chapter forty-one: you sure did, lover boy
MONDAY EVENING. My workday had been extremely long, but only because I had decided to stay late to get ahead on editing. It was already nearing seven o'clock, which was probably the latest I had ever been in the office, and I was planning to stay for another thirty minutes or so. Luke had told me he'd be over at around nine, so it wouldn't really matter how long I stayed.
Spending the night at Luke's the day before had been fine—I got over there late, so there wasn't much to do except go to bed, and he had made me breakfast in the morning. Our lack of conversation had worried me, but I had been trying to distract myself from it all day. I knew the conversation we had the morning before had upset Luke to a fair extent, but I also knew that the last thing he wanted was to be upset with me.
We were fine, but it was clear there was tension. I was hoping that we'd be able to clear things up tonight because even our text conversation throughout the day had been lacking complete normalcy.
"I thought I saw the light on in here." I jumped at the sound of another voice, but laughed off the fear as I looked toward the door to see Stevie. "Sorry, I should've knocked—"
"It's fine," I told Stevie before waving him in. He smiled and took a couple of steps in before looking around the office. "I don't think I've ever seen you working late."
"It's because I never have," I told him as I sat back in my chair, deciding a break could be good for me. "Why are you here so late?"
"I'm usually here late on Monday and Wednesday night... editing the videos that go out on Tuesday and Thursday." My eyebrows furrowed at Stevie's statement.
"I thought Molly edited—"
"She usually does, but she's been asking me to help... I enjoy it, so it's no big deal. Plus, I'm the guy behind the camera in the first place... I like to make my mistakes look better so no one else has to deal with them." I laughed at Stevie's words and he smiled as he moved closer to my desk, beginning to play with a figurine of Elizabeth Bennet that was on the edge of the surface, next to a Mr. Darcy figurine. He chuckled at them, clearly recognizing them.
"If you're editing videos, you should be getting paid for that, Stevie."
"It'll happen eventually, I'm sure," Stevie said with a shrug, but that only made me sigh. "I really don't mind doing it."
"If you're working overtime on a job that you don't get paid to do—you should really think about starting to mind doing it. It's not criminal for you to want a raise, Stevie. You do every essential odd job there is to do here, you should be getting praise... in my opinion."
"I appreciate that, really," Stevie told me with a smile. "However, I'm not going to go begging for anything. I like this job and Tony scares the shit out of me most days, so I'm just gonna keep the gig I've got." I bit my lip gently and thought about maybe talking to Tony myself—it didn't seem fair that Stevie wasn't recognized more for his contributions. "You never told me why you're here so late."
"Oh—" I glanced over at my computer and laughed to myself. "I'm trying to get all my edits for the week done tonight. I'm still waiting on two articles to be turned in, so I don't want anything on my plate when they come in."
"Feeling productive?"
"Well, uh—" I considered a couple of scenarios of how telling Stevie about Luke would go, and figured it couldn't hurt. "Luke leaves this weekend and I don't want a ton of distractions if I can help it." I watched as Stevie's eyebrows dipped in confusion and as he seemed to figure it out, he closed his eyes and shook his head as he laughed about something.
"Luke... as in, Luke Hemmings?"
"I'm afraid so," I joked, but was still curious as to what Stevie's reaction had meant.
"So... you guys are together?"
"Not exactly... it's sort of complicated," I told Stevie with a sigh. "I don't exactly know why I'm telling you this, but I refuse to get in a relationship with him when he's going to be gone for so long. I just think it's silly... but he doesn't agree—that's the complicated part."
"Uh—this is going to sound so stupid, but I want to apologize. I had no clue that you were sort of seeing someone, I guess I really fell for the whole best friend thing—"
"Apologize?" I asked, my heart pounding.
"Oh, uh—forget it, never mind." Stevie began to laugh nervously, but I couldn't imagine forgetting it.
"Stevie—"
"I came in here to ask you out sometime, but now I'm embarrassed—"
"Oh..." Stevie looked down at the trinket in his hands and I found the corners of my lips curling although I couldn't explain why. "I appreciate your interest, if it's any consolation. You're a good guy, Stevie."
"Thanks," Stevie said through a sweet laugh. "Are you saying you didn't realize I was hitting on you the last couple of weeks? I don't know if that makes me smooth or really bad at shooting my shot." I thought back to past interactions with Stevie and would be lying if I said I hadn't picked up on something.
"I had my suspicions, I suppose." I gently tapped my fingers on my desk as Stevie finally looked up at me. "I think you're really sweet, so I guess I didn't know what to think about your behavior. I mean... you've sort of always treated me the same way."
"Is there an imaginary light bulb going on in your head?" Stevie asked nervously which caused me to let out a breathy laugh; he was telling me that he had liked me for a while. "I don't want this hiccup on my part to make something weird between us. I genuinely just enjoy talking to you... I think you're great, so..."
