Page 33 of Anyone But Her

"So you feel nothing for Luke? Not even attraction?"

"Of course I'm attracted to him. You saw his pictures online. He's hot. Any girl would be attracted to him. But that doesn't mean I want to date him. I see him as a friend. Not even that. He's more of an acquaintance."

"If you and Luke are just casual acquaintances there's no reason for you to not hang out with him this week."

"He's here to spend time with Cal, not me."

"Yeah, but the three of you could go out and do stuff. You could at least go golfing with them."

"Why are you pushing me to hang out with them?"

"Because I'm not there and neither is anyone else we know. So unless you want to be bored all week your only option is to hang out with your brother and Luke."

"I can find other things to do. My mom and I are having a spa day later this week and I'm sure we'll do other stuff."

The doorbell rings.

"Cal, can you get that?" I yell.

He doesn't answer. The bell rings again.

"Birdie, I gotta go. Cal's upstairs and someone's at the door. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah. Bye!"

I go and open the door. Luke is standing there, looking even hotter than he did last fall. He's more muscular and his face looks older. It's leaner, more manly, and he has a hint of a beard growing.

"Luke," I say, sounding surprised.

I'm trying to hide it but that breathless thing is happening again. Why does that always happen around him?

"Hey, Taylor. How have you been?"

"Good. I just got home from college."

"Yeah, I heard. Cal told me."

Is that why Luke is here? To see me?

Here I go again, imagining Luke likes me when he clearly does not. Whatever flirting I thought he was doing last fall was obviously not flirting at all. If it was, he would've tried to contact me after that day we played golf.

"So what are you doing here?" I ask.

"I had some time off so I decided to come to Phoenix for the week."

"I mean why are you here at the house? I thought Cal was meeting you somewhere."

"He was, but I was in the area so I thought I'd just come over."

The breeze blows and the scent of his cologne drifts past me. He smells really good. And looks really good. His hair is shorter than I remember but I like it short. It makes it look even darker, which I love. It matches his dark eyes and golden brown tan.

"Taylor," I hear him say. "Can I come in?"

Crap. How long was I standing here not saying anything?

"Oh. Yeah. Come on in." I step aside.

As he walks past me he gives me a smile and his dimples appear. I could look at those dimples all day. They're irresistible. But I must resist! He's Cal's friend. I can't date him.

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