She's Like a Piece of Home

As Raleigh was putting Mackenzie’s bag together, she was startled to hear the doorbell ring. Mac jumped off the couch and ran to the door. Raleigh sprinted after her. Mac had developed a “super” helper role lately and had them all worried by how freely she opened the door to anyone.

“Mac! Wait!” she nearly shouted when she beat her to the door.

“I was just trying to help,” she pouted, pushing that little lower lip out. Raleigh patted her head and smiled. She didn’t want her to think she was mad.

“I know, sweetie, but let’s let the grown-ups handle the door, okay?” Mac nodded, still frowning. Her frown quickly faded when Raleigh pulled the door open.

“Luka!” Mac yelped pushing past Raleigh to hug his leg. He picked her up swiftly pulling her into a bear hug.

“Luka? What are you doing here?” she blurted without hesitation. Her sister had him over for dinner just a couple nights ago and Raleigh had managed to stay holed up in her room in an attempt to avoid him. She had crossed paths with him only once, when she decided to venture out and get some food. Head down, she muttered out a quiet ‘hey’ and quickly returned to her room. She decided then it that it was best to leave for the night and grabbed her keys before heading out. She had paused as she left the house when she heard Mackenzie’s giggle and Luka’s laugh float from the back yard. And suddenly, she was curious.

He held an envelope out in a free hand, shaking her from her thoughts. “Can you give to Quinn?”

“Oh,” she said quietly taking it out of his hand. Was that disappointment in her voice? He turned his attention back to Mac.

“And what are you doing today, moya myshka?” She hated to admit it, but it was endearing listening to him to talk her, especially when he used his nickname for her. She shook her head, No… now knock it off.

“We’re going to the zoo!”

“The zoo? To look at shoes?” he asked his eyes widening. Mac’s hands covered her mouth as she giggled and shook her head.

“No!” she squealed. “To see the animals!”

“Ah! I see.”

Raleigh cleared her throat. “It’s time to go, Mackenzie.” Hoping that would be a clear cue to Luka that it was also time for him to go. She underestimated her niece’s admiration for Luka. As he put her down, she quickly turned and looked at Raleigh.

“Oh, Aunt Raleigh, can Luka go? Please, please, please!” Little folded hands reached up to her.

“Mac, I’m sure Luka is very busy today. Maybe another day.” She didn’t want to spend time with him with only Mac as a barrier. Mackenzie was too fast for her, turning rapidly back to Luka.

“Luka, can you go? Please!” And the lower lip popped out again. She silently cursed herself for teaching her how to beg.

“I not think your aunt want me to go…” Luka said slowly lifting his gaze to meet hers.

“Oh, please, Luka, come with us! I can show you all the animals.” Raleigh almost had to laugh. Mac’s logic was undeniably that of a 4 year old. She caught herself mid-smile when she realized Luka was still looking at her, waiting for her to step in.

“Luka is a very busy man.” Raleigh attempted to reason with her.

“But you didn’t even ask him!” Mac stomped and crossed her arms in a near mimic of Cami’s pouting to Quinn.

“Actually, I not have plans today.”

“Told you so!” Mac said defiantly. She tried to maintain a straight face and hold herself back from lunging at the little girl. She’s only four... And it’s not her fault that he conveniently showed up.

“Fine,” she finally said, sometimes it was just easier not to argue with her. “Luka, would you like to go to the zoo with us?”

He flashed her a crooked smile. “I would very much like to go with you to zoo.”

She groaned inwardly. Of course, you would “very much like to go.” Mac slid her hand into Luka’s massive hand. “Can we ride with you?” she asked innocently. Raleigh rolled her eyes, she taught her way too well.

“I say yes. Is okay with you… Aunt Raleigh?” He was clearly enjoying this. Him and his little ally, she thought bitterly.

“I suppose.”

“Yay!” Mac clapped her hands and then quickly took Luka’s hand again, nearly pulling him down the steps. “Let’s go!”

