Just me.
What the hell is that about?
At one point, Catarina asks, “Does anyone want more enchiladas? There’s a few more in the kitchen.”
“I’d love some,” Luke chimes in before anyone else. “I swear these are like the best enchiladas I’ve ever had.” Oh, that Luke. Such a sweetheart.
“Thank you very much, Luke,” she smiles endearingly before walking into the kitchen.
“I love your Deadmau5 shirt,” Phoebe says to Luke.
“Oh, thanks,” he grins as he forks up the last lump of refried beans and guacamole on his plate.
“Are you into the DJ scene?” she asks.
“Actually, I am a DJ.”
“Really,” she says with fake surprise.
“Yeah. I do a lot of parties around town. And I DJ at a couple different 18 and under clubs in the Valley.”
“That’s great,” Phoebe smiles. “You’re already making a name for yourself.”
Blah, blah, blah. Isn’t she sweet?
“I’m sure you know about Deadmau5 coming to town?”
“Yeah. I can’t go because he’s only doing 21 and over shows.”
“I can get you a backstage pass when he spins at the Roxbury.”
“No way!” Luke blurts, dropping his forkful of beans onto his plate. “You could do that?”
“Yeah. I make dresses for the manager’s wife. You might even be able to meet Deadmau5 if you show up early.”
“Meet Deadmau5? Are you serious?” Luke sounds like he’s ready to offer oral favors to a homeless person in exchange for backstage passes.
This is so annoying.
Phoebe nods. “I’ll set it up for you.”
Oh my god. Why do I even bother? She’s not even trying and she’s stealing Luke away too. I mean, seriously, what do I have to offer but the opportunity to be tutored in SAT math? Fun stuff. I hear cool guys beat down doors to help girls like me study math all the time. Grot!
“Excuse me,” I stand up and sigh. “I have to go to the bathroom.”
Everyone keeps talking like I’m not even there. Chatter, chatter, chatter. Well, Catarina glances at me and smiles for half a second, but she was in the middle of saying something to Phoebe, so she continues.
I roll my eyes and huff before storming off. I really do have to pee. I consider the downstairs powder room but change my mind at the last second and go upstairs to use the hall bathroom. I need some space from the love fest in the dining room. After I finish on the toilet, I wash my hands morosely in the sink. I could stay in here for another hour, but it would be more comfortable in my bedroom. I’m sure no one would notice I was gone. They’re too busy watching the Phoebe Show. I reach for the doorknob.
There’s a soft knock at the door.
Excitement spins my heart into motion. Who would possibly use the upstairs bathroom instead of the empty powder room downstairs? Oh my god! Is it Dante? Did he abandon his adoring ladies and come up here to comfort me? I open the bathroom door and instantly deflate.
Luke.
“Hey,” he smiles.
“What do you want?” I try not to sound too bitchy. “There’s a bathroom downstairs, remember?”
“I don’t need to use the bathroom.”
“Then what do you want?” I fold my arms across my chest.
“Are you okay? You seem all weirded out.”
“I thought you were busy talking to Phoebe about Deadmouse tickets.”
“Oh. Did you want to go? Should I have asked her for one for you?” He pauses. “Oh, shit. I’m such a dunce. You want to go, don’t you? I’m sure Phoebe can get two since she knows the manager. I can ask her right now. Then we can go together. Wouldn’t that be awesome?”
“Yeah, I guess.” At least he’s not going on and on about Phoebe. I know he loves Deadmau5, which means this is something he actually wants to do.
He stuffs his hands in his pockets, “Hey, um, can I ask you something?”
“What?” I sigh.
“I thought you said Dante was your math tutor?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s he doing here?”
After Dante’s behavior with Phoebe and Rox at the dinner table, it should be pretty obvious to Luke that Dante isn’t into me. I doubt Luke is going to think something is going on between me and Dante now. I certainly don’t think anything is. I may as well tell Luke. “Dante is my stepbrother.”
“What?! Since when do you have a stepbrother?”
“Since a week ago.”
