Luke

Sunday morning was always my day for getting breakfast. I had frying pans on three rings: a dozen eggs in one, bacon and sausages in another, mushrooms and onions in the third. Finally, I had a couple of tins of beans cooking in the saucepan. The grill was full with bread being toasted and four mugs of coffee were ready.

“Aww, Luke, I love you man, please marry me.” This was Andy, one of my housemates and second row in the team. Like the other two, he had been drinking hard yesterday. He looked like death warmed up and said about his hangover and no doubt the others, Rob and Matt, would be no better off.

“Sorry, man, he promised himself to me when he grabbed my cock last night.”

Without looking around, I said, “Morning, Rob.”

“I guess I missed something,” said Andy tucking into his breakfast.

“It’s the Front Row Union, Andy, we’ve no chance breaking up that love affair. Maybe if one of us had a lovely pair of C, maybe D-cup tits?” said Matt.

As they tittered, I asked, “And what would the children like for breakfast?”

The rest of Sunday went as usual, relaxing, recovering from both the game and the drinking. There was plenty of stick over me losing my cool about that girl with the big tits; Rob was true to his word and didn’t mention they were off target.  Monday came and went. That night, I saw the girl in the library with several of her friends studying together; I don’t think she saw me with my study group.

After Tuesday lectures, we went to the library again; she was alone this time and as we got up to go, I looked over and she was banging her head quietly against the table. I saw she was using the same maths book I had last year. I made my excuses to my friends and went to see if I could help.

Tina

I had been good at maths at school, sitting in the top three or four in my year most years and getting an A at A-level, but some of the topics being covered in this course not only looked scary, they were. I had to spend time in the library a few times a week to keep up. Sometimes Diane would bring her work, other times there would be study groups and sometimes I was on my own. It was on one of the times I was alone, a couple of months into the term, I was trying to get my head around one particular subject and it wouldn’t click.

“Does that hurt?” said a voice next to me.

“Sorry, does what hurt?”

“Banging your head on the desk. There’s decent brick wall outside, it might be more effective.”

I sighed as I looked up into a pair of green eyes; they looked almost sad. As I refocused on the rest of the face, I saw a gentle smile that I could almost physically feel the warmth of. I was looking into the face of Luke, the one who would never notice me let alone spend any time alone with me. As I sat there looking at him it was as if the rest of the world had ceased to exist; it was just the two of us.

This guy who I had seen about wasn’t the most handsome, chisel-jawed dreamboat, but he definitely had something about him. His eyes were like whirlpools and I had to be careful not to fall in any further. His jaw may not have been chiselled, but it was strong; I was soon to find out how strong. What took away from his handsomeness were the way his nose went off to one side and a scar under his eye. Both were injuries from playing, his nose broken three times and the scar the result of a stud. I shuddered when he told me about it; it was so close to his eye that it almost looked like one of the creases under it until you looked closely and could see the needle marks. Thinking about it now, I think his face is just a bit of a mess, but then he smiles and it all melts away like a reverse mirage to reveal an oasis in the desert. It was unusual to see him without any friends and that day was no different. Stupidly this made me feel jealous. Then he had left them to offer me, a complete stranger, some help. After that, even though I had no right to, a smugness spread through me.

“May I?” he asked.

“Huh?” I felt so daft. I was acting like some bimbo out of a rom-com getting all dreamy looking into his eyes.

“May I sit down?”

“Erm, sure.”

“Thanks.” There was that smile again. “You didn’t say what course you were doing.”

“I’m sorry, I must seem so rude, it’s just I have an issue with one of my topics I’m trying to get my head around. I’m doing a Maths and Accounting bachelors. You?”

“MEng. I saw you are using the same book I did last year, it looked like you were about to throw it across the library.” That damned smile.

“Did it look that bad?”

He waggled his hand about, “Erm, a little. Perhaps I can help you?”

I knew his name but don’t think he knew mine.

“Christina, I like my friends to call me Tina.” The way I was blurting words out he must have thought I was an idiot.

