Remember the lake scene in Player Next Door?  

This sleek poster from Samlubrooks has totally brought me back... so much so that I've also uploaded chapter in the first book with it ;)  

Chapter 13: Back Up

The first time I drove over Luke's laptop, it was a private affair. Just the two of us by a cabin near a lake.

This time... there were eyewitnesses.

"STOP!"

I was backing my car out of the driveway because my mama told me to.

Luke sprinted across the backyard, abandoning the mini funeral we had planned for Roger the dead cat. 

If it slipped my mind that my boyfriend was an athlete, this reminded me. His speed was absurd.

I tried to stop. I slammed on the breaks, but it was too late.

"AAAAAH!" I screamed, right as the tires of my car rolled over-

CRACK

**

Did I kill him? Did I kill Luke?

He had appeared in my rearview mirror a few seconds before.

"LUKE?!" I called out.

I stabbed my seatbelt fanatically until it swung off and caught one of my arms. I tried to jump out of the car, but the seatbelt clung to my left hand and I swung around the seat, trying to peel it off me. Arm burn.

There were eight pairs of eyes staring at me.

"That's his girlfriend?" Charlotte's ex-boyfriend asked, again.

Luke's sister, her ex-boyfriend and Nicole had all been on their way to dinner when the incident happened. They were now standing on the sidewalk with their mouths wide open. 

I hope their dinner reservation's flexible.

Austin and Chad were walking across the backyard, re-tracing Luke's path to reach us. There were a lot of weeds, but that didn't seem to slow them down.

Gloria and my mother were standing at the entrance of our house. Even Flora poked her head out of an upstairs window.

Wasn't she meant to be unconscious?

And Luke.

He was kneeling behind my car. The sight of him there caused major deja-vu.

Luke's been cute since the day his basketball rolled into our driveway and I saw him for the first time. He was probably cute before, but I can't confirm that. 

And then came the day we had our first real conversation... ten years later.  He had been kneeling on the ground behind my car, in the same way he was now.  

He had more tan, and his hair was a little shorter then  – but I liked it this way.  Forever 'cute.'

Luke didn't have to look up to know my reaction.

We've done this before.

I ran towards the accident and half-fell next to him, but he'd already extended an arm to keep me steady. The impact of my unstable body should've rocked him, but he was strong enough to remain completely unaffected.

Somehow, I was the one out of breath though he'd been running.

I looked at the damage I created and that's when déjà vu peaked to a whole new level of unreal.

A laptop.

I ran over another mother flipping laptop.

Speaking of mothers...

Mine was silently holding a briefcase by our front door. She, along with seven other spectators, were watching us. Do they not speak? Usually Flora never keeps her mouth shut.

They wanted to see Luke's reaction. To them, he was always such a relaxed guy. 

Ha.

So, they watched and waited.

And Luke's reaction came out in one word. "What the f*ck, Minnie?!"

OK, I lied.  Four words.

He lowered his hand from his knee to the concrete driveway. My eyes traced the muscles along his arm to his biceps and up to the blue eyes that could freeze me.

I asked, "Is that your laptop?"

He said nothing. He said absolutely nothing. And from the way he was looking at me, it was like he was daring me to say something stupid.

I, of course, obliged.

"IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!" I blurted out in panic. "I swear I had no idea AND I haven't even paid you back for the last one and now... WHY DO YOU KEEP PUTTING LAPTOPS ON THE FLOOR?!"

OK. I was losing it. The stress was really getting to me.

"Now would be a good time to react Luke," I whispered, having gone from 0 to 100 back to 0 in five seconds flat.

I was a roller-coaster of emotions, while he was cool as a cucumber.

The cucumber exhaled and said;

"Will you now admit that you're a f*cking terrible driver, Millie?"

Silence.

That's what we're getting out of this?

Really?

I put all my passion behind one word: "Never!"

Does he have no respect for the time I saved...

I pointed at a corner of the driveway where a broken flowerpot sat. "That's where it happened."

He didn't understand me, "What?"

"You know what."

I was trying to be climactic... but it wasn't working.

"Millie," he said, "I can't follow your thoughts 90% of the time."

"True," I acknowledged, "but you've been getting better at it lately."

Luke sighed and I could see a tiny little smirk appear, "You're talking about that ridiculous time you saved a raccoon, aren't you?"

"Yes," I nodded, "When in doubt, you can always guess that."

Nicole and Charlotte ventured closer to us. Charlotte whispered to Nicole, "What are they saying?"

They wanted to listen in more and pretended to be investigating the crushed laptop. It had a giant wheel-shaped dent in it.

A couple wires stuck out of it, like frizzy hair. That laptop was having a bad day.

"Are we attending a funeral for the cat or the laptop now?" Chad asked, "Because my social calendar is full already without these absurd events."

Luke's phone rang. We all saw the caller ID: Art.

He picked it up and put on loudspeaker for us all to hear.

"YOOOOOO," Art's greeting blasted out of the phone, "Man you're never going to believe this! You told me to check my kit and my jersey is missi-"

Luke hung up.

I guess Art's a little too late.

That's when my mother made her sneaky exit. Now that I had backed my car up slightly, she could get her car out. I don't where she was going since she never felt the need to tell us, but somewhere work related, based on the briefcase she was carrying.