Confused, he narrows his eyes, “How does that make sense?”
“He’s Catarina’s son. She hasn’t seen him in years. He surprised her and just showed up.”
“So how did he become your math tutor?”
That part he doesn’t need to know. One more white lie will fix that. “My dad mentioned to Dante I was studying SAT math and he offered to help.”
“Oh.” He nods and it makes his black hair bounce in this really cute way.
To my surprise, his cuteness affects me more than it should. I tease, “Are you bummed I didn’t call you for math help?”
He grins that cute grin of his I remember so well. “Yeah.” His hair bounces again.
I reach up and brush one of the black blades out of his eyes, revealing the sexy silver spike piercing his eyebrow. “Did you want to be my Sir Maths-A-Lot?” I wink at him.
He snickers, “Yeah.” He pauses and his face changes. “What was up with him coming by our high school at lunch yesterday?”
“Who knows,” I lie. “He’s weird.”
“He’s not into you, is he?”
“What?!” I blurt. “No! Haven’t you been watching him with Phoebe? Those two are totally hot for each other.”
“He sure seemed into you when he rode up on his motorcycle and got in my face.”
Damn it. Luke is sharp when it comes to people. I shake my head, “Like I said, Dante is weird. Maybe he was being the over-protective older brother?”
“He’s not dangerous, is he?” Luke says it with obvious concern.
“No,” I scoff. “He’s my stepbrother. Believe me, you have nothing to worry about.” I do my best to hide the disappointment I’m feeling. “Why, are you jealous?”
“What? No!” Denial.
He’s jealous. I have to admit, I like that he is. “You don’t have anything to worry about. He’s my stepbrother, so, ew. And, he’s with Phoebe. And Rox is into him too, if you hadn’t noticed.”
“Really?” Luke says dramatically. “I thought Rox dressed that way every day,” he says sarcastically.
We share a laugh.
“Rox is nuts,” I chuckle. “It’s why I love her.”
“Yeah, she’s great.” He offers his elbow like a gentleman. “Shall we rejoin everyone at the dinner table?”
“Sure.” I wrap my arm around his and lean against him as we walk downstairs together. I guess I forgot how sweet Luke could be.
Maybe I need to rethink this whole Dante thing. Maybe he needs a grown woman like Phoebe Saxon the Screaming Klaxon. Maybe I’m better off with someone my own age. Someone like Luke. That only leaves Rox. I’ll have to find someone suitable for her. Who am I kidding? She could walk out the front door in that dress of hers and every Prince Charming in the world will flock to her like flies, or some other more noble insect not associated with poop, like maybe butterflies or shiny dragonflies.
When Luke and I get back to the dinner table, Catarina says, “There you are.”
“Did you miss us?” I grin, not bothering to look at Dante.
Chapter 10
“I so missed this,” Luke says two weeks later. He sits on my bedroom floor, leaning against the comforter that hangs over the side of my twin bed, resting his notebook on his knees, working on math problems with the help of his calculator. His Calculus textbook is open beside him on the floor.
“Yeah, me too,” I smile at him. I’m on my bed, working on my Trigonometry homework in preparation
for tomorrow’s weekly Friday morning quiz.
“Are you having any trouble graphing your functions?”
“No. Not after you showed me how to do it,” I smile.
Whenever I have a question about Trig, Luke has the answer. He knows everything there is to know about triangles and tangents.
It’s been two weeks since he came over for dinner, the night Rox wore her red dress to impress Dante. I haven’t seen much of Dante since then, but I’ve seen a lot of Luke. I didn’t plan it that way. It sort of happened. Every day at school, I would talk to Luke. He would always ask how I was doing with Trig. Since I’m struggling through it, he always offered useful advice. It naturally morphed into him coming over to my house to help out. Since Dante is out doing his own thing much of the time, it made sense. Luke is now my math tutor, which is good because the next SAT is coming up in a few weeks. I need all the math help I can get.
It’s not like Dante is never around.
I pretty much see him every day for at least a few minutes. I can’t escape the feeling he’s checking up on me. Maybe it’s just me. I don’t know.