“Okay, Christina, I’m Luke, my friends call me all sorts of things including Shit Head and Bastard, though Bastard is reserved for my special friends. What are you struggling with? That book has some crappy areas.”

I explained the problem and over the next hour, Luke first tried explaining it as the book had, then came at it from a totally different direction and then we were playing with a stack of different sized books, gradually swapping them for symbols and letters and then numbers. It was such a simple approach but so powerful it clarified everything I had struggled over and made it so easy.

“You are brilliant! Thank you so much.”

“I had issues with it last year, so I tried different approaches until I came up with the one I showed you. I should be going. It was nice to meet you, Christina.”

He was going, I started to panic for some reason and blurted out, “Would you like to go for a coffee? As a thank you, that’s all.” This is the girl that struggled to accept an invite from a boy I liked. I didn’t ask boys out; that was Diane, not me.

“That’d be really nice, but I can’t, I’ve got training tonight. Another time?”

“I’d like that.” And just like that, he was gone. Even after his wonderful explanation, there was going to be no more maths done tonight.

Luke

“What the fuck is wrong with you tonight, Luke?”

“Sorry, guys, head’s not here.”

“No? Really? You’re shitting me! Go and try hitting the side of the clubhouse, you might manage that.”

Back in the changing room, I could not understand what was wrong. Even on my worst days, I could hit most throw-ins; tonight I’d missed them all.

“Luke,” came the voice of the coach, “cold shower for you tonight, it might wake you up.”

“Yes, boss.”

“Use extra soap, it might help getting your head out of your arse!”

Next day I broke off from my friends needing to work on one of my assignments; it wasn’t a lie, but it was also a good excuse. I saw Christina in the library again, but she was sat with a friend who had their back to me. I just nodded to her and went to get on with my work. As I was packing my things away, I heard, “Hi, my name’s Diane. My friend and I are going for a coffee and were wondering if you would care to join us?”

I was about to thank her and make my apologies. I looked over and saw Christina was now sitting alone. When I looked up, I realised it was her friend that was asking me, the same one that was at the rugby. I looked over at Christina, who appeared to suddenly look away, then up at Diane, who just smiled with her eyebrows pushed up obviously awaiting an answer. “Thank you, I’d love to.”

I took them to an off-campus coffee shop that was a bit of a secret. I had stumbled across it down one of the back streets last year. It was cheaper and had better coffee than any of the others and it was a bit of an arty hangout too with poetry nights, art exhibitions and the like. I had heard it was nicknamed Hippie Heaven; well, if they serve coffee that good there, I’ll book my ticket now. We talked about our various courses, our interests, the clubs we belonged to. After, I walked them both back to their halls and thanked them for the coffee and company.

The next few weeks followed a similar pattern. Christina and Diane would come to the home matches, often with different partners in tow. This pissed me off; what did they have that I didn’t, what was I doing wrong? They would be in the clubhouse after the match but often slip off without much of a word. I was definitely missing something; they were all chatty elsewhere but barely said anything at or after the games. During the week, I would see them in the library and we would sometimes go for coffee after. Sometimes she needed my help with a topic. We would get so engrossed, I nearly missed training one time trying to sort it out.

One time, her study group were all struggling with a topic. Christina came over and asked if I could help. I was glad to but didn’t feel I was welcomed by all; there was one girl who spent the time giving me filthy looks. You’re welcome.

The last time they brought anyone to watch a match was funny. I had been dragged up to lead the singing, just for a change. As was often the way, as the Choirmaster I was the first one naked. That many people here had seen me in my birthday suit, I sometimes wondered if anyone would notice if I just didn’t get dressed after a game. The other side of this coin was that I never felt awkward walking around the bar with nothing on. Probably the early signs of the exhibitionist in me.

I started ‘Dinah’ and Rob escorted Diane up to me as I sang; he mimed out what was going on. Before saying more, the only time Rob touched her was when he took her hand to lead her up to where I was singing; the closest he got during the song was about two or three inches. We may have gained a reputation as the perverts of the nation, but we didn’t believe in molesting people without permission. When the chorus came around:

Dinah, Dinah
Show us your leg,
Show us your leg,
Show us your leg,
Dinah, Dinah
Show us your leg
A yard above the knee.

