Chapter Fifty

Canoodling By the Lake.

Anna

I'm kissing Luke Carter.

Correction. I'm kissing Luke Carter who's also known as the guy I have a crush on.

You know, the usual...not.

I have to admit the kiss is a bit awkward and kind of sloppy at first, but then Luke places both of his hands on my waist and draws me closer to him, all while my lips is still locked with his and I just focus on him and the way his lips move. My hand goes from his face to his shoulder and so does my other hand, then I slide them both to his neck.

Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

"Hey, Lyn, Tyler said–woah," Abby's voice literally comes out of nowhere and Luke and I spring away from the each other quickly, but Luke slips on the wet mud and I rush to grab his hand before he falls, however the fast action makes me slip and we both fall in the lake.

Thank you, universe.

The midnight blue water surrounds me and I start swimming to the surface. I see Luke flopping down on the bank and I drop next to him, breathing heavily.

Abby's face appears in my view and she smiles sheepishly. "Maybe I should have given you a small warning."

"You think?" I pant.

"I'm just gonna go," she grins nervously and points behind her. "You're telling me everything later," she whispers.

"Bye, Abby," I state sternly with a sarcastic smile. She gives me a cheeky smile, then she walks away.

"Great cousin you have there," Luke comments.

"Yup," I chuckle.

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"So..." Luke starts as soon as he comes out of the bathroom with only a pair of sweatpants on. I certainly don't mind that. His toned stomach is glistening with water droplets. His wet hair is matted down and a few strands are falling over his forehead.

"So..." I mock him, placing both of my elbows on my crossed legs in the middle of the bed and resting my chin on my fists.

Luke and I decided to go back to our cabins to change into dry clothes and after I'm done with changing I would go to his cabin so we could talk about a few things and that scared me crapless. Maybe because I'm nervous about what's going to happen between me and Luke.

"Is that the teddy bear I got you?" He asks, noticing the white bear in my lap.

"Yeah," I reply, drawling out the word. "I had to bring him with me. He makes me feel safe. Also, I'm kind of nervous right now, so he helps with making me feel better." I grin widely.

He chuckles softly and takes a seat on the bed next to me. "I think you're cute when you're nervous."

Would it be illegal if I kept him?

I feel my cheeks flame up as I smile, then I bury my face in Snuggles Jr.'s fluffy head, hearing Luke let out another laugh. I look back up at him to find him smiling at me.

I join my hands together and change the topic. "You wanted to talk?"

"Yeah," he nods. "About earlier-"

"Do you think it's a mistake?" I interrupt, lightly scratching my nose. "Because I don't think it is and I'm actually glad I had the guts to do what I did."

I was also shocked that I had the guts to kiss Luke.

I don't even have the guts to order something from Chick-fil-A or Zaxby's.

"No. I don't think it's a mistake, at all," he says and I almost sigh in relief.

"I do really like you and kissing you back is definitely not a mistake. Hell, I was going to kiss you first, but I didn't want you to feel uncomfortable or catch you off-guard by kissing you out of nowhere," he tells me and I can't help but let a smile appear on my face.

Yup, I'm going to keep him.

"Wait...I didn't make you uncomfortable by kissing you out of nowhere, did I?" I ask him nervously, burying my nose and mouth in Snuggles Jr.'s white fur.

"No, no, you didn't," he shakes his head reassuringly.

"Well, I think it's obvious that I really like you too," I say, letting out a small breath of laughter as I fiddle with the bear's snow-like ears. "So, now what?" I question and cast my gaze back on Luke.

"Now," he leans in and tucks a lock of my hair behind my ear. "I think it would be really great if you'd be my girlfriend, so what do you say, Cherries? Will you be my girlfriend?"

I'm having a mental freak out.

I nod my head frantically with a big excited smile on my face and jump on Luke hugging him tightly, but he falls back on the bed with me on top of him.

"Sorry, I'm just happy," I tell him sheepishly.

"Well, I'm happy that you're happy," Luke smiles, lightly bumping his nose with mine.

"That's really corny of you," I giggle.

"Yeah, it's weird," he grimaces.

"Promise we won't be a cheesy couple?" I grin, putting my pinky finger up.

