Sequel: Run the Show ›
Somebody Needs You
Chapter 6
After graduating with honors from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandise, Katie packed up her LA apartment and shipped all her things back to her childhood home in London, Ontario. She needed to figure out what she wanted to do with her life, where she wanted to go now, so she placed her things in storage and spent time with her family, going on vacation along with them. All to leave the stressful and image-conscious life of Los Angeles behind and be able to make a decision that was good for herself.
When she returned to London with her family after a two week long vacation down in Florida, her mind had been made up and making a few calls, the next chapter in her life was ready to be written.
The rest of the summer was spent relaxing and soaking up the rays so when the last week of July arrived, she was well rested and full of energy as she stood beside a large moving truck and looked up at the old factory-turned-apartment building.
Her new home.
Smiling faintly, her arms crossed over her chest, she practically skipped as her eyes landed on a surprisingly familiar form walking down the side walk. Dressed in a simple yellow t-shirt and black shorts, with a baseball cap pulled down over his forehead, he blended in with the people around him, but his height and built, as well as the spark in his blue eyes still gave him away.
“Luke!” she exclaimed, smiling widely as she jumped into his open arms when he reached her, hugging her closely.
“So Toronto won in the end?” he asked smiling as he put her back down on the ground and let his arms drop from her defined waist.
“Looks like it,” she nodded slightly. “And thank you for helping me with this, I really appreciate it,” she said honestly as she looked up at him. She might have been tall for a girl, but next to him, she felt really short.
“It’s what friends are for,” he assured her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as he steered her towards the back of the truck, his eyes growing slightly as he saw all the things she had brought with her. “Be glad I like you.”
“I am,” she smiled, giving him a sideways hug before easily climbing into the back of the truck where pretty much all of her things were currently stashed.
Luke was the only one she knew in the large city, despite living relatively close to the city, she’d never actually been there. Or she’d been at the airport and driven through on two occasions, but that was it. So when she’d decided on Toronto, he’d been one of the first people she told.
At the time she’d been on a beach in Florida and he’d been back home in Saskatoon with his family, but he had been quick to offer up his help. She hadn’t been late in accepting the offer and she was sure that he was regretting that right about now.
“No, seriously, how much stuff do you have?”
They had been carrying up boxes and furniture to the second floor of the three story building and Luke was starting to feel like training camp came early. His arms were aching and he was pretty sure the pulled something in his back when he lifted a particularly heavy box marked ‘Shoes’ earlier in the afternoon.
“Not that much,” Katie tried as she followed him up the stairs, carrying yet another bag of clothes. There was nothing like a move to show you just how much clothes you actually had.
“There’s enough stuff to fill two apartments in here,” he disagreed as he turned left at the stairs and walking in through the open door, placing the box on top of another one in the middle of the open planned apartment. He had to give it to her though, it was a nice place.
“Not really, but thank you,” she smiled at him as she passed him to reach the bedroom part of the apartment. “And to think I left a few things back in London just to go easy on you,” she joked. She hadn’t left much behind, a few things she knew she would never need, but other than that, everything she owned was now in Toronto.
“If that’s true I might just have to rethink this friendship,” he joked as he sighed heavily before following her back down the stairs.
“There are just a few more boxes left and the bed, then we’re done,” she tried to pep-talk him.
“Can I try it out?” he asked, well aware of the implication easily picked up on in the question.
“If you're good,” she threw back at him as she climbed back into the trunk, rendering him speechless in surprise. That he had not expected from her…
“Are you going to help me with the rest, or what?” she startled him as she appeared in front of him again, holding a box in her arm as she looked at him with raised eyebrows.
“Yeah,” he nodded quickly, taking the box from her as he avoided the look she sent him before she went to get another box. From the second he met her – and from what Drew had told him about her – he’d found her to be rather shy, the type of girl that didn’t take the first step and never joked about sex, at least not in situations it could be taken as an invitation. If he remembered correctly, Drew had told him one of his teammates had once labeled her as the kind of girl you wanted to take home to your mother…he hadn’t thought differently when he met her.
And they had been getting to know each other for the past couple of months, nothing he’d learned about her had proven his first impression wrong. But there were times…
“You're being weird,” she announced as she passed him and crossed the sidewalk before entering the building once again.
Shaking his head slightly, he looked at her as she disappeared up the stairs before he forced himself to move. So she made a slight, sexual remark, it wasn't that big of a deal, God knew that it wasn't the first time he’d heard it. But then again, that was usually from girls who only wanted to get into his pants and not ones who emitted an air of being better than that. Girls like Katie...or women more like it.
Following her up the stairs, he soon reached the apartment that was still only an empty shell filled with unpacked boxes and furniture put down wherever seemed fit when they got it there and placing the box down on the wooden floor, he couldn’t help but smile as he found her standing in the middle of the apartment, looking around at the space like it was her empty canvas only waiting to be transformed into something spectacular.
“Two more trips and then it’s the bed,” he stated, bringing her out of her thoughts and causing her to spin around to face him.
