Book of Luke (Book 2)

by Chrissy Favreau

  I looked at Troy. He forced a smile and looked to Luke, who stopped feet from me. His blue eyes gripped me. There was seriously nothing I wanted more than to kiss him.

  “I need to get to class soon,” he told Troy. “We need to drop by my locker, you’ll have to take something home for me.”

  “Sure,” Troy breathed, his eyes again glued to Lilly.

  Luke walked by slowly. His cologne was heavy—it’s as if he wanted to drive me crazy.

  As they walked away, he turned his head back to look me over one more time. And maybe I imagined it, but I thought I saw him wink.

  ~ ~ ~

  As promised, Karma wasn’t at school; and I’m pretty sure no one was happier about that than me.

  I nervously walked into workshop, afraid someone would bring up my outburst on Friday. To my relief, hardly anyone even looked at me, and the people who did didn’t say anything, to me or anyone else.

  Luke’s eyes fixed on me the moment I walked in, and he wasn’t trying to hide it. He wore blue jeans and a black tank top, his hair was gelled back and he smelled so inviting.

  Seriously, I wanted to make out with him right there.

  And other stuff.

  I seated myself and he looked at me, his eyes attentive, watching my every move. I pulled my notebook and a pen out of my book bag. My eyes glided over to him.

  Immediately, he looked away.

  I looked down at my notebook, then at the writing prompt on the board. His amorous gaze filled my peripheral vision. Breathing heavy. Intent. Hot. Licking his lips.

  I looked at him.

  And he looked away.

  I looked at the clock and giggled when I felt his eyes on me again. Why was he toying with me? Why couldn’t he just say what was on his mind?

  I’ll admit, I fantasized about what was on his mind. And I hoped I was right.

  Tweezer handed our projects back as he took attendance. They weren’t complete, of course, but checking for progress counted as our midterm. I was kind of shocked that I got such a high A on a first draft.

  Luke got his, sat back down and pulled that leather journal out of his bag. After a brief glance at me, he opened it and started writing. From the looks of it he was almost through it. He looked so focused—it was mind-bogglingly hot to see a guy invest himself in his writing like that.

  “What I would like,” Tweezer began when the last person got their project, “is for each of you to present your work. You can share any part you’d like. We will have one presentation per day. During your presentation, I’d like you to give us some insight to why you chose to write it, and where you got your inspiration.”

  “Adonia?” Tweezer continued.

  My name made my heart gallop. “Huh?”

  “I’d like you to be the first to present your story.”

  My eyes widened in sheer horror. “The story that’s about my boyfriend?!” I blurted.

  People chuckled.

  Desperate, I looked to him for clemency. “Can I please go another day? I’m not ready.”

  He rubbed his chin, and, thankfully, his eyes fell on Luke. “Mr. Pawlak?” Tweezer gestured toward the front of the room.

  Luke pushed his chair out, got up and cooly strolled up front. Girls began to sigh. He turned toward us, glanced at me, cleared his throat, and took a deep breath.

  “I had a pretty lonely childhood. My mom and sister were almost never around, and honestly my dad wasn’t around much, either. So I would sometimes ramble, write on anything I could find. Most of it sucked,” he said, and people started laughing.

  “Anyway,” he continued. “I was shopping in Switzerland and I found this nifty little book,” he said, holding it up. “And I thought I’d copy whatever I still had around into it, kind of edit it so it doesn’t suck, and add new content for my project.”

  He bit his lip and looked through the journal. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m no William Blake or Samuel Coleridge, so try not to laugh too much,” he added, his eyes skimming the chuckling classroom.

  He ran his hand through his hair and licked his lips, briefly glimpsing at me.

  “I met her in a bookstore,

  I didn’t know just what to say;

  I thought maybe she’d noticed me,

  but with every glance she looked away.

  So incredibly beautiful,

  I couldn’t stop looking her way;

  and I knew then and there

  that I’d marry her someday.

  They say you know she’s the one

  based on how she makes you feel.

  I feel joyful and complete,

  this feeling is unreal.

  She’s become my world,

  everything that I hold dear;

  She’s given every piece of her

  and losing it’s my greatest fear.

  Getting lost that day was

  the best thing to happen to me;

  ‘Cause I walked into that bookstore

  and the rest was history.”

  More girls sighed—present company included.

  And he wrote it for me.

  Luke cleared his throat and closed the book.

  Jake raised his hand and popped a bubble noisily.

  “Jake?” Tweezer called.

  “Who’d you write it for?”

  The whole class turned to look at him like he’s stupid. Probably because he is.

  Luke shook his head. “I feel sorry for you.”

