Secrets of the Deep [Wattpad Featured Story]

Chapter Twelve

"So let me get this straight—Luke gave you his number and asked you to go with him to the Shady Cove Café?" Sage asked as we walked out of the locker room.

I shrugged, trying to play it cool. "Pretty much."

"So how is that not a date?" Sage threw her hands up in the air. "This is breaking news, Rayne!"

"Breaking news? What'd I miss?" Marley demanded as she jogged up next to us.

"Rayne's got a date with Luke Sanchez," Sage explained.

I shook my head vigorously. "It's tutoring, not a date."

Marley wiggled her eyebrows up and down suggestively. "Are you sure? Because it sounds like a date to me."

"I'm positive." I crossed my arms over my chest. "I'm beginning to think that Sage is the one who set me up with him in the first place."

Marley's gaze swung over to Sage, who smiled coyly. "Maybe," she admitted, "but that doesn't mean you won't make a great couple."

"For the last time," I said, "there's nothing going on, and this is not a date!"

"Ooh, touchy subject," Marley teased. "But I've gotta admit, you and Luke do look great together." She laughed and high-fived Sage. I sighed in defeat—it was useless to try and convince them of something once they ganged up on me.

"See you guys later," I said, pulling away from them and jerking open the front door of the library.

"Bye!" Sage called.

"Have fun on your date!" Marley added.

I felt heat rush to my cheeks as I entered the library. "It's not a date!" I hollered over my shoulder, but my two friends had already turned the corner, their giggles reverberating off the walls. I sighed and turned back to face the endless rows of books and computers that made up the high school library.

Then I froze. The librarian was glaring at me with a stern expression, and Luke was trying not to laugh from where he sat at a nearby empty table. I ducked my head shyly and shuffled over to his table, utterly humiliated.

"So," he said, trying to hide his amused smile, "I see it's pretty clear that we're not going on a date."

"Ha ha, very funny."

"I mean, we can make it a date if you want to..."

Huh? I tried to ignore the millions of butterflies that had suddenly exploded in my stomach at his words. Was he legitimately asking me out, or was he merely teasing? I swept my eyes over his face, but no reaction gave his true thoughts away. I finally decided my best tactic was to switch tracks. "Well," I said vaguely, "what exactly were you planning to do at the Café?"

"That depends—do you like food?"

I grinned. "Duh."

"And hot chocolate?"

"Of course."

"And a walk on the pier?"

"Hmm, isn't it a little chilly out?"