Rob, kneeling before her, raised his hand up her leg a little further at each ‘Show us your leg’ until at ‘A yard above the knee’ it was just higher than the zip in her jeans. Her boyfriend of the day got up and stormed out and I noticed Christina’s beau getting up and it looked like he was telling her to go with him. He didn’t see Matt and Andy as they walked either side of him and sat down next to her.

Fortunately, this song can be as long or as short as you want really, so when I saw something happening around where Christina was and then heard, “Be a fucking slag then, stay here, let them gangbang you. Don’t worry, I’ll warn my friends that you two slappers have probably got disease ridden cunts!” I wound up the song and strolled over to see what was wrong.

I saw Matt twitch in his seat and Andy put his hand on Christina’s arm. Neither did any more as they saw me approaching. “Problem?”

Tina

Diane’s friend had gotten quite antsy when Rob had asked her to participate in the next song. He had not realised that the rugby team had started to accept us a part of the crowd of regular supporters. I hadn’t realised just how much we had been accepted. When the song started and they started playing out the actions, he really got the hump and stormed out. His friend wanted to go too but when Matt and Andy sat down, he started to get angry. The rugby players had only known Diane and I a few weeks and yet they had accepted us. Now when I might have felt threatened or intimidated, they stepped in without a word. It was that day that I understood something else I felt around Luke and his friends. Safe.

When he unloaded and threatened to start spreading malicious gossip, I noticed Luke look over again. By the time he had finished his tirade, Luke was at his side and the bar had fallen into silence. “Problem?”

I had to suppress a chuckle as he looked down at Luke. He was taller by a few inches and fully clothed, yet Luke stood looking up at him as naked as the day he was born, looking far more comfortable.

Before any more was said, Andy was at his side, even taller still. Andy put his hand on his shoulder and said, “If I were you, I would apologise to the lady and fuck off.”

“It’s easy for you with all your pals around. So a bunch of you can bully me, big fucking men. How about midget here step outside and take me one to one? He seems to be the one with the problem!”

“My advice is based off the fact that I would not want to piss Luke off, even as much as you have. If he decides to go for you, he’s on his own, but so will you be. If it was Luke and me, he still wouldn’t need any help. Just don’t say you weren’t warned.” At that, Andy put his hands up, looked at me and smiled and walked away.

“Well? You gonna start? You wanna step outside away from your biiig friends?” he asked putting an emphasis on ‘big’. Luke had still not said any more, he just looked him up and down, then turned his back to him.

Addressing me he asked again, “Problem?”

I shook my head nervously. I thought the wrong word spoken at this point could have huge repercussions.

“Perhaps you’ll let me buy you a drink. Lager?”

I nodded and he walked off to the bar.

Matt looked at Diane’s friend and said, “My advice is, leave. You’re not welcome anymore. If you’re still here when Luke gets back, the chances are he’ll throw you out. Literally.”

I know the word is used now as an emphasis and many other incorrect ways, but this is what nearly happened. Diane’s friend had remained stubborn. When Luke put my drink on the table, he smiled and winked. Luke stood up and turned and faced Diane’s friend, he paused to give him one last chance, then with a single hand to his chest, pushed him. As he staggered backwards, Luke grabbed his collar and waistband and said, “Here, let me help you.”

He hauled up on the waistband and carried him to the door. I jumped up and trotted over and put my hand on Luke’s arm. He looked at me, then back at his luggage who looked back up, past Luke’s nakedness. I had to suppress a snigger at the surrealism of his position.

Then with his penis hanging just over Diane’s friend's face, Luke addressed him, “If I see you again, I will step outside with you and I will, how did you put it? ‘Start’. If I start, I will finish.” Luke emphasised ‘will’ each time he said it and I swear he lifted a little each time too. He took one more look at me, then put Diane’s friend down gently, standing him up and straightened his clothes for him. “See ya.”

