Sam

You know that sexy thing guys do when they pull off their shirts? The way they reach their arms back and grab a handful of shirt, pulling it over their head, their stomach muscles clenching and making girls extremely hot and bothered? That was exactly what Luke was doing right now.

Sam felt like she was watching the world from outside her own body, in slow motion. Luke reached up and pulled his thin t-shirt over his head, his –surprisingly- muscular abdomen tightening deliciously. She thanked her lucky stars the boys had invited her to go to the beach with them later that week. Calum and Michael were already half-naked and splashing each other in the waves.

It was warm today, the sun beating down on their bare backs, warm sand between their toes; Sam loved it.

“You coming, Sammy?” Ashton had taken a real liking to the girl, their newfound friend. She was quiet and shy, but incredibly witty. There was no denying the weird connection Luke and Sam had and that made Ashton happy. It was about time Luke got on with a girl. This would be good for him.

“I think I’m gonna lay in the sun for a while,” she smiled. “Soak up some rays.”

Luke couldn’t hide his disappointment at not getting the opportunity to see Sam with her shirt off, but he was mostly just happy she was even around. He was a little worried that his friends had scared her off after their first meeting. He knew the lads all got on with her, but he couldn’t read Sam for the life of him. Her eyes gave away nothing, her expressions were guarded and it was way too soon in their friendship to be nosy. He’d just have to go with the flow until that time came, as painful as that would be.

“You sure you don’t wanna head out to the water?”

Sam looked up from the book she had brought, “Yeah, I’m really getting into my book. I’ll just watch you guys.”

“Can you swim?”

Her laughter went straight to his gut, “Of course I can swim. If you really want, I’ll walk down to the water with you guys, but I’m not swimming today.”

Luke quickly agreed, offering her a hand to help her up, reluctantly letting go as they neared the water. The water here was gorgeous, crystal clear, something that reminded Luke of home.

“Come on, Sammy!” Michael ran towards them, dripping wet, “Why don’t you get in the water?”

“You boys really want me to get in, don’t ya?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” Michael grinned, winking in Luke’s direction.

“I think she wants to get in, Luke,” Calum called from the water.

“I know she wants to get in,” Ashton couldn’t help the shit-eating grin on his face as Luke caught on, eyeing Sam.

“What are you guys-“ Luke boldly grabbed her around the waist, easily throwing her over his shoulder. She kicked and screamed; threatening Luke with things that made his cheeks flush. The fact that this sweet, quiet girl even knew words like that astounded him. Who knew she had a mouth on her?

“Luke! Put me down RIGHT NOW!”

“No can do, gorgeous,” he laughed loudly, wondering where the hell his confidence came from and reveling in the fact that her small body was touching his. He ran towards the ocean, his friends howling with laughter around him, and dove in, Sam gasping for breath.

Luke resurfaced, spinning in circles, looking for the beautiful girl he had just submerged under water. Just as he was about to call out her name, she broke through the surface, sputtering and…laughing?

She was laughing harder than she had in a long time. Her stomach started to ache and her cheeks hurt from smiling. What a rush.

“Jesus, Luke! You could have warned me, I would have at least taken my clothes off.”

His entire body blushed at the thought of Sam taking her clothes off, the other boys burst out laughing.

Ashton winked, “Careful what you wish for Sammy.”

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“I probably have a pair of sweats and a t-shirt you could borrow if you wanted?” Ashton offered, unlocking the boys’ front door to their townhouse. Much to Sam’s surprise, Ashton invited her to the boys’ after the beach to watch some movies and eat pizza. Who could say no to that?

“Yeah, that’d be great, actually,” Sam smiled; ascending the stairs Ashton had pointed to. Luckily there was a door with the name ‘Ash’ across it in black electric tape. The apartment was small, as she had imagined; there appeared to be 3 bedrooms and a small bathroom up the staircase. She could just imagine the boys all hanging around their small house, goofing around, making music and being surrounded by people who loved them. She was jealous. Insanely jealous.

Sam opened the door and came face to face with Luke. He was shirtless and the grey pair of sweats he was wearing were hanging dangerously low on his hips, revealing his narrow waist and God grant her the serenity to accept the things she cannot change, the courage-

“Sam?”