"Promise," he concurs, wrapping his pinky finger around mine and I smile.

That's when I suddenly remember something and I quickly sit up, straddling Luke's torso. "Wait, Jennie. We can't do this when you're dating Jennie. You have to break up with her first. She doesn't deserve this-"

"Cherries," he intrudes with a small smile and I stop my ranting to look at him. "Jennie and I broke up earlier today."

"Really?" I question.

I was right. They did break up.

"Yeah. She knew that I like you and she said that I should tell you. She seemed happy about it," he says.

"That's nice of her," I smile a bit and Luke nods.

"So, we're dating now?" Luke asks, sitting up and taking both of my hands in his, then he intertwines our fingers together.

"Yup," I whisper, leaning into him.

"Great," he murmurs before he holds my chin and captures my lips with his. My hands thread in his soft, jet-black locks and Luke moves his hands to my waist, his thumbs stroking the exposed skin. I feel like I'm on cloud nine and my heart pumps loudly in my chest. All I'm focused on is his soft lips on mine and his intoxicating scent. Apple and cinnamon. His smell is almost like a relishing feeling right now. I move my head to the right a bit, his nose bumping with mine. I pull away from him, feeling myself run out of breath and I slowly open my eyes with a small smile pulling on my lips.

"This is an irrelevant question, but why do you have two hair ties around your wrist?" He asks, his eyes fixed on my wrist.

"They're my only perfect hair bands. I keep them around my wrist, so I wouldn't lose them. My hair's conditions change a lot and these are the only two that can handle this," I point to my curls.

"I'm keeping one." He takes one and puts it around his own wrist.

"Why?" I laugh.

"Just in case," he replies, kissing my cheek.

"You're cute." I tap his nose.

"You finally admit it now?" He teases, raising an eyebrow.

"Oops." I tilt my head and he laughs lightly.

"So, who's that Tyler guy?" Luke asks, clearing his throat.

"Tyler is Abby's best friend and he's, maybe probably, madly in love with her," I reply.

"And why was he touching you?"

"He was trying to make you jealous," I answer, biting my bottom lip to hide my grin. "And it worked."

"No shit." He wraps his arms around my waist possessively.

Suddenly, the cabin door bursts open and Zach walks inside, but he freezes when he sees us and he gapes at us, his lips parted and his eyes are wide open.

"Okay, I have three predictions of what's happening here right now," he says, squinting his eyes at us. "One, this is some kind of roleplay shit which is uncommon for Leni because she's basically an angel."

"Isn't roleplay acting out a certain scene?" I ask Luke, turning to him and frowning.

Luke and Zach look at each other before they turn to me.

"Yeah, somehow," Luke says.
"Kind of, but not really," Zach says at the same time.

"Wait, what does it mean?" I question curiously. Is there a dirty version of roleplaying or what?

"No, baby. You're too young to know that," Luke replies.

"I'm only one year and three months younger than you are," I defend myself.

"Exactly."

"That's what I thought," Zach taps his chin. "Two, you're friends with benefits which is also unusual for Leni and maybe Luke. Three, you're actually dating and I should probably start praying in gratitude right now."

Luke and I look at each other before we turn to Zach and grin, my cheek brushing against Luke's.

"Oh, my fucking God. I have to tell Alex about this." Zach says in an excited tone. "Alexander! Come here!" He shouts, poking his head out of the cabin.

"What do you want!" I hear Alex yelling, his voice coming closer and he appears beside Zach. "I told you to-" He pauses when his eyes land on us.

"Oh, my freaking God," Alex sputters in shock.

"Yeah, that's what I said only I used a word that Leni doesn't like," Zach grins.

"You did," I say.

"I win, dipshit. Pay up," Alex turns to Zach, holding his hand out.

What is this now? A casino? They seriously bet on us?

"No," Zach shakes his head. "You said that they're going to get together in the middle of the trip and I said at the beginning, so you're paying up."

"It's the fourth day, you dumbass, so it is the middle," Alex tells him.

Zach purses his lips and stares into space, thinking about something before he sighs. "Shit."

"Yeah. You owe me thirty bucks," Alex says, then he turns to face us, a wide grin appearing on his face.

