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He would have continued to hide, avoid, or run from her… but instead? He was here, spending time in her presence. They were going to eat dinner together, and he’d already kissed her.
If tomorrow never comes, he knew he would die a fortunate man in this moment.
Nicolette looked at him, smiled tenderly at him as she put two Coke cans in the cup-holders, removed the sandwiches and handed him the bag of Lays.
“Sour cream and onion…”
“My favorite.”
“I remembered…”
“Nicolette…” he began and hesitated, feeling almost adrift and trying to center himself, reaching for that sense of peace he’d felt a few minutes earlier, struggling.
As if she seemed to sense it, she reached over the cab of the truck and took her hand in his. He felt that sense of whole, tangible and thick, like some invisible fog surrounded him, suddenly encroaching on him… looking at her.
“Quit thinking,” she urged gently. “Quit trying to reason this, figure it out, analyze it, or make sense of things. Just let them be, Luke. Ride this moment, float in this feeling, like if you were flying a plane.”
Both of them had their pilot’s licenses, because as a child of one of the instructors? They assumed you would love flying as much as they did… which he certainly did. He’d always gone flying with his dad for as long as he could remember.
“In a plane, I’m in control of whether I soar, crash, or change altitude… and right now I feel distinctlyoutof control.”
“Do you need to take control of this?” she asked, her voice hesitant. “Honestly, I’ve been waiting for you to, but you seem like you weren’t ready or kept turning me away.”
“Because I’m afraid of what happens to us if this is a mistake,” he croaked, his voice hoarse with fear and understanding as he gazed at the woman he’d always yearned for. “I would rather spend a million days having you in the world close by and wondering ‘what if’… than to have you look at me with hate or disgust in your eyes because I ruined a beautiful friendship.”
“Reach for me, Luke…” she whispered; her voice was full of emotion as she gawked at him openly, not holding back. “I’m right here waiting for you to say the word and…”
“You aren’t scared?”
“Only that it will be another four or five years before you notice me again.”
“Four or five…? What?”
“I’ve been waiting for you to look twice at me since I graduated high school. I’ve watched you talk with those other girls, tried to look like them, act like them, and…”
“Is that why you colored your hair red that one time?”
“Yes.”
“Oh Niki…” he choked out in disbelief and wonder, staring at her in amazement and touched to see the emotion in her blue eyes.
“I like the way you shorten my name,” she smiled tearfully.
“I don’t want to hurt you…”
“Then stop running,” she urged. “Stop pushing me away. Instead - take my hand, take a chance, and takemefor once…”
Luke gulped, his eyes nearly popping out of his head as her words set off a flurry of fireworks behind his forehead.
“Choosemethis time to be in your life,” she pleaded, wiping her eyes painfully. “You are always talking to other people and…”
Luke picked up the sandwiches off the bench of the truck between them, putting them on the dash quickly as he reached over, pulling her closer in the exact moment that he was scooting towards her.
They met in the middle, kissing wildly, arms embracing as they clung to each other.
As they finally separated, he wasn’t willing to let her go. Instead, he clung to her, holding her in his arms, hugging her tightly, her head resting under his chin against his collarbone.
“Don’t say ‘take me’…” he choked out nervously, in a hushed whisper – only to hear her laugh softly in a voice that seemed to be keenly aware of the implications of her words.
