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Chapter 73: Peas in a pod

"Who's going to tell her?"

"You."

"Pass. You do it."

"What's she even doing in there?"

"Math. She probably finds it therapeutic."

Their voices drifted loudly through my bedroom door. I put my pencil down on graph paper and rolled my eyes at the sounds. They were not subtle. And not wrong.

I was doing math.

I swiveled round in my chair and said, "I can hear you."

The doorknob twisted and three teenage boys squeezed sheepishly through the door: 

My handsome boyfriend, his musician brother and sweet best friend. A trio with strong distraction capabilities.

"What do none of you want to tell me?" I asked them, waiting patiently.

As I waited oh so patiently, I questioned what's become of my life? My family have disappeared, and three handsome, impulsive boys were acting as their replacements.

Before last year, the only man to enter my room was my dad... and that memory was dusty.

Jake said, "That's a question for the boyfriend." 

'The boyfriend' was hot as ever in a shirt that would be huge on me. His features were so chiseled in the daylight of my bedroom as he gazed at me. Luke seemed almost lost in thought. 

He definitely didn't seem to care about the other two in the room. They way he looked at me made me feel like it was only the two of us.

Jake prodded him, "I can step in, but you-"

Austin sighed, knowing exactly where this was going to go next.

"Cool yourself, Jake," Luke said, "You're f*cking lost here."

"Luke!" I exclaimed, shocked by his comment and doubly shocked by how calmly he said it.

What's wrong with him?! 

Jake let the insult roll over him. "You're still surprised, Millie? This is who you're dating."

"Jake," I sighed, getting so tired of this.

Why couldn't we all get along?

Austin glared at their immaturity. "Mills, we don't want you to stay here alone tonight. Luke's mom suggested that you stay at a friend's house until your parents come home."

My parents aren't coming home. 

One is long gone and the other...  there's a 50/50 chance she comes back.

"You can stay at my place or Chadwick's palace," Austin offered, "But we thought you may want to stay with a friend, so we asked Cearra."

Cearra was such a good friend, but it wasn't the same as Luke. I tried to mask my disappointment.

Instinctively, I looked back to him. This explained why he was in such a bad mood.

"Thanks Austin," I said, keeping the emotion out of my face, "Then, uh, can I stay at Bianca's?"

If I couldn't stay with Luke, I might as well go for full destruction.

"What?" Austin looked confused as he tried to figure out the logic behind my question. 

Luke approached it differently, "Why?"

And then Jake filled in with, "Who? Bianca Rodriguez?"

The one and only.

"Yeah, Bianca. We're starting to get along," I said, trying not to laugh at their comical reactions.

"Can you excuse us for a second?" Luke said, opening the door and guiding Jake out of it.

Austin followed suit and the door closed, leaving Luke and me alone. I was itching to kiss him again, but I knew the others were right outside and I could see from Luke's expression that he was focused on the situation at hand.

So no kiss?

"You don't have to stay with any of them," he told me, "We can both stay here tonight or in my car or-"

"It's OK Luke," I assured him, reaching out to touch his arm, "I don't want to anger your mom."

I really wanted her to like me. She cared so much for them and that kind of connection was rare.

Luke asked me bluntly, "Why Bianca?"

"Because if I don't get to stay with you, then I'm focused on my mission," I answered, "I want to find the intruder. I know I injured them yesterday, so I want to hear Bianca's alibi and inspect her leg."

I tried to read his expression after revealing my ulterior motive. Is it crazy to want to inspect someone's leg?

After a second, a small but sexy smirk appeared on his lips.

"I won't stand in your way," he said, "If you think it's Bianca..."

"I don't know Luke, but I feel like it's someone close to us," I whispered back, my breath catching in my throat as I saw the way he looked at me.

His eyes stared at my lips. I knew he was thinking about how we wouldn't have tonight together.

"We'll find them," he murmured...

And pushed me against my bedroom wall. I glanced at the closed door as his lips came down on mine, "Forget them."

**

~Cearra's house~

It was past a 5-year-old's bedtime.

Cearra was tucking her little siblings in bed, while her father cleaned the dishes and her mother worked. The radio was on in the background and I stared at her parents, watching as they laughed about their kids and talked about their day.

Will I have that one day?

With Luke?

Imagining Luke as a parent was like picturing him back at summer camp with Malik, Alicia and Dupree. He'd shown them some tough love at first, before they melted his tough exterior. I knew he had a soft spot for those kids.

"There you are!" Cearra exclaimed, whipping her hair up as she found me in the living room.

I was putting away the toys.

"Thank you for letting me stay here tonight," I told her.

Her family had been so kind to me, after my Bianca mission had fallen flat. Bianca rejected the request.

Cearra dismissed my gratitude, "My parents adore you. They said if you keep helping my siblings with their math homework, you can stay forever."

It must be nice having little siblings to look after, especially seeing how they looked up to Cearra. An innocent love.

But then I remembered Luke and Jake and myself and Flora and realized that not all siblings stayed so innocent.

"Let's go to my room," she said, "We have a mattress to blow."

**

I was on the air bed next to her real bed, while she brushed her teeth in the bathroom down the hall. We had spent the last thirty minutes trying blowing up this blow-up mattress.

I was in my pajamas, sitting cross legged under the bedsheets and texting Luke when she returned.

"Is that smile for lover boy?" she correctly assumed.

I put my phone down and looked up with a helpless smile. "Speaking of lover boy, what happened between you and Austin?"

Cearra jumped onto her bed. It was raised much higher than mine, so she rolled over and lay on it, looking down at me.

