Free Once Again by Amy Durham

waited up, and was, of course, thrilled to see him.
    She excused herself – my mom was cool like
that – and headed off to bed.
    Luke stayed where he was beside the front
door.
    The quiet of my house after the noise at the
game and the pizza place was a welcome invasion. I took off my
sweater, hanging it across the back of a chair, enjoying the way
the cool September air felt against my skin.
    “I’d hang out with you a little longer,” he
said, “but I don’t know that I could stay awake.”
    “You haven’t stopped all day,” I said.
“School, your meet, the game.”
    “It’s been a good day. A better night.” He
picked up my hand, held it in both of his. “Can we do this again
sometime? Maybe just the two of us?”
    I laughed. I was helpless to stop it. This
whole night had been amazing and ridiculous and astonishing, and my
mind just couldn’t keep up.
    Lucas was interested in me . In that way.
    “Is this where you tell me you’re not ready
to start dating?” he asked with a smirk. “That you’re still getting
to know everyone?”
    “You heard that?” I asked, my giggling
finally dying down a bit.
    “Told you before, news travels fast.” He
grinned, crossed his arms over his chest, and leaned against the
door, waiting for an answer.
    “I was honest when I said those things,” I
said. “When I said them to Robbie and Chris and Lance.”
    “Lance asked too?” He seemed surprised.
    I nodded. “Yesterday.”
    “And you told him the same thing?”
    “Yes. And it was true when I said it to him.”
I leaned against the doorframe, putting myself a bit closer to him.
“But it wouldn’t be true if I said it to you right now.”
    “Is that a yes?” He reached out and tucked a
wisp of hair behind my ear. “Will you go out with me? On a proper
date?”
    My skin tingled where his fingers brushed
against my cheek. All the breath in my lungs backed up and I had to
remind myself to breath.
    “I’m not sure how it could be more proper
than tonight,” I whispered when I found my voice again. “But, yes.
I’d love to go out with you.”
    “A proper date means just us,” he smiled.
“And something a bit more grand than a loud ballgame and a crowded
pizza parlor.”
    “Okay.” I refused to let my mind start
imagining what he might have in store.
    He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and
held it up. “Can I have your number? So I can call you?”
    I tried to remember the last time someone asked for my number. These days, with cell phones more
common in school than pencils, most people just traded phones and
put their own numbers in.
    I reached in my purse and retrieved my own.
“Only if I can have yours, too.”
    When we’d exchanged numbers and stored them
in our cells, he picked up my hand again and stepped closer.
    My heart hammered, my pulse thundering in my
ears. I hadn’t given much thought to sharing a first kiss with
Lucas, but darned if I wasn’t excited about it now.
    “We’ll talk soon, Layla,” he said, looking me
directly in the eyes. “Thank you for tonight.”
    “I should be thanking you. For the pizza and
for driving me around.”
    He shook his head. “My pleasure.”
    And then he lowered his head. I watched his
face move closer to mine, braced for something I knew would be
spectacular.
    To my surprise, he pressed a soft, warm kiss
to my forehead. His lips lingered, for several seconds, and I
closed my eyes, letting the beauty of the moment spread through me.
He didn’t smell like fancy cologne, but rather soap and laundry
detergent, a combination that on him was pleasant and
welcoming.
    His gentle kiss was more intimate and
meaningful than any lip-lock driven by passion could have been.
    He didn’t say goodbye as he left. He just
smiled, walking backwards down the porch steps and sidewalk, all
the way to his truck.
    And I stood in the door, grinning like a
fool.
    ***
    Lucas floated through my dreams again, and
for once I wasn’t surprised. A few times I roused