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“Is him having a gun and shooting like that why we took the camera? I mean, maybe he thought he was going to protect his family.”
Luke grinned. “Oh god, your questions are going to drive me insane.”
I tugged my face away from his hands, closing my eyes. “The ones in my head I haven’t even asked are driving me crazy, too.”
Luke let out a short breath. His arms surrounded my shoulders. “I’m sorry, Sang. I want to tell you everything. I didn’t mean to tease you. Ask me whatever you want.”
My forehead found the crook between his neck and shoulder. I was frustrated because of the situation. This wasn’t his fault. I didn’t know who to blame. Maybe the Academy. “I know you can’t answer everything.”
“I want to. I can’t answer everything, but I’ll answer everything I can.”
“What’s on the camera?”
Luke pulled back, the smile on his face returning. He fished the black digital camera from his back pocket and showed it to me. “I make you a deal. If you can steal this back from me, I’ll let you see what’s on it.”
I blinked at him, tilting my head. How in the world was I supposed to do that? “It makes it kind of hard if you know I’m going to take it.”
“If you want to become good at anything, you have to make things more difficult.” He slipped the camera into his back pocket. “Here. I’ll give you an open shot.” He turned around, facing the bathtub. He folded his hands across his chest.
There was an outline of the camera bulging from his back pocket. Knowing I probably wouldn’t get it, I slipped my fingers in his pocket to clutch the camera.
Luke’s hand swung around, slapping against mine. “You’re not even trying.”
“I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m just taking it.”
He turned around, a grin on his face. “Not that I’d mind your hands on my butt, but if you ever needed to lift something from someone else, I wouldn’t want you to get caught like that. Just reaching for it and jerking it out is too obvious.”
“When am I ever going to need to learn this?”
Luke shrugged. “Who knows. Maybe someone at school takes your lunch money and you have to steal it back without them knowing or you’ll get beaten up. There’s always a reason.”
“Did that happen to you?”
Luke’s head tilted back, and he blinked. “Maybe. When I was little.”
I pressed a palm to my cheek. I didn’t want to ask the question but I knew I needed to. Something made me think of what Karen had told me earlier, reminding me about the thefts in the school. Not that I expected the guys to steal from them, but after everything else ... after Derrick told me they had been thieves once, I had to know. “Does the Academy steal? Is that why you’re at Ashley Waters?”
Luke’s mouth fell open. “What made you say that, Sang? We wouldn’t do that.”
I retreated, ashamed now that I thought I needed to ask. “I ... You ... I mean there’s a reason you’re there, right? It isn’t just about trying to help the school. There has to be an easier way than doing what you’re doing, so ... I thought maybe there was something in it for ...”
“Ashley Waters doesn’t have the money to get the football team proper safety equipment or more busses for the students. They can’t even afford a proper security guard,” Luke said. “There’s nothing there worth stealing. And we’re not like that.”
“Oh,” I said, feeling embarrassed at having sounded accusatory. “I’m sorry. It’s ... hard not knowing.”
Luke closed the space between us, until his hips pushed against my knees. My legs parted until he was leaning up against the countertop and his body was pressed closer. His arms encircled my shoulders. “Sang,” he said softly. “We all have a job when it comes to the Academy, okay? It’s not always like this. Our group gets asked to do particular jobs most of the others can’t do. And even this job is extraordinarily out of range of what’s normal for our group. This is the exception, not the standard.”
Volto’s words threaded through the back of my brain, until I felt my lips parting and the question slipping through. “But the school is dangerous, too, right? Is it like taking this camera? It’s why you can’t tell me everything you’re doing for Ashley Waters?”
“You’re wrong, Sang,” he said. His hands smoothed across my upper back. He pressed his face against my forehead until I could feel his mouth and the edge of his jaw against my skin. “The school is a job, and we’re not hurting anyone. We’re there to protect and to figure out what Mr. Hendricks is up to. Just like taking this camera is meant to protect certain people. I’m taking a camera because I want what’s on the camera. It’s to protect someone from very bad people. I’m sorry I can’t say who. You just need to trust me.”
