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ALL I DO. { irl }
lucas walks into the ron jon shop and instantly starts looking around for nick. a popular song by the band sumblime is leisurely playing over the speakers, calmly filling up the air around the customers.
after a few moments of searching, lucas spots nick flipping through clothing racks.
lucas sneaks up behind him before placing his hands on nick's shoulders. he screams when he feels a pair of hands grab him. everyone around them looks in their direction, causing nick to embarrassedly apologize.
"i like the blue one," lucas says calmly while everyone's attention is slowly being diverted away from the boys.
"i hate you." nick says with a laugh.
lucas gasps dramatically, "dude! how could you say that!?"
"dude! i'm sorry, dude!" nick says, joining in on the inside joke. "but dude! you fucking scared me, dude."
"that was the point, dude." lucas says. "i was trying to scared you. it's what dudes do."
nick's smile drops, but he quickly covers up his disappointment. yes, they're joking around when calling each other 'dude' since it's how they talked to each other when they first met at amelia's party – making fun of james.
but for some reason, when lucas said it's what dudes do, nick felt like he was sending him a hint. he knows he's probably overthinking it, but the tone was just different.
"you said you liked the blue one, right?" nick asked, grabbing two of the same shirt in different shades of blue for the rack. "which blue? baby blue or navy blue?"
"baby blue matches your eyes better," lucas says, not even looking at the shirt. he's just staring at nick's eyes. "they look really good with the baby blue."
nick's heart skips about fifty beats. "so-"
"sorry, uh, yeah." lucas says, looking away from nick. "i like the baby blue better. but you can pick whichever you'd prefer."
nick hangs the navy blue shirt back on the rack. "i still need to pick out a hat. it was the whole reason i came here."
"i can help you choose if you want." lucas suggests.
"sure." nick says.
he had seen a hat he really liked when he came here with camille, matt, chris, and kiana. but he wants to see what luke picks out. even if it's the ugliest hat he's ever laid eyes on, he'd buy it just because lucas likes it.
which might be stupid and weird, but it's true.
"that's a lot of hats." lucas says as they walk over to the hat section. shelves line the entire wall, going from the floor to the ceiling. and each shelf has at least five hats.
"it's a beach store, hats are good for marketing." nick says. "if someone is on the beach and they forgot their hat or their sunscreen, they'll just come across the street and buy some. it's how the shop makes ninety precent of their money."
nick rambles on and on about the store and then he begins to get off topic and he's suddenly talking about sunscreen. lucas smiles at him endearingly, listening to nick talk about whatever random shit pops in his mind.
"did you know that SPF stands for sun protection factor?" nick says, "and the factor is--"
he stops talking when he notices the smirk on luke's face. nick realizes how much he's been talking. and about fucking sunscreen at that.
nick's been told many times that he talks too much and he needs to learn what does and doesn't need to be said. now seeing the way luke is smiling at him, nick's cheeks burn red with embarrassment.
"sorry, that was-"
"no." lucas says, shaking his head and urging nick to continue. "don't apologize. i like listening to you speak."
now nick's blushing for an entirely different reason. he starts talking again and lucas listens intently regardless of how stupid the topic may seem to be. the whole time nick talks, lucas's eyes keep traveling down to his lips. whenever he catches himself doing this, luke forces himself to look back up at his eyes.
nick begins to sift through the hats, trying to pick one out. lucas realizes that he's still staring at nick's lips even when he's not talking anymore. so to get his mind off of his mouth, luke reaches above nick and grabs a random hat.
he shoves the hat on nick's head. it's double his size so the bill falls over his eyes.
nick laughs, lifting the hat over his eyes. but it just falls right back into place. after a few failed attempts at trying to make the hat fit, nick gives up and laughs even harder at the situation.
"here," lucas says, reaching forward and using both hands to take the hat off of his head. even after the hat's off, lucas's right hand lingers near nick's face.
gently, luke touches the tips of his fingers to nick's skin. he softly traces his fingers along his cheekbone, admiring the shape of nick's face. everything about him seems so inviting and beautiful.
nick's eyes flick down to lucas's lips.
and suddenly, they're both leaning in.
"LUKE!" at the sound of kiana's stern tone, nick and lucas jump apart. so does everyone else in the shop.
kiana walks up to them. not knowing that she just ruined their moment, she wonders why they look so awkward.
.∘◦❀◦∘. a/n : okay listen i REALLY don't wanna spoil anything for my next book, but i'm SO FUCKING EXCITED 🤞😁 like the plot >>>>> it's childhood best friends to lovers to enemies to lovers ◦∘.❀.∘◦