“I’ll be there in a minute,” she called out after them. Slowly, she walked back to the kitchen to get the bag she put together. She looked down at her clothes and suddenly felt incredibly awkward. Jeans, a well-worn t-shirt and faded Converse sneakers. Her hair was pulled up into a high, messy ponytail and she had barely any makeup on. And there he was looking, well, perfectly put together. Pale green button down shirt, which was untucked and with the sleeves rolled up no less, cargo khaki shorts, clean white sneakers, perfectly shaven face, perfectly arranged shaggy hair under a perfectly placed baseball cap. He’s not perfect and you don’t have to use that stupid word to describe everything about what is surely his perfect body under all those clothes… Stop it! It doesn’t matter anyway, cause he’s just like the rest of them. She nodded and smiled, satisfied with her personal reminder to recheck herself. She shot a quick text to Brooke, who she was sure would be thrilled with this “development”.

HE is going to the zoo with me and Mac. Please come with us?

Brooke must have been right next to her phone, because she barely made it two steps before it was buzzing in her hand.

“Are you kidding me?!” Brooke’s voice squealed from the other end.

“No,” Raleigh sighed reluctantly and shifted her weight to lean against the doorframe. “Mackenzie invited him.”

“Knock it off. Seriously, girl, worse things could happen. Just enjoy the day.”

“If I end up dead in a ditch, I’m haunting you first.”

Brooke snorted. “He’s a hockey player, not a serial killer, Lee-lee.”

“That’s what he wants us to think,” she retorted.

“Have fun. I will call you tonight! I gotta go.” Raleigh barely got a ‘bye’ out when she heard the click. Taking a deep breath, she slung her bag over her shoulder and headed out the door. As she approached his black Lincoln Navigator she saw him setting Mac’s car seat in the back.

“Your car was unlocked,” he said simply when she came up behind him.

*
“I’ll strap her in,” she told him. He stepped out of the way, allowing her to move in. He crossed his arms and waited. It continuously blew his mind how different she was with Mackenzie. She would drop the guarded façade she put up around him. She was talking in a low voice to her and making faces. Mackenzie responded the same way. He found himself wanting to get to know this Raleigh. A few moments later, she climbed into the passenger seat.

He pulled the car out of the driveway, turned the radio on and Three Days Grace poured through the speakers. As he listened to it, he realized he had no idea what she listened to. She had hooked Mackenzie up with headphones and a portable DVD player, so she was content in the back. He glanced back in the rearview mirror and smiled slightly at the sight of Mackenzie giggling to whatever Raleigh had put on for her.

He slid a glance at Raleigh, who staring out the passenger window. He noted that she was attempting to twist the hem of shirt. He had seen her do this before and was beginning to suspect that this was a common nervous habit she had. He knew he was going to have to be the one to break the silence. If he didn’t say something, he was certain that she would go the entire day without saying a word to him. It was frustrating. He never had to work so hard to gain a woman’s attention.

“Do you want to listen to something else?” he finally said. Raleigh looked over at him, startled, as if he had interrupted her in deep thought.

“Oh, no,” she said quietly. “This is fine.”

“I change it,” he offered.

“Really. This is okay. She can’t hear anything back there anyway.”

This was going nowhere. “What do you listen to?”

“A bit of this. A bit of that.” As he stopped at a red light, he looked her. She clearly amused herself at using his own evasive words against him.

“Not a real answer,” he said with a chuckle as he shook his head. The corner of her mouth tilted shyly in return.

“Mostly anything. A lot of oldies… I like it better for Mackenzie. Cleaner. Classical, I guess. I don’t know. I’m pretty all over the place.”

“The way you are with me?” The words left his mouth before he could stop them. Her cheeks reddened instantly and her mouth opened as though she were going to say something, but quickly closed it again. He returned his attention to the road. Why the hell did he just say that?