"Nothing!" she exclaimed, and then hushed her voice to a whisper so her parents wouldn't hear, "I'm getting so frustrated. We were alone in the forest and watching Austin get physical is the biggest turn on. I asked him if he was seeing anyone, and you know what happened then?"

"What?" I asked, sitting on the edge of the bed in excitement.

"You happened," she exclaimed, already laughing at my reaction, "Your crazed scream interrupted us."

My face looked shocked. My fall not only ruined my romantic moment with Luke... but hers too?!

I didn't realize my vocal cords were so... healthy.

"It killed the vibe," Cearra said, laying her head on the pillow. "And I was really feeling the vibe..."

"Should I ask Luke?" I offered, feeling terrible about this, "He'll obviously know if Austin's seeing anyone."

Austin and Luke were two peas in a pod. It's about time I dragged Luke into this project. As CEO of the #Austerra fan club, I couldn't believe I ruined their moment.  

"Yes, definitely! I need to know before I ask him ou..." she stopped talking as if she heard something.

A few seconds later the bedroom door opened, and her dad poked his head inside. 

"Girls, it's time to sleep," he said, "I'll turn the lights off now and trust that you'll be quiet. You don't want my wife to come back in here."

He waited for us to get under our bedsheets and put our phones away. Then he flicked the bedroom switch off and wished us goodnight. 

Her parents cared about what time she slept at night? 

Do they say goodnight every night or only on special occasions?

"Sorry," Cearra whispered from her bed, "They're so annoying."

"They're amazing," I whispered back.

A few seconds later, she rolled over to her side and hissed at me, "Are you sleeping?"

I opened my eyes and found her excited face staring down at me. "No."

"They won't hear if we keep our voices down," she whispered, "We haven't caught up about Dubai. How crazy was New Years'? I never expected Austin and the DJ to go at each other like that. What did you think of Lara?"

"She was really nice," I said, remembering the girl who breezed in and out of our life so seamlessly, "Her life seems so adventurous."

"And she's casually the most gorgeous person I've seen," Cearra added, "She was so chill about everything, including her family's yacht. Austin said she was only a childhood friend but how can you not have a crush on her?"

"If he said that, believe him," I replied, "Did you have fun by the way?"

"Fun?! It was unbelieve and incredible," she answered, "Worth a lifetime of being grounded. It felt surreal hanging out with them. If reality TV ever came to our school, they'd be the cast."

"OK."  

What else do I say?

"Millie, I know you haven't been super social before now, but they are the school's obsession," she informed me, as if I didn't know by now, "And I know he's your boyfriend, but still. Luke Dawson, Austin Taylor, Prince Chadwick Roland the whatever, Chioma Dozie, Bianca the b...

"I get it," I said. I hear it all the time, so I changed subject. "Out of everyone, who surprised you the most on the trip?"

I was so curious about that. That group was the focus of so much attention at school that the rumors about them had taken lives of their own - overtaking their real lives. 

The closer I got to them - to Luke especially - the more I realized that. 

"Hmm," Cearra played with her hair as she thought about it, "I have to say Oma. I thought she was more stuck up than she really is. She took incredible photos of you and Luke by the way."

"Really?" I asked. Luke and I don't have many pictures together.

"Yeah, she wants to study chemistry in college and start a make-up line that's inclusive of all skin tones," Cearra continued, "And you know my dream is to become a makeup artist, right? I love make up, but my parents would kill me."

"I had no idea," I said, "I still don't get why she hangs out with Bianca, but aside from that, she's a role model."

I meant it. Oma was mature. She knew what she wanted and was focused on getting it. 

"I can't believe they're all going to graduate soon," Cearra sighed, staring up at the ceiling, "Only a few months left of Austin."

"And Luke," I whispered, staring up at the same ceiling with sadness, "But when they're gone, at least we'll still have each other."

I don't know what she thinks, but this friendship is going to stick like cement to brick.

Cearra answered, "No doubt."

**

~Too early the next morning~

I barely slept. The nightmares of the blackmailer kept waking me minutes after I closed my eyes. 

Winnifred's fate and the break in showed that whoever it was... was seriously dangerous.

Screams in the hallway had me wide awake early the next morning. It took me a second to remember where I was.

I sat up in the air bed and looked over at Cearra, fast asleep under her duvet. The screams outside were from her siblings, already awake and playing at 7 AM on a Sunday.

I exhaled in relief and got up quietly to change. Cearra's room was full of cosmetics, stationery and clothes. Her dressing room table had so many lipsticks of all different shades lined up in front of the mirror. She had a mug full of brushes and a box full of eye shadows.

My phone rang and I jumped for it, not wanting to wake her up.

"Hello?" I whispered.

"You're awake," Luke's deep voice greeted me.

Why does he sound surprised?  If I wasn't awake, his call would've woken me. 

"Why do you sound out of breath?" I whispered, glancing back at Cearra's bed to make sure I was quiet enough. 

Or maybe that was the wind?  There was a lot of wind noise on his side.

"I went running," he answered, "And guess where I ended up."

"Here?!"

At seven am?!

"It's ten." I could hear the smile in his voice. He must be able to read my mind.

Luke then said, "I have no clue what house you're in. Austin gave me the street but forgot the actual number."

"Seven," I said, realizing the connection between that and my thoughts on time. "I miss you," I added, jumping around to find my clothes.

"I miss you, Minnie," he replied, "So you coming? We only have one day left before senior spring and I want to make it count."

A/N: Ready for a strong dose of Luke + Minnie time in the next chapter??  

Wishing you the type of day that Luke wants to have i.e. one that counts!

<3

Speak soon!