Off Limits (6 page)

He chuckled,
“probably for the best. It’s difficult to keep my mind off it, though. I’m
hoping some sleep will do me good.”

It didn’t take
long for said sleep to take over Luke at all. Only half an hour in, he was
slumped on my shoulder and taking liberties with his hands. Part of me knew I
should have removed the hand which slipped onto my upper thigh, but waking him
up seemed cruel. It was innocent enough, really.

I munched on the
popcorn and tried to think no more about it.

***

When I woke up the
next morning, Luke was fully crushed against me. I had no memory of getting
into this position and I really hoped it was all done during our sleep. My head
was resting in Luke’s lap and his tented pants prodded into my cheek. I sat up
without hesitation, cheeks burning a bright red.

Controlling my
breathing was definitely difficult as I took in Luke sleeping form.

He didn’t take
well to me moving, though. The hand which had been gripping my hip only held on
tighter and I was smushed against him, practically sat in his lap now. He
groaned out an almost incoherent, “stop moving Pheebs, I’m trying to sleep,”
and pressed a kiss to my neck.

I felt a prod from
beneath.

Beginning to feel
like it was taking a turn for the too weird, I worked my way out of his grip.
It was still a bit early to be getting up, but I definitely couldn’t stay
there. Luke would be horrified when he woke up and I was kind of horrified that
my entire body was still flushed.

I went into the
kitchen and found that Luke’s mum had poured us a bowl of cereal each before
going to work this morning. I smiled to myself and added the milk, taking a
seat in his quaint kitchen and taking in the pictures which littered the walls.

They were almost
all of Luke. Some school pictures, some of him skateboarding, some of him in
football gear and there were a good number of trophies and certificates
littered around the place, too.

I picked up the
class photo from when he was ten.

We were stood next
to each other – it was the only year we’d been the same height. Luke had shot
up after that and I’d continued to grow at a sluggish pace. I noted smugly the
big red blotch on Luke’s polo shirt. I’d had especially good aim with the
ketchup bottle that day.

I put the picture
down the second Luke walked through the door scrubbing his eyes. When he
stretched, I ignored the contours in his arm muscles. “Why are we awake so
early?”

“You molested me
in my sleep, so I figured I should probably get up.”

He raised a
disbelieving eyebrow at me. “I don’t think I believe you.”

“Pheebs,” I
mocked, smooching the air, “come to bed. I’m just trying to sleep.” I gave a look
towards his trousers. “And I had to deal with your morning wood. I consider
myself completely violated, to be honest.”

I laughed when he
shook his head with a horrified expression. “Sorry about that.”

“I suppose I can
forgive it,” I allowed.

And hopefully not
spend the next few days wondering what would have happened if I was actually
Phoebe.

Chapter Five

“Nice shirt,”
Jamie commented as I stepped out of my car. I’d followed Luke to school so I
should be able to find my way back from him from now on, even if it was a long
way around. “I’m sure everyone has one, though. Luke definitely does.”

This was Luke’s band
shirt and it smelt like him, too. It was a good job no one would be coming
close enough to me to find that out. “Thanks, I really like them. I was lucky
enough to get to see them last year. Best concert ever.”

Having Luke decide
on whether this shirt looked too big and having the audacity to undo my jeans
to tuck it in this morning had been kind of strange, but not altogether
unenjoyable. Luke had agreed it looked best when the logo was spread tight across
my meagre chest. He’d said I could keep the t-shirt and I thanked him
profusely. I hadn’t been able to buy the shirt when I saw them live.

“I’m definitely
jealous. So, hey, are you going to Phoebe’s party in a couple of weeks? She
handed me an invite the other day.”

The pink envelope
was on my own dressing table, too. Phoebe’s star-studded eighteenth birthday
party was definitely going to be an evening to remember. Her parents had agreed
to go on holiday for the whole weekend, so she was throwing a massive party
that was going to involve far too much alcohol.

“She’s my best
friend, of course I’m going to her eighteenth,” I laughed, locking the car and
starting the stroll towards my lesson. “But yeah, it should be fun. Phoebe’s
had a few good parties over the years for sure.”

“Ah, cool. I can’t
say I’ve ever been. We never spoke before her and Luke started dating,” and
their starting dating had been weird and sudden enough. Phoebe had admitted
after a few weeks that they slept together at a party and got together after
that. I wasn’t sure they knew each other all too well, really.

“I’m sure you’ll
have fun.”

Jamie sighed. “I’m
not even sure I can go yet, my grandparents are coming up and so I’m supposed
to be staying around the house most of the time. I just want to chill and
party.”

“You should be
grateful they’re still around to visit,” I muttered, remembering all too well
the four funerals I’d been to in my lifetime. I had older parents and that
meant I hadn’t had grandparents for long. “Parties happen all the time.”

His face turned
scarlet and I couldn’t help but appreciate my fellow ginger’s problem. “Sorry,
I know, I’ve just been looking forward to it I guess.”

“I’ll make up some
stories about how shit it was for you, don’t worry. You won’t feel like you’ve
missed out at all.”

Jamie grinned
ear-to-ear. “You’ll probably need my number for that.”