*
At a loss for words, she stared out the window until they arrived. She was certainly proving herself to be a mess when it came to him. She was quiet as they entered the zoo. Mackenzie charged ahead, as usual. The zoo was her favorite place to go and Raleigh completely understood why. It was fascinating to sit and watch the animals. Really watch them. And that’s what was so great about taking a child that loved animals. You really stopped and watched them. A child didn’t care if you spent 20 minutes looking at the same tiger enclosure.

They wandered through the zoo slowly, moving at Mackenzie’s pace. She dragged Luka up to virtually every window. Mac had a new audience now and was soaking up every minute of it. Raleigh was having a harder time fighting the urge to avoid him and about halfway through, she found herself walking in stride with Luka.

“Full of energy, huh?” he said as Mac ran up to the fence of the bear exhibit.

“You have no idea,” she muttered and looked at him. He was staring down at her. “What?”

“Nothing,” he said with a shake of his head and he shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Luka! Did you see the big bear just laying there doing nothing?” Mackenzie was running back to him. “He’s boring.”

He swept her back up into his arms and nodded in agreement. “Boring. What can we see next?”

Mac furrowed her eyebrows, thinking hard and stared at Luka. He did the same in return to her. A small smile was winning its way over Raleigh. It was, for lack of a better word, adorable. She slid her phone out of her pocket and quickly snapped a picture to send off to Cami. Right as she hit send she looked up to see Luka grinning at her.

“What?” she asked slowly lowering her phone. She was caught.

“Take pictures now?” he teased.

“Picture for Cami. Deleting. See?” She clicked the screen a few times and slid the phone back into her pocket. The picture still safely stored on the phone. “So! Miss Mackenzie… where are we off to next?”

“The aquarium!” She pointed the way and nearly jumped out of Luka’s arms. She squirmed down and grabbed his hand pulling him towards the building.

Raleigh let out an apologetic laugh. “Sorry, the aquarium is her favorite place.”

He shrugged and smiled back, “Is okay. She excited. I get it.”

“I should warn you about her favorite exhibit in her favorite place…” She said nudging him lightly with her elbow as they walked. He looked down at her and his expression nearly threw her off balance. He looked genuinely pleased. It took a moment to even dawn on her that she had apparently relaxed her cold demeanor.

“Is what?”

“The penguin tank.” He started laughing.

“You kid me, right? Is this joke, Miss Raleigh?”

She shook her head. “No, I’m serious. You’ll see. Just wait. We’ll spend at least a half an hour standing in front of it watching them.”

“Hmm…” he murmured and made a face.

“Ten bucks we stand there for at least 30 minutes before she even shows the slightest interest in moving on.” She was feeling adventurous now. For the first time, she actually blocked it from her mind why she was so against him. He was becoming… normal.

He grinned mischievously. “Oh, no. Not money. A date.”

She balked. “You’re joking, right?” He shook his head. “Fine. Conditions… it’s not a date. I will agree to go out as friends. Longer than 30 minutes, no date and you move on.”

They stopped in front of the aquarium entrance. He stuck his hand out. “Deal.”

She shook his hand quickly. “Deal.”

She started to walk through the doors and stopped just inside them. “Oh, Luka… there’s something you should know.”

“And that is?”

“The last time we came to the zoo, she watched the penguins for 40 minutes. But, um, good luck!” She laughed as she followed Mackenzie.

When they got to the penguin exhibit, Luka looked at her curiously as she pulled out her phone. “What are you doing?”

“Timing,” she responded casually showing him her phone. “Oh, and no encouraging her otherwise.”

“Not a thought,” he responded as he leaned back against the wall. They stood watching Mackenzie for awhile and every so often, she would drag one of them over to hold her up to see the penguins on the rocks. For the most part, she was content standing in front of the glass watching them swim and dive. They didn’t talk too much, both were focused on Mac and hoping that she would allow them to win.

