All I Never Wanted

Chapter 15

The smell of Annie’s shampoo teased Luke’s nose as he leaned over her shoulder to watch as she shuffled through his mother’s party pictures.  It distracted him enough that he sat back and contemplated the knot sitting lazily atop her head.  Without asking he reached out to gently tug it free from the hairband.

Startled, Annie reached up to touch her hair, pinning Luke’s fingers to her head.  “Hey, what are you doing?”

“Letting your hair down.”

Annie leaned back against the couch from her position on the floor and looked up at him, her brow drawn in question.  “Why?”

“Because it smells good.  And I like the way it feels on my fingers.” He confessed.

Annie grinned.  “Good thing I took that shower before I came over.” She teased.  She sat up a little straighter, giving him better access to her hair and then went back to looking at the pictures.

Luke couldn’t quite believe that Annie hadn’t run away screaming when he’d told her he loved her.  That had been two days ago and those two days together were like comparing night and day when he thought about his relationship with Kim.

Everything with Annie felt much easier, quieter and deeper.  He didn’t know if it was their long history as friends or Annie’s maturity or the fact that his own wants and needs had changed.  Maybe all of it.  What he did know was that letting go of Kim had been the right decision.

He continued to peak at the pictures over her shoulder, his fingers absently running through her hair.  The photographer had delivered them earlier that day for his mother to look through before she decided if she wanted any special prints created.  Luke smiled when she paused over the one of them kissing under the mistletoe.

That one kiss had driven him crazy, tying his insides into knots and making it difficult to sleep.  He couldn’t get the feel or taste of Annie out of his head.  He had wanted nothing more than to pull her into a secluded corner somewhere and do it again.

Now, finally, he could.

“This is probably going to sound weird, but I love a girl’s hair.  Kim never let me touch hers.  It was always pulled back or styled and had so much gel and hairspray in it.  I like the fact that you let yours alone.”

“With all the pool chemicals assaulting it, I figure it doesn’t need hairspray and curling irons.  That, and I’m just not enough of a girl to care.” Annie responded.  “And I don’t think you’re weird.”

She leaned her head back again and grinned up at him.  “At least not any weirder than usual.”

Luke rolled his eyes.  “Thanks.”

She shuffled through a few more pictures and then paused again, but this time it had nothing to do with the subjects in the photo.  “Luke, does she know?”

Luke’s fingers paused and he asked, “Does who know what?”

Annie laid the pictures down and turned to face him, effectively pulling her hair free of his caress.  “Does Kim know why you broke up with her?”

Luke glanced at the embers glowing in the fireplace, wishing Annie didn’t have the knack to ask such questions.

“Yeah, she knows.  I wasn’t going to tell her that I had feelings for you.  There were plenty of other reasons that made me call it quits.  But she figured out that you were one of them and I think that’s all that mattered to her.”

Annie squirmed as if the thought made her uncomfortable.  “So she thinks you ditched her for me.  I really hope I don’t run into her on campus any time soon.”