Just a Little Series (Parts 1 - 4) (25 page)
Read Just a Little Series (Parts 1 - 4) Online
Authors: Tracie Puckett
Tags: #teen romance, #ya romance, #tracie puckett, #just a little
I nodded. “It’s cold—”
“It’s… the only place I can…,” he dropped
his head. “I don’t trust myself around him. I had to walk away,
Julie.”
“He never meant to hurt me, Luke,” I said,
for what it was worth. “I provoked him. I… hit him first, actually.
He just didn’t want to believe what I was telling him. He wanted me
to stop talking, but… I didn’t. It was my fault.”
“It’s never your fault when someone else
hurts you,” he said. “And I’m going to take care of it. I just…
have to get my head on straight before I do. I have to get rid of
all this rage, and that means letting go of everything I’ve been
holding on to. Because the way I feel about you, kid… it conquers
everything else. Nothing else is that big. Not me, not Charlie, not
my father, and certainly not my past. You are the
most
important. And loving you means
protecting
you, so I’m going
to make this right—”
“You know what I want, Luke?” I asked,
undoubtedly a little frazzled by what he’d just said. As sweet as
it was though, he needed to understand what I truly wanted. “I want
you to forgive him. If you can let go of what he did to you, you
can let go of what he did to me. It wasn’t intentional. Lonnie’s a
good guy at heart, you know that. He has an amazing wife, an
incredible
son, and a world of love to give to the people
who take the time to understand him.” I took his hands and squeezed
them tight. “I want to be in your life, Luke. And I want that life
to include Lonnie and Grace. They’re your family. So, please put
this anger behind you. Stop running. Because eventually, you’re
gonna get old. And do you really want to reach the end of your life
and reflect… and realize that you spent so many years running from
the people who loved you the most?”
Luke didn’t say anything, but he nodded.
“Luke,” I slid closer to him, “you can’t
control what Lonnie does any more than you can control the weather.
He’s your father. He’s bound to set you off sometimes—if not more
so than I do.” He smiled. We both knew it was true. I had a way of
pushing Luke’s buttons. If anything, I’d become a master at pissing
him off; that’s what had brought us out to this field all those
months ago in the first place. “Take a breath, let it go, and make
things right with him.”
A few silent moments passed before another
sound came from either of us. This time, it was Luke.
“Jules,” he shook his head, “promise me
something.”
“Anything.”
“That you’ll never stop.”
“Never stop what?”
He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled,
“Loving me the way you do.”
I nodded as a tear slipped from my eye.
I hoped that he’d never doubt the magnitude
of my love for him, but if it made him feel better hearing it, I’d
repeat it a thousand times for no other reason than to reassure
him.
“I’ll always love you, Luke,” I said. “I
promise.”
Monday, December 24| 7:00 p.m.
We stood outside the door of Lonnie and
Grace’s house. Luke’s hand held mine, and even now I could feel his
palms sweating through my gloves.
The Christmas lights on their house sparkled
and blinked with the change of each carol they played, and the snow
fell almost rhythmically with each change of the lights.
“This is the first time we’re going to be in
the same room together for this long in… God, I don’t know how
long,” Luke said, still staring at the doorbell.
Grace and Lonnie had extended an invitation
to me, Charlie, and Matt to join them at their annual Christmas
celebration. Behind the door, Charlie and Matt (who’d brought Kara)
were inside, celebrating the holidays with their friends. No doubt
Bruno was there. I’d waited patiently at the house to see if Luke
would show up and tag along, even though he wasn’t invited.
He wanted to take the first step. He wanted
to make amends. Not for my sake, but for his own. But he was
nervous, and rightfully so.
“You don’t have to do this if you’re not
ready,” I squeezed his fingers tighter.
He nodded, but let go of my hand. He
extended his arm toward the doorbell and took a brief pause. His
finger hovered in the air just an inch from the button, but he
never pushed it.
“Julie,” he turned back to me.
“It’s okay,” I said. “We’ll just go back
home. I’ll make a pizza, and we can just put this whole night
behind us—”
“No,” he said, but I could still hear the
hesitancy in his voice. “I want to go in… I just… first
… thank
you
.”
