***
luke could hear lola and her mother laughing and chatting in the kitchen, over the whistle of the stovetop kettle, and the sound of it made his chest feel warm.
lola was in her element at her parents house, the same way she was when she danced.
but while dance matured her, made her collected, calm and in control, elegant and unattainable; her childhood home made her glow.
a soft flush of happiness has been covering her cheeks since they pulled onto their street, and her eyes twinkled even in the almost total darkness of the car. she'd been a tiny whirlwind of excitement, immediately immersing herself in the welcoming atmosphere of the house and giving luke a peck on the cheek before sitting him down at the dining table with her father and going into the kitchen to help her mother prepare - what else - four cups of tea.
"they're very close." leo mused fondly, nodding his head back in the direction of the kitchen.
there was no door between the kitchen and dining room; with their house being nicely open plan luke could see the half of the kitchen that wasn't separated by a wall, frequently catching glimpses of his girlfriend, his heart doubling in size every time he did.
luke nodded in response to leo's comment; he knew just from hearing lola talk about her parents how much she adored them.
"she talks about you guys all the time; she loves you both a lot." he said.
"i could say the same thing to you." leo's eyes glinted as he surveyed the man in front of him; tall, broad and blonde - very different from the only other boy lola has brought home.
luke tried hard to suppress a smile at the idea of lola telling her parents about him - tried and failed, and leo laughed at the boy's expression.
"it's nice, seeing her so happy. you know this other boy she used to date - i don't know if you know him?"
luke clenched his jaw at the thought of nate, an image of the boy's bloodied face flashing across his mind.
"yeah, i've met him once."
leo's face wore a matching grimace to luke's, and luke was very glad his girlfriend's dad despised nate as much as he did.
"i always got a bad feeling from him." he shook his head. "but he is the past and you are the future."
luke couldn't contain his smile at the man's optimism - the same optimism lola possessed. finding out where these features of hers that he'd grown to love so much had come from was helping him feel more at home by the second; he understood why lola loved her parents so much.
"how was your drive up?" their short conversation was interrupted by lola and claire joining them, with claire slipping easily into the seat next to leo and passing him a cup of tea, while lola settled next to luke, passing his tea over to him with a sweet smile.
the moment her and her mother had gotten into the kitchen, she had been probed in hushed excitement all about luke.
"lola he's gorgeous!" her mother exclaimed quietly, her smile stretching even further. "and so polite! opening your car door for you!" she nodded in approval. "he's the one."
lola felt her cheeks flush and a huge smile pull at her lips, clutching one of the mugs she'd picked out closely to her chest.
"i hope so, i'm just so happy you guys like him."
now, with all four of them settled around the dining table, lola wrapped a hand around luke's bicep as a tiny show of comfort. her parents had never been the type to sit her boyfriends down and cross examine them - they trusted lola to make good choices on her own, simply wishing to support her - but she was also well aware that luke had never done anything like this before, and she appreciated how far he was willing to step outside his comfort zone for her.
33. tiny dancer
Почніть із самого початку
