“And I believe I told you I’m not interested,” Brooke said.
Luke laughed as though she hadn’t just turned him down. “You’re funny. I like that in a girl. Who’s your friend?”
“I’m Zoey. Just moved from Colorado.”
“Welcome,” Luke said. “Brooke’s new too, but she doesn’t seem interested in my offer to show her around the school. Maybe you can help me convince her otherwise.” He stood. “I’ll see you around, Brooke.”
As soon as Luke was far enough away to not hear, Zoey burst into giggles. “What was that?”
Brooke sighed. “He’s in my English class. I think he’s like the alpha male around here or something. I heard him telling his friend I’d make a good conquest.”
Zoey laughed again, even louder than before. “Oh, that’s hilarious.”
“Hilarious?” Brooke made a face. “It’s insulting is what it is.”
“Nah. I know guys like him. He’s just kidding around. Go out a few times and he’ll leave you alone.”
“I don’t want to go on a date with him.” The confidence, the swagger, the ego … it reminded her all too much of the man her father had become. Ever since meeting Shandi the Dental Hygienist, he’d reverted back to sixteen years old.
“But he’s hot.”
As if that was reason enough to date someone. Brooke rolled her eyes. “After listening to my parents fight, I’m not interested in guys right now.”
Zoey shrugged. “Suit yourself. What class do you have next?”
“Gym in building B.”
“Hey, me too. Cool, we have a class together.”
They talked until the bell rang, then walked together toward class. Brooke quickly changed into her athletic clothes and then walked out onto the court. She let out an audible groan when she saw Luke and Chris dribbling a basketball near one of the hoops.
Zoey came up behind Brooke. “Luke is in this class too? Oh, this is going to be good.”
“Yeah. I had the dubious pleasure of meeting the Neanderthal to his left in English this morning.”
“Name?”
“Chris.”
“Hubba hubba.” Zoey smacked her lips. “You attract all the hotties. I’m officially stuck to your side like glue. I think they’re coming over here to talk.”
“Why won’t he leave me alone?” Brooke moaned as the two boys approached.
“Hey, girls,” Luke said, flashing them a brilliant smile—one he clearly thought would make Brooke go weak in the knees. She hated that it did, just a little. “Chris, these are my girls Brooke and Zoey. They’re both new.”
“I’m not your girl,” Brooke said.
“Nice to meet you,” Chris said. Brooke could tell by the way he swept his hair out of his eyes that he was interested in Zoey, and by the way Zoey crossed her arms over her chest to create cleavage that Zoey was too. She also knew it wasn’t going to work between them. Two loud personalities would never be happy together.
The teacher blew a whistle, signaling the start of class. “Everyone run fifteen laps around the gym, then we’ll go over the syllabus.”
Brooke jogged over to the side of the gym and ran along the perimeter. She picked out a couple who were obviously dating, and another that she knew would soon be together—it was obvious in the way the girl smiled while tossing her hair and the boy laughed. She shook her head and closed her eyes. Don’t think about it. Why couldn’t her special talent be singing or dancing or baton twirling? Anything but fixing people up and knowing when relationships wouldn’t work out.
It had made the year leading up to her parents’ separation excruciating.
She focused on the pounding of her feet against the gym floor, the squeak of shoes and rapid breathing of those around her. She’d always enjoyed running. She’d been on the track team at Westview. Maybe she should join the team here. It’d make her mom happy if she thought Brooke was settling in.
“I know a restaurant with fantastic food.”
Brooke glanced over and let out a groan. Luke ran pace beside her. “Can’t you leave me alone?”
“A pretty girl like you? Never.”
“I’ve been nothing but rude to you. Most guys would take the hint.”
That trademark grin spread across his face again. “My daddy didn’t raise no quitter. I like a challenge.”
She gritted her teeth and picked up her pace. Luke matched her stride for stride. “I’m not trying to be a challenge. I’m just not interested,” Brooke said.
“You don’t even know me.”
Brooke rolled her eyes. “Let me give you a tip, Luke. Consider it friendly advice. If you want a girl to go out with you, don’t talk about conquering her five feet from where she’s sitting. It tends to be a turnoff.”
