Daydream Dating

Chapter 23 - Burger Joints

Song of the chapter - Best Day of My Life by American Authors

Luke hadn't been kidding when he said he'd wait. He sat dutifully in my front room, talking with my dad for the few awkward minutes that it took me to change. I moved as fast as I could, stepping out of the sleeper and rushing around my room on the hunt for something to wear. I hadn't been spending as much time in my room as I used to, so the place was a mess.

Settling on black skinny jeans and a concert tee shirt, I attempted to tame my tangled hair. Having the hoodie up in the sleeper had caused it to become a matted mess. It didn't help that I had been sweating during the entire race, and for an hour before. To be honest, I was still sweating, mostly with nerves, but also with anticipation of the night to come.

Luke hadn't just pecked my lips while we stood by the car. He'd held my head between his hands, he'd run his fingers across my cheeks, down my neck. It had driven me crazy. And he kissed me as though he'd been dreaming of doing just that...for a long time. I found myself excited, nervous and confused all at the same time. But I was also hopeful, and that wasn't a feeling I was used to.

After I was able to make a somewhat cute messy bun out of my disheveled hair, realizing how nightmarish I had looked while Luke was caressing my face, and cringing because of that realization, I took the stairs two at a time to get back down to Luke. He was the picture of semi confidence, only squirming a little as my dad interrogated him.

The second I stepped into the room, Luke shot up from the couch, my only real indication that he was nervous. My dad smirked at Luke a little, almost making me laugh at the scene before me. Then Dad turned and winked at me. It was his secret sign of approval. A raised eyebrow would have been a warning, "this boy is trouble." It was nice to know Luke had passed the dad test. Even though it seemed way too soon for that test to have been given. Who gives a test on the first day of class, right?

"Well, thanks for the talk," Dad said as he shook Luke's hand. He gave me a pat on the shoulder as he walked past, then headed to the back of the house to relax for the night. His official dad duties were done

"Thank you, Mr. Bennings," Luke called after him. Dad just made a grunt noise. I wasn't sure what that meant. It's not like Luke called him Chuck. As soon as my dad was out of earshot, Luke turned to me and smiled, "You look good. Ready?"

"Sure. What do you have in mind?" I asked as he took my hand to walk me out the door, down the path and into his waiting car. My heart was as calm as it could be considering the circumstances. There I was, with a guy I had spent the better part of the year crushing on, and this was finally happening between us.

"That depends. Are you hungry?"

I was. Starving in fact. "Very." I was never going to be one of those girls who wouldn't eat in front of a guy. According to every romance movie ever made, guys don't care about that stuff. They prefer a girl who'd down a pizza in one sitting. Well, I'm their girl, if that was the case.

"Okay, then it's dinner at The Burger Joint, if you don't mind that, and then a drive...to a secret location." Luke opened his passenger side door for me, as he spoke.

His secrecy could have one of two meanings. Either he had an elaborate celebration planned and was being a cliché high school boy by not telling me and spoiling the surprise, or he had no idea where to go after the burger place. My money was on the second possibility.

"Sounds good." I answered as he got into the drivers side. "I love a good hamburger."

"That's what I like to hear," he said, keeping two hands on the wheel as he drove away from my house. I'm all for hand holding, but let's face it, teen drivers don't have the best track record with safety. I was fine having him keep those hands at ten and two.