Free 1980: You Shook Me All Night Long (Love in the 80s #1) by Casey L. Bond Page A

gone.”
    Brittany’s eyes widened. “Thank goodness. She was sort of awful.”
    “That she was. She’s on the first floor now.”
    Brittany giggled. “Between the RAs, huh?”
    “Yep.” Justice, my friend. Poetic justice. I could catch the underlying meaning in that shit all day long.
    “Well, I just wanted to say hey and if you ever need anything or want to grab a coffee after class, let me know.” She smiled and bounced on her toes.
    “That sounds amazing, actually.”
    “Great!”
    “Monday, then?”
    “Definitely.”
    We continued down the hall. She stopped at her door and unlocked it, giving me a wave and a goodnight. I unlocked my door and flicked the light on. My toe hit something and sent it skidding across the tile floor.
    A cassette tape.

I closed my door , and locked it thanks to my inherited paranoia and recently lost need to rebel against it. A tiny piece of torn out paper caught my eye. The edges on the left were shredded where the sheet had been torn from a spiral notebook.
    I unfolded it and read:
    Tina,
    You don’t know me, so let me tell you everything you need to know. I’m six foot one, weigh 180 pounds and own a small business that I recently set up only a few blocks away from USC. My brother is a freshman there, undecided. My eyes are gray and my hair is brown but I’m older than you so it’ll turn gray sooner than yours will.
    I’m allergic to cats but want a dog. Joey opposes that move and so does my landlord. My favorite color is blue and I love rock music and girls with sweet smiles and sarcastic comebacks. You were hot in those panty hose, but I think you’d look sexy in a paper sack. I especially like the feel of your thighs gripping mine and the silkiness of your tongue.
    I like the beach but can’t swim—probably because of my unnatural fear of being eaten by a shark. I blame JAWS for that. But seriously, I’d love to get to know you better. Who is Tina? Have you had time to find her again? I have a feeling that she’d like me and if you agree, have her meet me in front of her dorm Saturday at 7:00pm. I’ll be the hot brother in the black car.
    Yes, you said that out loud once when we were in lock-up.
    This song says it all: how I feel about you and how I hope you feel about me.

    Already yours,
    Luke
    Holy swoony moment. I clutched the letter to my chest, grinning like a fool. I’d dated a few boys in high school, but they were only after one thing. Luke was different, not that he didn’t have carnal needs. Who didn’t? But he was making a real effort to get to know me.
    I walked across the room and grabbed the cassette looking at the label. In Luke’s handwriting was scrawled “Our song.”
    Was this guy for real?
    I popped the tape into my boom box and listened. There was a pause and then a familiar guitar riff. Drums. They mixed together until Brian Johnson joined in, making it perfect. Our song? You Shook Me All Night Long by AC/DC. Hell. Yes.
    My heart felt like it could fly away. And I knew one girl who would be waiting on Mr. Davis tomorrow evening. I liked this feeling, this wonderful soaring feeling, butterflies taking flight in the stomach and the incessant need to giggle feeling. It felt wonderful. And you know what, maybe sometime, my heart would get broken. Maybe I’d cry and curse the male gender and eat ice cream and poke needles into a voodoo doll after it happened. Maybe Luke wasn’t “the one,” but one of “the ones” that led to him. Why shouldn’t I experience love and like and everything in between? Because my mom couldn’t stick, didn’t mean everyone would run. It didn’t mean I would either. I could do this. At least, with Luke I thought I could give it a try. Life was about the journey. I was ready to take this step with Luke. I was ready to give my mama a big middle finger and run to my man!
    Then panic set in. I needed something to wear! When the song ended, I rewound the tape and played it again. Hanger after hanger. Nothing. I