Don't Wanna Love You, but I Do

Leah Callahan pushed her frameless glasses up again, annoyed with how much they had been falling down. She was only trying to write a few e-mails, but it seemed impossible with all the distractions, such as the rain which had forced her to get up and close all her windows, although she did enjoy hearing the patter of it against her windows.

She heard a loud but somehow timid knock on her door and she rolled her eyes, setting her laptop down on the couch and going to the door to answer it. She had no idea who it could've been at 8:45 on a Monday night, but knowing her friends nothing was predictable.

She opened the door and saw a tall man with long dirty blonde hair staring down at her with his soft blue eyes. She suddenly felt naked in her black wife beater and Spongebob pajama pants in front of some gorgeous guy who was at her door. He must have been lost. Leah noticed that there was a white powder on his forehead. She hoped it was flour.

"Hi, I'm Luke. I live across the hall," He said, reaching out his hand for her to shake.

"I'm Leah?" She said, a questioning tone to her voice as she shook his hand.

He laughed and revealed his perfect smile, causing Leah's heart to skip a beat. No big deal, not like there's a gorgeous man at my door or anything, she thought.

"I know this is so cliché, but I'm making cookies for my roommate's friends who are coming to visit tomorrow because out of the two of us I'm the most baking inclined. We're out of sugar though..I mean I think we probably never had it. I don't really want to go out in this weather, so I was wondering if you had any sugar you could loan me?" He asked.

Leah let out a small laugh. "Sure, come on in."

Luke followed her in, letting his eyes wander around her apartment. "Your apartment is better than mine," He commented, bringing his eyes back to her as she reached up to the cabinet and took the paper bag of sugar out. She was tall. He liked that.

"Maybe it's the furniture. I doubt that mine's bigger or anything," She replied. "How much sugar do you need?"

"One cup."

Leah handed him a paper bowl with sugar in it. "Thanks, Leah," He said, sending her a smile.

"Not a problem, Luke," She replied. "Have a nice night."

"You too," He said, turning around to smile at her. He stopped and looked at her eyes hiding behind glasses. They were a beautiful blue-green color that he thought was so unique. "Nice eyes, by the way," He added.

Leah sent him a small embarrassed smile. "Thank you."

Luke smiled at her again, this time a lop-sided smile that sent her mind racing. "Goodnight," He said, closing her door behind him. Leah was left to herself, shocked.

"And I thought I was distracted before," She mumbled.

---

The next morning, Leah found an envelope that must have been shoved underneath her door last night. She opened it, finding two glass tickets to the Leafs game that night. Her jaw nearly dropped. Glass seats? Who the hell were these from?

She put the envelope in her purse and continued on her way out to work. Luke was just coming in from what looked to be a jog. "Hey Leah!" He said. "Did you get my tickets?"

Her eyes widened. "Luke, the tickets were yours?"

"Well yeah," He said. He wasn't quite sure that she knew who he was, and judging by her reaction that he gave her the tickets she probably didn't. He liked that she didn't know who he was. With Toronto being as hockey obsessed as it was, it was nice to find someone who didn't like him just for his hockey talent. If she even liked him.

"Wow, thank you so much. My boyfriend is a huge Leafs fan, he will definitely be blown away," Leah said.

Luke felt defeated when he heard the word "boyfriend". He also felt stupid. Here he was giving her the tickets in an attempt to flirt with her, but she was taken. Of course, a girl as pretty as she was wouldn't be single.

"Good, I hope you guys have a good time," He smiled at her. "Have a nice day."

He stumbled into his apartment, angrily grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge and chugging it down. Once he had hydrated, he got a steaming hot shower going. He stepped in and let the water pound on his back, washing his sweat away. She has a boyfriend? He felt entirely shut down, and Leah didn't even realize it.

Once he was done showering, he stepped out and into the steam. Who was he kidding? He was Luke Schenn. He was going to get to know Leah. He wasn't going to give up so easily.

---

"Leah, how did you get these tickets?" Tyler asked, sitting in his cushioned seat and staring out at the fresh sheet of ice with the famous blue Maple Leafs logo.

She smiled shyly. "A friend gave them to me."

It wasn't lying if she left out a few details, like that he was smoking hot. At this point Leah was denying her attraction to Luke. After all, she did have a boyfriend who had done nothing wrong. Plus she had just met Luke. So what if he's nice, has beautiful eyes, and for some reason has glass seats to Leafs games to spare? He could be a complete creep for all she knew.

Oh no, what if accepting these tickets was a mistake, she thought to herself. Leah shrugged off the thought. Luke was just nice. He was harmless.

When the sea of blue jerseys came out onto the ice, the crowd cheered. She found goosebumps rising on her arms. Leah wasn't much of a hockey fan, but she did understand the sport. Growing up in Ontario, it's only expected.