  He’d managed to take my breath away, and he does that so often. I was blinking back tears.

  “Oh my God!” Jenna gushed, fanning herself with her notebook. “Look up ‘Casanova’ in the dictionary and you’ll, like, see a picture of this guy!” She looked over at her clique, and they nodded in agreement. “Seriously, I should start going to bookstores!”

  Actually, I could’ve used a trip to the bookstore myself. I thought, if he still doesn’t talk to me after this, some books will surely cheer me up.

  For a while, anyway.

  Tweezer gestured for Luke to sit, and he fell into his chair beside me. He leaned back, put a foot up on the edge of the desk and crossed his arms. His other leg pressed against mine—it felt quite intentional.

  Our eyes locked for a moment. Then he went back to writing in his book. And honestly, I probably wanted to read that book more than any other.

  Because the sneak peek was freakin’ awesome.

  ~ ~ ~

  He was still absorbed in his writing when the bell rang, so I packed my things slowly and, with a heavy heart, headed for the door. He’d only looked up once through the rest of class, and that was to check his email. Of course Tweezer told him to put his phone away.

  Overall the class wasn't a total disappointment—he did say he’s going to marry me, “someday.”

  Lilly was engrossed in her thoughts during archaeology. I mean really engrossed.

  Did she realize she was chewing the head off her flamingo?

  “What’s wrong?” I whispered as the teacher wrapped up lecture.

  She shrugged. “Nothing.”

  “Happy about Gino?” I asked, though I sensed that’s not what her mind was on.

  She ran her fingers through her hair. “You know it. And I’m moving to British Columbia with you.”

  I grinned. “And Luke.”

  She crinkled her nose. “And Luke,” she confirmed.

  “And Troy…”

  Our eyes met. Hers were hesitant.

  Of course she was saved by the bell.

  “It’s just that my favorite bikini won’t be getting the sun it deserves,” she whined as we stepped into the hall.

  “They have swimming pools there,” I noted, heading for my locker.

  “I guess you’re right,” she said, biting a half pink, half white fingernail.

  “And there will be hot guys there,” I teased, referring to the ones we hang around.

  The number of hunks we’ve adopted over the past six months have increased conside
rably. I mean not that Lilly can’t get any guy she wants, but I never expected hunks to be found in our school, or even our town.

  She sighed wistfully. “I know.”

  I stopped at my locker and glimpsed at her before I opened it. She looked up dreamily, like living in a fantasy.

  “I’m glad you got Gino back,” I said, turning the combination lock. “He’s a great guy.”

  She licked her lips. “He’s going to be a handsome doctor.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “I know where you’ll get your check-ups.”

  She giggled. “He can practice on me in med school!”

  “Maybe just not using a scalpel,” I added. I peeked over at her and giggled.

  “Ew!” She crossed her arms and looked around the hall. Traffic had died down, as it was time for fourth period. “Where’s Lukasz?”

  I sighed. “Did you see his book?”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Uh, no…”

  “Journal,” I said. “I guess you can call it a journal.”

  “Oh,” she said. “That leather thing?”

  I nodded. “That leather thing.”

  “Yeah, he’s been scribbling stuff in it for class, he says, trying to remember things from the old days. Or something like that.”

  “He read a poem about meeting me in the bookstore,” I said, my heart fluttering. “Right there in class. He didn’t care what anyone had to say, he shared it freely. It made me melt.” My gaze fell to my feet. “Then class was over, and he kept writing.”

  When I looked up, Lilly chewed her gum, unimpressed. “Lukasz doesn’t care much what other people think, so I’m not surprised. He’s more of a leader. I guess you have to be, if you want to be an Olympian,” she said, with a roll of the eyes.

  Just thinking about him made my heart ache, and it ached more that he still wasn’t talking to me.

  “Hey, baby,” Gino wrapped an arm around Lilly. “I’m here to escort you to class.”

  She coiled her arms around his neck and grinned. “You’re such a gentleman!”

  “Oh, yeah?” Gino asked, his eyes locking with mine. “Am I also charming and sweet?”

  She pulled his head down. “One of the most charming and sweetest guys I know.”

  “One of?”

  She giggled and kissed him.

  ~ ~ ~

  Since I didn’t have anyone to kiss, I went to the mall. And because school wasn’t officially out yet, the place was pretty dead, aside from college girls, grandmas, and spendy housewives. Seriously, there were easily ten women for every guy in the place!

  Upon entering the bookstore, I was greeted by the tall, nerdy clerk who I swear lives there. Honestly, sometimes I wonder if his work hours are even legal!