“And Chris tends to speak before thinking. I’m a nice guy, I swear.”
“Don’t listen to him.”
Brooke whipped her head to her other side. Chris ran beside her now as well.
“Luke’s a total jerk,” Chris continued. “He goes through women like most guys go through boxes of pizza. It’s me you want to go out with. And I won’t just take you to some lame restaurant.”
“Oh, you have something better in mind?” Luke asked.
“Laser tag.”
“This is getting ridiculous,” Brooke said. “You two are idiots.” And why was Chris still hitting on her when he clearly liked Zoey?
“Pick me, Brooke!” Luke called as she sprinted ahead of them. She heard Chris laugh.
Brooke ran her final three laps around the gym, then slowed to a walk for a cool down. Zoey jogged to catch up, and Brooke slowed down even further.
“Somebody’s gaining popularity really fast.”
“It’s just because I told him no. The man’s probably never heard that word before in his life.”
Zoey drummed her fingers together like an evil villain. “You shall enlighten him, grasshopper.”
Brooke laughed. “You’re a dork, you know that?”
“Yeah. But that’s why you like me, and why we’re going to be such great friends.”
CHAPTER FOUR
The girl was insufferable. For the last week, Luke had tried everything he could think of to get Brooke’s attention—concert tickets, chocolate bars slipped into her locker, flirty texts sent during class.
Nothing had worked.
Luke tapped his pencil against his math test, pretending to still work on it. No way would he be the first one to turn it in. He might love math and science, but his friends didn’t need to know that.
Why did he care whether or not Brooke went out with him? Was it because she was the only girl who’d ever turned him down? Really, she was kind of a jerk.
Except she wasn’t. Luke had watched her help classmates with homework, share her lunch with someone who forgot theirs, laugh with Zoey. She wasn’t a jerk to everyone. Just him. The girl could certainly hold a grudge.
Three students had turned in their tests now. It was probably safe. Luke turned his in, and the second the bell rang he bolted to the lunchroom. He quickly got his meal and found Chris on the steps.
Luke stared at Brooke. She sat across the Commons with Zoey, near the giant statue of the school mascot. Their heads were close together as they giggled.
“I have to get her to go out with me,” Luke said.
“Give it up, man. It’s not happening. Me, on the other hand … I’m making progress.” Chris smirked.
Luke flushed. “Why do you even care? I thought you liked Zoey. You two flirt like a freakin’ basketball flirts with the hoop.”
“Yeah, Zoey’s into me. I’m keeping her as my backup for now. But I might not need her. Yesterday Brooke let me hold her books when I walked her to class.”
Luke ripped open the bag of chips on his lunch tray and chomped on one angrily. “You’re making that up. Trying to get under my skin so I lose focus and you can swoop in.” He had to get Brooke to date him now. No way he could let Chris, Mr. I-like-to-keep-gi
rls-as-backups, win.
“You don’t believe me, huh?” Chris rose. “I’ll go over there and talk to Brooke right now, just to prove it to you.”
Luke scoffed. “That proves nothing.”
“If I can get her to laugh, you owe me a candy bar.”
Luke held out his hand and shook on it. “Deal.” This was one bet he would definitely win.
Chris popped the collar on his jacket and strutted over to Brooke and Zoey. Luke covered his mouth as a laugh, along with a few chip crumbs, sputtered out of him. Chris looked like a peacock with all that preening.
Chris leaned against the raven statue, crossing one foot over the other. Zoey was already laughing, but Luke saw the disapproval on Brooke’s face even from here.
He’s not getting out of this bet. I’m getting the most expensive candy bar in the vending machine.
Wait. Was that a smile on Brooke’s face? Luke leaned forward as though the few extra inches would help bring the image into focus. Yes, that was definitely a smile.
Why that dirty, rotten, no good—
A laugh! Brooke threw back her head and laughed. Chris said something else, and Brooke rose and gave him a hug. Chris turned and strutted back to the stairs, a gigantic smile on his face.
