Page 31 of Falling Hard
"Luke, kick their ass!"
"Which one is Luke? How did he get a cheerleader?" an unknown voice amongst us asked.
Speak of the devil: Luke ran over to me. His chest rose and fell with quick breaths, and sweat lightly glistened along his neck. Always the supportive friend, I handed him a bottle of water. He took it without a word, leaned his head back, and drank. I watched his throat shift and his lips touch the rim of the bottle. When he finished, Luke dropped the bottle and looked at me briefly. I temporarily forgot to pretend I was unbothered.
"Thanks, Liv," he said, then ran back to the field.
Once he rejoined his team, I felt Mei's eyes on me. "What?"
"You got it bad," she muttered.
I scoffed, but heat crawled up my neck, and denial seemed pointless when even water-drinking turned me on. I returned my attention to the game. For ten minutes, I watched Luke and only Luke.
"Olivia, I'm leaving. This is too painful to watch," Mei announced, standing. I didn’t protest. She wasn’t wrong.
Taking a break from watching Luke lose, I answered a few emails. When I looked up again, he was walking over to me. I stood, handed him a towel, and we walked off the field together. We were interrupted by other men shaking Luke’s hand and saying goodbye.
"See you in two weeks, Jeff," Luke said to a burly-looking man. Then he lifted an arm around my shoulder.
"What? No pom-poms today? Last time, you had a whole cheerleading outfit."
He’s right. When Alex picked me up and saw my costume, she couldn’t stop laughing. I’d worn it that time to cheer Luke up. "I didn't think you'd lose. Not to them."
He froze and pressed a hand to his chest. He had a fake pained expression. "Ouch."
"How about I lift your spirits with some food?"
Luke smiled. "I can eat."
Pointing to the path that veered right, I announced, "Let's go. Lunch is on me."
We fell into step, the city noise fading like it always did when it was just us. Finally, I spotted Freddy and his hot dog cart.
"Eat all you want," I said.
Luke looked at me and shook his head. "Thanks, big spender."
Freddy smiled as we approached, probably because Luke's arm was still draped over my shoulder.
"Give us two. One with everything for my friend, the other put ketchup, mustard, and a bit of relish, please."
I knew Luke's order at every restaurant around the city, hell, even in Boston, where we went to college. When you eat with someone all your life, you end up memorizing their orders.
"Anything to drink?" Freddy asked.
Luke spoke before I got a chance. "Bottle of still water, and a seltzer."
I liked the bubbles, and Luke didn't.
As Freddy prepared our food, Luke spoke. "In two weeks, fall will be over, and it's going to be freezing. We'd better enjoy the weather now before the cold forces us to hide inside. Let's walk a bit around the park."
"Two dogs ready," Freddy announced and reached between us.
We both took our food, and I paid.
"You two make a nice couple," he said, then winked. Luke wore a uniform with his name, so I assumed Freddy realized this was the man I had told him about. Worried he might reveal something I didn't want him to, I started off in the other direction. We walked for a few seconds when my skin prickled. I glanced up and found Luke carrying an unreadable look. "What?"
As he chewed, I had to wait, and it felt like an eternity.
