I place a hand on his arm before whispering, “Tell me. Please.”
Luke peers over his shoulder at me, shakes his head, and looks away before continuing. “My dad came over after graduation and demanded that I come with him and help him witha job. He said something about needing my help to make sure it got done quickly. When I refused, he tried to convince me in another way.” He enunciates each word of that last sentence, his jaw tight.
He keeps his eyes trained on the bonfire as a few silent moments pass between us. Behind him, the lake stretches out like black glass, the moonlight rippling across its surface in silver streaks. Laughter carries across the water, rising above the crackle of the fire and the low thump of music in the distance.
Our classmates are scattered in loose, glowing clusters: someare dancing together, others are draped over lawn chairs or tangled together on old blankets, lost in stories they’ll swear to remember but probably won’t.
I wait patiently for Luke to continue.
“My dad will never change. He’ll never leave us alone.”
My lips part to protest, but the part of me that knows he’s right keeps the words trapped inside of my throat.
“That’s why she needs to leave.” His voice breaks, and the sound squeezes against my heart.
“Who?” I ask, even though I’m pretty sure I know who he’s talking about.
His head swings toward me, and when our eyes meet, there's a warmth in his gaze. It feels like standing dangerously close to the fire, and I know I should step away to protect myself, but I can't.
“Raine.” Luke shrugs, but as he takes a step toward me, he trips and almost falls. I catch him, keeping him steady by placing my hands on his broad shoulders.
“What about you, then?” I add, my voice sounding colder than I mean it to as I let go of him.
The last thing I want is for my friends to leave. As badly as I want to be upset right now, I also understand that leaving might be the only way for Luke and Raine to end the suffering Davis causes them both. If Luke wants Raine to leave, wouldn’t he want that for himself too? I turn and face him. “Don’t you want to leave with her?”
“Do you want me to?” he asks, the heat returning in his gaze.
I decide to answer him truthfully. “No. I don’t, but if it’s what’s best for you, then I guess I’d have to be okay with it. I care about you, Luke. Selfishly, I want you to stay, but you deserve to be happy and safe.”
His face falls, seeming more boyish than it has in months. He stays quiet for a moment, pondering on something for asecond, before he shakes the thought away and says, “It doesn’t matter anyway. I can’t leave.”
“Why can’t you? What’s keeping you here?”
“Well, for starters, my mom is here,” he says, and I’m ashamed for not thinking about her. Luke would do anything for his mom, including never leaving her side.
His chest lifts in a deep breath before he takes a step toward me, lowering his gaze to mine. “And you.”
Each one of my muscles tenses. “Me?” I say, more like a question, and watch him take another step until our chests are only inches apart.
“Of courseyou.” He reaches his hands up and cradles my face in them. “I could never be away from you.”
There’s something different in the way he’s staring at me. The line between friendship and more is being crossed with this sort of look. Warning bells go off inside of my head, yet as he inches closer, my heart does one of those flip motions, taking my breath away. My brain is screaming for me to back away, but my heart is pulling me toward him.
“We can still be friends, even with distance between us,” I whisper.Why am I whispering?
“I don’t want any distance between usat all.”
My whole body freezes as his words touch my heart. I decide to tell my brain to shut up, even though it’s trying to remind me tonot ruin our friendship, and instead, I choose to listen to my heart. And right now, my heart wants to know what it would feel like to step over the friendship line with Luke.
He pulls me closer to him until my nose reaches his chin. He has one hand gripping my hip while the other is tracing the side of my cheek, his thumb brushing lightly over the freckles scattered there, like he’s memorizing them.
His chest hitches as his eyes dance with mine. I catch the hint of caramel and chocolate mixing together…right before they land on my lips.
His body takes over, and so does mine. He slides a hand into my hair, fingers threading through the mess of my long red waves, tipping my head back before placing his lips onto mine. It’s remarkable how much courage it takes to allow someone to kiss you, even when you’re certain you want them to.
I clutch him closer and let out a soft, involuntary sigh once his grip tightens at my side. The kiss deepens, and I slide my fingers into his hair, giving it a small tug. The kiss starts out soft but is growing into a wildfire, the last six years of pent-up longing between us igniting in an instant.
So many unspoken truths are said within this kiss. A part of me is terrified that this is the type of line you cross where things can never be the same. The other part of me is admitting that I’ve wanted this for a long time.