I smiled and nodded. “You don’t have to
thank me, Luke. I didn’t do anything.”
“You’re giving me my life back,” he said.
“And not just my old life, but a better one, one with my dad…with
you. I don’t deserve—”
“Stop,” I said. “You do. You deserve it more
than anyone I know.”
Once again, he reached for the bell.
“Luke,” I said before he rang it. He turned
back to me with a questionable glance. “Before we go in there… I
just want to say something.”
“Okay?”
“I love you,” I said. “You need to know
that—”
“I do.”
“But really,” I said, “I haven’t had a
chance to just say that to you. Either you’re fighting to stay
alive, or brooding, or running. Every time I’ve been able to tell
you that… I can’t just say it without looking for some kind of
response or end result. There’s always something attached to it.
Like, Luke, I love you, don’t die. Or
Luke, I love you, please
don’t kill Lonnie
. Or
Luke, I love you, please forgive your
dad
.”
“Julie,” he lifted his hand to brush a
snowflake off my cheek, “I love you, too.”
He lowered his lips to mine, and my mouth
parted for his. The warmth of his touch soared through me, heating
every surface, every vein, and exploding every nerve. I was so
hopelessly, irrevocably in love with him. For the first time since
we’d met, I didn’t have to question how he felt.
He was there, right in front of me. I was
wrapped in his arms, a willing recipient of his tender embrace, and
enjoying every second of our rhythmic kiss.
When he pulled away, he brushed my face yet
again, this time just to feel the warmth of my cheeks beneath his
fingers.
“Promise me something,” I whispered.
“Anything.”
“That you’ll never stop.”
A small smirk lifted the corner of his lip,
“Never stop what?”
“Kissing me the way you do,” I tried to
restrain a smile.
A low groan escaped from his throat, and I
couldn’t help but flash him a daring smile.
“Julie Little,” he said, shaking his head,
“I will hold you, love you, kiss you, and protect you forever.
That’s a promise.”
And with that, our lips fell together again.
Luke held me close against his tight body. Even through the layers,
I could feel the heat radiating between us. We were lost in a kiss
that felt far too right, and completely unbreakable … until the
front door swung open and Lonnie stood at the threshold.
Luke and I pulled away, both staring forward
at Lonnie.
“Lonnie,” I tried to keep my tone formal
despite his overly eccentric Christmas sweater. I wanted to laugh,
God I wanted to. But Luke nudged me with his elbow, and I
straightened up. “I hope it’s okay that I brought a date?”
Luke’s father eyed him, and the two men
stared at each other for a few long seconds—neither one wearing an
expression to indicate what would happen next.
When Luke raised his hand to invite a
handshake from his father, Lonnie shook his head.
“No,” he took a step onto the porch.
They stood a foot away from each other, both
of them staring. Luke gnawed on his bottom lip; Lonnie breathed
heavily. And without a moment’s notice, they fell into each other’s
arms. Lonnie wrapped his son in a hug big enough, warm enough, and
assuring enough to last until the end of time. The two men held on
to each other for so long I couldn’t keep track of the minutes.
“Welcome home, Lucas,” Lonnie finally said
through heavy sobs as he wiped his face with the sleeve of his
flashy sweater.
Arm-in-arm, the two men walked into the
house to join Grace, Bruno, Charlie, Matt, Kara, and the rest of
the party.
I turned and looked out at the snow,
watching as it picked up. I reached up and held the key, which I’d
made into a necklace, and closed my eyes. I wished Derek a silent
Merry Christmas, wherever he was. And then I turned into the house
to be with the people I loved… refusing to waste a single breath
from that moment on.
For the first time in a long time, my heart
was right at home.
Dear Reader,
If you enjoyed reading
Just a Little
Series (1-4)
and have a moment to spare, I would greatly
appreciate a review on the site where you purchased the book.
Thank you!
Tracie
https://www.facebook.com/traciepuckettnovels
www.twitter.com/traciedpuckett
Books available for download:
Just a Little Series
The Webster Grove Series