"I just want to say one thing," he pauses dramatically. "About fucking time."

"What the hell do you want?" Luke asks in annoyance.

"We came to check on your ass, but it seems like you were pretty cozy," Alex responds, wiggling his eyebrows.

"I hope you guys had enough time to make out," Zach says, smirking.

"How did you know?" Luke raises his eyebrows, playing along and smirking at Zach.

"Luke," I whine shyly, hiding my face in his shoulder.

"I'm just kidding, baby," he lets out a deep chuckle, kissing the side of my head.

"This is so cute, I'm having a true fanboy moment," Zach says and I turn my head to see him smiling widely at us.

"Why is your hair wet?" Alex gestures to Luke's hair.

"We fell in the lake," Luke and I answer.

"Is that the new way of admitting your liking towards each other?" Zach questions.

"Yup," I nod, grinning.

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"She's back," Abby says as soon as I walk in the cabin. "I thought that you would stay at Luke's or something with the way things were looking up." She arches her eyebrow.

"What happened with Luke?" Sophie asks, walking out of the bathroom with a white mask on her face.

"I found the two 'canoodling' by the lake," Abby replies, doing air quotes.

Sophie and Zoey gasp, while Colette's eyebrows shoot up. "What?"

"Don't be so dramatic. It was just a kiss," I tell them.

"Is it though?" Abby teases.

"What happened?" Sophie quickly takes a seat on the bed and crosses her legs.

"Okay, so we kissed then we talked a bit and now we're dating. Surprise?" I do jazz hands, smiling and the four of them stare at me with their mouths wide open.

"No fucking way," Zoey utters out.

"You guys will catch dust more than vacuum cleaners that way," I gesture to their hanging jaws.

Zoey, Abby and Sophie start squealing and they attack me in a hug, however Colette just stands up calmly and hugs me tightly. "We're so happy for you!" Abby jumps up and down.

"Thanks, guys," I laugh at their enthusiasm.

"We need a ship name," Zoey realizes, pulling away.

"A ship name?" I question.

"Yeah, like Lanna," She pitches in.

"Or Luanna," Sophie adds excitedly.

"Cheriot," Abby pipes up. "Because he calls her Cherries and she calls him idiot."

"It kinda sounds like Cheerios," I quip.

"We need to FaceTime Riley," Sophie suddenly remembers.

"It's twelve in the morning now for her and it's Riley, so she's probably awake," Colette tells us.

"Let's do it then," Abby says.

We use Sophie's phone to FaceTime Riley and after the greetings, I tell her about me and Luke, feeling nervous about her reaction. I'm not that surprised when she starts squealing and rambling about how she told us so.

"What's the ship name?" She asks.

"Luanna or Lanna. We haven't decided," Sophie tells her.

"What about Cheriot?" Abby pouts.

"Abbs, it's cute and all, but my boyfriend and I will not be called Cheriot," I say, smiling softly.

"I'm too happy about 'my boyfriend' to be offended by your rejection." Abby grabs me in a hug again and I hug her back.

The girls join in the hug and we even put Sophie's phone between us, so it would seem like we're hugging Riley, then we pull away after a bit.

"I should probably head to bed," Riley says, squinting at the top of the screen. "I'll talk to you guys later."

"Bye, Riley," we all sync and I wave at her.

"Tchau, bebês." She sends us an air-kiss before she disconnects the call.

"We should sleep too," Zoey says.

"It's still eight in the evening. That's too early." Sophie walks inside the bathroom and I hear the sound of the tap water running.

"I thought that nobody got enough sleep?" I quote her words, taking a seat on my bed.

"Yeah, that was almost two hours ago. Mood changes," she answers, raising her voice so I could hear her over the running water sound.

"We will sleep now, so we could wake up at two in the morning and stay up until five or six," Zoey smiles in excitement.

"Yes!" Sophie shouts from the bathroom.

"Sounds like a good idea," I say.

"Everyone, get to sleep!"

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I updated this because I'm too lazy to write a longer chapter and I'll be updating again later today.

Hope you guys enjoyed this!

Until next time!

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Byyyye, amazing peeps!

-W.A ❀