Chapter Three
Sami stood outside the bathroom door, her arms crossed over her chest impatiently as she waited for Lucas to get out of the shower. It had been already been a week since Brady and Nicole had moved into Lucas' apartment. Will had moved into Kate's apartment because Brady had told Sami it was absolutely necessary for Will not to be around while the bet was on. He figured that might give Sami an unfair advantage.
"God, he is such a girl." Sami muttered to herself, "How long does a guy have to take in the shower anyway?"
A few minutes later, the door to the bathroom opened and Lucas stepped out into the kitchen. Sami tried to glare at him but her dark gaze faltered when she saw what he was wearing. Actually, it was more like what he was not wearing. That towel. That God damn towel slung around his tips, the knot in the side ready to slip out at any minute. Sami had thought the nightmare of the towel was finally over but no, she had to go through it all over again. Usually he changed in the bathroom so she didn't have to deal with the towel but today was different.
"It took you long enough." Sami snapped, trying to keep her eyes on his face and not let them trail down his chest to the scrap of cloth barely covering him, "And what did I tell you about running around in your underwear? You know I don't like that."
Lucas looked down, as if he had just become aware of his scantily clad figure, "I was only in there ten minutes." he argued, "And this is not my underwear."
"No, it's worse." Sami replied, wishing that little strip of white fluffy material didn't bother her so much. But it did bother her, in the worst way possible. If she was going to win this bet, Lucas could not walk around in that towel. Or his underwear, "Why don't you go put some clothes on and spare me the torture of having to look at you in that disgusting state of undress?"
He shot her a dirty look, "I was going to go get dressed. But I left some of my clothes at my apartment and I need to go get them."
"Well, go then." Sami followed him over to the door, "And change over there because I don't want to see you in that anymore. Go inflict pain on Brady and Nicole now. I've already had to look at you in that, now it's their turn."
"Do you really mean that?" Lucas gave her a mock-hurt look, "What happened to you gushing over my six pack abs and rippling biceps?"
Sami rolled her eyes, "I never gushed over you." she pushed him over to the door, "Now, go get dressed."
Lucas stepped outside the door and Sami shut the door behind him. Unfortunately for Lucas, Sami shut the door a little too quickly and part of Lucas' towel got stuck in the door. Sami noticed the little piece of cloth stuck in the crack of the door and heard the ripping sound outside the door. Unable to stop herself, she opened the door a tiny bit and yanked the towel into the apartment. She shut the door and locked it behind her, leaving Lucas outside the apartment without a stitch of clothing on.
Lucas stood there in horror as he heard the door lock. She stole his towel, the little wench. He began knocking on the door loudly.
"Sami, this is not funny!" he almost shouted, praying no one would come out of their apartments and see him, "Open the door right now!"
He heard Sami on the other side of the door, "That's what you get for walking around in a towel." she told him. He knocked even louder on the door but Sami would not open the door. He stopped knocking long enough to look down the hallway to see if anyone had spotted him yet. Not yet. Suddenly he heard Sami giggling hysterically on the other side of the door.
"Sami, are you laughing at me? Do you really think this is funny? Dammit, please just open the door! I'm sorry, I'll never walk around in a towel ever again, just don't leave me out here."
When he realized she wasn't going to open the door, Lucas went across the hall and decided to try to get into his own apartment. If it was unlocked, he could try to grab some clothes without Brady or Nicole seeing him. It was better than standing outside and having to depend on Sami to let him back inside. But the door was locked.
He began knocking on his own apartment door, "Brady? Nicole? I need in right now."
"We're busy." Nicole yelled, "Come back later." she lowered her voice but Lucas could still make out what she was saying, "No, Brady, I don't want to play that one. Let's play this game instead. Jan says this game is great. She made her and Shawn on The Sims and then she made them fall in love and make babies."
Lucas grimaced when he realized what they were doing and pounded on the door, "Can you pull yourself away from Will's computer games for one second to let me in? And don't you have anything better to do than sit around playing those games?"
"Nope." Nicole called cheerfully, "And no, we can't pull ourselves away. You'll just have to wait until we're good and ready to let you in."
Lucas gave up on Brady and Nicole and went back to pounding on Sami's door. Sami sat near the door, trying to decide how long she should leave him out there. Maybe she should wait until someone called the cops on him for indecent exposure. But for indecent exposure, she had a feeling it would be very..... decent. The idea that Lucas was standing outside, with absolutely nothing on was making her very fidgety. But not because the idea of seeing him naked turned her on or anything. No, she just thought it was hilarious that he was stuck out there.
Lucas pounded on the door even harder, kicking it with his foot a couple times for good measure, "I am going to kill you if you don't let me in right now!"
A door a little ways down the hall opened and two girls stepped out into the hall. They looked like were about fifteen or sixteen and were wearing matching scowls on their faces.
"Do you mind? Some people actually enjoy peace and quiet." the first girl said, her eyes flashing indignantly. She didn't seem to comprehend the fact that Lucas was stark naked until a few seconds after the sentence came out of her mouth. Lucas stepped behind a large plant so that the two girls couldn't see him. The second girl, the one that hadn't spoke yet, just gaped at him.
He managed a weak smile, "Sorry about that. It's just that this........ person pushed me out of her apartment and stole my towel. I'll be quiet from now on."
"I hope so." the first girl rolled her eyes, "Everyone on this floor is so noisy. Maybe we should do our homework at your house next time, Kylie."
Kylie nodded, not taking her eyes off Lucas, "Maybe. Um, do you want us to go find you something to cover-up with?" she asked him. Lucas smiled gratefully.
"That would be a big help." he told her.
