Pretty Girls ⇼ Luke Hemmings

“What are you doing tomorrow?” Luke asked when the movie ended.
“I don’t know. Probably just staying in,”
“I have work in the morning,” he told me. “But would you want to do something after?” I debated whether or not it would be a good idea to spend time with him so soon after we’d made up. “I work six to noon,” he rubbed the back of his neck.
“Okay,” I decided not to overthink it. If his plan was to scorn me yet again, I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of falling for it. “Where do you work?”
“I’m a butcher at a deli,” the image of him at work flashed through my mind and I couldn’t help but bite my lip. Luke was the kind of guy that could look attractive doing anything—Especially sitting in my bed with his arms crossed over his chest. I pushed the thought out of my head.
“Well, if you work at six, you should probably get to bed,” he rolled his head towards me and a small smile played on his lips. It was nearly one.

“Can I sleep here?” He asked with a small pout. I thought about letting him stay. What harm could come from him sleeping here? Of course, I’d make him stay in Lea’s bed. Then again, maybe it’s too soon.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I sighed, picking at the skin around my nails.
“Okay,”
“Besides… You have to feed Petunia in the morning and-” he cut me off.
“I get it, Val,” he moved to the edge of the bed, sitting up.
“I’m sorry,” I told him and he shrugged, pulling on his boots.
“Don’t be,” he stood.

“What’s your major?” I asked, trying to strike up conversation. I didn’t want him to leave, but I couldn’t let him to stay.
“Music production,” he chuckled, shaking his head.
“So you want to be a producer?” I asked, despite how stupid it sounded.
“I want to own a music studio,” I nodded. I wanted him to sit back down, but I knew he had to go to sleep. “Goodnight Val,” he smiled.
“Goodnight Luke,” I replied and he walked out of the room.

***

I woke up at 12:45pm from a knock at the door. Lea still wasn’t back, so I got out of bed and opened up the door to find Luke. His wet hair was tied into a bun and he was in black skinny jeans and a black tee with his signature boots. I rubbed my eyes, stepping aside to let him in.
“Did you just wake up?” He asked with a small laugh, sitting at my desk chair.
“Yeah. Just give me a minute to change,” I grabbed some whitewash jeans and a light pink tee before making my way to the bathroom.
“You can change in here,” Luke told me, causing me to roll my eyes and exit the room anyways. When I got back, Luke was typing away on his phone. He was quick to set it down and pull his eyes up to meet mine. “What do you want to do today?” He asked.
“I don’t know,” I sat on the bed, pulling my hair into a messy ponytail. “Something... Fun,” I decided and he laughed.
“I think you and I have different definitions of fun,” he playfully rolled his eyes. “Okay, I have an idea,” he smiled, standing up. “Ready to go?” I nodded and grabbed my purse, following him out.

“Where are we going?” I asked as we got into Luke’s car.
“It’s a surprise,” he winked, pulling out of the parking lot. “But we have to pick up Petunia first,” within minutes, we were pulling up to the frat house. Luke ran in the house and returned with the excited dog, helping her into the backseat before pulling back onto the street. He smiled at me and I realized how nicely his stubble accompanied his face. I couldn’t help but smile back as he reached around to pet Petunia before rolling the window down for her. We were only in the car for about fifteen minutes when Luke pulled into a small parking lot near a lake.
“What are we going to do here?” I asked as he got out of the car and grabbed Petunia’s leash, letting her out as well.
“Something fun,” he grinned, opening the door for me and pulling me out by my hand.

Color rushed to my face as I stepped out and followed him down a path. He led me to a small dock out looking a lake.
“Are you ready?” He asked, picking up a stick and unbuckling Petunia’s leash from her harness.
“For what?” I laughed.
“Something fun,” he repeated, holding the stick in front of Petunia’s face and throwing it into the water. She ran after it, jumping in, and I laughed. “She loves to swim,” he smiled as she paddled around with the stick in her mouth. He and I sat at the edge of the dock, staring out at the once still water, rippling as Petunia splashed around.