It wasn’t the
direction the conversation had been going in at all, as far as I was aware. I’d
just been teasing in my normal, friendly manner. Still, I handed him my phone
to put his number in. That way when I just didn’t text him I’d have conveyed my
message and wouldn’t have to deal with anything now. It was possibly the most
passive-aggressive assholey thing I could have done.

But I did it
anyway.

Besides, I barely
knew Jamie now, but he did seem nice enough, really. Maybe if he did turn up at
Phoebe’s party we’d both be drunk and something along the lines of Luke and
Phoebe’s relationship could blossom. That seemed to be going well enough for
the both of them.

“Okay, I’ve got to
run, but getting that is going to make my next lesson significantly more
bearable. Thank you. I’ll see you around.”

Maybe something
good could come of this. Maybe.

***

I wrapped my
blazer around myself with little effect, but Phoebe didn’t have to. She was
snuggled into Luke’s jacket as we both suffered the bracing winds. There hadn’t
even been any reason for us to eat lunch outside, other than to avoid Phoebe’s friends.
Phoebe liked to spend time away from them, but keep them close enough that she
was invited to the majority of parties, I was pretty sure.

Sometimes I was
sure she wouldn’t have minded ditching me to spend time just with Luke, but I
never offered it up.

Today had been
tempting, though. The library sounded awfully comforting right now.

“I’ve already
decided what alcohol I’m getting. I convinced my parents to buy me ten bottles
of champagne for midnight. Only the cheap stuff, don’t get me wrong, but that’s
going to be awesome. And almost everyone I invited has sent their replies. I
always dreamed of doing something really extravagant, but I think this is going
to be even better. I’m going to get a load of banners, balloons and party
poppers tomorrow. You’ll come, right?” She looked up at Luke with sultry eyes
and he caved straight away.

“Of course.”

She went back to
cuddling into his chest and sent me a glance. “How’s things holding up with
your parents? Have you seen your dad or spoken to your mum yet?”

“Neither. I’m
going to see my dad in a couple of days, though. I really want him to know that
I miss him and stuff.” In reality, our apparent stalker and my sudden
infatuation with Luke had meant that my dad hadn’t been on my mind all that
much, but I didn’t want him to know that. Besides, seeing him might be a bit of
a reprieve.

“You should really
speak to your mum,” Phoebe insisted for the thousandth time since I’d found out
what had happened.

“I’m sure she will
eventually, something like that isn’t easy to deal with,” Luke interjected with
a downturned lip.

“You still haven’t
told me anything about your parents’ divorce,” Phoebe looked up at him
hopefully and I swallowed down the realisation he’d told me straight away. We
related in a way he and Phoebe never could. She stuck her hand in the jacket’s
pocket when he didn’t respond and the scowl which overtook it was immediate.
“What the fuck is this?”

It was my mascara
that she held up, tears already brimming in her eyes. “Who the fuck have you
been seeing? You know I’d never buy this tacky brand.”

I snatched it from
her hand, my own scowl forming. “It’s mine. I just made Luke drive past the
shop to get me some before we started tutoring yesterday and I didn’t have my
bag on me. It’s not a big deal, stop overreacting.”

But the tears were
making large trails down her face and she sniffled. “Oh, ah, I’m sorry,” she
directed it towards Luke, despite the fact I was still mildly offended she’d
called my mascara tacky. “I don’t know why I’m like this so often.”

Phoebe had always
been like this, in every relationship she’d ever had and I was certain it was a
contributing factor as to why they never lasted very long. Luke just shook his
head.

This obviously
wasn’t the first time in their relationship.

“I’ll catch you
after class.”

He stood up,
didn’t bother taking back his fleece, and left us alone at the picnic table
without a glance backwards. Phoebe snivelled once more, wrapping her arms
around herself and going as far as to sniff Luke’s jacket. “I don’t know why I
always fuck this stuff up.”

“Me neither. You’re
gorgeous Phoebe and Luke really likes you. You have to reign this stuff in.” I
made myself take Luke’s seat and wrap an arm around her.

“I know,” she was
wailing and it annoyed me more than I cared to admit. I’d always been so
jealous of everything Phoebe had, but she managed to be so insecure in all her
relationships. It was frustrating. I loved her, but I just couldn’t understand
it at all. “It’s just all so stupid, but part of me collapses whenever I think
about him with someone else. I don’t know how to stop it.”

I of course had no
idea, either. “Have you tried looking online about stuff like this? I’m sure
people have the same problem, it might help.”

She shied away
from the suggestion. “I haven’t, I guess I should, though.”

I still hadn’t
been home to search the things I needed to find out about, but I wasn’t
optimistic about either.

“I’m sure Luke
really cares about you, you don’t need to worry. Just talk to him about it, I’m
sure he’ll understand.”

Phoebe sighed,
resting her head against my shoulder. “I will do, I promise. I’m just so scared
of pushing him away. I think I really like him. I mean, more than really like
and it’s making this stupid jealousy thing ever worse.”

“Talk to him,” I
reiterated. Maybe expressing something akin to love wasn’t exactly the right
thing to do, but they definitely needed some kind of communication. Luke was
practically lying to her and Phoebe was scared to have a real conversation with
him.

That couldn’t
really make a good relationship, could it?