Luke then turned his back fully to him; putting his hand in the middle of my back, he guided me back to my seat. I discovered later that this was a no-win challenge to some men. If you attacked, you were a coward for doing it while the back was turned, if you didn’t then everyone knew you were beaten, because you couldn’t even summon the courage to be a coward. He had laid down the challenge twice now with no response.

Diane had seen all this. I found out later Rob had held her back from coming over, telling her to let them, the players, deal with it. As I sat down, Matt leant over and said, “If your friend,” his voice dripping with sarcasm, “has any sense, he’ll stay away.” He winked at me and patting my knee, said, “You and Diane, you’re always welcome here. I’ll see you around.”

As he got up Diane sat down and hugged me saying she was sorry for the pair of ‘pricks’ as she put it. I told her it was fine; in fact, I found it funny. Luke had gotten dressed and came over to apologise for throwing my friend out, but he would not tolerate anyone taking that attitude for no reason.

He then said, “Christina, would it be possible to take you out for dinner sometime, you know, just the two of us?”

“On one condition.” I felt an elbow in my ribs from Diane after I said this.

“Erm, sure.”

“You stop calling me Christina and start calling me Tina. Like all my friends do.”

With a sheepish smile, he said, “I didn’t like to presume. Perhaps tomorrow? I’ll pick you up at eight?” As I nodded, he hefted his bag onto his shoulder, “Great, I’ll see you then, bye. Bye, Diane.” And was gone.

“Told you,” said Diane, “though I think he’s just as nervous, see how he scurried off?”

“How can you say that? He bought me a drink and threw out one of your friends all while naked. What’s he got to be nervous about?”

Diane just smiled.

Luke

I’d done it. I’d bitten the bullet and she’d said yes. I couldn’t believe it; she always seemed to have a different guy with her. I could see why; she was beautiful. That sounds awful; it is meant to show that she is a person people want to be with.

I had dressed semi-smart, a pair of Chinos and a polo shirt, but felt like a tramp when she came out. She was dressed how I would imagine a 1950’s schoolgirl would, a bit like someone out of one of the slew of films that had come out recently set then. A pair of white plimsoles and ankle socks beneath a calf length flared teal coloured skirt, a white round-neck t-shirt and to top it off she had a teal scarf tied around her neck. I escorted her to the car, opening the door for her.

This might be where my experience with the area gave me an advantage. As with the coffee shop, I knew of a little restaurant tucked away from the centre of town that did all home cooking and not too expensive either. We had a lovely meal and got to know each other better. Tina had a wonderful sense of humour and she was extremely quick-witted with it. Every time she asked me something it was as if I was the only person in the world. I could not lie to her either as her eyes felt like they were touching my soul.

Some of the conversation was a little uncomfortable for me.

“Luke, do you mind me asking why you asked me out?” I learned over the years this question came from an insecurity that was deep-seated in Tina.

“Well, the very first thing I noticed about you was your eyes, they are wonderful. But it’s not just them, you’re a beautiful young lady and I’ve always enjoyed our interactions. I hope you won’t take it the wrong way, but some of the guys I’ve seen you hanging around with, well… Please tell me if I am out of order, but you could do so much better than them.”

I realised how that might come across, “I don’t mean that I am so much better, just that I might…” I lost my thread at this point but was saved by Tina putting her hand on mine and smiling and nodding.

“It’s okay,” she said.

“I forgot to thank you. If you had not been there yesterday, I may well have taken your friend outside and hurt him badly. I know I would have regretted it, but I couldn’t have anyone talk to you like that. When you put your hand on my arm, I felt suddenly at peace and this was the final piece of the puzzle, I knew then I had to ask you out.

“Honestly, I was scared you’d say no,” I knew I was avoiding eye contact. “After what happened yesterday,” I looked her in the eye now, feeling my bile rising, “I was so angry at that arsehole, sorry, your friend, talking to you like that. I knew you deserved better and if I didn’t step in then someone else would and I would have hated myself for it. If I could just get one chance…” I got lost again. Tina squeezed my hand.