"It wasn't a hiccup... there's nothing weird," I assured Stevie which caused him to smile. "Maybe we could still go out sometime—as friends, of course."
"I'd like that," Stevie said, nodding as he sent me his signature sweet smile. "No funny business from here on out—I can respect a taken woman."
"Sort of taken," I corrected, not wanting him to label me when I was trying so hard to be unlabeled.
"Sort of taken... right," he said, correcting himself. "Well, I just finished up, so I'm heading out... I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow," I told Stevie with a smile. He started to walk away, after placing the trinket back on my desk. "Uh, Stevie?"
"Yes?" Stevie turned around excitedly which caused me to chuckle.
"The coffee mess up—did you do that on purpose?" Stevie immediately began to blush.
"No, I can't say I did... but I still feel really bad about that."
"There's nothing to feel bad about—I really do think iced caramel lattes have become my new favorite."
. . .
"Mads, I'm home!" I yelled out as I closed the door behind me and was surprised to be welcomed with silence. I ended up staying almost an extra hour at the office, so it was very late.
"In the kitchen!" I smiled at the response and made my way to the kitchen after setting my things down and taking off my shoes. The wide smile on my face suddenly disappeared as I saw Luke standing across the room, leaning against the kitchen counter with a beer in his hands. "Luke," I said, a small smile making its way back to my face. I rushed over to him and wrapped my arms around his neck, causing him to laugh.
"I had planned to surprise you by coming over here at seven-thirty... Madalyn's been entertaining me," Luke told me and my heart instantly dropped.
"You've been here that long? I'm sorry, I wouldn't have taken so long if I had known—"
"Josie," Luke stopped me as he let out a quiet laugh. He placed his hands on my cheeks and swiped his thumb against my skin gently. "It's okay, it's been maybe thirty minutes. I know you would've been here if I had told you."
"Huh, I think I hear my phone ringing—excuse me," Madalyn announced her departure and I laughed quietly, especially since her phone definitely had not been ringing.
"Did you come from work?" Luke asked as he turned us around before lifting me up on the countertop. I was always so surprised at Luke's ease when doing such things.
"I stayed late to get ahead—I want to give you as much of my time as I possibly can." Luke's face broke out into a smile and he, surprisingly, took my face in his hands and placed his lips on my own. I laughed at his action as I kissed him back, but I didn't allow us to get carried away. "You seem much happier to see me tonight."
"I'm sorry for yesterday," Luke said through a sigh as he placed his hands on either side of me. "I'm sorry for yesterday morning, last night, this morning—"
"It was a dual effort, Luke, don't be sorry." I smiled at Luke and he found it in himself to smile back at me.
"I didn't like where we left off this morning, I wanted to talk about it," Luke told me, looking down nervously. "I was doing a lot of thinking today and it really isn't fair for me to feel sorry for myself just because you're not ready for something. I'm never upset with you, but I get frustrated because I know that I want to be upset. Which is selfish of me. I should be respecting your wishes, not loathing them. And that's what I'm apologizing for."
"I accept your apology. And I understand your frustration, okay? I don't want you to beat yourself up over it."
"You're too nice to me," Luke said but I simply shook my head.
"I'm just nice enough," I promised him which resulted in him laughing. "I've missed you all day."
"I've missed you, too," Luke said just before gently biting his lip. "That's why I tried to surprise you... I didn't feel like going any longer without seeing you."
"Weren't you in meetings today?"
"Yeah... and I was thinking about you the whole time," Luke told me which caused me to blush. "What if you skipped work tomorrow?"
"Luke! I cannot do that," I giggled at his suggestion and was genuinely surprised that he had said such a thing.
"Come on, Jos... you know you want to. It'll be the only time I ever keep you from going to work. We'll have all day together, go to the museum tomorrow evening... and have plenty of friendly fun tomorrow night?" My eyes rolled playfully at Luke's words and he laughed quietly.
"I already used one of my sick days on you... except it was to avoid you," I told Luke, thinking back to a couple of weeks ago after we had gotten into an argument.
"What, you don't get any more days off?"
"What happens when I'm actually sick one of these days, huh?" Luke let out a breathy laugh as he shrugged his shoulders.
"Okay, what if you said you were working from home? You got a lot done tonight, didn't you? You deserve it." Luke had made a fair point—working late tonight actually would give me the option to take a day for myself. "I can see the consideration on your face, Jos. C'mon—say yes."
"Okay," I said, agreeing to take the day off to spend it with Luke. His smile grew as I spoke and he gently leaned forward, placing his forehead against mine. "As long as you let me help you make breakfast tomorrow morning. Waking up with breakfast ready is a blessing... but I want you to wake me up whenever you wake up, okay?"