“What did you do?” Luke asked.
“Like I’d share my secrets with you.”
“Seriously, man. Did you pay her to laugh or something?”
Chris scowled. “’Course not. I play my bets fair. Now pay up.”
Luke growled. He stomped into the hallway and fished out a five dollar bill, bought a Snickers from the vending machine, and headed back to Chris.
“Thank you,” Chris said as Luke slid it across the table.
“Did you tell her a joke?”
“No, she just likes me best.”
“Seriously, what did you do?”
“I told her you’d owe me a candy bar if she laughed. Easy, peasy.”
Luke growled. “This means war.”
He stewed all through lunch, trying to figure out how to get Chris back. How to prove to Brooke that Chris wasn’t the one she wanted to date—he was. He watched as a girl with Down Syndrome sat down next to Brooke. Brooke gave the girl a big hug, then handed her a cookie. The girl grinned and took it.
Stupid bet. He wanted Brooke to show him that side of her.
The bell rang, and he and Chris headed to P.E. In class, Coach split them into teams for basketball. Luke felt a jolt of excitement when Brooke was assigned to his team, and Chris ended up on the opposing one.
Here’s my chance. If talking wasn’t doing the trick, maybe showing Brooke he was far superior physically would. He would kick Chris’s butt during this game.
As soon as Coach blew the whistle, Luke ran to guard Chris. The ball passed toward Chris, and Luke hit the ball out of his hands and took off down the court. Chris swore and followed after him. Luke threw the basketball into the hoop and—
“Score!” Luke yelled. He did a victory dance, then glanced over to see if Brooke had noticed.
She stood in a corner talking to Zoey, her fingers playing with a lock of hair that fell over her shoulder.
“It’s not going to work,” Chris whispered as he passed Luke.
“Shut up.”
As the game continued, things got more and more aggressive. “Foul!” the coach yelled, running toward them. “One more move like that, and you two are running laps for the rest of class.” He looked back and forth between them. “Understand?”
“Yes, Coach,” they both mumbled.
Someone threw the ball into play, and Chris ran down the court with it. Luke charged after him. Chris jumped up and tossed the ball. Luke tried to grab it, but couldn’t quite reach. He slammed into Chris and the two went down.
The coach’s whistle went wild. Luke scrambled off Chris. “You okay, man?” he asked.
Chris groaned, holding a hand to his nose. Blood seeped between his fingers and dripped down his shirt. “Ouch,” he said, his voice muffled and nasal sounding.
“Crap.” Luke reached out a hand and helped Chris stand.
“I said cool down,” the coach said. “Are you okay, Chris?”
Chris gingerly felt his nose. “Yeah.”
“Get yourself cleaned up,” Coach said. He pointed a finger at Luke. “And you start running laps.”
Luke hung his head and obediently took off running.
“Did he do that on purpose?” he heard Brooke ask Zoey as he ran by them.
“I think he was trying to impress you,” Zoey said.
Luke ran harder, pushing himself to get within hearing distance of Brooke and Zoey again.
“—makes no sense. How is injuring his best friend supposed to impress me?” Brooke asked.
“I think it’s—”
Luke shook his head and cursed. So Brooke didn’t find athleticism sexy after all, at least not when it got someone else hurt. Strike two.
CHAPTER FIVE
“How was school today?”
Brooke clicked her seat belt into place. “Fine.”
Her mom glanced at her as she pulled out of the parking lot. “Anything interesting happen?”
Brooke supposed that was a good word to describe gym class. “Some guy body slammed his friend during a basketball game in P.E. to try and impress me.” Brooke rolled her eyes. She would never understand boys. “Obviously, it didn’t work.”
Her mom frowned. “Is this that Luke boy you keep telling me about?”
“Yeah.” But it wasn’t like she’d talked about him that much.
“I don’t like the sound of him. He seems like a player. Is he handsome?”
Is the sky blue? Is the earth round? He was too handsome for his own good. Brooke propped her feet up on the dashboard and fiddled with the radio. “I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”
“Attractive men have wandering eyes. Heaven knows your father is handsome as sin, and look where that’s got us. He’s shacking up with the twenty-year-old whore while we try to live off my paycheck and whatever he decides to toss our way.”
