Page 116 of Anyone But Her

His arms tighten around me. "I love you, Taylor."

"I love you too."

Moments later, my eyes fall shut and I feel myself drifting in and out of sleep. I wake up to loud beeping sounds. Opening my eyes I notice it's light out.

"Shit!" I shove the sheets back and stumble out of bed.

"Taylor?" Luke says, groggily.

"It's morning! I have to go!" I race to the window to see if anyone's on the patio or around the pool.

"Taylor, wait." Luke shuts off his alarm and hurries over to me.

"I can't. By now my parents are up. They're probably getting ready. I have to go!"

"Just let me say goodbye." He holds my face in his hands and gives me a kiss, then smiles. "And good morning."

I smile back. Even in my panicked state I'm able to relax just seeing Luke's smile. Those dimples. Those eyes. I love him so much, and I really wish I didn't have to hide it.

He smooths my hair. "We had a whole night together. I wish we could always do that."

"Me too." I glance at the house. "Luke, I really have to go."

"Go ahead." He steps back. "I love you."

"I love you too."

I sneak out the back door and go around the perimeter of the pool to the patio door and into the kitchen.

"Where were you?"

I look up and see Cal sitting at the kitchen island. My heart pounds and my mind goes blank. Did he see me coming out of the guest house? In my pajamas?

"What do you mean?" I say as casually as possible as I make my way to the fridge.

"What were you doing outside? In your pajamas?"

"I was just trying to figure out if I wanted to go for a swim." Facing the open fridge, I move stuff around, pretending to search for something.

"You want to swim at six in the morning?"

"I like to swim when it's not too hot."

"Since when? You always go out there during the hottest part of the day. You say it's when you get your best tan."

"That was when I was younger." Taking out the carton of orange juice, I close the fridge and go over to Cal. "Now I'm more interested in getting in shape than getting a tan. My coach said swimming would be good to add to my conditioning workouts."

Cal eyes me, pausing long enough that I know he's suspicious of my story.

"Is Luke up yet?" Cal asks.

"Luke?" I shrug. "How would I know? I don't know his schedule."

"I thought maybe you saw him when you were out back." He keeps his eyes on me as I pour my juice.

"Why would I see him? He's in the guest house. He's probably still asleep."

"He usually gets up at six. You know you probably shouldn't go wandering around wearing next to nothing with Luke back there."

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