But I do know he’s still seeing Phoebe. Every day he’s with her, it makes more sense that I’m hanging with Luke. Whatever happened between me and Dante is officially over. It’s probably for the best. I mean, he is my stepbrother. It’s best to let it be. He doesn’t make it easy though. Every time he uses the shower in the hall bathroom upstairs, he always manages to walk from his room to the bathroom in only a towel. I think he is rubbing in what I’m missing. Do I look? Obvi. Hot guy, duh. But I’m over the lusting part.
Rox isn’t. I don’t know what her deal is. I’ve never seen her obsess over a guy like this before. She’s over at the house all the time, which isn’t weird because she’s always over at the house anyway, but she’s always asking me where Dante is or what he’s doing. My answer is always the same: I have no idea. It’s the truth. I don’t ask Dante what he does with Phoebe. I really don’t want to know. I have Luke to focus on now.
At the moment, he’s bent over his notebook, punching numbers into his calculator, focused on his Calculus. The black blades of his hair bounce in this cute way when his head turns back and forth between his textbook and his notebook.
Feeling bad, I reach down with my pencil and brush it across the tangle of hair on the back of his head. Unaware, he reaches up to scratch his head and I yank my pencil away. He combs his fingers through his hair then smooths it down before going back to his calculus problem. I repeat this process several more times.
He looks up and over his shoulder, “Is there a fly in here or something? Something keeps landing on my head.”
“I hadn’t noticed,” I say innocently.
Downstairs, the sound of the front door opening and closing. Since it’s only four o’clock on a weekday, it’s not my Dad. It could be Catarina or it could be Dante, who now has a key to the house. He comes and goes whenever he wants and nobody seems to care. Even though I’m 18 and technically can come and go whenever I want, Dad makes it clear that as long as I’m living under his roof, it’s his rules. I guess Dante is a guest, so he doesn’t have to follow the same rules. Whatevs. Technically Luke isn’t supposed to be in my room with the door closed, but since Dad isn’t around, there’s no way he’s going to find out. Yes, I open the door when Dad comes home, but not when he’s gone.
I’m about to tease Luke’s hair with my pencil again when I hear heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. That’s not Catarina. A minute later, the guest bedroom door closes.
“Is that Dante?” Luke asks in a low voice, sounding weird.
“Probably.”
“What does that guy do, anyway?” His judgment is obvi.
“You mean like for a job?”
“Yeah.”
“I have no idea.”
“How much longer is he staying here?”
“I don’t know. As long as he wants, I guess. Catarina really likes having him around, even though he’s barely here. Why, does he still bug you?” I tease my pencil eraser across Luke’s unruly hair once again.
He reaches up and spins around, grabbing for my pencil. “I thought there was a bug in here,” he grins.
I yank my pencil back. Pretending to be innocent, I purse my lips and look around the room randomly. “Oh, there it is!” I point with my pencil. “That pesky fly that keeps bothering you just landed on my dresser.”
He smirks, “The only bug in here is the big one on the bed.”
I try not to giggle. Luke really is cute. I’m starting to wonder why I ever broke up with him. Looking back, it seems silly now. What was I thinking? He’s a great guy.
Luke’s phone buzzes on the carpet. He picks it up and reads the screen. A second later, he fires off a quick text and sets his phone down.
“Who was that?” I ask.
“Ashley.”
“Ashley Masters?” My voice drips with disgust.
“Yeah. Is that a problem?”
“I guess not,” I groan.
“She’s not that bad. Besides, we have Calculus together. She was asking if I had the homework for today. She missed class because she was at the dentist.”
I’m sure Ashley had to get her teeth whitened or capped or whatever the hell she does to make them perfect. Jealousy flares up inside me. Not only does she share a class with Luke, but she’s a year ahead of me in math, which makes me feel stupider than her. “Do you tutor her too?” I ask petulantly.
“No, just you,” he smiles.