“They’re not living together,” Brooke said. Although she suspected Shandi was there more than she was at her own apartment, despite the fact her parents were supposedly trying to “work things out.” “You don’t have to worry about me, Mom. I’m not interested in Luke, and he’s only interested in me because I’m the first girl to tell him no.” Brooke tapped her hand against her leg in time to the beat of the music. Drop it, Mom. Since discovering the affair, her mom had been on a one-woman mission to warn Brooke of all the pitfalls of men.
“Men do like the chase. Maybe if I’d made your father chase me a little more, he wouldn’t be living in a beach-side condo with Miss Fake Boobs. Speaking of your father, he called today.”
Brooke’s hand stilled. “What did he want?”
“To see you. He wants to explain.”
Brooke violently shook her head. “No way. He’s used up all his chances.” Her father had tried to get together with her a few times since they’d moved out of the house that held so many happy memories. But he always showed up late, or canceled at the last moment. He wasn’t dependable anymore, and she was sick of feeling like she was an inconvenience.
“Brooklyn.” Her mother sighed, pulling into the carport at the apartment. They got out of the car and Brooke trailed her mom up the stairs. “I know your father and I aren’t exactly on the best terms right now. But you don’t have to side with me. Our therapist seems to think I’m forcing you to pick sides, and that it may give you an unhealthy perception of men and damage your future relationships.” She rolled her eyes as though the whole thing were silly. “Sometimes I wonder why we pay that woman three hundred dollars an hour if all she’s going to tell us is ridiculous crap like that. But it did get me thinking, and you should at least talk to your father. I know he can’t undo the mistakes he’s made. But as much as I hate it, he’s still your dad and should continue to be in your life.”
Brooke closed her eyes, wishing the hurt in her heart would disappear. “What did he have in mind?”
“He wants to meet up at the Denny’s by the high school after class tomorrow. Just a nice father-daughter date. He’ll drop you off here when you’re done.”
“I don’t know, Mom.” Brooke followed her mother inside their apartment and tossed her backpack onto the kitchen table. “I don’t think I can forgive him for what he did.”
Mom cupped Brooke’s cheek with her hand. “Just because I loathe the man doesn’t mean you have to. If you suddenly don’t like something he says or does, call me and I’ll rush right down to pick you up.”
“What if he cancels again?”
“Then I will personally wring his neck.”
Brooke let out a slow breath. “Okay.”
“Want me to call and let him know you’re coming?”
Yes. But Brooke shook her head. She didn’t want to be the reason for more yelling. “No, I’ll do it.” She pulled her backpack off the counter and headed toward her room. “I’ve got homework to do.”
In her bedroom, Brooke plopped onto her desk chair and pulled out her phone. She clicked the message icon and entered her father’s number. I’ll meet you at Denny’s tomorrow after school. She pushed send.
Almost immediately, her phone buzzed with a reply. Thank you, Sugar Bee. Can’t wait to see you.
Brooke texted back, her thumbs flying over the screen. I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing it for Mom.
I’ll take what I can get.
Brooke sighed and dropped her phone onto the desk. “Don’t flake on me, Dad,” she whispered. He used to be so dependable, so kind. But everything had changed since Shandi. He’d done a complete one-eighty, and now she wondered if she’d ever known him at all.
Worrying about tomorrow wouldn’t do any good, she decided. Better to get ahead on some homework and put the whole thing out of her mind. Tomorrow would come soon enough.
CHAPTER SIX
Where is he?
Brooke glanced around the strip mall parking lot, hoping Dad would drive up in his convertible. For forty-five minutes she’d sat on a bench outside Denny’s, backpack at her feet and phone clutched in her hand, smiling senselessly at people who walked into and out of the other businesses in the strip mall. But sitting on a bench outside of Denny’s was less humiliating than sitting alone at a booth inside the restaurant.
Meet Your Match (No Match for Love) Page 2