She didn't know any of the players, though. The only player she could really tell you anything about was Sidney Crosby, and that was only because he was basically a god in the NHL, and he was the hero of Team Canada in the Olympics.

She watched the players skate around their halves of the ice in circles and one player stopped right in front of her. She looked up at him and recognized the blue eyes. "Luke?" She asked, shocked to be seeing him in front of her, the glass separating them.

He gave her a dorky wave and continued with his warm-up. She watched as the back of his jersey skated away, displaying a large white number two and the name SCHENN. So Luke was Luke Schenn, the talk of the Leafs; the talented defenceman they had drafted not too long ago who had already done wonders for the team, according to local sportscasters.

"You know Luke Schenn?" Tyler asked, his words slow.

"Um, I guess I do," Leah replied. "He's my neighbor."

The rest of the team was now sending her glances at different times, wondering why Luke was waving at some girl in the front row that didn't have a "Luke! Marry Me!" sign or was even wearing any Leafs attire. She had a black t-shirt on with a deep plum colored cardigan and dark wash skinny jeans, instead.

Luke quite enjoyed the look on her boyfriend's face when he waved at her. He recognized the emotions construed through his face and eyes. He was jealous, and that's what Luke wanted. Maybe he could stir it up a little bit, not that he wanted to hurt Leah. He just wanted an opportunity to put himself on the map.

Judging by the looks Leah was stealing at him when she thought he wasn't looking, he was already on it.

---

Leah laughed uncontrollably as she ran through the playground. It was dusk, and she was beginning to have trouble seeing. She stopped running and looked around, trying to find Luke.

"Lucas!" She called.

"That's not my name," He whispered from behind her. She nearly jumped from how close he was to her. His arms wrapped around her waist, a bold move considering she wasn't his to wrap arms around like that.

He leaned over her, bringing his face close to hers so that he could feel her body heat. They both shut their eyes at the pure bliss they felt.

"Tell me," He whispered. "Do you wish he was me?"

Leah opened her eyes and pulled away from Luke. "I'm sorry, I can't.." She tried to put the words together. It was so wrong that she enjoyed what she had just encountered. It was so wrong that she was about to answer 'yes' to his question.

"Tyler is my boyfriend," She said slowly.

"You sound so unsure," Luke responded quickly.

"Fine," Leah countered. "Tyler is my boyfriend." This time she made sure to sound more convincing.

He nodded. This was something he'd have to accept. He had tried everything. Now was the time to move on.

---

Luke shook his head. Not in shame, but just in disbelief. Leah had chosen him to be his maid of honor at her wedding, like something she got straight from the movie "Made of Honor", although she claimed it was solely because he was her best friend and the only one she wanted at the altar with her.

Like an idiot, he had said yes, which is why he was at Leah's engagement party. Luke had spent the entire night sitting at the table like his spit had gone sour. He couldn't believe that she was marrying him. Tyler wasn't that great. Luke certainly could treat her better. He should've just moved on from her a year ago when he had first realized he would never get through to her.

Leah sat in the chair beside him and he looked up at her, a puppy dog look on his face that made her heart skip a beat, just like any other look he'd given her the entire time she'd known him. "I know this is hard for you," She started.

He scoffed, playing with the tablecloth. "I don't want to make you go through anything more, so I asked Hannah to be my maid of honor. You don't even have to show up to the wedding if you don't want to."

He looked at her again, shocked. "But I'm your best friend."

"Luke, the last thing I want to do is hurt you," She said, reaching for his hand and taking it in hers.

"Then tell me this. Why do you ignore your feelings for me when you know how strongly I feel for you?"

Leah was taken aback at his straightforwardness when just moments ago he seemed like he didn't want to talk. "I had no reason to break it off with Tyler," She mumbled.

"Yes you did," Luke said. "I should've been the reason. You know what you feel for me is stronger than what you feel for him. Just because he never did anything wrong doesn't mean that he's the one for you."

Leah couldn't believe what she was hearing. All she had wanted from Luke was for him to stop playing games with her, and she would be his. He never stopped playing the games, so when Tyler proposed she had said yes. Now, of all times, Luke decided to be straight with her.

She couldn't believe she was going to do what she was about to do.

"Come with me to Saskatoon. Spend the summer with me. Just be happy, with me," Luke said, grabbing onto both of her hands and looking into her blue-green eyes that he had grown so fond of.

"O-okay," She said.

Luke's mouth became slightly ajar. He processed her simple, one word answer, and finally a smile crept onto his face. He took her hand and quickly took her away from the party.

"What about-"

"Worry about it later," He mumbled, lowering his lips to hers for a breathtaking kiss.

Can't keep my heart from singing along to the sound of your song