Around 20 minutes, she did start to feel uncomfortable as she noticed a few people staring at them. Well, not them. Him. She watched them whisper to each and nod. Luka didn’t seem to notice. He had all of his attention focused on Mackenzie. A random thought popped into her head, he really does care about her. Mac isn’t just some little kid to him. He honestly cared about her.

She shook her head and checked her phone to distract herself. She lifted it to show Luka.

“29 minutes, mister… I told you,” she taunted. And somehow at that exact moment, while she had her phone held out towards him, Mackenzie turned around.

“I’m ready to go see the jellyfish!” she called out. Luka reached out and hit the stop button. He smiled coyly, staring at the screen and turned it around to show her.

“I think you owe me date.” He leaned back and folded his arms. She stared at her phone in disbelief. 29 minutes and 35 seconds. Are you kidding me? She scowled. “Aw, not look so…grumpy. I’m fun,” he said with a wink. He pushed himself off the wall and picked up Mackenzie who had made a beeline for him. “So where are jellyfish?”

“It’s not a date,” Raleigh mumbled as she reluctantly followed them.

The rest of the zoo was a bit of a blur for her. Her game of silence didn’t last long. Having Mackenzie nearby helped. When he asked about what she did for work, she explained that she had had an interview soon for an Assistant Curator position. She was excited about that. She never had any issue discussing work. He tried to ask her once if she ever danced and she quickly changed the topic. Her former almost dance career was off limits to everyone. However, she couldn’t help the warm fuzzies she got a few times when little boys and girls would shyly come up to him and ask for his autograph or a picture. She was impressed at how Luka would get down to their level, patiently give the autographs and take photos while Raleigh and Mackenzie would find an animal to stare at for a while.

While they were watching the sea lion, Luka was pulled away by another set of kids. That’s when she noticed that she was being watched and two girls, possibly around her age, were inching closer to them.

“I’m sorry… can I help you?” Raleigh finally turned and asked as she gripped Mackenzie’s hand tightly.

The pretty brunette looked startled at Raleigh’s sudden turn, but then recomposed herself. “Yeah… is that-”

Raleigh cut her off mid-question. “Yes.”

“Oh…” The blonde girl looked at her friend for a moment and then past Raleigh at Luka. “Are you guys, like, together?”

Raleigh burst out laughing at that question. “Good Lord. No.”

They looked relieved, if Raleigh had to pick a word to describe it. “Okay,” the blonde said brightly. “It’s just, you know, we saw the way you two were acting and-”

She stopped her again. “No.”

The girl nodded and then whispered to her friend. They plastered fake smiles on their faces and walked around Raleigh and Mackenzie. Raleigh shook her head, annoyed. The way we were acting? Like friends? Idiots. She focused Mac back on the sea lion.

“Oh, he’s coming back, Mac! Wave to him!” she said with a forced cheerfulness. She turned just slightly enough to see the girls approach Luka and him causally slide his arm around one while the other took a picture and then they switched. Much to Raleigh’s dismay, she felt her face grow hot and she pulled herself away from watching.

“You are so not jealous,” she muttered to herself. Mackenzie, engrossed in the passing sea lion didn’t notice. When Luka finally returned, they moved on to the next exhibit.

“It not bother you. People stopping me.” he commented quietly. She looked at him surprised. His hands were his pockets and he was rocking slightly on his heels. “Your, uh, dad?”

“What? How did you - ” She cut off her own question. Of course he would know about her dad. He’s friends with Cami. “Um, yeah. Use to happen a lot when we were kids.”

“Is that why you – ”

“Oh! Mackenzie! Did you see that baby tiger? Isn’t he cute?” Raleigh prompted the conversation quickly and Mackenzie took it. She was suddenly very, very interested in everything Mac had to say. Thankfully for her, the tigers were the last animals to see.

Once in the car, with Mac’s ears and eyes completely concentrated on her cartoons, Luka tried to bring it up again. Raleigh shot him down with either one word answers or staring out the window as though she hadn’t heard him. When he finally changed the subject, she started talking again.

