Free Keep You From Harm by Debra Doxer Page B

unmistakable voice saying my name belongs to Lucas. Of course, it would be him that finds me here.
    “Are you okay?”
    He’s beside me now, hovering over me, trying to see my face, which I’m hiding behind a curtain of hair. I take a deep breath and turn to him, letting my hair fall away. “I’m fine.” I try to smile.
    He scrutinizes me, and I can see that he doesn’t believe me. This is the closest I’ve ever been to him. His eyes are only inches from mine, and I decide that they’re the same color as the sky during that brief magical moment after the sun finally drops below the horizon, when the pink and red dissolve away leaving only a dark mix of blue and violet in their wake.
    My phone buzzes in my back pocket and I startle. Lucas startles, too, and wraps a hand around my arm to steady me. The place on my arm he’s touching begins to heat, and I can feel my cheeks starting to burn. I hide behind my hair again as I pull my phone out and study the screen. My hand is too shaky to read the text from Myles, but I can guess what it’s about. Hoping Lucas doesn’t notice that I can’t hold my phone still, I pocket it again.
    “Myles is outside waiting for me,” I explain, not meeting his eyes. When I reach down for my bag, I realize he has it.
    “I’ll walk you down,” he says gently. His warm hand is loose but firm around my upper arm.
    I feel like an idiot as we slowly descend the stairwell together. I should make up an explanation. Tell him I’m getting a cold or something, but I can’t find my voice. I just let him lead me downward, feeling stronger and more at ease with each step. Having him so close to me, helping me, even as it’s becoming less necessary, is mortifying. But it also makes me feel safe and protected in a way that’s unfamiliar. It doesn’t occur to me to reclaim my arm. Even when Myles spots us coming through the door, and he stalks over, looking annoyed, I don’t step away from Lucas.
    “I thought you ditched me. I’ve been standing here for almost fifteen minutes. I texted you. Twice.”
    I’m about to apologize when Lucas speaks. “It’s my fault. I held her up.” Then he removes his hand from my arm. I’m steady on my feet now, but I immediately feel the loss, and I can’t help smiling at his pun.
    Myles cocks a curious eyebrow at Lucas. Then he turns to me. “Let’s go. I need to borrow my mom’s car so I can go buy April a birthday present.”
    “Didn’t she say her birthday was yesterday?” Lucas asks.
    “Yes,” Myles replies in a clipped tone.
    I turn to Lucas to get my bag from him, but he just shoulders it. “I’ll give you both a ride. Come on.” Then he walks toward the parking lot without waiting for a response.
    I take a deep breath and try not to ogle Lucas’s impressive backside encased in weathered jeans that hug him in all the right places.
    Myles is gearing up to ask me why Lucas delayed me. So, I distract him. “Did you forget April’s birthday?” I ask.
    He scowls. “Yeah.”
    “Why bother with this?” I ask him.
    “What do you mean?” He seems genuinely perplexed.
    “I can understand if you’re not ready to announce yourself to the world, but you don’t need a fake girlfriend. Besides, I don’t think you even like April.”
    We’re nearly to Lucas’s truck when Myles stops and looks at me. “She’s the one who wanted to go out with me. I figured, why not? I thought that maybe…” He hesitates and looks down at his shoes. “Anyway, by the time I realized she and I weren’t really clicking, I’d let it go on too long. Now there’s no way to break up with her without hurting her feelings.” He shrugs. “It’s senior year anyway. Everyone will go their separate ways soon enough. We’ll grow apart and that will be that.”
    I see the sadness in his eyes, and I feel for him. Despite his cavalier attitude, pretending to be someone you’re not can’t be good for you. In my own way, I understand it.
    “You two coming?”