Lucas : A Preston Brothers Novel (Book 1)(40)

I nudge his side, and he feigns hurt. “There’s nothing wrong with the car,” I tell him as he opens the door to the school for me. “I just feel weird driving it.”

“Why?”

“Because Cooper.”

“Because he got it for you?”

I nod.

“That’s dumb,” he says, and he has no idea.

I stop at my locker and turn to him. “I’m sure I’ll get over it, it’s just…” I don’t know what it is.

“Don’t catch the bus anymore. I’ll pick you up, okay?”

“There’s nothing wrong with the bus.”

“And there’s nothing wrong with my truck, either.”

“Fine.”

“Good!”

We’re twelve years old again.

I open my locker, get my books for first period, and he says, “Did you speak to your dad any more about the whole Cooper thing?”

I close my locker, hold the books to my chest. “Nah. He was gone by the time I got up.”

“I called Dad this morning, said we needed to talk to him. You free after school?”

“Yep.”

“Okay… Well, I’ll see you then.”

“Okay,” I say, but he doesn’t make a move to leave, and his locker’s on the other end of the hall. “I should get to class.”

“Yeah,” he says, but he still doesn’t budge.

“Bye, Luke.”

“Bye, Lane.”

I wait for him to leave and when he doesn’t, I walk around him and toward my class. When I glance over my shoulder, he’s still following me, looking down at my shoes. I stop abruptly, turn to him. “Luke?”

“Yeah?”

I point behind him. “Your locker’s that way.”



After school, in the Preston house, Luke and I wait for his dad in the office. It may not seem like a big deal that we’re in Tom’s office, but it is for me. I’ve walked past the room many a time and sometimes the door’s even been open and I’ve looked inside, but it’s been seven years since I first stepped foot in this house and I’ve never actually been in Tom’s office. It feels so forbidden, so grand, so—“What’s with your face, Lane?”

I side-eye Luke. “I’ve never been in here before,” I whisper, checking the door to make sure Tom isn’t coming. “I feel like I’ve been called to the principal’s office.” I use my jeans to wipe the sweat off my palms. “Doesn’t it feel like that to you?”

Luke shakes his head, looks at me like I’m stupid. “We normally get our punishments in the kitchen or living room so…”

“Wow… yeah… that’s true,” I whisper absentmindedly.

“I was kidding, Lane. What’s going on with you?”

“I don’t know.” I sigh. “I think I’m nervous to tell your dad. What if he ends up hating me? I mean, let’s be real, this is all about Cooper getting back with me.”

“With you or at you?” Lucas says, and now he looks nervous.

Tom enters the room, saving me from responding, and he sits his big frame in his big leather chair behind his big desk and smiles just as big at us. “Hey kids, what’s up?”

I’m about to ruin everything you’ve worked so hard to build, that’s “what’s up.”

“The Kennedys are starting their own construction company in town,” Luke says, as if it’s that simple, as if that’s all there is to the story.

Tom’s eyebrows shoot up, and he looks from Luke to me. I look down at my hands. “I know this,” he says. “But how do you and why did you feel the urgency to tell me?”

“You’re not worried?” Luke asks.

“Should I be?”

“Sir Tom,” I start, and Luke chuckles.

“Sir Tom? Really?”

“Shut up.”

“Lane,” Tom says, “What’s wrong?”

“Cooper—my ex—”

“Your ex?” he asks. “I wasn’t aware…”

I force a smile. “Cooper offered my dad a job.”

“Right.” Tom nods. “And let me guess, he threw in a bunch of perks?”

“Yes, sir.”

Luke laughs. “What? No Sir Tom?”

I kick his leg.

Tom sighs. “You know what the good thing about our town is, kids? And I say kids because that’s what you are, and you really shouldn’t be worrying about this stuff. The good thing about our town is that everyone knows everyone’s business, and people like to talk about that business. I’ve known about this since the company was created five days ago.”

“And you’re not worried?” I ask.

“No.”

“How can you be so confident?”