“If I hadn’t been there, he wouldn’t have either and you are right, he wasn’t a friend before and certainly won’t be now.” She chuckled. “Do you know that your friend, Rob, asked Diane to bring dates along to the matches to purposely try and upset you?”

“That doesn’t surprise me. It worked. Talking to you now, it feels like we have both been circling around each other.” Tina looked down and nodded her head; it was my turn to squeeze her hand. “Are we a pair of idiots or what?”

For some reason, Tina seemed a little annoyed at this, “No, we may have been slow or a little foolish, but you are not an idiot! Sorry.” 

After we finished, we took a walk through the town centre watching other students doing their thing and it still felt like just the two of us. I got her home by eleven thirty and when she got out of the car, she thanked me and as I leaned down to kiss her cheek, she turned her head and it was lip to lip. We paused, not kissing, just our lips touching, looking at each other for a couple of seconds. When we broke away, she smiled shyly and said goodnight.

I couldn’t have imagined a more perfect night with a more perfect woman. My trouble now was how could she want to go out with me again. I didn’t let this spoil my mood for at least two days. The guys gave me the usual cross-examination when I got in. Rob told me that he had found out from Diane last night that all these men were setups by her as Tina was quite shy. I didn’t mention Rob’s hand in some of them. She had also said that she, Diane, had only had one relationship since they had been there that had gone beyond a few dates and had involved sex. Tina, on the other hand, had not been out with anyone properly. I read that as it didn’t bode well for me either; she could do so much better than me.

Tina

“It was a wonderful night. He was the perfect gentleman. He took me to a quaint little restaurant tucked in the back streets, then we took a walk through town.”

“And?”

“And then he bought me home.”

“And?”

I felt my face go red, “And we had a quick kiss when he dropped me off.”

“Details, girl, details. Were there tongues? Did he clean your throat?”

I threw a pillow at Diane, “You’re horrid, you know that?” She just laughed. “No, no tongues, but something sparked. He went to kiss my cheek, but I turned my head. No, by accident. The actual kiss was over in a flash, but we froze with our lips touching. It was like nothing I ever felt before.”

Diane hugged me and kissed me on the cheek, “Maybe he can see what I can too. Night night, try and get some sleep.” She kissed me again and turned and went back to her room.

Next day, I was with my study group in the library when Luke walked in. He barely acknowledged me and when he did Paula got my attention, so it was only for a fraction of a second. When we were finished, Luke was gone; I hadn’t seen him go but we had been working hard. Tuesday night I was alone. Luke didn’t show up; I guessed he had a lot of training to do but I was upset that he hadn’t made time to speak to me since Sunday.

Luke

On Wednesday as I walked out of my last lecture, Diane was waiting for me.

“Is there a problem?” she asked with no attempt to hide her ambivalence.

“With?”

“Tina.”

“Actually…” I started.

“Not here, let’s go for a walk.”

We went outside and headed toward the park outside and it wasn’t until we got there that she spoke again.

“Well?”

I stopped and looked at her. Looking back, I think what an idiot I was, but it was perfectly sensible at the time.

“The problem is, Tina is too perfect.”

Diane looked stunned, “What?”

“She’s beautiful. I knew she was before Sunday, but I found out she is a beautiful person inside too. If I had died after dropping her off, I would have died happy. I know that sounds soppy, but it’s how I feel. The problem is, I’ve been scared to ask her out again. If she said no, it would devastate me. If she said yes, I would be scared I had built her up too much and be disappointed. I was hoping you would be with her last night in the library, then I could have asked you both for a coffee, you know, take all the pressure off.”

“She said you weren’t there last night.”

I looked at the ground; it was like being cross-examined by my mother. “I saw she was alone and sort of bottled it.”

Diane burst out laughing. “You silly bugger. The reason I ambushed you was to find out why you hadn’t asked her out. The penny still hasn’t dropped, has it? Guess where Tina is tonight.”

