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“Luke!” I said, and shoved the phone at his chest. “You ...” But I couldn’t get the words out. How did he do it? “Where’s the camera?”
Luke’s eyebrows arched. “You’ll have to search me to find it.”
I grumbled and pushed him back so I could jump off the counter and stalk out of the bathroom.
“Don’t blame me,” Luke said, picking up the trash and shutting off the light. “You’re the one who keeps sticking stuff in your underwear.”
I paused in the hallway turning back to him. “I don’t have pockets,” I said.
“You shouldn’t keep things in your pocket,” he said. “You’re better off putting it in your bra like you normally do. It’s one thing for me to fool around with an object in your butt pocket. It’s another if I have to feel up your boob to do it. That’s too close and a thief isn’t going to go anywhere near it.” His grin fired up. “Although one of these days, I might want you to help me practice doing that. Just in case.”
I let out a loud sigh and pushed my hand against his chest. “Luke, you’re ...”
“Handsome? Devilishly clever?”
I couldn’t find the word I wanted, so I opted for poking at his chest and started walking off.
“Sang?”
I stopped, turning to find Luke right behind me. The suddenness in which he’d done it surprised me and my foot shot back to take a half step away. His palms caught my face before I could pull away. His fingers threaded through my hair. Then he released one hand and picked up mine, dropping it on my mouth.
And he kissed my fingertips.
The will to tug my fingers away returned. I sensed the same in his lips that traced along my hand. My mind was flying too far though, and my body trembled hard, overstimulated, overtired, terrified, wanting him.
He backed his head away, his half-closed eyes met mine. “I need to take you home, and if I kiss you now, I’ll end up keeping you here.”
I almost dared him, but I couldn’t find the words.
GROUNDED, AGAIN
By the time we made it back to Sunnyvale Court, the edge of the sky teased with dawn. I’d been out all night. There was no chance of the guys having slept through it all. We were in for it.
Luke pulled the bike up to Nathan’s drive and shut off the engine. Despite having the jacket and helmet, I was an icicle. I forced myself to wait for Luke, shivering in my bare feet. I took off the helmet and jacket so I could return them. The shorts and shirt felt so thin now that I felt naked against the cool morning. My body rocked itself with shaking.
Luke finished with the bike, snagged my hand and tugged me toward the front door, squeezing my fingers reassuringly. We were going to face the others together.
Nathan’s house was eerily quiet as we entered. For a split second, I thought perhaps I’d been wrong and the guys were all still asleep. Maybe we’d gotten away with it after all.
The moment we stepped around the corner, that thought crashed into oblivion. North and Nathan stood behind the kitchen island, arms crossed, faces set in stern expressions. Kota, Silas and Gabriel were sitting at the kitchen table as if they’d been in a deep discussion. All eyes settled on us as we entered.
And from the looks on their faces, there was no doubt they knew exactly where we’d been.
The silence lasted eons. My heart was in my throat. The waiting for someone to say something was the toughest. I didn’t want to feel ashamed for going with Luke. Luke hadn’t treated me like a girl, keeping me behind a bubble. I knew that’s why the guys were angry, but I wasn’t going to let Luke think what he’d done was wrong.
I don’t know what came over me. Maybe my subconscious was recalling Dr. Green and Mr. Blackbourne telling me not to keep things to myself and to tell the boys how I felt. They would support me.
I squeezed Luke’s hand, looking square at him to get his attention. “Thank you for the birthday gift, Luke,” I said. I went en pointe on my toes, and kissed him on the cheek. I tried to drag it out, but I stopped before my tired body could manage to shake. I released his hand, glanced at the others and started off toward Nathan’s bedroom to find some clothes to wear for the day.
The room was dead silent as I left, but I caught widened eyes from everyone, open mouths, and a particularly stunning Luke with tinted cheeks and a smile that nearly sparkled.
When I got to the hallway and couldn’t see them anymore, Gabriel’s voice reached my ears. “Someone call Mr. Blackbourne. I want the next job where I can take her with me.”
???
By the time I’d washed and had school clothes on, my shaking had returned full force. I’d used up the last little bit of strength I had facing off the boys on our return. Now I nearly resembled one of Nathan’s zombies. I slipped on a pair of jeans and a long sleeved T-shirt, still feeling chilled. It wasn’t very cute, but I didn’t feel cute in the moment. My heart was thundering nearly the entire time I was in the bathroom getting ready, listening to their questions and Luke filling them in on almost everything that happened.
When I opened the door again, Luke was leaning against the kitchen wall, his arms folded into his chest and staring off.
North pointed a finger at his brother. “I don’t even know where to start with you. You took my bike. You took Sang. She’s been out all night and now has to deal with Hendricks today.”
“She didn’t have a problem with it,” Luke muttered.
“She’s too nice to say no. You should have known better.”
“She wanted to go. She liked it. She told me she did.”
“She’s not your toy, Luke.”
“She’s not yours either, North,” Luke said, meeting his brother’s eyes.
Someone cleared a throat and attention was turned. I hovered in the archway between the kitchen and the hallway, a finger poised over my lip. Maybe I’d been a little too defiant. My cheeks were on fire. I steeled my spine, trying to ward off the shaking for a while longer. I wanted to pretend I wasn’t tired. I wanted to help Luke and show them I was fine.
“Peanut,” Nathan said in a quiet voice. He crossed the kitchen, snagging my hand from my mouth and drawing me toward him. “Come on, sweetie. We need to get to school.”
I glanced at them all, unsure. “Where’s Victor?” I asked, hoping this change of topic would deflect from having to discuss what was going on.
“You shouldn’t worry about him,” Kota said, though his lips were taut. His eyes had darkened considerably. He rose from the table, uniform
ready. He fished out his keys. “Nathan, don’t baby her.”
Nathan’s eyebrows shot up. He squeezed my hand. “Kota, she’s ...”
“Sang’s grounded,” Kota said, the corner of his mouth dipping. He turned and walked toward the door.
The coldness chilled me until I was frozen to the spot. “Kota?” My voice was soft, nearly a whisper. I didn’t know what to say.
Kota stopped but didn’t turn. “You were on lockdown and you left.”
“Luke asked me ... I ...”
“You had your orders.” Kota turned, his eyes narrowing on my face. Only what I saw wasn’t anger. There was a level of disappointment and sadness. Something I did had hurt him. “I’m sorry, Sang. If you want to be a part of this group, you’ll have to take the consequences when you make a mistake. We all do.”
My heart was struck by his words. I lowered my eyes, tears kissing my lashes, but I blinked them back.
“Kota,” Luke said. “Don’t do this to her.”
“You’re both grounded,” he said. “When school is done today, Sang, you’ll go home. Luke, you can work at the diner but you have to go home if you’re not working. No contact between you two until the grounding is over.”
“You can’t do that,” Luke said louder.
“That’s an order,” Kota said. “Disobey this one, and I take it to Mr. Blackbourne.”
Luke’s face turned ashen. He gazed down at the floor. I had a feeling this was much worse than he had imagined when he took me out.
My tongue froze to the roof of my mouth. I was embarrassed and heartbroken. Had I made a mistake? At the time it didn’t feel like it. I didn’t think Luke had made a mistake either. He was under orders, he obeyed. We were back safe. If he hadn’t brought me, he may not have been successful. What happened then?
But what made me hold my words back was the heavy look of sadness from Kota. I’d never seen him so down before. I’d have given anything in that moment to fix it. I didn’t want to take back my evening with Luke, but I certainly didn’t want to disappoint Kota or the others as much as they looked disappointed in me now.
