The Deal

Chapter Seven

The weekend would be over before she knew it and Summer eagerly anticipated the next week. It was the final week of the school year and summer break was just around the corner. She looked forward to being able to rest a little before camp started in three weeks' time but was also dreading it. The summer break was much needed after the stressful year she had had with a troublesome class of students but now, rather than relaxing on a beach somewhere she would be travelling to the lake with a group of sixty kids who were heading to camp.

She regretted ever volunteering to help out, at least she was saying that now knowing that once she got there, her view would change. She loved keeping busy and camp was perfect for that.

Summer sat on the couch with her computer on her lap planning out the work for the following week when her phone buzzed. She finished typing out her final sentence before glancing down at her phone. Lucas' name appeared on the screen with a message that read, 'Are you at home? I'm in town and wanted to return your ID.'

She replied that she was and sent over her address and Lucas' next response came in quickly saying that he was about five minutes away.

Summer was then suddenly to her feet and rushing around the apartment. She tidied away the papers that were scattered across the coffee table and then rushed into her bedroom. She glanced down at her clothes, she was wearing a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie. She quickly stripped out of the pants and threw them to the bed as she pulled on a pair of leggings. Her outfit gave a casual, yet comfortable look and before she knew it, there was a ringing at her door.

She looked through the small screen and could see Lucas standing by the entrance to her building. She buzzed him in and then threw her hair into a messy bun just in time to open the door and allow him into her apartment.

"Hi," he said the moment she opened the door and extended his hand out in her direction, he was holding her ID.

"Come in for a minute, I don't want Bella to get out," she told him and stepped back so that he could walk into the apartment.

Lucas shut the door behind him quickly as he noticed the small kitten peeking out from one of the other rooms and shuffled awkwardly from heel to heel as they stood in silence. "You okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm not too bad. How are you?"

"I'm good. Got a shift at the bar tonight so I was just runnin' some errands before I head in."

"Well thanks for bringing my ID back, I've been a little lost without it. I wasn't allowed to get any wine at the store yesterday."

"Oh, for a party or?"

She shook her head gently. "Just for me. It's nice to have a glass with dinner now and then."

Lucas looked down at his watch. He had around half an hour until he needed to be at the bar. "I should get goin'."

"Thanks again..."

He turned towards the door but stopped. There was a question burning in his mind that he just needed to know the answer to. He hadn't been able to think of anything else.

He turned back to her. "About last week... you said it was a mistake. Did you actually mean it?"

Summer shook her head ever so slightly that Lucas would have missed it if he wasn't looking hard enough.

Her chest rose as she took in a breath before explaining. "I've never done anything like that before and I guess, I was embarrassed by how I acted."

"We were both drunk," he said hoping that it would make her feel a little better about the whole thing.