“Right,” she nodded, smiling as her hazel green eyes met his blue ones. Holding his gaze for a moment, she looked away before wiping her hands on her jeans and walking over to him. “Let’s do this then,” she mumbled as they both crossed the apartment and walked out of the door. Things had never been awkward between them, it had been easy and simple from the second they met, but maybe it was normal that it got a bit weird after a while. At least they both hoped so as they were descending the stairs…
When she returned to London with her family after a two week long vacation down in Florida, her mind had been made up and making a few calls, the next chapter in her life was ready to be written.
The rest of the summer was spent relaxing and soaking up the rays so when the last week of July arrived, she was well rested and full of energy as she stood beside a large moving truck and looked up at the old factory-turned-apartment building.
Her new home.
Smiling faintly, her arms crossed over her chest, she practically skipped as her eyes landed on a surprisingly familiar form walking down the side walk. Dressed in a simple yellow t-shirt and black shorts, with a baseball cap pulled down over his forehead, he blended in with the people around him, but his height and built, as well as the spark in his blue eyes still gave him away.
“Luke!” she exclaimed, smiling widely as she jumped into his open arms when he reached her, hugging her closely.
“So Toronto won in the end?” he asked smiling as he put her back down on the ground and let his arms drop from her defined waist.
“Looks like it,” she nodded slightly. “And thank you for helping me with this, I really appreciate it,” she said honestly as she looked up at him. She might have been tall for a girl, but next to him, she felt really short.
“It’s what friends are for,” he assured her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as he steered her towards the back of the truck, his eyes growing slightly as he saw all the things she had brought with her. “Be glad I like you.”
“I am,” she smiled, giving him a sideways hug before easily climbing into the back of the truck where pretty much all of her things were currently stashed.
Luke was the only one she knew in the large city, despite living relatively close to the city, she’d never actually been there. Or she’d been at the airport and driven through on two occasions, but that was it. So when she’d decided on Toronto, he’d been one of the first people she told.
At the time she’d been on a beach in Florida and he’d been back home in Saskatoon with his family, but he had been quick to offer up his help. She hadn’t been late in accepting the offer and she was sure that he was regretting that right about now.
“No, seriously, how much stuff do you have?”
They had been carrying up boxes and furniture to the second floor of the three story building and Luke was starting to feel like training camp came early. His arms were aching and he was pretty sure the pulled something in his back when he lifted a particularly heavy box marked ‘Shoes’ earlier in the afternoon.
“Not that much,” Katie tried as she followed him up the stairs, carrying yet another bag of clothes. There was nothing like a move to show you just how much clothes you actually had.
“There’s enough stuff to fill two apartments in here,” he disagreed as he turned left at the stairs and walking in through the open door, placing the box on top of another one in the middle of the open planned apartment. He had to give it to her though, it was a nice place.
“Not really, but thank you,” she smiled at him as she passed him to reach the bedroom part of the apartment. “And to think I left a few things back in London just to go easy on you,” she joked. She hadn’t left much behind, a few things she knew she would never need, but other than that, everything she owned was now in Toronto.
“If that’s true I might just have to rethink this friendship,” he joked as he sighed heavily before following her back down the stairs.
“There are just a few more boxes left and the bed, then we’re done,” she tried to pep-talk him.
“Can I try it out?” he asked, well aware of the implication easily picked up on in the question.
“If you're good,” she threw back at him as she climbed back into the trunk, rendering him speechless in surprise. That he had not expected from her…
“Are you going to help me with the rest, or what?” she startled him as she appeared in front of him again, holding a box in her arm as she looked at him with raised eyebrows.
“Yeah,” he nodded quickly, taking the box from her as he avoided the look she sent him before she went to get another box. From the second he met her – and from what Drew had told him about her – he’d found her to be rather shy, the type of girl that didn’t take the first step and never joked about sex, at least not in situations it could be taken as an invitation. If he remembered correctly, Drew had told him one of his teammates had once labeled her as the kind of girl you wanted to take home to your mother…he hadn’t thought differently when he met her.
And they had been getting to know each other for the past couple of months, nothing he’d learned about her had proven his first impression wrong. But there were times…
“You're being weird,” she announced as she passed him and crossed the sidewalk before entering the building once again.
Shaking his head slightly, he looked at her as she disappeared up the stairs before he forced himself to move. So she made a slight, sexual remark, it wasn't that big of a deal, God knew that it wasn't the first time he’d heard it. But then again, that was usually from girls who only wanted to get into his pants and not ones who emitted an air of being better than that. Girls like Katie...or women more like it.
Following her up the stairs, he soon reached the apartment that was still only an empty shell filled with unpacked boxes and furniture put down wherever seemed fit when they got it there and placing the box down on the wooden floor, he couldn’t help but smile as he found her standing in the middle of the apartment, looking around at the space like it was her empty canvas only waiting to be transformed into something spectacular.
“Two more trips and then it’s the bed,” he stated, bringing her out of her thoughts and causing her to spin around to face him.
“Right,” she nodded, smiling as her hazel green eyes met his blue ones. Holding his gaze for a moment, she looked away before wiping her hands on her jeans and walking over to him. “Let’s do this then,” she mumbled as they both crossed the apartment and walked out of the door. Things had never been awkward between them, it had been easy and simple from the second they met, but maybe it was normal that it got a bit weird after a while. At least they both hoped so as they were descending the stairs…