Page 52 of Anyone But Her

Chapter Ten

Taylor

"How's it going?" Lilly asks as I haul my duffle bag up the stairs. I just got home from college. It was a long car ride home and I'm tired and feel like I need a shower.

"Hold on." I hurry to my room and close the door. "Okay. Go ahead."

"I'm still waiting for an answer. How'd it go with Luke?"

Before I left college I told Lilly that Luke would be living with us this summer. I also told her I'd kissed him over spring break, which I hadn't told anyone until then.

"So far it's been okay but we haven't really interacted much. We've kind of been avoiding each other."

"Like how?"

"He's been talking to my parents and Cal but hasn't said much to me."

"Isn't that what you wanted? For him to leave you alone?"

"I guess, but it feels weird for him to act like we're not even friends. All those nights we talked on the phone I felt like we were really getting to know each other."

"But then you told him to stop calling. You told him things had to end between you two. That's why he's acting this way. He's doing what you told him."

"I know, but it still seems weird. I don't want to feel awkward every time I'm around him."

"Then talk to him. Tell him you can be friends."

"After telling him we couldn't?"

"You didn't say he couldn't be your friend. You just told him you couldn't date him."

"Yeah, but by telling him to stop calling me I feel like I ruined our friendship."

"Then get it back. There's no reason you guys can't be friends. You both love golf. You get along really well."

"And we're attracted to each other, which makes it hard to be friends. And impossible to live together without something happening." I sigh and flop down on my bed. "What am I going to do, Lilly? How am I going to survive the summer?"

"I think you should go along with whatever happens and stop fighting it."

"I can't. My dad told Luke he can't live here if he even shows interest in me. If my dad found us doing anything, even just holding hands, he'd kick Luke out of the house. If that happens, Luke has nowhere to go."

"That explains why he was ignoring you when they picked you up at school."

"And why he's continued to ignore me. So I guess I don't need to worry about this. My dad scared Luke so bad he'll never try to date me. I bet he won't even try to flirt with me."

"You sound sad about that."

"I am. I know it's wrong but I really like Luke. I think there could've been something between us."

"Maybe there still could, once Luke gets his own place. And for the record, being with him isn't wrong. Just because your family doesn't think you should be with him doesn't mean it's true. Look at Reed and me. My mom hates Reed but we're still together."

"Even if I tried dating him it can't happen this summer. I don't want Luke to be homeless because of me."

"Then just be friends for the summer and be more than that once he moves out."

"Being just friends is going to be hard. When we're together it's like there's this chemistry between us that's impossible to ignore. My heart starts going crazy and I swear, it's like I can't breathe."

She laughs. "Are you sure you're not in love?"

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