Yours Truly, Cammie

Luke grinned, raising one side of his mouth, but then his phone rang and drew his attention elsewhere. Still holding the pillowcase enclosing the snake in one hand, he took out his phone and grimaced as soon as his gaze reached the bright screen. His shoulders immediately went tense, and he paused mid-step. He answered quickly.

“Give me a minute.”

He placed the phone face down on his chest, “I’ve gotta take this. I’ll leave my number on the counter in case any more snakes come to pay you a visit…”

God, I hope not. The thought occurred to me that I better search my house high and low, with a gun or something, because I’d be damned if I woke up to another snake.

I watched Luke all the way out the door of my room, and when I heard the front door shut, I stood up and rushed to my kitchen to see if he really had left his number.

He had, with a little note right below it.

Cammie, it was my fault that the snake came in. I left the door open when I was flipping your furniture back over.

* * *

You’re welcome,

Luke

P.S. I hope you’re okay now.

I shook my head, smiling from ear to ear. I ignored the feeling of my heart growing inside my chest.

He’s just a neighbor. He’s just a neighbor. He’s just a neighbor.

Ten

I spent the last two days trying to come to terms with these quickly growing feelings I had apparently developed for Luke. I was in denial and I planned to stay in this little cocoon of denial for as long as I could.

I couldn’t have Luke. No matter how badly I wanted him. I’d told myself countless times that it was just an attraction, because how could I not be attracted to him? It was inevitable. He was hot. Like, smokin’ hot, and he was funny. Not to mention the way he had of turning off that crass feature of his, and turning into someone who was sensitive and understanding and caring. But, he was off-limits. He was totally off-limits.

I would not go through what I went through with Alex. If I started something with Luke, it wouldn’t be healthy, because my intentions would be to never be with him, and how was that fair?

I had also pondered maybe just being friends with benefits. I’d thought about that several times, especially when lying in bed at night, alone.

I just didn’t think that would work out, though. I would get attached, and he wouldn’t. He’d made it very clear that he could handle sex without getting hooked; I mean, he’d had at least a handful girls at his house just since he’d moved in. I hadn’t counted the exact number, but I had noticed that they were never repeats. But who’s paying attention?

So here I was, at this giant roadblock, trying to ignore how my heart skipped a beat at the sight of him. How I look forward to our little pranks, and how he had somehow made it into more than one of my fantasies.

Gah. Speak of the devil. There he was. Stepping out onto his back porch with a piece of pizza in hand, staring directly at me.

I’ve always loved coming out on my back deck in the late evenings. There was just something refreshing about the night sky in the middle of fall. The air was almost crisp; the autumn leaves put out a smell that was indescribable…I loved it, especially when I just needed a mental break.

“You know, you shouldn’t come outside with your hair wet. That’s how you catch a cold,” he shouted, after taking a seat on his lawn chair and propping his legs up on the wooden railing.

“Who are you? My mom?” I yelled back.

He didn’t answer. He shoved the rest of the pizza in his mouth and hopped over the railing of his deck, landing with a small thud on the ground. I sat up a little straighter in my chair, peeking down below my ledge. Luke walked nonchalantly over to my deck stairs and then started to skip up them with a little pep in his step.

“What are you doing?” I asked, faking annoyance.

“I’m coming to hang out. Why?”

“Why are you coming to hang out with me?” I cocked my head to the side, shoving my wavy, wet hair over my shoulder. “Don’t you have any girls to entertain you tonight?”

“Maybe I want you to entertain me tonight.” My eyes widened when the words came out of his ever-so-fine mouth.

I scoffed. “Well, you’re going to be disappointed.”