Partners // l.r.h

DAY FIVE, PART FOUR

We got into Dane's car, and we drove off to the school. Dane parked, then I grabbed my things to put into Luke's car. I then walked back to Dane's car and grabbed the carriers and the "diaper bag".

Dane and I walked into the gym. We sat directly behind where the boys would sit. I knew that Luke wouldn't talk during the game even if he wasn't playing, but I sat there anyways.

I looked across the gym, and I saw two other "married couples", each with with their baby. Why did we have to do this over a weekend? I felt like I was getting judgmental stares from a lot of people.

Suddenly, music started playing in the gym. The boys from the team ran out for their warm ups, and everyone clapped.

"Do you know which is Luke?" I asked Dane who was sitting to my left. Nathan's carrier was to my right and Noah's carrier was sitting between my feet.

"No, I haven't seen him in a while," Dane shook his head, looking out at the boys to see if he could pick out Luke.

"He's the one with the blonde hair that's quiffed, the really tall one." For some reason, I smiled when I talked about him and pointed to him.

"Oh, okay. Now that you say that, I do recognize him," Dane nodded, looking at Luke and the other boys.

When Luke would rebound, he would throw to the next shooter. Then, he'd run to the end of the left line, the shooting line. As he stood there waiting, he once looked up at me and smiled when he saw that I was here, and he probably also smiled because I had brought Dane.

"Luke told me he thought you were amazing at basketball, and he said that he used to come to games just to see you play," I looked towards Dane.

"Wow," Dane smiled at the new information, "did he say anything else about me?"

"Well, when I told him I had a brother named Dane, he was like, 'THE Dane Murphy!?' It was pretty funny how excited he was. It seems like he looks up to you because of how you play basketball."

"That's awesome. I'll have to see how good he is, and I'll have to talk to him a little bit," Dane laughed and smiled.

Soon, the boys were done warming up. They walked over to the bleachers and sat right in front of us before huddling around their coach to find out what play they were doing and who was going in.

They introduced the seniors first, which I saw a few people that I knew standing out there. I watched as Luke joined the line of seniors. Then, they introduced the juniors, then sophomores, the freshmen. They also showed the junior varsity, but they weren't playing a game that night. They were just sitting on the other side of the gym and watching.

Luke started in the game, and he played great. I didn't know that he was that good at basketball. To be honest, I was amazed at how good he was. He had made a few three-pointers, and he also got fouled on a few times. He made all but one of the foul shots he shot for.

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The end of the game was coming close, and I watched Luke running across the court, sweating yet looking really hot. We were only a point behind, so any shot would bring us to a tie or to beat them.

Luke got the ball from the guard and shot it up from behind the three-point line. The shot went in, so the ball was given to the other team. The game ended before they could get the ball down the court. We had won.

Luke got really excited and so did the rest of the team. They all were jumping around. I was clapping when something unexpected happened.

Luke ran towards me, grabbed my cheeks and kissed me before running back out to the line the team was forming. They shook hands with the other team, saying "good game" as usual.

It took me just a minute to process what had happened. Luke really kissed me. He had a girlfriend, though, didn't he? Did he just make that up? Or did he accidentally kiss me? That didn't seem like it was an accident.

"Willow.." Dane's mouth dropped after Luke had kissed me. He was surprised too because I had told him Luke had a girlfriend.

"Are you sure Luke has a girlfriend?" Dane asked. I shrugged, still in shock from what had happened. Noah began to cry, and since I hadn't fed him in a while, I got out the bottle and stuck it in his mouth. A thing about the dolls was that if you stuck the bottle in its mouth, it would stay there, and it wouldn't fall out.

The boys all went to change. A lot of people left, but parents stayed. I scanned the gym to see that Luke's parents weren't there. He had described them to be once, but I knew I would be able to pick them out if they were there, and they weren't.

After he was changed, Luke walked over to see Dane and me. He smiled when he saw us standing there.

"So, how was the game? Did you like it?" He asked Dane, acting as if he was giving a speech or something. It didn't sound like he was talking about a basketball game.

"Yeah, it was great. You're an outstanding player, Luke," Dane nodded at him, "and I saw you kiss my sister. You be careful not to hurt her."

"Oh, yeah.. That," Luke nodded, "I won't hurt her. We aren't a dating, anyways."

"I understand, but she's going to your house tonight, and I don't want anything to happen between you two."

"There won't be, I promise," Luke laughed a little before looking at me, "are you ready to go? I can take one of the carriers or both of them?"

"Yeah, I'm ready. You can take Noah. You have your basketball bag to carry. I'll get Nathan and the diaper bag," I told Luke, picking Noah is and handing the carrier to him. I grabbed Nathan's carrier and the diaper bag before walking off of the bleachers.

I made my way to Luke's car while Dane went to his. He told me he'd see me the next day, and we both said goodbye to each other before he drove off.

"So, Luke.. About that kiss," I began as we both sat in the front seat of the car with Nathan and Noah both in the back.

"Yeah, I'm really sorry," he apologized, biting his lip which I thought was super sexy.

"You don't need to apologize," I smiled at him.

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Later that night, we had put Nathan and Noah in the playpens that his mum had gotten out. I changed into booty shorts with a large tee on. I put my hair up in a ponytail, and I got into Luke's bed beside him to sleep. I caught him staring at me quite a few times.

"Luke, what do you want?" I would ask him. He would just shrug, smiling and looking away for a few seconds before looking right back at me. I didn't know if that was a sign that he liked me or what, but I sort of liked him.