Her cheeks immediately flushed, “Oh God, Luke! I’m so sorry, oh my God-“

“Sam, chill,” he grinned, shuffling around on what she assumed was his bed. There were two in the room; he must share the room with Ashton. He finally found what he was looking for, which appeared to be a t-shirt, much to Sam’s dismay, and pulled it over his head. “Where you looking for something?”

Oh yeah.

“Ashton said I could borrow some of his clothes? Mine are all wet thanks to someone…”

Luke’s smile was contagious; “You can wear something of mine, if you’d like? I’m pretty sure I have some clean shorts or something you can put on.”

“That’s exactly what Ashton said,” she smiled, accepting the blue shorts and white t-shirt Luke presented her. Luke directed her to the bathroom that was conveniently connected to his room and closed the door behind her. Holy shit, how was she going to spend the rest of the evening with him after seeing him like that?

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“Jesus Christ, Michael,” Luke came bounding down the staircase, flying into their small kitchen, “She’s wearing my clothes. She’s wearing them and she looked better in them than I do-“

“That’s not hard to do,” Michael snorted.

“I think I’m going to die.”

Michael rolled his eyes, “Don’t be such a pussy, Puke.”

Luke had no idea how he was supposed to spend the rest of the night, in the same vicinity as her, especially when she looked like that. A few moments later, Sam descended the stairs and Luke was a goner. His shorts were so big on her; she had to hold them up. His plain white t-shirt looked like it belonged in a magazine when she wore it; it was so long, she could probably ditch the shorts. Her normally straight hair had dried wavy and all Luke wanted to do was run his fingers through it.

“PIZZA!” Michael came sprinting through the kitchen to the front door, Calum followed in suit, knocking into Sam, which sent her flying forwards. Luke reached out and caught her, only to be sent sprawling onto the floor when Ashton decided to barrel through the kitchen as well.

If he weren’t pissed at his 3 best friends right now, who were blatantly ignoring the pair on the floor, Luke would have been dying over the fact that Sam was laid out on top of him, her small hands gripping his chest. If only she knew just how many times Luke had imagined them in a position like this within the last week. Ever since he mustered up the courage to talk to her, she was all he could think about. It was maddening.

“Luke, honestly, you have a bedroom for a reason,” Calum opened one of the pizza boxes, inhaling the heavenly pizza scent.

He ignored Calum, leaning up on his elbows, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” she awkwardly pulled herself up, offering him a hand, “Good thing you’re soft.”

“Ha! Luke’s fat!” Michael laughed through a mouthful of pizza.

“Look who’s talking, mate,” Luke rolled his eyes; trying to shake off the high he had from being so close to Sam. Once everyone had their pizza, they retreated to the living room to watch a movie.

“I am not sitting on the fucking ground,” Michael put his free hand on his hip, seeing Sam, Luke and Ashton had taken over their small couch. Calum had dibbed the armchair and that left Michael with… nothing.

“Looks like you are, mate,” Ashton snorted, “Now move your fat-ass so we can watch this damn movie.”

“What the hell are we even watching? I swear to God if you guys put in Frozen or some shit-“

“Hey!” Calum interrupted, “Frozen is the best movie ever. Way better than any of the shit you watch.”

“Seriously, Calum, Tangled is like five thousand times better than Frozen.”

“See what we have to deal with,” Ashton nudged Sam, smiling. They eventually agreed on watching The Change-Up because Ashton thought it was hilarious.

Sam found herself quickly drooling over Ryan Reynolds while Luke couldn’t take his eyes off of her. She watched the movie so peacefully, a small smile on her face the entire time; her cute button nose and long lashes mesmerized him. God, he was such a chick. Michael was right.

Luke looked down at the space between them where her hand was just inches from his own. He smiled at the huge difference between his large, calloused hand in contrast to her’s. He slowly slid his hand over, brushing his fingertips against the side of hers, gauging her reaction.

She didn’t move. This could go one of two ways and Luke figured he might as well take his chances because how often do things like this happen?

He moved his hand closer, gently setting his fingers in between the spaces of hers. She curled her hand under, wrapping his larger hand around her much smaller one.

Jesus Christ, he was going to have a heart attack.