Austin came up to Luke and rested a supportive hand on his shoulder. Austin had been there through the trauma of the last incident.

Charlotte pushed past them. As a concerned sister, she inspected the damage to the laptop.

I almost expected it to fizz and pop, that's how messed up it was.

"Did you back everything up?" she asked her brother.

Practical question. 

The kind my own sister would never ask.  I shuddered to think of his response... All his files... his music... his....

"Back what up?" he asked, "This computer is like 3 months old after she drove over the last one."

On the one hand, I was relieved to hear that. On the other hand, why'd he have to expose me like that?

Without context, Luke saying 'she drove over the last one' must sound weird. Only Austin knew about that. Well, maybe Chad too, if he actually remembered. Sometimes, news came to him in one ear and flew straight out the other.

Charlotte was now looking at me suspiciously, while she asked her brother a follow up question, "What do you mean 'drove over the last one'?"

Luke was never a talker, but he explained it very simply. "This is a very expensive relationship."

**

I've always admired Luke's sister from a distance. Growing up, she was the beautiful and smiling girl next door. People gravitated towards her and I always wondered what that life was like.

Now, by some strange stroke, Luke and I were dating. And I wanted more than ever for her to like me. I think it's important for his family to see me in a positive light...

And damn near impossible, based on my past experiences with them.

Charlotte hugged her brother and said she would see him later at home. She had a dinner reservation with her ex bf and her current bff, Nicole.

Her ex-boyfriend, the model that he is, was staring at me like I was last season's fashion. I waved.

"You now met the girlfriend," Charlotte mumbled, pulling him away.

This guy met me for 10 minutes and saw me prepare for a cat's funeral and run over my laptop's boyfriend. I don't blame him.

"See you at the club, Chad," Nicole waved him bye.

"Why 'the club'?  You going out tonight?" Austin asked Chad, watching the girls walk away.

"She meant the country club," Chad explained.

"Oh."

Silent moment for all of us without country club memberships.

Luke stared at his friends, "You guys going to keep drooling over Nicole or help me out here?"

**

What a day. So many accidents, so many mishaps. There was nothing this day needed more, than a warm bowl of chili.

Thank you, Gloria.

While we had been searching for Roger the dead cat and prepping for his funeral, Gloria had found old ingredients in my cupboards and whipped together the first home cooked meal I've had in a while.

After all, my mother's groceries consisted of alcohol and alcohol.

And one block of cheese that Austin found.

Now he was happily grating cheddar all over his bowl, watching the yellow flakes melt into his chili. A mountain of cheese formed, drowning out the meal before he got stuck into it.

"So why was your laptop on the floor?" he asked.

"Maybe this house is cursed," Chad answered, "I broke my sunglasses in the kitchen an hour ago."

"But that's a good question, Austin," I jumped on the opportunity to clear my name, "Why would it be sitting on the driveway like that?" 

"Can you pass the salt?" Chad asked.

Honestly, I can't be blamed for stupidity. Except when I contribute to it... which I guess I did.

Luke gave Chad a knowing look and then said, "Because Ch-"

"Why are we dwelling on the past?" Chad interrupted, "Let's not focus on how the laptop got there, and let's be grateful that we are all well."

"True words, Chad dear," Gloria said, cleaning up the last of her cooking utensils, "Now everyone, I think it's time for me to leave. It's getting dark outside."

I watched Gloria wrap her scarf around her neck and put on her woolly coat.

I said longingly, "Please stay."

She made everything better.

"I wish I could, sweetie. Today has been a lot to handle but you need to take care of yourself now," she kissed my forehead and then went to hug the boys.

On her way out, she said, "I didn't realize Millie and Luke lived across the street from each other. And now they're dating. How cute!"

Luke wasn't a fan of that reaction. I don't think he liked being called cute.

"You are cute though," I whispered to him and he smiled, squeezing my knee.

**

After everyone had left, it was only Luke and me in the house.

Even Flora had woken up, eaten some of Gloria's chili and gone out. She said there was a -200% chance she would come back tonight.

I'm not comfortable with her statistics, but...

Luke held his broken laptop in one arm while he held me in the other. He kissed me softly and said, "Will you be OK here tonight?"

I thought about the blood stain on my carpet upstairs. I thought about the dead cat outside. I thought about how someone had broken in and violated my home. How could I feel safe here?

Luke opened the front door. A crescent moon was high in the clear sky tonight. His picturesque house was across the street and he was just moments away from going home.

"Luke," I said, "Remember when you asked me 'your house or mine'?" 

There was a pause.  I gulped, "Well.  I changed my mind."

A knowing smirk crossed his handsome face, "But you were so insistent..."

I smiled and grabbed my school backpack. I still had homework to do tonight, after all this chaos. But it felt so good knowing I'd be safe with Luke.

He held the door open for me.  We stepped out and began the 18 second walk to his home.

"Oh wait! I forgot my pajamas!" I called out.

He was walking across the street when he said, "You won't need any."

A/N: That felt like a long chapter... Next one is all about Millie first time spending the night at Luke's

Any guesses what Luke's room looks like?

Did you enjoy the chapter?  Please vote to let me know :)