He was blinking his right eye rapidly by the time they pulled back into the driveway.

“Are you okay?” she finally asked. He turned and smiled sheepishly with his right eye closed.

“Contact. Could I come in and use bathroom?”

She nodded. If she let him come in and change his contact, then he could be on his way and she wouldn’t have to feel guilty if he got in an accident on the way home. He came into the house as she was ushering Mac off to the living room to watch cartoons so that she could clean up.

“Mackenzie Elizabeth! Where do your shoes go?” she called from the hallway. Mackenzie came running out and was about to take the shoes out of Raleigh’s hands when Luka came out of the bathroom. She was thinking he would just take the one out. Instead, he had taken them out completely and had replaced them with a pair of dark rimmed rectangle glasses. She lost her train of thought, caught in a momentary weakness.

“Do you want to stay for dinner?” she found herself asking. The words came out of her mouth without her brain’s permission. Luka grinned.

“Sure,” he said with a shrug. Mackenzie squealed at the news and dragged Luka off towards the living room forgetting about the shoes Raleigh was still holding.

What the hell just happened? She shook her head trying to regain her composure. Wake up, stupid! You just asked him to stay for dinner. You’re screwed. All because of a pair of glasses. An unexpected pair of glasses that some how turned her into an idiot.

She walked around the kitchen in a near daze trying to assemble dinner. Had she really just asked him that? What was she thinking? She began to panic, quickly realizing that she did not know how to cook a damn thing outside of pasta and any food that only required reheating in the oven. What was it Mac had said she wanted for dinner? Chicken nuggets? Macaroni and Cheese? She let out a short breath as her jaw ticked. Right… because I’m sure this is exactly the kind of meal he enjoys.

She remained in the kitchen making dinner, essentially hiding, if she was going to be honest with herself. She asked him to stay for dinner and she owed him a date, which she knew wouldn’t be forgotten. This day just needed to end already.

*
“But I don’t want to eat dinner,” Mackenzie pouted as they walked into the kitchen. “I want to finish my movie.”

She was about to address the pouting when she noticed Mackenzie brighten slightly at the sight of her dinner plate. Raleigh, however, felt herself become self-conscious at the sight of Luka taking a seat at the table.

As she sat down, Mackenzie held her hands out to either side of her to say grace. Praying Mackenzie wouldn’t say anything about how it’s usually done, she took her left hand with both of hers. Luka mimicked her, taking Mackenzie right hand.

Mackenzie looked up at Raleigh and giggled. “Aunt Raleigh, stop being silly! We make a circle for grace. You have to hold Luka’s hand!”

She attempted to hide her distain as she saw him smirk and hold out his hand. Hesitantly, she reached her across the table and placed it in his. Mackenzie sped through the brief prayer and immediately dug into her macaroni and cheese. Raleigh watched Luka eye his food.

“I’m sorry it’s not much,” she blurted out. She could feel her face burning as he looked up at her. “I’m just not much of cook.”

“I happen to like macaroni and cheese,” he said coolly and took a bite. “What about you, myshka?”

Mackenzie beamed at receiving his attention. After she swallowed the bite she was on, she nearly shouted, “It’s my favorite!”

“Is quite good,” he said nodding appreciatively at her.

She ate silently, listening to Mackenzie chatter animatedly with Luka. She still managed to eat quite quickly, surprising Raleigh. As much as she basking in the spotlight of Luka, it seemed she was eager to get back to the movie she was watching. Thankfully, in Raleigh’s mind, Luka seemed to focus most of his attention on Mackenzie. Every so often though, she would glance up to find him watching her. She would refocus her attention on her dinner plate each time, attempting to make the food look interesting.

“All done!” Mackenzie let her fork clatter against her plate. “Can I go now? Please?”

Raleigh nodded in response. “Dish in the sink, please.”

