All I Never Wanted

Chapter 21

Luke bounded up the porch steps shortly before six, anxious to see Annie.  He’d been expecting to see her snuggled up beside him when he woke this morning and had been sorely disappointed to realize she was gone.

To Luke she felt like an addiction.  He loved every minute he spent with her and when he was alone he couldn’t wait to see her again for his next fix.  Some of his fellow teammates and frat brothers busted on him, calling him whipped, and heckled him for spending so much time with Annie and so little with them.

Luke quickly reminded them that Annie looked nicer and smelled better than any of them so it was no contest.  In reality, Luke knew they liked Annie as evidenced by the way they greeted her when she came to visit.  Luke knew she had arrived long before she reached his room because he could hear guys greeting her the whole way down the hall.

She worried about being a geek and not fitting in, but it was her inner geek that had made her so popular with those guys.  She’d kept him eligible to play, even if he did break his leg and end his season prematurely.  It didn’t hurt that she was hotter than a summer day in hell but Luke didn’t think she knew that either.

Luke wished he could take back the past eight years and her insecurities with them but he’d have to settle for making it up to her every day forward. Starting with a night of frivolous fun designed to help her forget the agony of the past two weeks.

Jen answered his rap on the door, smiling conspiratorially.   He planned to include some friends in this date later on in the night and Jen had happily agreed to participate.

“You’re early.  I don’t think she’s ready yet.” She informed him, motioning him inside.

“No biggie.  I was just tired of sitting around in my room listening to Stiller lament over Lexi.”

Jen chuckled.  “That bad, is it?”

“The guys think I’m whipped but at least I’ve got Annie in the flesh.  Lexi lives in Long Island and she’s still got Stiller wrapped around her finger.”

Jen shrugged.  “Love’s love, no matter where you are.  Maybe he should just go visit her.”

“I told him that too.  I think the idea of New York City intimidates him.”

“It intimidates me too.” Annie announced, causing both Luke and Jen to look up in surprise.  “Hence why I haven’t gone to see Lex yet myself.”

Luke watched her walk down the hall, wondering how someone could take a simple pair of blue jeans and a fuzzy turtleneck sweater and make it look as appealing as Annie did.  She had a pair of brown boots on her feet, though they weren’t her signature cowgirl boots.  She’d pulled her hair into a braid that fell over her shoulder, simple and yet feminine.

Maybe it was the simplicity that made her so attractive or the confidence with which she presented herself, but whatever it was made Luke’s heart race.  Kim was attractive but she’d never set his insides on fire the way Annie did. 

This must be the difference between liking someone and actually loving them.  His time with Kim was fun and enjoyable but nothing life defining.  From the moment Annie had stepped back into his life she’d changed it and when she’d accepted his affections as more than friendship everything suddenly had more depth, more significance, than when he’d been with Kim.

He smiled at her as she approached, hoping he didn’t look as pathetically lovesick as he felt.  “Hey gorgeous,” he greeted, “About time you showed yourself.”

Annie rolled her eyes which by now Luke took as a sign of affection.  “You said you’d pick me up around six.  So, I was ready around six.”