Status: Updates Every Friday

Something Reckless

Logan

“So what do you do for fun? I mean, besides sitting alone by trees.” I felt myself laugh unexpectedly at Luke’s question. He picked me up from my house a little over an hour ago now, despite my insistence that I would drive, and had been making me laugh unexpectedly for the entire time. We had just finished eating dinner and were sitting at a coffee shop ‘getting to know each other’ as Luke had phrased it. I liked getting to know him.

“I guess I don’t do much.” I said, honestly. “Sometimes I visit the pet store and play with the puppies and imagine myself as a vet one day, but I also have my coop at a vet clinic.” He nodded, seeming interested in the conversation even though I had just admitted I was boring.

“Vet clinic, huh. You said you were in animal physiology… why go through all that schooling just to become a vet when there are easier routes?” He didn’t sound judgmental, just curious. I had been asked this many times before but I never seemed to have that great of an answer.

“Lack of education, probably.” I said, because it was true. I barely knew how to get where I wanted to go when I was applying to schools. My high school guidance was zero to no help and my parents just wanted whatever I wanted.

“Ironic.” He said, flashing me a smile and taking a sip of his coffee.

“What about you. What do you do for fun?” I asked, curious. I took a sip of my tea and put it down, drumming my fingers on the side of the cup.

“I guess I don’t do much either.” He said, his smile disappearing slowly. “I used to love playing Lacrosse, but that’s not really an option anymore.” I almost asked him why but then stopped myself when I remembered. I nodded instead. “Oh! I enjoy taking pretty girls on dates.” His smile appeared again along with mine.

“So what number am I then?” I asked, raising an eyebrow and giving him a smirk. He looked away pretending to count and then turned his gaze back to me.

“Honestly, you’re the first girl I’ve asked out since the accident.” I felt myself swallow hard, suddenly anxious. “But, if you must know… you’re number one hundred and-“ I nudged him with my knee under the table and laughed.

“Hundreds, eh?” He broke out into another huge smile.

“Well, not hundreds exactly.” I shook my head, taking another sip of my tea. “What number am I?” Ou, he was good. I quickly thought back to all the guys I had been with over the years.

“Damn,” I said, raising my arms in the air and shrugging. “Too many to count.” He broke out into a roaring laughter and I felt myself jump even though I liked the sound of it. I didn’t think I was that funny, but I liked that he did.

We sat at the coffee shop for another hour before deciding to call it a night and he drove me home. I didn’t move my leg when he placed his hand on it halfway through the drive back and looked over and smiled at me. For the entire date I had forgotten about the rumors and the reputation he held at school and I actually enjoyed myself. I had decided I wanted to see him again.

“So what made you change your mind about coming tonight?” He asked once he had walked me to my door. I looked over at the window with the light turned on inside knowing Elle was waiting up for me, half disappointed and half intrigued that I had gone out tonight.

“Do you want the truth?” I asked because I had hoped he did even though it wasn’t very nice. He tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear and nodded.

“I realized that maybe I said no because I was judging you too harshly about your accident.” He held my gaze with his baby blue eyes, considering my answer.

“I can understand that.” He said, giving me a small smile. “I’m not proud of that night either.” I wanted to know all about that night but figured a first date did not grant me the right to know that information so I refrained from asking about it.

“Maybe one day you’ll tell me about it.” I said, taking his hand in mine. He glanced down at our hands intertwined and looked back up at me with a smirk.

“I like you.” He said, straight forward. “Maybe you can save room for me under your tree some days?” He was asking me a basic question but what he meant was ‘hopefully we can continue seeing each other’.

“If you promise not to distract me whenever I’m doing homework.” I smiled at him, my face turning pink as I realized the night was nearing its end. He closed the gap between our bodies and lifted my chin slowly with his hand. He gazed at me for a moment trying to read me before kissing me gently on the lips. I felt myself raise on my tiptoes to meet him. It was over as quickly as it began and he was saying goodbye and walking back to his truck as I unlocked the door and walked inside. I hadn’t expected to like him as much as I did… Elle wasn’t going to be happy.

Except she wasn’t up like I thought when I got home. I walked over to the living room where the light was turned on and noticed a note on the end table. All it said was that she had gone to bed but wanted to know all the details in the morning. I wondered why she had to be so cryptic about it instead of just sending me a text message, but Elle could be cryptic sometimes. I shut the light off and went up to bed.

The next morning, I woke up to a call from the vet clinic. Tobias, the five-year-old bullmastiff I had helped Dr. Seweley stitch up last night passed away earlier in the morning. I felt a pang in my chest as I heard the news. Tobias had been one of my favourite dogs to come through the building. He was gentle and loved people. He had only come in with a dog bite wound, but apparently, he had been suffering with a tumor we hadn’t thought to look for before. I told Dr. Seweley I appreciated her call and that I would see her tonight for my usual shift after my only class of the day was over.

I walked into the kitchen, wiping the remainder of the tears that had fallen away, and grabbed a cup of orange juice. Elle was sitting at our small circular dining room table placed exactly four feet away from our kitchen. “Morning.” I said, sitting down across from her. She kept her face pointed towards her phone but raised her eyes to acknowledge me.

“How was your date?” She asked, rolling her eyes slightly and continuing to look at her phone as if she didn’t care about my date at all. I knew she did. I shrugged, knowing she was probably looking at me through her peripheral and took a sip of my juice. “So?”

“So what?” I asked. She finally put her phone down and gave me her undivided attention.

“Look, do I approve? Hell no. But you’re my best friend and I still want to know the details of the guy you’re seeing. Unless you’re not anymore.” She sounded a little too hopeful at the end of her sentence for my liking.

“It was nice.”

“Nice?” She raised her eyebrows at me.

“Yes, nice. We went out and he treated me well and made me laugh. I like him.” She sighed.

“He did? Are you sure?” I felt a pang in my chest knowing she didn’t trust me to have good judgment when it came to guys. “I’m just worried that-”

“I know.” I stated sharply. “He’s not the same as Brent, he seems genuine.” I felt bile rise in my throat at the thought of my past relationship with Brent.

“Okay, just be careful.”

“I know.” I paused. “A dog I was looking after before my date last night died.” Conversation switch was what we needed, even if it made me sad to think about.

“I’m sorry, Logan. I know how attached you get to the animals there.” I pushed some hair behind my ear and sighed.

“It is what it is.” I sighed. “We should get a dog.” The thought made me happy.

“Logan!” She shouted, exasperated.

“What?” I looked at her with confusion.

“What makes you think that’s a good idea? We can barely feed ourselves right now. Plus, once we moved out one of us would have to keep it and neither of us would want to give it up. I could go on and on.”

“Okay, okay, I get your point. Sheesh.” I laughed into my cup. “No dogs then.”
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Was thinking I would start doing some chapters where the points of view are switched. Let me know what you think. I have eased myself into another year of school so updates should be fairly regular now.

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