He stared down at me, his body barely an inch from mine. My pulse pounded in my chest.
“I need a beer or twelve,” Ryan said, breaking the moment.
Luke quickly took a couple of steps back as Ryan entered the kitchen.
“I bought a six pack the other day,” I replied and moved toward the fridge.
“Honey, I brought my own,” he winked and smiled as he lifted a blue cooler and sat it on my kitchen table. He opened the lid and passed Luke a brown bottle then pulled out a dark green bottle for himself.
“I wasn't sure what your flavor of poison was, so I hoped you had something you liked here.”
“I actually found this at the grocery store.” I lifted the bottle and pointed at the label.
“Dead Guy, I like your taste. It's better than his,” he pointed at Luke.
“I have to drink the light stuff, calories dude,” Luke stated.
“Ohhhh, is poor Lukey afraid he is gonna put on the pounds?” Ryan teased.
“You’re just jealous because you know I’m better looking than you,” Luke jabbed back.
They made me laugh for the next hour as they took shots at each other. I let out a loud yawn covering my mouth and shaking my head.
“Ugh. That snuck up on me,” I admitted, wiping at my watering eyes.
“Let's get the bed set up so you can get some sleep,” Luke said as stood and sat his empty beer bottle on the table then turned and ran up the stairs.
“I think he’s in a hurry.” Ryan tipped his bottle back and drained it. He winked, then took off after Luke. I followed, still drinking my second beer. When I got to the doorway, Ryan had the mattress over his head and was pretending to use it as a weight set. Luke was shaking his head.
“You're going to hit the fan,” he warned and shook his head before putting the last base bar into the wood frame. He lifted the box spring easily and laid it on the frame. Ryan slid my mattress on top of it and then hopped on the bed.
“Bouncy!” He smiled as he pushed and bounced on my bed. I slapped his arm and ordered him off.
“Get out!” I said playfully.
“Fine,” he pouted and stomped jokingly out of the room.
“You want help putting the sheets and stuff on?” Luke asked.
“Nah, I’ll get it, but thank you.”
“Okay, I'll see you around.” He started toward the door.
“Luke, wait.” I took a few steps in his direction. “I really can't thank you guys enough for helping me.”
“It's what we small town folks do,” he winked and tipped his head then walked down the stairs.
I called a thank you down to Ryan and flopped on the bed with a smile thinking about Luke’s offer to help with the bed.
Chapter Nine
Luke
I have never wanted to be in a girl’s bedroom more than I wanted to be in hers, and for the first time it wasn't just about sex. I mean, don’t get me wrong. Every male fiber of my being wanted to have sex with her. I'm fairly certain every man in a thirty-mile radius wanted to have sex with her. I closed her front door, making sure I had turned the lock before I walked over to my side.
“You are in sooo much trouble,” Ryan laughed as he sat back in the chair closest to my front door, rocking on the back legs.
“You're going to break my chair,” I said and reached for the screen door handle.