“Tell me about your family,” Luke spoke.
“There’s not much to tell,” I laughed. “My mom and dad are very religious. My dad is a lawyer and my mom is a seamstress,” he nodded slowly. “I also have an older sister—Laura Gene, but we just call her Gene. She has a two year old boy and a husband named Drew. My nephew is amazing. He’s the funniest kid ever. His name is Parker,” I smiled. “ I don’t see him much, though. Gene and I don’t really get along,” I shrugged.
“Why not?” He urged.
“She did everything she could growing up to make me feel horrible. She’d put gum in my hair or burn my clothes to mock me. Whenever she had to babysit me, she locked me in the pantry the entire time with a bucket to go to the bathroom,” I rolled my eyes, picking at the stray string hanging off the hem of my top.
“She’s different now, though. Isn’t she?” He asked and I frowned.
“No,” I laughed. “The last time I saw her, she told Parker that I was adopted and that I wasn’t his real aunt,” Luke raised his eyebrows.

“Were you adopted?”
“No!” I snapped. “The point is, she’s horrible to me,” we fell silent. “What about your family?” I asked. He debated answering it.
“My mum, sister, and brother are in Australia,” he told me. “I don’t know where my dad is. I haven’t seen him since I was 5. He left the day my little sister was born,” I never understood how a parent could leave their child. “But I don’t care about him anymore. He was a drunk—An angry drunk at that. My mum’s got this new husband and, god, he’s a dick,” he sighed. “My brother and I call him Dick instead of Rick,” I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Tell me about your brother and sister,” I urged.
“Well my brother is older than me. His name’s Simon and he’s a conceited, self-absorbed douche. Tiffany is 16 and she used to be a real sweetheart. But, she started dating this guy and now she’s pregnant and dropped out of school,” Petunia brought the stick back to Luke and he threw it for her before looking back at me. “I don’t like my family.” He stated. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” I nodded as he stood up and called Petunia back, lifting her on the dock.

Luke and I walked down a path around the lake and ended up at a small park. He let Petunia loose to run around and led me to a roundabout.
“Get on,” he smiled. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes and obey, stepping on the and sitting down in the middle. “No, you’re not doing it right!” He complained. “You have to lay down to get the full experience,” I shook my head, but placed my back on the cold metal and stared up at the sky. Luke grabbed the bar and started running in circles, twirling the roundabout. I couldn’t help but laugh as it got faster and he jumped on. I stared up at him as he stood, holding his arms out and the wind whipped his hair around. God, he looked beautiful. He jumped off again and started to spin it faster.
“I’m going to be sick!” I giggled and he jumped on again, letting his back hit one of the safety bars as he sat down. Our laughter subsided as the roundabout slowed down.
“You have such a nice laugh,” he told me, his head rolling towards me. I bit my lip, staring at him. The sun beamed down on his golden hair and made his blue eyes pop.

“Let’s go on the swings!” I spoke, jumping off the roundabout and walking towards the swings. Luke followed after me and I couldn’t catch my breath. His mere presence had knocked the wind out of me. I was breathing heavily by the time I sat on the swing and instead of taking the one next to me, he grabbed the chains of mine and stood in front of me. When my eyes met his, I quickly looked away and saw Petunia lying in the grass. Luke slowly pushed the swing back so we were eye to eye and stared at me. “Luke,” I whispered. As much as I wanted him to kiss me, I knew how bad of an idea it was. He sighed, stepping aside and releasing the swing before sitting on the one to my right. My swing slowed as I dragged my feet on the floor to stop the motion. “Luke,” I repeated.
“Valerie,” he mocked with a small smile.
“Can we go get some lunch?” I asked. Despite how much I wanted to stay here, I knew we shouldn’t be alone. I felt like being around other people would lessen my desire to kiss him. He nodded, getting off the swing and hooking Petunia back on her leash before we walked to the car.

Notes