Play No More (Player Next Door sequel) ✓

09 | Crush Not Crushed

"Minnie, what are you saying?"

"Luke!" I responded, pecking him on the cheek and undoing my seatbelt, "I'm glad you stopped here. Let's go into the playground. I haven't been here in years."

I stepped onto the grass and fallen leaves crunched under my sneakers. I could hear Luke follow me and I needed the fresh air. We'd gone from fun to serious in two seconds flat and I needed a moment.

I don't like to think about my dad anymore. It hasn't come up much, except when my mother reminisces about the old days. After he left, we weren't able to keep up with the lifestyle of this neighborhood.

Families like the Dawsons were comfortable in their worlds. And we hid ours. I'm grateful to my mother for managing to keep the house, even though there wasn't much in it.

"We lived opposite each other our whole lives," Luke said, walking in the playground by my side, "And never once met. Can you believe that?"

I looked at him now. His strong and athletic build. His carefree and confident attitude. Luke had fallen firmly into my life and I was grateful for that as well. I hope he wouldn't leave in the same way my...

"It's true," I said, holding onto his hand, "We both played in this park and went to the same schools."

"You remember the magician everyone hired for their kids' birthdays? The one that accidentally hit Charlie with his 'magic wand'?"

"What?!  What does that even mean?  No, I don't remember a magician," And I didn't ask about his magic wand. 

"Oh!" I perked up, "Do you remember the ice cream truck that used to park here every day in the summer? That strawberry cream ice cream was so good."

"Yeah, I remember that," Luke squeezed my hand, "My sister made me buy her weed from that guy."

My face fell. "Ice cream Al was a dealer?"

Like a sledgehammer, he was just destroying my childhood memories.

Seeing my crushed expression, Luke said, "Let's not play this game anymore."

He leant down and kissed me comfortingly.  There is peace in ignorance.

**

We returned to the car and drove the last few minutes to our street. Dupont Avenue. 

We lived in a very sleepy neighborhood and there was barely another car on the road.  He took us to our homes and parked on my side of the street. This time, when we arrived, it wasn't the usual goodbye.

He switched off the ignition, turned to me and with his charismatic smile, asked, "Your place or mine?"

I blinked.

"Both."

"Uh..." Luke looked confused, "Ok?"

"As in," I explained, "you go to your place and I go to mine."

I bet he didn't expect that.

Mr I'm-too-hot-for-a-daytime-fantasy. Luke's blue eyes froze on me.

I guess I'm going to have to explain that.

Bluntly, I said, "I'm not ready for sex."

A very awkward silence followed. I really stuck my foot in it this time. Well, let's not pretend.  I stick my foot in it most times.

I braced myself. My explanations usually make things worse but here goes, "I don't want to give you any mixed signals and I don't want to feel pressure to do the-"

Luke predicted my next words, "You're going to use some weird way to say sex now."

"Do the naughty," I finished. "But I was deciding between that or knocking boots."

"Both are wrong," he rested his head against his hand, "But thank you for your honesty."

I laughed. I couldn't help myself and he smiled reluctantly.

"I wasn't trying to go there," Luke said seriously, "I wanted to hang out more with you. And maybe make out some more."

"But no pressure," I repeated. I really wanted to make that clear. He had a reputation of sleeping with a few girls already – heck, I'd even seen him the morning after while we were at summer camp.

And that just wasn't going to be me.

"We've only been dating for a week," I reminded him, "But it's been a good week."

"One hell of a week," he smiled and unlocked the doors for me, "OK, Minnie. I'll see you tomorrow. Sweet dreams."

It's only 7PM but I'll let that one slide.

"Goodnight Luke," I smiled back, kissing his soft lips, before jumping out of the car.

He rolled the windows down after I left and was about to drive across the street, when I stopped him. "Why d'you keep the windows up while I was in the car?"

Random question I know, but I've gotten used to Luke's driving and he usually likes the windows down.

"I don't want a wasp flying in and stinging you again," he winked. "You know your luck, Minnie."

Yeah and it's god damn terrible.

**

I had butterflies in my stomach when I came home. I've started to get familiar with them. The butterflies come after I spend time alone with Luke.

"Hey Flora," I waved to my sister as I walked up the stairs to my bedroom. She didn't even look up.

He makes me smile. We joke and then we talk seriously. Our relationship is maturing, I realized. When we first met, we had chemistry built around mocking each other. Now we also build each other up.

But a good mocking doesn't go unappreciated.

I arrived on the second floor and froze in my footsteps.  Too stunned to move.

My backpack slipped off my shoulders and crashed on the floor next to my feet.  

I was three feet from my bedroom door. 

It was shut. 

But there was a basketball jersey hanging on the doorknob and it was dripping in blood.

A/N: Dramatic end, I know, but the story has been leading up to this... 

Any guesses as to what's going on?  Whose jersey is this and who put it there?

Also!  I've been getting a lot of requests to update very often now.  I'll do my best - sorry for the long delay in posting this chapter.  Things have been pretty crazy recently, as I'm sure you can imagine given all the chaos in the world right now.  I'll post the next chapter within a week :)

If you want even more frequent uploads, consider also reading Hot Boys in a Haunted House.  A new chapter every two days and 20 chapters are already out, so you can read the story unfold live.  It's a bit more steamy than this Player Next Door series (which a lot of you have requested anyway haha) and it's about a girl living in a mansion with 4 boys.  

<3