MasukDRE’S P.O.V“Andrea Waters. My Girlfriend,” Luke says softly, his lips spreading into the proudest, cutest smile I’ve ever seen.His smile is goddamn contagious because he has me smiling just as brightly too. He shakes his head slowly, like he still can’t trust this new reality.“I keep thinking I’m going to wake up,” he murmurs, reaching across the dashboard. His fingers find my chin, tilting my face toward him. “But then I touch you… and I know it’s real.”He kisses me right there in the school parking lot, no hesitation, or fear of who might see. His mouth melts into mine, and when he catches my bottom lip between his teeth, a quiet groan slips out of me. He smiles against my lips, deepening the kiss like he’s been waiting years for permission to do exactly this.I’m his girlfriend, and he’s my boyfriend, and it’s all because of one reason. I love him, and he loves me. It’s plain simple, there’s no other reason we’re together other than that.The sharp ring of the warning be
LUKE’S P.O.VWhen Dre wakes up the next day, it feels like every word I poured into her the night before has finally taken root. She’s being a lot kinder to herself. The weight she’s carried for so long has started to lift. It might take time for her to fully see herself the way I do, the way she truly is—but I’m going to walk beside her through every single step until that day comes. I’m never letting go.She stirs; her eyes are puffy but clearer than they were last night. I don’t waste a second when she wakes. I pull her into my arms. My lips find her forehead, her cheeks, the bridge of her nose, then the corner of her mouth. My kisses say everything my voice sometimes can’t. Then I spend the next ten minutes drowning her in hugs, showering her with love and more reverent kisses, whispering reassurance against her skin. I’m never going to get tired of this—of reminding her how deeply she’s loved.She smiles warmly, rubbing lightly against her flushed nose.“I thought about what
LUKE'S P.O.VI pull back just enough to cup Dre's face in both hands, my thumbs gently brushing away the tears still clinging to her lashes. Her eyes are red-rimmed and glassy, her lips swollen from crying and biting on them nervously. But she has never looked more beautiful to me.“Baby,” I whisper. I shake my head and let out a broken sigh, the words catching in my throat for a moment because I don’t yet know exactly what to say, only that I have to say something to her because it hurts, Dre. It hurts so much to hear you say this.“I don’t know what will make you believe whatever I'm going to say, but I’ll say it over and over again till you fucking believe it. You’re none of those things you mentioned, Andrea. None of them.” My voice cracks, but I push through, needing her to hear every word. “I love you. I love you so much it hurts. If anything, I’m the one who doesn’t deserve you. No one deserves you. You're so good to be true, Dre. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to
LUKE’S P.O.VDre looks over her shoulder while I walk a little quicker, falling into her steps. I stay quiet, trying to pick up on her mood since she hadn’t responded to my last text about the date.It took everything I had to send the text. My confidence does surprise me sometimes, because I still find it hard to believe I actually sent it—without the usual fear of scaring her off that’s been choking me lately. I thought about it before class, and the next thing I knew, I was hitting send.Now, I can’t gauge her tone or how she really feels about the whole date thing from her one-sentence response. But from the way she’s looking, I don’t think she likes the idea.The sky hangs grey above us as we reach my car in the parking lot. It’s always like this when we leave school. Our schedules of late line up because of games and practice, so I get to drive her home after her tutoring sessions and my training.I open the passenger door and help her in, watching her for a few extra sec
DRE’S P.O.VGeneral class has begun, and the subject is plain, simple mathematics.I like the general classes aside from the fact that everyone I don’t want to see is present. I don’t have to stress as much as I do in AP classes, because they're less challenging. I scan the class out of habit, searching for Luke. I’m considering slipping into the back row with him so we can goof around like we do sometimes, but he isn’t here. He and the rest of the team got permission to train instead. Silver sits next to me, glued to her phone because she doesn’t take this class seriously either.“Well, aren’t we a prideful pair,” she jokes when she notices I have no books or pencils out to take notes.I tap a finger to my temple and grin. “It’s math. We can solve any question easily in our heads.”“Exactly!”It’s great having Silver around. If I’d made that same joke to Luke, he would’ve rolled his eyes, muttered something about me being a nerd, and then laughed anyway. I like doing well
LUKE’S P.O.VI took Dre’s advice. After practice, I hang back on the benches while the rest of the team heads to the locker room. Vincent is still in Coach’s office. I wait for him, eyes fixed on the whiteboard where he’d drawn up the new formation days ago. No one has erased it or made any alterations. My name and number stand out in black marker written in Vincent’s handwriting. FORD 34, and right beside it, HAWKINS 29, written directly over where REECE 01 used to be.It looks wrong; it has always been “FORD AND REECE.” Seeing another name aside his will take me a while to get used to.Vincent and I haven’t been the closest. He damn well hates me, especially after he found out I’d been messing around with his then-girlfriend Ruth. He has every right to hate me, and he does, but he never let his hate bleed into the game. He put it all behind him and put the game first for the sake of the team. I respect him a lot for that.But still, just because he’s trying his best to tolerat
DRE’S P.O.V (Present day) The sound of the door closing jolts me awake. I sit up so fast I almost fall out of the chair. I look to the sofa opposite me, and Luke’s gone— that makes me fall out of the chair, straight onto my ass. I rub my bruised elbow, scrambling to my feet. *He just left.*
LUKE’S P.O.V The phone feels like a live grenade in my palm. My thumb hovers over the green button for half a second before I swipe it, pressing the device hard against my ear, not saying anything, just listening till he is ready to speak. A low chuckle rolls through the line, the kind that alwa
LUKE’S P.O.V (One week ago) *I know you’re getting my calls; pick up, damn boy.* My father’s been in and out of town for a while. He never stays here for too long; he always prefers his life in the city, in the States, and mostly halfway across the world. It’s always been fine for me so far he
DRE’S P.O.VAfter hugging me goodnight and taking me to the front door, Cameron leaves. I ramble through my purse for the house keys, unlock the door and let myself in. The date was fun, and I didn’t entirely regret going like I thought I would.I head to the stairs when I hear someone speak. I fre