"Okay." Kylie turned to her friend, "Come on, Amy, let's go find him something to wear." as soon as they were out of earshot of Lucas, Kyle whispered to Amy, "Wow, if my creepy stalker ex-boyfriend could look that good without any clothes on, maybe I wouldn't mind him stalking me so much."
Sami fumed inwardly after hearing Lucas' conversation with those two girls. How dare they ruin her fun. Now he wasn't going to be stuck outside her apartment naked anymore. But the girls hadn't returned yet. A very unclothed Lucas is still standing outside my door, Sami thought to herself, Talk about eye candy. Eye candy? She was really losing it. She had to put a stop to these thoughts and the only way she could do that was by giving him his towel back and letting him back inside her apartment. Besides, she didn't want anyone trying to steal her eye candy. Dammit, why did she keep thinking of Lucas as eye candy? Reluctantly she got up and went over to the door. She opened it a tiny bit and shoved the towel through the opening, not looking at Lucas. I don't want to look, she told herself stubbornly, I really don't.
Lucas had the towel back in place when he re-entered the apartment. He glowered at Sami, the fury in his eyes so intense that Sami backed away from him, into the kitchen.
"That was a terrible thing to do, Sami." he said in a low voice, "Now I need to make you pay."
"H-how?" she stammered, backing up until the backs of her thighs were pressed against the counter. Lucas continued advancing on her, then stopped.
"I haven't decided yet." he replied, scratching the back of his neck and suddenly grinning at up her, "Why did you do that, Sami?"
"Do what?" she squeaked out as he took another step towards her.
"Steal my towel? Did you really want to get it away from me that badly?" Lucas asked, smirking at her.
"No." she whispered.
"I think you're lying. I think you wanted to see. Because you know you'd like it." Lucas mocked her, standing so close to her she was leaning backwards over the counter to put some distance between them.
"You conceited bastard! Why would I want to see you without a towel when you're so......" her voice trailed off as colourful adjectives filled her mind. Perfect. Gorgeous. Edible. They were adjectives and they were pretty accurate but she wasn't going to use any of those out loud. Although a part of her wondered how Lucas would react if she did.
"Annoying." she finished, dropping her eyes to the floor.
"That's why you're getting so freaked out." Lucas went on, "Because you know you'd like it and you don't know how to handle that. Right?"
"I think that's just what you're going to keep telling yourself so that you can have the illusion that someone actually wants you." Sami muttered.
Lucas moved about an inch closer, "You can take it off if you want."
Sami's eyes widened as she pulled her head up to look at him, "What did you just say?"
Lucas looked down at the little white towel, "Go ahead. Pull the towel off. You know you want to."
"You're crazy." she said, feeling her face heat up. Her fingers were gripping the counter behind her so tightly, it was probably branding her skin but she couldn't let go. If she did, she might do something she'd regret. Like punch Lucas in the face. Or maybe she wouldn't be able to resist pulling that towel off of him like he had given her permission to do.
"Come on, Sami. I dare you." the infuriating smirk didn't leave his face. Sami could tell he knew how much his words were affecting her. She gripped the counter even tighter to keep her hands from shaking. She could smell his aftershave, he was so close. Everything in the apartment was so quiet she could hear Lucas' soft breathing and the rapidly pulsating beat of her heart.
"What's the matter? Are you scared?" he asked her. Sami opened her mouth to protest, then closed it. She wasn't scared, she just didn't want to meet Little Lucas so abruptly. She still couldn't believe Lucas was asking her to rip his towel off. He was still smirking at her and finally realization struck for Sami. Lucas might not even want her to do it, he just knew her too well. He knew she wouldn't do it. Or at least, he thought he knew she wouldn't do it. And that irritate her. She could do it. She could kiss him too, she could kiss him without getting hot and bothered.
Before Lucas could say another word, their lips were joined. Sami was kissing him. He shut his eyes, concentrating on how good that pair of lush, sweet lips felt against his own. Sami's tongue slipped into his mouth as her hands inched down his chest slowly and deliberately. It felt like an electrical current was flowing through him as Sami circled his own tongue with hers. He suddenly felt cold air hit newly uncovered areas of his body and he was vaguely aware of the sound of the towel dropping to the floor softly. Oh my God, I can't believe she actually did that, Lucas thought, stifling a groan as her hands moved back up to the top of his chest, then began making their way lower once again. She was such a tease. But that didn't matter as long as in the end she-
A knock at the door startled Sami and Lucas, "Sami?" Brady's voice filtered through the door, "I need to talk to you about something."
The ecstasy Sami had been feeling from the kiss she and Lucas had been sharing quickly dissipated, replaced by a feeling of panic instead. Lucas was staring at her with a slightly dazed expression on his face, his lips glistening with moisture from the kiss the two of them had just exchanged. She snatched the towel off the floor and handed it to him, then pushed him into the bathroom.
"Stay in there." she ordered him, then pressed a hand to her cheek. It was unusually warm. She hoped Brady wouldn't think anything of it when she opened the door. She smoothed her hair back in place as she rushed over to meet Brady. She didn't know whether to be angry or grateful for the interruption. She had only kissed Lucas to prove him wrong, to wipe that annoying little smirk off his face. But then she had kissed him and she hadn't been able to stop herself from feeling the overwhelming physical need created by the feeling of Lucas' ravenous mouth and hands touching her. Bad sign. Maybe it really was impossible to kiss Lucas without getting all hot and bothered. She could still taste his mint-flavoured mouthwash in her mouth. And she didn't mind a bit. Another very bad sign. She had to stop thinking about Lucas in that way or she would have to marry Brady. There was no way in hell she was going to let that happen.