Chapter 23

“So, what do you think the next assignment is going to be?” Lucky asked, settling into his seat the following Monday.

Liz shrugged. “Beats me. I’m almost afraid to ask.”

“Mrs. Spencer?” Ms. Kraft asked, looking towards the back of the room.

“Ugh,” Liz muttered. She hated having to answer to that name. “Yes, Ms. Kraft?”

“Is there something you and your husband would like to share with the rest of the class?”

“Um, no, we were just wondering what the next assignment was going to be,” she explained quietly as Lucky watched her, amused.

“I will get to that later, so please try to refrain from talking in class again.” She went back to the blackboard and continued the lesson, as Lucky smirked at Liz. She shot him an evil glare and went back to taking notes. Why was she the one getting in trouble when they were both talking? He had started it, anyway.

When class was nearly over, she assigned the next part of the project. They were supposed to make up a budget. They had 2 weeks to come up with a reasonable budget that incorporated everything that a married couple would have to spend money on.

“Great,” Liz muttered to herself. “More chances for him to throw his $60,000 a year in my face.” The bell rang, and she stood up to gather her books, still ignoring Lucky. She started to leave the classroom when he grabbed her elbow.

“Look, I’m sorry you got in trouble back there, but are you going to stop speaking to me for the rest of the semester?”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine, I’ll speak to you again, but only because I have to. Just don’t talk to me in class anymore, okay?”

“Mr. and Mrs. Spencer?” Ms. Kraft approached them with their folder from the second assignment. “Once again, you’ve done a wonderful job.” They thanked her and took the folder. Once they were outside of the room, Lucky opened it and grinned.

“What do you know? Another A!”

She stared at him in shock. “You’re kidding, right?” He shook his head, and she squealed. She almost hugged him like she did last time, but managed to restrain herself.

He laughed. “You know, you can hug me if you want.”

She frowned at him. “Trust me, I don’t want to hug you. I’m just excited. Two A’s in a row is a big thing for me.”

“Do you want to celebrate again?” he asked.

“You mean, like we did at Luke’s?” she laughed. “Sorry, I don’t think so. Somehow I don’t consider being teased by your friends to be big fun.”

He shrugged. “Fine, then we won’t invite them along this time. I think we’re mature enough to be able to go out together without it being a date, don’t you?”

She eyed him suspiciously, wondering what he was up to. “What did you have in mind?”

“Do you like ribs?”

She made a face. “Aren’t they awfully messy?”

He nodded and smiled. “Yep. Not exactly date food, right? So, we won’t have to feel like it’s any more than two friends eating together.” He looked proud of himself for thinking of it, and she couldn’t help smiling.

“You think you’re pretty smart, don’t you? Anyway, since when are we friends? I thought we couldn’t stand each other?”

“Hey, we’re stuck together for the entire semester. The least we can do is try to get along. It makes working together much easier when we aren’t at each other’s throats all the time, don’t you think?”

She shrugged. He had a point. “Okay, I guess it’s worth a shot. I’m not working tonight, so do you want to meet there, or what?”

He shook his head. “Nah. I’ll pick you up at 7.” He handed her their folder and walked down the hall to his next class. She quickly headed off to hers, wondering what she had just gotten herself into.

~*~

“Just like a woman, not ready on time,” he muttered, waiting for her to answer the door. It was 7:02, and he had been standing out there for 5 minutes.

“Excuse me?” she asked from behind him, causing him to spin around in alarm. She stood there with a large orange cat in her arms, waiting for an explanation.

“What are you doing out here?” he asked.

“Gatsby ran off again, and I came out to look for him. It took longer than I expected, so I’m sorry if I wasn’t answering the door. For your information, I was ready 20 minutes ago!” she answered bitterly. She stalked past him and went inside, depositing Gatsby on the sofa. She grabbed her coat and purse off of the table and quickly returned outside, where Lucky was still standing.

“Okay, let’s go,” she said, heading over to his car. They got in and backed out of the driveway.

“So what is this place?” she asked, trying to start some sort of conversation.

“It’s called Eli’s, and they’ve got the best ribs in the world. My Dad and I go there all time, especially when Mom’s not home. He can’t cook.”

“Can you?” she asked. He looked at her, not understanding the question. “Can you cook?”

“Oh, yeah, a little, but I don’t like to when I can avoid it. It’s easier to just get take-out.”

A few minutes later they arrived at Eli’s. “Well, you were right, this definitely won’t be mistaken as a date place,” Liz noted as they entered the small restaurant.

He chuckled. “I know, it’s a little greasy, but trust me. The food is outstanding.” They sat in a booth and ordered. While they were waiting for their food, they chatted about school and other random things.

Finally, the waitress came with their orders. Before they began to eat, Lucky raised his soda glass and motioned for Liz to do the same. She rolled her eyes and picked it up. ‘To another A,” Lucky said, clinking his glass with hers. She giggled at how silly he was as she took a drink.

They dug into their ribs in silence, making a huge mess of themselves. Lucky looked up and noticed that she had a big blob of barbecue sauce on her cheek. and chuckled.

“What?” she asked, noticing that he was staring at her.

He rubbed his cheek to motion for her to rub hers. “You’ve got some sauce on your face.” She quickly wiped the wrong cheek and looked back at him.

“Did I get it?”

“No, it’s the other side.” She tried again, but kept missing it. Finally he took his napkin and leaned across the table to wipe off the sauce. He gently dabbed at her cheek until he got all of it.

“There, all gone.” There was suddenly an uncomfortable tension between them and they continued to eat in silence, trying to ignore it.

Lucky looked up a few minutes later to find Liz studying him. “What? Do I have something on my face this time?”

She nodded and reached across the table, gingerly wiping his bottom lip with her thumb. There was a slight jolt of electricity between them as soon as she made contact, and their eyes locked for a moment. She quickly wiped her thumb on her napkin and cleared her throat, looking away “Got it.” She looked back up and found that he was still looking at her.

He slowly ran his tongue along his bottom lip, as if to get any lingering sauce, his eyes still locked with hers. They were snapped out of their trance when the waitress approached the table with their check.

“Will that be all?” she asked politely.

“Um...yeah, I think we’re done,” Lucky answered, quickly looking at the check. Liz looked down as soon as he broke their gaze. She dug out her wallet and put some cash on the table.

“What’s that for?” he asked, still trying to recover.

“My food. This isn’t a date, remember? I can pay for myself.”

He knew she wasn’t going to budge on that, so he paid the difference and they left. The car was filled with an uncomfortable silence on the ride back to her house. They both couldn’t stop thinking about what happened, but they were also too stubborn to talk about it. He dropped her off, watched her go inside, then quickly drove home, wondering what had just happened.

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