I Love You to Death(64)

"Maybe I should say something to her?" I suggest.
Luke laughs a little, tightening his arms around us. "Good luck," he says, before kissing me again.
The next day we all hit the beach, armed with food and drinks and spend the whole day swimming and lying on towels under umbrellas. It’s the most perfect day which we all spend together; laughing, talking, eating, drinking and having fun. I feel deliriously happy right now. I haven’t felt this good with other people in what feels like forever. I can’t believe I’ve gone without this in my life. That I honestly thought I could. For the first time in a long time, I just want to capture and hold on to this moment.
The day is so warm and I love the feel of the sun on my skin. I ask them all questions; about how they met, how long Steve and Pete have been together, when the band formed. They tell me so many stories; answer all of my questions without smothering me in theirs. Luke laughs when he tells the story of how Steve first came to be in the band.
"We’d advertised for a bass player," he starts.
"And in walks this tough guy," Jared continues nodding at Steve, who is possibly blushing a little, now he knows where this story is going. Pete is smiling because he definitely knows and clearly finds it amusing.
"And the first thing he says is; ‘just so you know, I’m gay. If any of you have a problem with that, then I may as well leave now’," Luke continues, laughing even more.
I look over at Steve who’s smiling now. "And?" I ask. "What was their reaction?"
"This one turns to me," Steve finishes gesturing towards Ben, who is shaking his head laughing, "And says, ‘yeah but can you play a f*cking guitar?’" And they all crack up laughing and I can’t help but join in.
It’s amazing to watch them. They’re all such good friends, so obviously close yet they talk so openly in front of me, willingly accepting that I’m now a part of their group too, just like Mia. And they really love to tease Luke about me.
"You know we forced him to have that party, just to get you to come over. He’d been talking about you for ages, ever since he met you. We had to do something just to help the poor bastard out," Jared says laughing. "Of course that dickhead messed things up a bit, but at least you came, you really made his night by doing that."
I turn to Luke who is blushing a little now and it’s so adorable, I can’t help but smile at him.
"Yeah and the night you came and watched us play, your boy here couldn’t wipe the smile off his face for the rest of the week," Steve continues, nudging Luke with his foot.
"Oh, but what about the night we ran into her and dragged her out to watch Damien’s band," Ben says laughing. "Christ, Luke was f*cking mental after that night."
I’m laughing now too, but when Jared continues with, "Yeah but then there was "that night" and "that song"," doing the quotation marks with his fingers. "You know the one I mean Ash," he says with a smile on his face. "He definitely hasn’t stopped smiling since that night. Of course; there’s been a lot more happening besides just smiling!"
Now I’m blushing because I know exactly what he’s talking about. He lives with Luke and he knows I’ve spent every night there since the first one. I blush because I’m supremely embarrassed he knows this, despite being extremely happy and it’s not until Luke pulls me into a hug and says, "Hey leave my girl alone," that I finally laugh too. They are teasing both of us, but it’s friendly and I know they mean well. And really, deep down I don’t mind it at all.
Because what I realise now, is just how long this whole thing has been going on for. Just how long Luke has felt this way, felt this way about me. At how much he doesn’t care who knows and how much he doesn’t try to hide it; from them, from me, from anyone. But most of all, what I realise is how much he chose to keep trying, even after everything I did and everything I said. Even when my anger and fear pushed him away, he was still there, waiting for me. I’m amazed and elated he would do that, that he would still want me after everything I did. And I can’t help but smile when I realise all of that. I look over at Mia as I sit wrapped in Luke’s arms and find she’s watching us, smiling at me, like she knows exactly what I’m just working out in my head.

In the late afternoon, Luke drags me into the water, pulling me to him. I wrap my legs around his waist as he holds me against him. It feels amazing. The cool water lapping at our sun warmed bodies, his hands on my bare skin, my legs around his waist, his lips kissing my freckled shoulder. The others are all on the beach far enough away, but I still want more. As I pull myself closer, I hear Luke groan as he gently bites my shoulder and kisses a trail up my neck. My head falls backwards as breathing normally suddenly gets a lot harder.
"I think we should head back," I hear him whisper, when he reaches my ear.
I tighten my legs around him. "Do you?" I ask, my voice catching as his fingers dig into my back.
"Yes," Luke moans as he walks me out of the water.
We grab our things, Luke telling the others we are heading back and will get dinner started. I hear Jared laugh as he says, "Yeah right, you watch, they’ll both be smiling at dinner tonight."
I hear the others laugh too, but I don’t care. I just need to get somewhere alone with Luke. Right now. We leave a trail of our things from the front door to the shower, Luke pulling me under the warm water as soon as I lock the bathroom door. My body is screaming to get close to him, even now. I feel my skin ignite from his touch, as soon as I press myself against him. My heart races as he wraps his arms tightly around me, kisses my ear and whispers hoarse words that I barely hear, but sound like words that should scare me.