the door?”

“Yeah, actually. Didn’t want them to ask too many questions. But I hope it’s not too much to ask, but what do you think about meeting them? Maybe this weekend or the next? If you don’t want to, you don’t have to. Yet.”

“I’m good either weekend,” Lukas said. “And I’d love to meet your parents.”

“It’s just going to be awkward for me. I’ve never brought a guy home before. But you know, it probably is best we do it soon. Derek comes home at the end of the month and he can be a bit overprotective. I can’t promise he’ll be nice when you meet him.”

“As long as he’s just looking out for you, I don’t mind.”

“You’re so nice,” Emma said, turning her body so that she was pressed up against him. She snaked an arm behind his neck and kissed him softly.

“Just for you, my darling.” He kissed her, using an arm to try to press her closer against him, which she allowed at first, but then resisted. “Is something wrong?”

“No,” she said as she ran a hand down his chest. “This is going to sound really weird, but um…”

She trailed off, then started giggling. She pushed away from him and grabbed the bottle of cider. There was still a little bit left, which she drank before she started to giggle again. “You sure this is non-alcoholic?”

“What’s up with you?” Lukas said, smiling. He loved it when she laughed and smiled, even when it made her sound just a little bit crazy, as her giggling tended to do.

“It’s just so stupid, but every time I’m close to you, I can feel this.” She poked him in the stomach. “You’re all muscley. And we’ve been going out for four months now and I’ve never seen you without your shirt on.”

“You want me to take my shirt off?”

Emma nodded and Lukas was only too happy to oblige. Once his shirt was discarded, Emma ran her hand along his bare stomach, feeling his abs. “You know, I never really thought I liked men with muscles,” she muttered as she touched him.

“I thought you didn’t like men in general.”

“True,” she said with a smile. “But I just don’t think I’ve ever thought abs like these were attractive before.”

“You only like it because they’re on me. I could be all flabby and you’d like it.”

“Maybe,” she said, giving him a quick kiss. “But let’s not find out. I definitely like this. In fact, you should have your shirt off more often. As long as I’m the only one around. I don’t want anyone else to see this.”

“Jealous?”

“You’re mine, Lukas. All mine, and no one else gets to even look at this.”

“I think you’re in luck, because you’re the only one I want to look at me.”

“I love you, Lukas.” She didn’t give him a chance to repeat the sentiment, covering his mouth with her own.

“I wish I didn’t have to work tomorrow,” she said with a sigh, finally pulling away from him, although a bit reluctantly. She always felt more and more reluctant to stop kissing him. Most of the time, she just wanted to stay with him like that forever.

“Is it that late already?” Lukas asked, reaching for his phone to check the time.

“Not really.”

“Well, I think we have time for this then.”

Before she could question his intentions, he had his arms around her and he pushed her onto the couch. Gently covering her body with his own, he started eagerly kissing her once again. The feeling of her hands on his back drove him crazy, and without really realizing what he was doing, his hands had slipped up her shirt.

Feeling her bare skin only made matters worse for him and he could feel a longing to get even closer to her. He started to trail kisses along her neck, wishing she’d worn something that showed more skin. But he could make do with what was available. He ground his hips into her, gently, but it was apparently too much.

Emma pushed him off, although when he was slow to move, she punched him hard in the mouth, causing him to draw back in pain.

“Ow! Emma!” Although he didn’t mind her playful punches, that one actually hurt.

“Oh god,” she whispered, her voice shaking. “Sorry.”

“Emma? What’s wrong?”

“I… um, this,” she said, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening. “I got to go.”

Before Lukas could say another word and before he could see her cry, she turned around and ran out, grabbing her coat and purse as she went. She barely stopped to put her shoes on, just wanting to get as far from Lukas as possible.

“Wait, Emma!” Lukas called after her.

He wasn’t going to let her go so easily and chased after her, finally catching her at the front door. He grabbed her, trying to be gentle, but she tried to pull away and he tightened his grip. “Please talk to me,” he begged.

Emma couldn’t even look at him, and when she couldn’t pull away from him, she ended up punching him again. It either hurt him enough to make him release her or he got the hint and let go on his own. Either way, she was free to make her escape.

“Emma! Please don’t go!” Lukas followed her outside, shouting at her and not giving a damn how crazy he looked by running outside with no shoes and no shirt in the middle of January.

She got into her truck quickly and sped off, the door only closing due to the forces from the vehicle’s movement. At that moment, she would have been ready to drive all the way home without a door – she just had to get away.

“Don’t leave me,” Lukas said, almost whimpering. He knew she couldn’t hear him, but the words came out anyway, just before the tears.