Tom looks from me to Lucas and back again. Then he leans forward, lowers his voice. I find myself leaning into the conversation. “Because I had Wendy in the office call Lance Kennedy, make out like she was from the newspaper and asked for an interview about his new venture into the construction trade and you know what Lance said? He said, ‘What construction trade?’”

“So Lance doesn’t know?” I mumble.

Luke says, “So he lied to your dad?”

Tom leans back in his chair, gets more comfortable. “I spoke to Brian today, we had a good laugh about it. He didn’t mention anything about Cooper offering him a job.”

I sigh. “Maybe I made this a bigger deal than it is.”

Tom chuckles. “I love you both. Really, I do. But you’re only this young once, and you’ve both been through so much in your eighteen years. And Lucas, you carry more responsibilities than most your age. But this—worrying about me and the business—it’s something I never want either of you to have to be burdened with. Do me a solid? Let loose now and then, enjoy life, get into a little trouble, y’know?”

Luke smiles. “Yes, sir.”

“Good,” Tom says. “Now that that’s out of the way, what time’s your meet next weekend?”

“What meet?” I ask him. I have all of Luke’s track meets scheduled in my phone, and there’s no meet next weekend. “I don’t know about a meet.”

“It’s not a school one,” Luke assures and then eyes his dad, shakes his head, just slightly.

“What meet?” I ask again.

Tom doesn’t take Luke’s hint. “It’s an independent meet in Charlotte. Not school related.”

“I want to go!” I say.

Tom says, “He’ll probably beat his PB. He’s so close.”

I look at Luke. “You are?” I hate that I don’t know this about him. Up until this school year, I’d been to all his meets and knew all his times and now… “I didn’t know.”

“It’s cool,” Luke says. “But this meet—I mean, I’ll be competing in under 21s so I won’t be competing against Cooper, but he’ll probably be there so…”

Oh. “Oh.”

Luke’s gaze drops, and I feel his disappointment before I see it take over his body.

“So what?” I say, and I’m already preparing the excuses in my head. “I still want to go.”

Luke shrugs. “We’ll see,” he says. He knows me too well.

“I got to pick up Lachlan and take him to the store,” Tom says. “Lane, you staying for dinner? It’s LTT night!”

“What’s LTT?” I ask, looking between father and son.

“Lachlan’s Tasty Tacos!” Tom says.

I cringe. “That sounds scary.”

Tom chuckles. “It’s pancakes.”

“Folded,” Luke adds.

“Because tacos,” Tom says.

“Right.” I nod.

“And I take him to the store to select and buy his filling.”

“Candy,” Luke says.

My eyes light up. “Pancakes filled with candy?”

Tom says, “But the best part is the hit or miss salsa.”

Luke faces me. “Lachlan gets a bunch of candy and blends it together to make the sauce. As the name states, it’s very hit or miss.”

Tom’s standing now, pocketing his phone, keys, and wallet. “It’s dessert for dinner, Laney. Right up your alley.”

“And Luke actually eats this?” I ask Tom.

“He gets this twitch in his left eye and his hands shake and he breaks out in a sweat.”

“Probably pre-calculating the calories,” I say with a giggle.

“He has one bite and then runs for two hours afterward.”

Luke shakes his head. “I don’t like LTT night,” he murmurs, and I laugh, tell them that as much I’d love to stay for LTT night, I can’t. I have to work. Luke gives me a ride home so I can get ready, and I walk to work for my 4 pm shift. At 9 pm, an hour before my shift ends, Luke shows up with a Ziploc bag in his hand. “Lachlan didn’t want you missing out on his tasty tacos.” He slides it across the small opening of the ticket booth. The pancake’s still warm as if he’d just made it, and I’m almost positive that Lachlan has nothing to do with this. “And I thought I’d give you a ride home.”

“That’s really nice, Luke.” And it feels strange saying those words—as if I’m trying hard to be super, uber, extra polite, and I don’t know why. “But my shift doesn’t end for another hour.”