  “Hey,” he said, grinning as I strolled by. “We got some new books in.” He pointed to the Young Adult section in back.

  “Awesome! Thanks.” I walked past him and he fell into his rotating chair behind the counter. It seemed ninety-five percent of his job consisted of reading, so I guess his work schedule isn’t that bad.

  I wondered how many bookstores there are in Prince George, because I like my fix.

  There were no giggly girls, as they were still in school, so I was relieved. I could at least read in peace and quiet.

  I skimmed the shelves to see what was new. To my absolute delight, there were several new arrivals with some really promising guys on the covers—although none of them were quite as hot as the guy I dated.

  And how many girls can actually say that?

  I sighed and sat myself on the base of a shelf in the back of the store. I’d picked up a book titled Chase Her into Tomorrow; though from the look of the super sexy Olympic medal-winning runner on the cover, I had the feeling the chase wouldn’t be too long.

  I read for a while, and found that I really enjoyed the book. The only thing that bugged me was the protagonist's name—Anita Bath. And curiously, the hot guy on the cover’s name was Mayo Berger. I’m not sure even his hotness makes up for that…

  Needless to say, I was intrigued.

  As I debated the plausibility of this book—in which an Olympic runner could not bring himself to outrun this girl who doesn’t even like gym class—something caught my eye.

  I peeked over my book at a guy strolling through the tiny aisles. He wore blue jeans and a black tank top under a crisp leather jacket. His hair was blond, his look was suave, his eyes were sexy. When they brushed mine, I looked away.

  I fixed my eyes to page fifty-three. I couldn’t keep them off of him for too long, though, so after a moment, I looked back up curiously.

  His lips formed a crooked smile as his eyes brushed mine again.

  To my surprise, he stopped in the dating aisle. Those amazing frosty blue eyes locked with mine as he reached for a book. Then he looked away, lifted it up and buried his face in it:

  Picking Up Chicks for Dummies.

  I laughed. It’s odd that this guy thought he needed to read that, with two college girls there practically groveling at his feet. They whispered a few feet away, like they were too scared to approach him.

  And they’d better be scared!

  He rubbed his chin as he read, and suddenly caught my gaze.

  I glanced back at my book and read to the end of the page. Not that I could say exactly what I’d read, but I flipped the page and looked up through my lashes.

  He licked his lips and flipped a page himself. When our eyes locked next, I didn’t look away.

  His eyes said it all. I was melting faster than a marshmallow over a freakin’ bonfire, because I could read those eyes so well.

  I could tell with no uncertainty how he felt about me, how much he loved me, and how much Dad would freak if he saw that look—that hungry, passionate look.

  He put the dating guide down and strolled over to me. I glanced back at my book, and when I looked up, I saw him there: Tall, blond and handsome, with a sparkling white smile. He smelled beyond incredible, and—especially from that angle—was sexy beyond belief.

  “Hey, Beautiful. Can I buy you a book?”

  My heart fluttered and I grew weak—even just sitting there, it felt like I couldn’t get up. It felt like I’d have rubber legs. It felt like I was positively in love.

  I bit my lip and slowly rose to my feet. “I don’t see why not,” I said.

  He drew slightly closer to me. “Awesome,” he breathed, his eyes searching mine.

  “Gonna get your book?” I asked with a light smile, pointing toward the dating aisle.

  “Nah! Not even that could help me!” He grinned.

  I laughed and wrapped my arms around him. The college girls grew disheartened and wandered off in a pout.

  “I’ve missed you,” I said, inhaling his scent.

  “I missed you more.” he said, his hands tight around my waist. “You know it’s bad when you’re calling voice mail just to hear someone’s voice.”

  I chuckled, my grip on him tightening.

  “I’m glad you got my hint and met me here,” he whispered in my ear, sending shivers down my spine.

  I buried my head in his chest, and he embraced me. “Is that what the poem was for?” I asked, smiling softly.

  “Yup.” He nudged my chin up. “And I meant every word.”

  “I love you, Luke,” I said, my voice trembling with emotion.

  “I love you, Beautiful.” His forehead rested against mine. “More than you know.”

  And then he kissed me.

  Next in this series:

  FINDING TROY

  (MY BEST FRIEND’S BROTHER, Book 3)

  Other titles by Chrissy Favreau:

  MY BEST FRIEND’S BROTHER

  MAKING UP BLAKE

  (MY BEST FRIEND’S BROTHER, Book 4)

  LIFE WITH JESSE DANIELS

  For updates on new books, including new books in this series, visit us on the worldwide web:

  www.MyBestFriendsBrother.com

  ; Chrissy Favreau, Book of Luke (Book 2)