Free Just a Little Series (Parts 1 - 4) by Tracie Puckett Page B

from
somewhere.”
    He didn’t seem taken aback by my inquiry,
only intrigued.
    “Maybe we knew each other in another life,”
he said as if he truly believed it.
    “Yeah,” I said, half-smiling, “maybe.”
    “Hey,” he looked down at his sleeping dog to
avoid my gaze. His voice sounded a little shaky, so I could only
assume that he was suddenly nervous about something. “I know I
shouldn’t even ask this, I’m kicking myself for bringing it up
already, especially considering you’re as young as my kid sister,
but I was curious if maybe you’d like to go out sometime?”
    “Oh.”
    “Just for dinner, or maybe a movie, nothing
too formal,” he assured me. “It’s just a new town. It’d be nice to
have someone to hang out with.”
    My cheeks flushed with warmth, and while I
took a moment to contemplate what he was really asking me, I shook
my head.
    “Thanks, but I’m not sure that’s such a good
idea.”
    “Why?” he smiled a little too innocently.
“You enjoy our conversations, right?”
    “I do.”
    “And I’ve been told I have a pretty charming
smile.”
    “You do,” I said, silently agreeing that
there was a definite charm in the way his eyes gleamed when he
smiled.
    “Then what is it?” he asked, but it was only
a light-hearted tease. I didn’t feel the slightest bit pressured by
his questions. Honestly, I liked Derek. He seemed genuine; he was
sweet, honest, and seemed to really care about connecting with
people on a deeper level. “Do you have a boyfriend?”
    “No, no boyfriend.”
    “Is it me?” he pulled his lip back into a
cute smirk. “It’s me, isn’t it?”
    I tried not to smile, but the goofy grin on
his face made it next to impossible.
    “It’s not you,” I promised, almost laughing.
But then my mood suddenly changed, and nothing really felt so
light-hearted anymore. “It’s a long story. It’s complicated.
It’s—”
    “Julie,” another voice interrupted me, only
this one came from behind. I turned to find Luke standing on the
front porch, looking down on me and Derek. I stood up, smiled, and
straightened the wrinkles from my wet dress.
    “Luke,” I whispered, taking a step.
    Derek let out a slight chuckle and stood up,
waking his groggy pet.
    “It’s Luke ,” he said to me with a
wink. “Gotcha. That’s all you had to say.”
    “What?” I turned back to Derek. “Oh, no,
it’s not… I just—”
    “It’s cool,” he said, never losing his
smile. “Really… I should’ve known.” He nodded toward the dog. “I’ve
gotta get this big guy home. So, I’ll see you around, I guess?”
    “Yeah,” I watched him walk away. I turned
back to Luke and bit my lip, unsure of what to say.
    “You guys having fun in there?” I asked
after a few quiet seconds.
    “What was that all about?” Luke kept his
eyes fixed on Derek. After my neighbor disappeared into his own
house, Luke motioned for me to come closer, so I took the next two
steps and joined him on the porch. He slid in close to my body and
lifted his hand to my face to wipe away the black make-up with his
thumb; he smeared the excess onto his jeans. I noticed immediately
that while he moved with purpose, his movements seemed far too
clumsy and out of his controlled nature.
    “Derek was just asking if I’d want to go out
sometime,” I looked at my feet.
    Luke watched and waited for me to elaborate,
but when I didn’t say anything else, he leaned a little closer.
“And you said?”
    “No.”
    “Because it would be irresponsible.”
    “It would?”
    “Of course,” he shook his head. “He’s too
old for you, kid. And you know nothing about him. You don’t need to
waste your time with other men right now, anyway. You need to focus
on school and your senior project.”
    “Yeah,” I nodded, “my project.”
    “And me.”
    “You?”
    “Because of the assignment.”
    “Right.”
    Our eyes locked, and for the second time
that week, his face inched closer to mine. But I didn’t let