Mackenzie quickly scooped up her plate, dropped it in the sink and ran for the living room. A few moments later, they faintly heard the movie again.

After Mackenzie was safely out of earshot, he spoke quietly. “Why do you not like me, Raleigh?”

She sat back, surprised by his forwardness. “I…” she stammered to get her thoughts back together. “It’s not that I don’t like you. You’re just…. It’s just hard to explain.”

She could tell he was trying to suppress a grin when the corners of his mouth twitched. She felt her annoyance rising. “What?” she asked sharply.

“Why hard to explain?” She sat back, crossed her arms and scowled, causing his lips to further twitch.

Suddenly, her mouth spoke, it seemed, it spite of her brain telling her to shut up. “Look, before I met you, I was just fine. Okay? Fine. Everything was black and white. There were no doubts in my head. Professional athletes equal bad news. End of story. And then you come sauntering into my life, asking me to dance, and being, I don’t know, normal.” She paused, taking a breath. “I’ve tried not liking you… and it really pisses me off that I don’t.”

She watched him carefully. He was processing the jumbled mess she had just thrown at him. Finally, he spoke and his eyebrows were furrowed in confusion. “You say ‘athletes equal bad news.’ Why?”

She sighed and nervously shifted in her seat. She didn’t want to have this conversation with him. She wanted to crawl safely back into the boxed up little world she had going for herself. She carefully placed her fork on her plate and started to stand up with her dishes. “It’s all I’ve ever known.”

“Your father?” he asked gently.

“I don’t want to talk about this.”

“Another time?” he asked as she turned away to put her dish in the sink. She could hear the hope in his voice.

“Okay,” she responded softly with a slight nod as she left the kitchen. She found herself tensing as she could feel his eyes watching her as walked away.

She was standing behind the couch in the living room when Luka stopped in the doorway. He cleared his throat, forcing both Mackenzie and Raleigh to turn and look at him.

“I leave now, moya myshka,” he told them. Mackenzie gave him a forlorn look.

“Why?” she whined. Luka shifted and slid his hands into his pockets.

“My friends wonder where I am. I go out with them.” Raleigh’s shoulders shot back and her eyes narrowed.

“Mackenzie. Turn around and watch your movie. I need to talk to Luka for a second,” she said evenly. Mackenzie opened her more to protest, but closed it again when Raleigh shot her an I’m-serious look. Pouting, she turned back to the movie.

She walked determinedly over to Luka and pushed him gently on the chest into the foyer.

“Be nice to my friend, Aunt Raleigh!” Mackenzie’s voice piped over the movie.

“I knew you had plans!” she hissed when she finally had backed Luka out of Mac’s earshot.

He shrugged his shoulders and smiled sheepishly. “So?”

“You said you weren’t doing anything today. You lied!” She took a deep breath and tried to keep herself from shouting.

He shook his head. “I not lie, Raleigh,” he said quietly. The way he said her name was deep and rough, but gentle. It drove her crazy. Focus! He was waiting to see if she’d respond. She turned her head away, making it clear that she wasn’t going to say anything. He continued, “I not lie. I not have plans in morning. I have plans tonight… well, hour ago.”

Her face softened a bit and turned to make eye contact with him.

“I had fun today, Raleigh,” he said softly.

She snorted. “Right… I bet babysitting is one of your favorite pastimes.”

He let out an exasperated sigh. “I not get you. I try to tell you I have fun…with you. You snap. Vy nastol'ko slozhny.”

“I-wait, what?” Suddenly, he started laughing. “What?”

“Oh, this date…”

“It’s not a date,” she stated firmly. He grinned at her.

“Is going to be interesting. I tell already.” She flinched.

“No chance you’ll forget about this?” she asked innocently.

“None,” he responded in a serious tone. “I look forward to prove that I nice person.”

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “One time.”

“You change mind.”

“Hmph.”