Oh, that was so the wrong answer. My face drips as sour sauce pours across it. Not only is Ashley a year ahead, but she doesn’t need constant tutoring like I do.
“What?” he grins innocently.
“Nothing.” I spin away, facing my window and resting my head on my pillow.
Luke climbs up on the bed and sits next to me, laying his hand on my hip. “Hey,” he says softly. “What’s bugging you?”
I don’t want to answer because I know I’m going to say something bitchy.
“You’re not worried about Ashley, are you?”
“No,” I blurt. That’s not entirely true. I’m not sure where Luke and I stand, but I’m totally sure that Ashley is a total bitch and I don’t want anything to do with her. “Are you guys friends or whatever?”
“You could say that.”
“When did that happen?” I grumble.
“Over the summer. She was at a bunch of the parties I DJed.”
“Sounds like she was stalking you.”
“I hadn’t thought about it. You know Ashley. She’s always at all the sick ragers.”
I don’t know why I’m being so bitchy. It’s not like Luke and I were dating over the summer. We broke up two months before summer started. I can’t blame him for talking to other girls. I guess it wouldn’t be so bad if it was someone other than Ashley Masters. “You guys didn’t hook up, did you?”
He snickers, “No.”
“Good.” I sound so petty right now. I’m such a baby.
His hand slides around the front of my hip and for a second, I think he’s going to slide it between my legs, but he doesn’t. It comes to rest on my stomach. “Would it bother you if we had?”
“I…” don’t know what to say. Luke and I haven’t kissed or anything since we started hanging out again. I wasn’t thinking we were dating or anything close to it. I just like having him around. I don’t know, maybe I’m using him as a distraction from Dante. Maybe I secretly want him around because I want to make Dante jealous. Who knows? The only thing I know for sure is that Luke and I get along, and he really is a great math tutor.
Luke lies down behind me, spooning me, his warm hand still on my stomach. His nose nuzzles the back of my neck and I feel his warm breath blow across my skin. “I missed you, Skye.” The emotion in his voice is obvious.
I don’t want to leave him hanging. “I missed you too.”
“You did?” It sounds like he doesn’t believe me.
; Did I? I suppose I did, in a way. At the moment, it sure feels nice having him cuddle with me. I haven’t cuddled with anyone since we broke up. Luke was always a good cuddler. This definitely feels nice.
He pulls me into him, enveloping me with his warmth. “You don’t have to worry about Ashley. She’s just a friend.”
I roll my eyes to myself. That’s Luke, everybody’s friend. I sigh. I can’t hold it against him. Being nice is not a crime, even when someone is nice to a bitch. Especially then. It makes Luke a better person. He really is a good guy. I snuggle into him, basking in our touch. Maybe I could get used to this again.
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
I jump and Luke tenses for a second before unwrapping his arm from around me.
I slide off the bed and trot over to my door and open it.
Dante stands in the hallway wearing a T-shirt and jeans, filling my doorway. His tattooed and muscled arms hang at his sides. He’s not hot. Not hot at all. He looks at me for awhile, his eyes flicking across my body.
“What’s up?” I ask, smoothing my own T-shirt.
“Do you need anything from the store? I’m going to Vons.”
“Um, no? Not really, Luke, do you need anything?”
Luke sits up on the bed, smirking. “I’m good.”
I shrug at Dante. “We’re good.”
Dante nods but doesn’t go anywhere.
I arch my eyebrows expectantly.
He narrows his eyes.
Why is he acting weird? I smile sheepishly and gently close the door in his face. When it’s almost shut, he hasn’t moved, so I say, “Bye?”
He grinds his jaw.
What’s up his butt? I don’t know. I close the door and the latch clicks.
Boots thud down the hallway and downstairs.
I turn to face Luke. “Sorry.”
“You were right. Dante is weird.”
“He doesn’t scare you, does he?”
“No,” Luke chuckles.
I don’t believe him. Dante is tall and broad-shouldered and bigger than Luke. How could he not be intimidated?
The front door latches downstairs. I pad across the carpet and sit down on the bed beside Luke.
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