Dirty Little Secret

seventeen | polaroid pictures

Riley

"How's the knee?"

I shrug. "Fine, I guess. I don't really know."

"Let me look at it." Lucas scoots over until he's right beside me. He slowly and gently moves my leg to his lap and unstraps the brace. "Does it hurt?"

"Yeah. Not as much as it did before, though."

"That's good."

He gives my knee a full examination as if he has a medical degree. "The swelling has gone down a shit ton, Ri." A small smile appears on his lips. "That's a good thing. This is where you applaud."

"I am not applauding".

"Worth a shot." He lifts his shoulder in a shrug.

After making sure my brace is secure, we dig into our pizza while Jane the Virgin plays on the TV.

"What's with the Polaroid? Having a photoshoot?" Lucas waggles his eyebrows. "Please tell me it was a naughty photoshoot."

"First of all, ew. Don't say naughty." I shiver at the cringe word. "Second, Lou had borrowed it the other night for some scrapbook." I shrug, taking a bite out of my crust. "I have yet to put it back in my room."

Lucas leans forward and picks the camera up. "Any film in here?"

I shrug. "No idea. Truth is, I haven't used that thing in a couple of years."

He inspects it for a moment before lifting it in the air, the lens facing us. "Smile."

I was taking a bite of my pizza, and before I could tell him to wait, he snapped a picture.

"I wathn't weady!"

Lucas snorts. "Finish chewing your food before speaking, honey." I glare at him as he casually shakes out the picture. "You were saying?"

"I wasn't ready." I frown.

He looks down at the picture and smiles. "At least you look cute when you're eating."

"Let me see." I go to grab it, but he pulls it away.

"Ah, ah, ahh." He clicks his tongue. "This is for my eyes only."

"It's my camera!"

"You just admitted to not using it for years!" He laughs.

I cross my arms over my chest. "You're mean."

"Aw, are you gonna pout?" I glare at Lucas and he laughs, throwing his head back against the top of the sofa. When he looks back at me, he hooks his finger under my chin. "You're cute when you're frustrated."

This man really knows how to make a girl blush.

He strokes my chin with the pad of his thumb but makes no move to do anything else. When he finally moves his hand, he clears his throat. "We need boundaries, Ri."

My eyebrows furrow in confusion. "What kind of boundaries?"

"I don't..." Lucas sighs and runs his fingers through his hair. "I don't know what we're doing here. Are we just hooking up? Are we hanging out outside of sex? What's going on?"

"Um, I don't... I don't know, Lucas."

"Like, god this is fucked up, but, am I allowed to take you on a date, or what?"

I chew on my bottom lip nervously. "Are you asking me out on a date?"

Lucas chuckles nervously. "I think so." He scratches the back of his neck. "I'm not entirely sure. Would you say yes if I were?"