Chapter 19 Aftermath

• Our meeting with Peyton had been surprisingly civil. Although I had thought Luke was going to smash Peyton’s face in, he hadn’t. They had kept their hands to themselves, and Peyton had agreed to our terms. He had proposed one of his own, but it was a sacrifice worth making. The papers had come on a rushed delivery, and we had combed them for any loopholes or traps. Luke had been upset by the fact that we would be losing six weeks, but it wasn’t worth fighting over. We had signed the papers and returned them within the hour. Luke and I now sat at the kitchen table in silence. Both of us observing the other as we allowed out situation to settle between us. We had less than 18 weeks left and five visits from Peyton.
• My eyes slid around the room as I tried not to make eye contact with Luke. For some reason I was incredibly nervous as I sat alone with him. My heart fluttered rapidly in my chest as I tried not to think of his body against mine. A memory drifted into my mind, and I allowed it to pull me in, away from the table where we sat, back in time to when Luke and I spent a hot Texas night together.
• The last bell rang, and I gathered my things from my desk. Stuffing them into my bag I hurried into the hall to dispose of some of them into my locker. After a quick stop I rushed out into the student parking lot, my breath catching in my throat as I looked for his sleek black bike. It was nowhere to be seen. He wasn’t waiting to see me. I trudged heavily down the dirt path to the athletics building and got myself ready for cheer practice. Luke hadn’t wanted to see me in weeks, and I wondered where he was. Last week Lacy had said he had been at her party and hooked up with her. I tried not to let it bother me. He was constantly sleeping around, and we hadn’t made anything official. A primal part of me wanted to claim him as mine and never let him leave my side, but I was afraid of what might happen if I voiced that need to him. He would run away and leave me alone.