“Once you asked if there was a problem with Tina, it started to drop. I’m not used to these feelings. I have a history and that has taught me to take my time processing new feelings. She’s usually at the gym on a Wednesday.” Diane nodded, knowingly.

“It’s quite telling that you know and she’s hoping you’ll be there and that you’ll at least talk to her.” Diane looked me in the eyes for a second.

“Will you please go and do something, talk to her, ask her out again or let her down, but please do something! She has been moping about like a lost puppy all happy on Sunday, but miserable since Monday night. If you are going to let her down, be gentle, or I won’t.” This time, it was an icy stare she fixed me with; it was comforting knowing that Tina had such a good friend.

I hung my head thinking until Diane sparked me into life. “Go, you silly fuck! Do you know how many men at that gym eye her up? Do you want any of those lugs hitting on her?”

Tina

I had been at the gym for about ten minutes when George came over trying to give me a few pointers. It was very nice of him until he started to get a bit hands-on. I told him I would be okay from there, but he insisted on continuing to help. I was about to give up when he suddenly looked up and made his apologies and went back to what he was working on. As I watched him, I didn’t see this other person approach from the side.

“Can we grab a coffee? I’d like to have a chat with you,” was whispered in my ear.

I looked round straight into those sad green eyes, “I’d love to, Luke, just let me get showered and changed.”

I set an all-time record; I was showered and changed and in reception in less than fifteen minutes. As I walked out, I saw Luke pacing by the door. Rob walked in and Luke barely spoke to him. As Rob walked toward the changing room, he looked at me, then back over his shoulder and said, “Be gentle with him.” This caught me off guard; it was the last thing I was expecting.

As I got to Luke, he bent to take my bag out of my hand. I misinterpreted this and thought he was going to kiss me, so returned it and kissed his cheek. He put his hand on it as if he had been stung and looked at me for a second before smiling.

“I’m sorry,” he said, “can we get out of here?” This did nothing to settle my nerves.

We went to his little coffee shop and there he told of Diane accosting him and asked if I really did want to go out again.

“I’m here, aren’t I?” Maybe a bit terse, but I wondered what had happened to the man I had fallen for.

“Dinner?” It was only a light meal from the coffee shop, but the company was perfect. He walked me back, not just to the halls this time, but to my room. We had agreed to go out Friday for a little dinner and dancing and I said I’d like to go with him to his match on Saturday, which was at another university, though not too far away.  At my door, he kissed me goodnight, first on the cheek, then after looking in my eyes, on my lips. There was that pause again; this time, however, he ran his tongue along my lips. Just as I was about to open my mouth to welcome him, he pulled back. Putting his hand on my cheek he looked at me, studying my eyes, then said, “Thank you.”

Luke waited until I was through my door before turning. I closed it and leant against it, happy at how things had turned out. I heard someone knocking on Diane’s door and then, “Luke! What do you want?”

I looked through the peep-hole. Luke was talking to Diane.

“Sorry, hope I’m not interrupting. Just wanted to say thanks and hopefully, I was gentle enough.”

“What?” I heard panic in Diane’s voice.

“Well, she did say yes to coffee tonight and to dinner and dancing on Friday.”

“Git!”

“I try, thanks, Di, see ya.” I cringed when he said that, but I thought he knew exactly what he was doing. As soon as he said it, he turned with a big grin on his face and walked--well, it was just about a walk, closer to a skip--away. I opened my door as Diane ran across to my room. She burst in and grabbed me and gave me the biggest hug ever.

When she broke off, she said, “Though enjoy it while you can, if he ever, EVER, calls me Di again, that’s what he’s going to do.

“Now tell me all about it!”

I did. I told her how frustrating it was; I was expecting him to grab my hand and drag me through this whole thing, but we were as bad as each other when it came to us. I told how I nearly screamed when just as it seemed like he was pushing forward with the kiss and I was about to reciprocate, he finished it. One thing that surprised me was her wanting to come along on Saturday, but as she put it, the scenery wasn’t bad. I think she just had a thing for naked men.

A thank you for proofreading to cbears 52

And as always to the moderators for all their help and support.

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