I pause in front of the mentoring board, running my fingers over the names of kids who haven’t shown up in weeks. Those are the ones I worry about. The ones who slip quietly through cracks no one else notices.
I know what it’s like to be the kid no one stays for.
Tonight, watching Luke choose discipline over pride gave me an idea. Maybe belief changes trajectory more than programming ever could. Maybe the difference isn’t funding or structure.
Maybe it’s commitment.
I make a note to adjust next quarter’s mentoring format before shutting off the lights. The emergency exit signs hum softly above me. I always make sure that they work.
CHAPTER SEVEN
LUKE
Today is Gran’s birthday party. The last two months since the fight has been hectic, crazy, and wonderful. I've spent every day with Andi, either training at the gym, chilling at her house or my apartment, or just going out somewhere to spend time together. Somehow, she talked me into being part of her karaoke skit at the club tomorrow night, so we’ve been practicing that for the past two weeks, too. Thankfully, she didn’t ask me to sing.
We’re still in the “friends” stage because she’s still giving me time to define what “this” is between us. Sheis stubborn and won’t be the one to name our thing. She's making me face it, and she won't budge an inch until I do. I can't even count how many times I've tried to kiss her. She turns her face so my kiss lands on her cheek. Then she smiles like it’s no big deal.
She’s making me crazy.
And I wouldn’t trade one minute of my time with her for all the one-night stands in the world.
She’s excited about meeting all my family, even though I’ve tried to tell her they aren’t all that much to get excited over. She’s never spoken about her family, outside Mack and Shane, but they're not her blood relatives. I've tried casually to bring the conversation around to her family, but she's a master at “dodge and avoid.” She’s somehow distracted me every time, so I get that she’s not ready to talk about it. I understand how complicated families are, so I let it slide. We have plenty of time.
We’re in my truck, heading to my parents’ house, and she’s fidgeting in the seat beside me. She won’t let me kiss her, but she will let me hold her hand, so I have it firmly grasped in mine. I would never admit this to any living soul, but I’m so tied up in knots over her I’ll gladly take the handholding. At least I get to touch her that way. I’ve taken punches harder than this, but her fingers threaded through mine undo me. It’s what I do to myself by delaying telling her I want a committed relationship.
“You’re not getting nervous, are you?” I playfully ask her.
“Maybe a little,” she laughs. “But I’ll be fine.”
“My parents already want to adopt you and disown me. My whole family will love you. Just watch out for my brother. He’ll try to steal you from me.” I mean this literally. Brandon will fall in love with her, too.
Did I just infer that I’m in love with her?
“You can never have too many friends, Luke,” she declares without a hint of sarcasm. I worry that she only sees me as a friend.
“I'd better not catch you alone with him, Andi.” I use my stern voice, the one that says I’m not even kidding. Not that it has ever worked on this woman.
She says, “Fine, Luke,” and I feel my racing heart slowing down until she finishes her sentence. “I won’t let you catch me.”
I snap my head to look at her, ready to fight tooth and nail for my place in her life, and I see the gleam of outright mockery in the twinkling of her eyes. She is enjoying this so much. She will probably flirt with Brandon just to get to me. I should’ve kept my mouth shut because she will so use this little tidbit against me. Wench.
“We’re celebrating Gran’s birthday today, but you haven’t told me when yours is.” I glance over at her as I drive andnote how she pulls her lower lip between her teeth for a second.
“I don’t really celebrate my birthday. When is yours?”
“Andi, when is your birthday? I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours.”
“Fine. It’s October 28. Now spill it. When’s yours?”
“January 4.”
We arrive at my parents' house a few minutes early, but it looks like the entire gang is already here. Andi looks perfect in her form-fitting black capris, her sky-blue flowing shirt that would be baggy if not for the white scarf/belt thing she has tied around her tiny waist. Her little toenails, painted the same color as her shirt, are peeking out from her black sandals. My God, she is more than I’ve ever imagined a woman could be.
My sister, Alicia, is younger than I am, but she married early and had two rugrats that I love with all my heart. Being Uncle Luke has been kind of cool. My nephew Jacob is five, my niece Callie is three, and they are both so much fun. They both know my truck, and as soon as Andi and I step out of it, the front door opens, and they come flying out to meet us. I hug them both and lift them up in the air, playing our usual game of airplanes while Andi watches and laughs along with us.
I introduce Jacob and Callie to Andi, who kneels to be eye to eye with them, and she charms the kids just like she did my parents. Before we make it across the front lawn, both kids are attached to her like little leeches. Alicia meets us at the door, and within minutes, she and Andi are like long-lost sisters. I roll my eyes at the thought of what my brother will do when he meets her.
Here we go.