"Okay," Luke said, agreeing to my terms. "Can we hang out in your room?" I laughed quietly at how cutesy Luke's request sounded, but nodded my head. "Are you laughing at me?"
"Yes," I told him with a nod of my head. Luke rolled his eyes before suddenly placing his hands on my sides and digging his fingers into my skin, beginning to tickle me. "Do not!" I yelled as I smacked his arms, causing him to laugh. He stopped, but brought his arms back to my waist to help me down. Being wary of his actions, I jumped and we both ended up laughing.
We walked out of the kitchen, hands entwined, just to run into Madalyn who was standing in the living room.
"Oh!" Madalyn exclaimed as she became startled by us turning the corner.
"Were you snooping?" Luke asked her after letting out a gasp. Madalyn had become red in the face and was clearly embarrassed; she had basically answered Luke's question.
"I would never," she said with a scoff. "I was just... coming in to get some ice cream."
"Uh-huh," Luke teased before sending her a smile. Madalyn sent me a wink before walking around us and into the kitchen. I pulled Luke along, leading him into my room. "I haven't let myself fully take in your place," Luke said as he walked up to the small desk in my room. My room really wasn't anything special. My only inspiration for decorating was comfort which meant warm colors and all my favorite things. "Like, I didn't even realize you were a plant mom," Luke said as he crossed over to my plant shelf—there weren't many plants and they were all succulents because I didn't have the time to look after anything that was higher maintenance. "But it makes so much sense that you are."
"Does it?" I laughed as I sat down on my bed. I didn't think that I came off as someone who would have plants.
"Yeah, somehow," Luke replied, laughing to himself as he picked up one of the small pots.
"When I was in high school, I genuinely would choose whether or not a guy was worth my time based on his room," I admitted, thinking it was silly but also still believing that a bedroom could say a lot about someone. "I only saw a couple of boys' bedrooms, but none of them really passed. Except for one boy, but I didn't even like him—he was just my hot neighbor." Luke scoffed before playfully rolling his eyes and I smiled in amusement as I laid on my back.
"What does my bedroom say about me?" All of a sudden, Luke was towering over me with his legs and arms on either side of my body.
"That you're filthy rich and don't have time to decorate it—it's a blank slate, Luke... it's boring as hell." Luke's mouth fell agape and I laughed at the sight. "But I know you're not boring, so you get a pass. Plus, your bed is what does it for me."
"I swear it's my bed you're interested in—not me. You were always hoping for a key to my place, weren't you? So that you could have our bed all for yourself?" I couldn't help but smile as Luke called the bed in his apartment ours. He clearly hadn't done it on purpose, but it had seemed to come naturally to him. "What?"
"You said our bed."
"I did not," Luke said nervously as he seemed to mentally replay his previous statement.
"You sure did, lover boy," I teased him which caused him to smile. "It'll be my bed by the time you get back, so it doesn't really matter."
"Isn't it crazy that we used to just... have sex?" Luke had stayed quiet for about a full minute before speaking, and I would be lying if I said his words didn't throw me off guard.
"Things have definitely changed... that's for sure," I told him calmly, not entirely sure how he had expected me to reply. With Luke still towering over me, I couldn't help but replay scenes in my head that took place weeks ago—I couldn't help but think of the nights Luke and I had shared at the beginning of all of this.
As I stared into Luke's eyes, I could tell we both were desperate for each other. I reached up and placed my lips on his, which he immediately reciprocated as his lips moved against mine.
Luke rolled us over so that I was on top of him, straddling his waist, and I placed my hands on his cheeks as his hands explored my body. I pulled away from him, my breathing heavy, and kept my face close to him.
"Fuck, I'm going to miss you, Jos." I laughed quietly at Luke's words—usually, they would've made me sad, but I was too amused with him to be upset. He smiled as the laugh left my lips and I smiled back at him, swiping my thumbs against his cheeks. "I don't think I'm going to make it four days without you, let alone four months."
Luke sat up slowly, causing me to go from straddling him to sitting in his lap, with my legs at his sides. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he placed his hands on my back. He leaned forward and kissed me softly, not giving me the chance to fully kiss him back before pulling away and keeping his forehead pressed against mine.
"You'll make it four months without seeing me because we'll make it, Luke." I watched as the corner of Luke's lips curled into a smile. "I'm going to miss you, too."
a/n:
aahhhhhh why is writing for this story getting difficult right when i'm trying to end it & have everything figured out !!!!! this is making me so akdhajhdakdhej typing for this story should be going smoothly .... but my brain doesn't like being nice 2 me
anyway !!! sorry for making you all wait around for this chapter. thank you so much for reading !!! i hope you are well <333
i hope to have another chapter up in the next couple of days :)
<33
jill