“I let you know,” he said with unmistakable confidence in his voice. He leaned down and stopped on the left side of her face. “I mean what I said… I had fun today, Raleigh Shannon.” The next movement happened so fast she didn’t even register it until he was walking away. His lips brushed her left temple so softly she nearly missed it. She jumped when she heard the front door click shut. What have I gotten myself into? Her fingers reached up and lightly touched the spot where his lips had grazed her face.

She was walking towards the living room when Cami and Quinn came in.

“Was that Luka leaving just now?” Cami asked. Raleigh nodded. “Are you- Raleigh, are you okay?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, I’m fine. Mac was really good today.” She looked down and realized she was wringing her hands. “I’m gonna go to…my room. Uh, she ate dinner.”

“Okay…” Cami said slowly. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

She forced a smile and nodded. No. “Yes.”

“Did Luka drop off the tickets?” Quinn asked coming in from behind Cami.

“Tickets? Oh, yeah, there’s an envelope in the kitchen.” Thankfully at the moment her cell phone began vibrating in her pocket, jolting her back to reality. “Okay… I’m going. Yeah… Good night, guys.”

She turned and walked away leaving a stunned Cami standing there. “What is going on?” she heard her sister say softly to Quinn. She was trying to move normally but her head was in overdrive.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and saw a text from Brooke waiting for her. Calling in a few! I haven’t heard from u ALL day. I hope u aren’t dead in a ditch somewhere. ;)

She waited until she was safely in her room with the door closed behind her. She was still in a slight daze, unsure what had just happened upstairs. She plopped herself down on the edge of her bed and fell back with a huff. Just as she was getting ready to call Brooke, her phone rang.

“Hey, Brookie.”

“Lee-lee! I was starting to think you were dead. I see you survived.” Brooke’s ever cheerful voice filled her ear.

“I think he kissed me,” Raleigh said quietly as she pulled her ponytail out.

“So you didn’t have a terrible- wait, what? You think he kissed you?”

“Yeah.” She kicked her shoes off and pulled her feet up onto her bed.

“Honey, either he did or didn’t. What the hell happened today?”

“I don’t know. I still don’t like him.” She sat up a bit shaking her hair out.

“But… you let him kiss you?” Brooke prodded through the phone.

“He didn’t kiss me.”

“You just said he did!”

“Well, it wasn’t like a kiss kiss. His lips just sort of touched my forehead before he left.” She felt herself shrugging as though Brooke could see her.

“His lips touched a part of your body?”

“Yes, but it doesn’t matter. It’s not like I care,” she responded nonchalantly.

“Where?”

“Left temple,” she responded without hesitation and realized her mistake when Brooke let out a gasp.

“Hmm. For someone who doesn’t care…”

“It’s not like that… It just happened.” An exasperated sigh flowed from the other end of the phone.

“God, I wish I was there so I could slap you right now. Okay, then, let’s start at the beginning. This morning you hated him, with extreme bias I might add, and now you are letting him kiss you good night? I feel like there’s a lot of story I’m missing in there.”

“Ugh, it wasn’t a kiss.”

“Your words, but okay.”

Raleigh spent the next twenty minutes explaining most of the events of the day, leaving out how she was pretty sure that she may have felt jealous when she saw Luka with those two girls. Brooke would have had a field day with that. She explained the terms of the bet she lost, which cause Brooke to burst out laughing.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry… But man, Mackenzie is unbelievable with her timing. I love that kid. And you, you had fun today.” Raleigh scoffed at that. “You did! Just because you don’t want to admit it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. Com’on. You saw him a normal person today. Admit it.”

Raleigh rolled over and grabbed her pillow pulling it up tightly against her body. “Yeah. But that doesn’t change anything. I’m still… It’s just… the answer is still no.”

“Sure, it is… Hey, Tristan just got home. I’ll talk to you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow.” She dropped her phone down on the bed and pulled the pillow up over her face. You need to put him back in that box before you make that mistake again, she told herself.