“I trust you,” I said. My arms encircled his back, enjoying the hug when I was probably making him uncomfortable with questions. “I followed you tonight.”
I felt Luke’s mouth shifting. “Probably not the way you imagined spending part of your birthday, huh?”
“It depends,” I said. “Do you enjoy your work? I mean with the Academy?”
His palm smoothed across my shoulders. He drew me in tighter, until his head dipped down, and his lips traced my ear. “I love what I do. I love what the Academy has done for me. Without it, I wouldn’t have a brother, or the guys. I probably would have never met you. So yes, I love my work.”
I traced my cheek against his, finding the desire to kiss it like I had Victor’s, but my courage had run dry that evening. It was hard enough to whisper in return. “Then it was a fine birthday gift. I wanted to spend time with you, doing what you wanted. And we did.”
Luke’s shoulders quivered, and he backed up. His hands slipped up to cup my cheeks. His brown eyes locked on mine. “You’re the strangest girl I’ve ever met.”
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I was still thinking of the camera. I slipped my fingers down slightly to the nape of his back, but kept watching him. “I can’t be that weird.”
His eyebrows lifted. “You just helped me break into a house and got shot at and you’re batting those sweet eyelashes at me like this was a date. I think most girls would have thrown a fit and demanded to be taken home the moment I said ‘break in’.”
My hands lowered until my palms rested on his hips. “Should I throw a fit now?”
“A little too late,” Luke said. His hands mimicked mine, his fingers wrapping around my hips. He lowered his head closer until our noses almost touched. “But if you like it that much, maybe next time I take you out, we’ll do it again.”
I hooked my thumbs into the belt loops of his jeans, my fingers resting on the crests of his butt. I was suddenly very aware of how close we were. My luring him in so I could take the camera, it had him within a fraction of an inch of his mouth meeting mine. My heart was thudding again, too nervous to move my fingers down. “What would we do next time?”
Luke’s smile warmed. “Well, maybe we’ll make like Bonnie and Clyde and take out a bank.”
“Sounds dangerous.” I dared to slip my fingers down a little toward the pocket.
“You don’t seem scared by the idea.”
I was terrified he was serious, but glad he seemed distracted. “You don’t seem scared, either.” I slipped my fingers into his pocket.
His hands slipped over my cheeks again, until his fingers entwined into my hair, holding me steady. “Normally I’m not. Maybe I am a little ... with you.”
My fingers caught the rectangle edges, and I started to lift slightly. This was the hardest part, I knew. Touching was probably easy, but I couldn’t figure out how to lift without him noticing ... unless I ...
“Why with me?” I asked, but I slid my eyes down until my focus was completely on his mouth.
Luke’s lips parted. “Those eyes are dangerous.”
“Dangerous?” I whispered, and let my eyes lift to meet his. I clutched tighter at the plastic, slipping it up an inch until the edge was out of his p
ocket.
“Tempting,” he whispered in return. “I told you before I wanted to steal a kiss.”
My fingers stopped, now I was getting distracted. “Is that what you want now?”
His head tilted down, until his lips hovered a breath away from mine. “Sang?”
My fingers shook slightly at the closeness of his lips. I had to re-grip or I was going to lose my hold. And my senses were going wild. He’d told me before how he wanted our first kiss to be. Would he do it here in some strange bathroom after this wild night? The desire to simply lean forward and do it was tremendous. “Yes, Luke?”
“You are ...” he breathed, and paused, his eyes closing.
My heart raced and my whole body froze. “Hm?” I urged, unsure of how to move or what to do next. Was he really going to? I was overwhelmed. I wanted it.
“You are so beautiful,” he started again, paused and suddenly his head drew back, and he spoke in a normal voice, “but you’re the absolute worst pickpocket I’ve ever seen.”
I blinked back as the spell he was casting broke. I huffed, clutched and lifted my hand out before he could take a step back. “If I’m the worst,” I said, and opened my palm to show him. “Then what’s ...” I stopped when I glanced at the object in my hand and blinked at it, unsure of what my eyes were seeing.
I was holding the cell phone.
Luke rolled his eyes and chuckled. “Twice in one night you’ve let me take something out of your panties. Maybe I should be concerned.”
