Liar Liar

The Chicago Visit (Chapter 16)

"Promise you'll call me every day?"

I laughed heartily. "I promise, okay? Now can you let me go? I'm gonna miss my flight."

She sniffled, squeezing me tighter. "I'm going to miss you so much."

"I'll be back soon," I promised.

Chelsea pulled back and sniffled again while I hugged Drake.

"You have all your stuff? Passport, ticket, wallet?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think so," I replied back nervously, my voice slightly muffled as it happened to be pressed up into the crook of his tan neck.

"Okay, good. Be safe and call me when you get there," he replied, kissing me softly as we pulled apart.I could feel the warmth of his hands seeping into my skin as they rested around my hips.

I grinned at my boyfriend before pecking his lips one last time. "I'll be fine. What's the worst that could happen? I'll only be gone for two weeks. I'll be back before you know it."

---

Eight hours later I was standing at Midway Airport's baggage claim, standing on the tips of my toes as I tried to spot a mass of familiar floppy blonde hair over the sea of people. I'd had a two hour delay, couldn't hear out of my right ear, and was extremely cranky by the time I spotted him.

His bright blue eyes, so shockingly different from Drake's green ones, smiled warmly at me. He ran towards me and picked me up, giving me a bear hug. I was so squished I felt like I couldn't breathe. "Ribs, Lucas, watch the ribs," I cautioned.

Lucas set me back down on the ground and I found myself looking up at him. I'd forgotten how tall he was. He was at least 6'2. "I missed you so much," he said.

Despite my crankiness, I found myself answering him sincerely. "I missed you too." It was nice to be back. Lucas's obnoxiously happy personality was surprisingly endearing. "Now carry my bags," I demanded.

He rolled his eyes at me and picked up my suitcase that I'd found and managed to drag it to the corner of the large room. We walked back to his car, both towing suitcases in hand. I could feel beads of sweat starting to pool at the back of my neck from the humidity. The winters in Chicago were absolutely frigid, but the summer's were brutally humid.

As I plopped down into the passenger seat, Lucas flipped on the air conditioning and reversed out of the parking spot. All was quiet until we reached the highway. Then Lucas took advantage of the opportunity to interrogate me. "So, since we have an hour and a halfs drive ahead of us, tell me about Drake." His voice turned naughty in the end, and my cheeks immediately heated up. I shoved Lucas' lightly built arms hard, causing him to swerve off the road. His eyes popped out of his head, and I laughed as he exclaimed, "Anna!"

As it turned out, I was probably not going to be going on any more road trips with Lucas in the near future; he took too much of an advantage of the confined space. "I just can't believe you're actually in a serious relationship with someone," he commented.

I could feel my cheeks flare up. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means true love really does exist if someone is willing to put up with your cranky, dumb butt. I have to keep hope." Then he added, "Drake must be a great guy. A little crazy, but great all the same." I saw a smirk tug at the corner of his lips when he realized he was getting to me.

I rolled my eyes at him and crossed my arms over my chest. "Shut up."

"But in all seriousness, I'm really happy for you Anna. I just thought that, you know, after your parents died and you had trouble coping that you didn't want to let anyone in. It's nice to see you open up," his voice turned soft.