章 8: Charlie's Rescuer
"Nessa?" He was the first to notice her with a surprised look on his face.
"Luke?" She breathed, "What a pleasant surprise to see you here"
"You're …."
The girl you kissed in the locker room, Nessa was tempted to say but replied instead, "The owner of the dog you just saved"
"Oh," he figured out, handing Charlie over to her. Charlie whimpered, rubbing his snout all over her face.
"Yeah, yeah, I got you, buddy" She scratched behind Charlie's ear earning a good lick on the face.
"What?" She asked Luke, surprised upon stumbling across the smile on his face. He looked so cute she just wanted to reach out and pinch his cheeks - alright, cut it out, Ness.
"You're natural with him, and he likes you," Luke complimented, making a tinge of blush appear on her face.
"People tell me a lot that I'm good with animals- mostly said by my brother with sarcasm- the dog actually belongs to my mother but was handed over to my youngest brother who is a horrible caretaker," Nessa confessed, and this time he laughed.
Not the lopsided one or smirk, but the full-body shaking show- off-his- sexy-white-teeth kind of laughter. Truthfully, this was the first time Nessa had seen him laugh this sincerely and it felt good for some reason.
Suddenly, Charlie sniffed towards Luke, and she had no choice but to hand the dog over to him. Who knows Luke might be hiding some candle in his jacket....oh no.
"I like your dog. Frankly, he's friendly and looks norma-"
"When he's not eating your jacket?" Nessa interjected, which caused Luke to look down and find Charlie chewing on his jacket. God, she wished an ejector seat could magically appear and kick her out of here; Charlie knows how to embarrass her.
"Okay?" He breathed out, trying to comprehend the situation.
"My siblings think it tastes like chewing gum to him," Nessa explained before he decides to toss her dog away.
"Weird and wacky, I can live with it. I have a lot of disposable jackets he can chew on, anyway." Luke said much to her surprise. Some people find Charlie's jacket eating behavior repulsive.
Nessa stared at Luke with awe, he wasn't ashamed of Charlie's bizarre behavior? She couldn't help but wonder what would have been Damon's response in this situation. Shit, why did her thought wander to that stupid ass guy
"So, you're not ashamed of him?" Nessa asked again just to be sure.
"For the umpteenth time already, your dog is pretty and special. He's a rare type. It's not like every day that I get to see a dog who chews on a jacket; it's an admirable trait" he remarked.
"Well, I have not thanked you properly for saving Charlie's life because what you did was heroic." She boomed a smile at him"
"No need, Nessa-"
"No, thank you, Luke" She expressed her gratitude. God knows it took all her willpower not to hug him right then and there.
Suddenly, her eyes brightened with an idea, "You should come to my place"
His expression shifted," No "
"You risked your life saving Charlie, Adrain should thank you for that" She pointed out.
"But still- "
"I insist" Nessa pressed," Wait a minute, don't tell me you're shy? I can't believe this?" she chuckled, "You're always the one who -"
"Of course not, that's ridiculous" He denied her accusation, though his blushing betrayed him.
"Fine, if you say so" Nessa gave him breathing space - have mercy on the poor, shy boy "But I must warn you, Adrain has a cocky attitude, so don't take anything he says to heart."
"Sure, I've seen cockier guys than him- I am one" he bragged
"Sure, you do" Nessa agreed playfully as she led him in the direction of her place. Along the way, they made small talks which made Nessa realize how different Luke was from the opinion she had formed of him.
She had thought all he does was drink, party, chase girls, and have sex with them. Come to think of it, he hadn't been giving her that lecherous gaze lately. It's like he's changed or something.
"Charlie dear!" Adrian who welcomed them snatched the dog from Luke and began to rain kisses on him, "Your appearance has saved me from going bald"
Luke's brow raised with interest and he asked into her ears, "Why was he going to go bald?"
Nessa leaned closer, whispering into his ears too, "I'm not supposed to tell you this but three years ago, Rex and Adrian had a fight which resulted in the little boy giving him a poor haircut service while he was asleep. Ever since then, Adrian holds this belief that Rex would cut his hair if they had a problem"
" Oh" Luke nodded
"Thanks a lot, Nessa, I owe you one" Adrian told her, hugging the dog so tight she doubted he was breathing.
"Actually, you owe me a lot" Nessa corrected, "But you should thank Luke here, he saved charlie from an accident,"
Adrian scrutinized Luke from the crown of his head to the sole of his feet before asking the most ridiculous question ever, "You got a boyfriend already and you didn't even care to tell me"
Nessa was stunned. She attempted to clear the misunderstanding" He's not my boyfriend-"
"Yet" Luke added, earning a glare in return.
But she was persistent, "He is just a friend"
Adrian gave her a skeptical look,
"Really?" He placed the dog on the floor and interrogated her with arms folded across his chest.
"Of course, I'm one hundred and one percent sure, no doubt at all," she scratched the back of her head awkwardly, her face heated up.
"That was just what you said last year until Jacob turned out to be your -" Nessa was quick to clamp her hand over her brother's mouth but she had a feeling Luke had figured the rest out.
After giving Adrain a warning glare, she turned to give Luke a smile that didn't touch her eyes.
"Make yourself comfortable," Nessa told him and went upstairs to change out of her sweaty dress.
Immediately, she switched into a tank top with denim jeans, hurrying downstairs to go save Luke from the clutches of her mischievous siblings. But her jaw dropped when she came into the living room. Not only was Charlie lying beside his feet but he was hitting it off with Adrian as if they were best buddies.
She smiled. Nessa, you better make that cupcake yours, her evil mind ministered to her.
No Nessa, You shouldn't think that way, Luke Is a player who would break your heart sooner or later, the voice of reasoning appealed to her.
"Urm Luke, would you mind if I go to the convenience store and get some lemons. I forget there isn't any to make lemonade."
As usual, Luke rejected her kind gesture, "You don't have to go through all this trouble because of me."
He was a really fine young man - yet a player - yes, she knows!
"No, it's nothing. Just lemonade, it's not hard to make" she laughed awkwardly.
Come on Nessa, you can do better than this.
"Then I'll come with you."
"Huh?" It took her a second to process that, "No way, you're the guest here, and guests are treated specially."
"I insist," he pressed, and after much arguments, Nessa gave up, so he came along
"Be back early. Don't hide in dark alleys making ou-" Nessa cut Adrian off with a sharp glare but he made faces at her as she left.
"So, by chance are you and Damon a thing?" Luke asked out of nowhere.
Disgusted, Nessa snorted, "No! Of course not. He just misunderstood me," she said and began to narrate the whole incident to him.
But seriously, Luke kissed her in the locker room, shouldn't he have gotten her permission before doing that?
"So," he was nervous for strange reasons "You're not going to fall for him?"
"No! I'll rather walk the school naked than date him" Nessa assured him.
There was a brief silence before Luke busted into laughter, though he added, "Funny, but I'm looking forward to the naked part with me"
Seriously, this flirt. Well….
Everything went fine between the both of them as they conversed on their way until a car stopped right in front of them, and someone emerged from it, slapping all smiles off their faces
Ugh! Speak of the devil.
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