Lex and Lu(100)

Lu smiled. “Thank you. But I’m not worried.”

“I am,” he admitted. “Almost ten days with her without any buffers.”

“You’ll have Mrs. Auberly,” Lu reminded him.

“I know. But she won’t have you.”

He looked nervous and Lu fell just a little bit more. “You are familiar to her now,” she said gently. “You’ll be fine.”

He took a deep breath, then nodded.

“If you say so.”

“I say so,” she said.

“All right. See you in the morning,” he said.

She nodded and let him walk to the door. As he left, she sat heavily on the bed, her head pounding from the mixture of a midafternoon nap and mimosas. She wanted to follow him, wanted to tackle him and take him inside of her, wanted to let go and love him with everything she had. Which is why she stayed in her room

By mutual agreement, they’d all decided to get up at six. With their flight times staggered slightly, they would all travel to the airport together—the last hurrah in Lex’s Christmas surprise. He knew he’d set his iPhone to wake him up, but it had been one of the those nights when he’d woken every hour, flipped over, grabbed his phone, checked the time, groaned, and repeated. At five, he finally got up, did a final walk-through of his room and the rest of the house, turned on the coffee, and stood restlessly in the living room, waiting for everyone else to wake up. His restlessness had a name—Lu. While they would continue to see each other for Nina exchanges, he acknowledged that they wouldn’t be in the same space again. It agitated him. He didn’t feel comfortable in his skin. Pacing a hole in the floor, he turned and walked to her room.

Standing outside her door, he hesitated. He couldn’t figure out what else he needed to do. He thought he understood the reasons she held back, but in the dark of night, they sounded like hollow excuses. Maybe he needed to be clearer. Resting his head on the door, he couldn’t wait any longer. Decision made, he pushed open the door with a bit too much force and stumbled in as the door bumped and banged off the wall.

He’d expected Lu to jump or startle awake, but instead he met her blue eyes, illuminated by the light of the door. He stood awkwardly in the doorway, gazing uncomfortably at her.

“Couldn’t sleep?” she quipped.

“You either?” he asked.

“Nah. Been up since about three.” But it hadn’t driven her out of her bed as his energy had. “Been laying here hoping I’d eventually fall asleep.”

“Been up for a while,” he offered. Lu continued to lie there, on her stomach, but she’d propped her head on her hands.

“I figured. You’re showered and dressed and I smell coffee.”

“Yeah.” He didn’t move, feeling more unsure of himself than he’d ever remembered feeling.

“Are you going to stand in the doorway or come in?” she asked.

“I’m deciding,” he answered truthfully.

“What’s going on, Lex?” she asked, pushing up on her bed so that she was sitting crisscross applesauce.

His hand found the door that’d run away from him and he shut it gently behind him. Walking to the bed, he sat down near her but without invading her space. He looked over at her and grinned. Without thinking anymore, he leaned over and kissed her hard. She kissed him back and dug her fingers in his too-long hair, holding him close. He pulled away from her but continued to hold her face in both hands.

“Look, I want us to have a chance. Can we take things slow and see what happens?” Lex said.

She reached up and pulled his hands away from her face. She jumped off the bed and ran into her bathroom. He heard the sink run and grinned.

“Really,” he teased when she returned, “you had to brush your teeth?”

Looking slightly embarrassed she grinned shyly. “Yes. If we are going to be talking this close to one another.”

He rolled his eyes. “Answer me.”

“Ugh, Lex, why are you pushing this?” Her grin replaced by a look of dismay, she ran her hands nervously through her hair.

“Seriously, Lu? Since our parent-teacher conference, I haven’t been able to think about anything else. I want to be part of your life and not just as a parent. I don’t know how else to tell you. I love you. And I know you love me. I can feel it when you kiss me. I want a chance for us to be a family.” He saw her eyes widen, and he knew she wanted to grab hold, but she continued to hold back.

“Lex, it’s been a crazy year for you. You lost your dad. You said yourself you feel like you’ve missed out on something. There are too many reasons not to do it right now. I can’t be a mistake that you regret later. We have too much between us. Please, just let this be.”