Get Lucky: A YA Anthology Page 22
“You’re going to make her puke,” Hunter said to Colin.
Colin smiled. “I have that effect on girls.”
Hunter laughed. “Yes, yes you do.”
“Bye, Colin,” I said, deciding not to wave because, combined with walking, it required too much eye hand coordination.
“Bye, love,” Colin called out before flopping back into his chair.
Hunter came up beside me, and rested a gentle hand on my lower back. “You got this?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I don’t know if you know this, but I’m a master walker.” I gave him a wink, trying to be sexy, but, in doing so, I lost my footing and tumbled to the ground with a thud.
Laughter rose from behind me, so I jumped up like a Jack in the box and held my arms up high. “I’m okay,” I declared, and everyone clapped. Everyone except for Hunter.
“You need to sober up, or we’ll be damned to the house for the rest of the week. And I don’t know about you, but that is not how I want to spend my Spring Break.”
How ironic, because that was exactly how I intended to spend my Spring Break before tonight. Now that I was here with Hunter and his friends, it was the last thing I wanted. I wasn’t sure if Hunter would invite me out again, wasn’t even sure why he invited me in the first place, but I knew I wanted to spend more time with him and his friends if the opportunity arose. They were fun, and made me realize how much I was missing by having my nose constantly in a book. I also just wanted to be near Hunter. We hadn’t spent much time together, but something about him made me feel… happy. It was definitely a feeling I wanted to explore more.
I took a deep breath, and focused all my energy on being sober. “I’m good,” I announced, and started to walk, but the ground was still broken, causing me to lean slightly to my right.
“I’m sure you are,” he said, and wrapped his arm around my waist, helping to straighten me out.
I rested my head against his shoulder, and smiled up at him. He felt so good, and I wanted to stay snuggled up against him like that forever. “Thanks for being nice to me.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“I already did,” I whispered, and then started giggling uncontrollably.
“That’s cute,” he said softly.
I blinked up at him, trying to see past my heavy eyelids. “What’s cute?”
He ran a hand through his sandy brown hair, almost as if he didn’t expect me to hear him. “Your laugh.”
“Really? Because I always thought I sounded like a mix between a goat and a snorting pig.”
His lips curved up into the most adorable smile, and he reached out tucking a dirty blonde strand behind my ear. His finger skimmed my lobe, causing an involuntary shiver to run up my spine. It was like one of those moments in a movie when everything fades away, and all you could see was each other. Right now, all I could see was Hunter. The way his blue eyes sparkled as if they had their own light source reflecting off of them. How the strong lines of his jaw made him look older, and set him apart from all the other boys I knew. And how the way he was looking at me right now both scared and excited me.
His hand dropped to his side, and he stepped toward the Jeep, leaving me alone in our moment. “Okay, let’s get you in.” He opened the door of the Jeep, and helped me get into the passenger seat. He grabbed the seatbelt and reached across me. His fingers grazed my stomach, shooting chills through my body and leaving goosebumps in their path. A guy never elicited that reaction from me, and I didn’t know if it was the booze or if it was simply just him.
It was a strange combination of excitement and nervousness that made my head spin and my stomach flutter.
He clicked the seatbelt into place and slowly pulled his hand away. I felt his breath against my ear as his head lingered near mine for the briefest of seconds. That short moment felt like an eternity, yet at the same time was not long enough. Feeling him so close caused a jolt of awareness to spread through me. My cheeks heated, as my stomach continued to flutter like someone released a bunch of wild birds in there. A visible spark might not have ignited between us, but it sure as heck felt like it.
He shut my door, and walked around to the driver’s side. He opened his door, and stretched his arm across to the steering wheel, using it to pull himself in. I tried not to stare at the way his bicep flexed at the motion, but I couldn’t get myself to look away.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine,” I blurted out, as I turned my head away from him. “Why wouldn’t I be? I’m good. Great. Peachy.”
He laughed. “You just looked weird for a second. I wanted to make sure you weren’t going to puke on the floor.”
“Oh. I’m not. I mean, I won’t.” I rested my head against the headrest, and closed my eyes, willing myself to stop talking.
The only sound was the tires rolling over the gravel as Hunter put the truck in reverse and pulled out. “How long have you known everyone?” I asked. “It seems like you’ve known them forever.”
“I met everyone when I was thirteen. It was the first summer I was allowed to do anything without my parents tailing me, and I took the canoe out on the lake. Dylan and Mason spotted me, called me over for whatever reason, and the rest is history.”
“I envy you,” I said.
“Me? Why?”
“First of all, I would have turned that canoe around and went the other way. I wouldn’t have had the guts to just roll up on people I didn’t know.”
“Sometimes, risks are worth taking.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“What’s the other thing?”
“What other thing?”
“You said, first of all, so I assume there’s more.”
“Right.” I fidgeted with my hands, knowing what I wanted to say, but not sure how I should convey it.
“You guys only see each other for small snippets of the year, yet it’s as if you spend every day together. I don’t even have that with my friends who I’m with all the time.”
“Sometimes you meet people and it just clicks, you know?”
His eyes met mine, and that spark that lit every time he looked at me ignited. A few days ago, I would not have understood what he meant, but now… “I do.”
Chapter 7
Last night, I fell asleep on the way back, but, when I woke up, I was already in bed, the smell of French fries heavy in the air. I turned to find a brown paper bag full of them along with a bottle of water and some Aspirin. I wondered how Hunter got me there without anyone seeing. I was sharing a room with Joey, but it appeared he spent the night bunking with Parker. After eating a few fries, I went back to sleep.
When I woke up, all I wanted to do was lie in my chair at the end of the dock, but Joey and Parker had convinced the whole family to go mini-golfing. It sounded like the worst idea on the planet.
My head throbbed, and I prayed the Aspirin would kick in soon. My stomach was queasy and the lingering scent of French fries was making it worse. The water Hunter left me only helped a little with the disgusting dryness of my mouth. I felt like I was hit by a bus, and was pretty confident that death would be far better than this God-awful feeling. Smacking a ball into a hole was way more activity than I was willing to handle today.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t given much of a choice. I had searched for Hunter to thank him, and hoped he’d be able to get me out of this family fun day, but he was nowhere to be found. So, instead of lying in my chair, basking in my misery, I was holding a club and a scorecard.
Our parents had disappeared, leaving me to watch the two rugrats. Parker lined up his shot, and swung with a little too much gusto. The ball flew up in the air, and smacked the miniature house in the middle of the green before landing back at his feet.
“That was awesome!” Joey exclaimed, and gave Parker a high five.
I probably should have told him not to do it again, but I was too busy trying to hold myself up by hugging a wooden pillar.
Parker went
again, and this time the ball made its way around the house to where the hole was. He ran to the back, and knocked the ball in with one tap. Joey went next, lining his shot up and swinging the club back and forth a few times before finally hitting the ball.
He disappeared to the back, but I opted to stay propped against the pillar. “I got a hole in one!” he exclaimed, and I pushed off of my safe place.
He and Parker high fived again, and I put the effort in to high five him, too. “Nice job,” I said. “Now, come on, we have thirteen more holes to go.”
“You didn’t go,” Parker pointed out. I was hoping they’d be too caught up in the excitement to notice.
I walked back to the front, placed my ball down, and gave it a putt. It barely made it around the house. Joey and Parker snickered as I went to the ball and hit it again. It took me five attempts to get the stupid thing into the hole.
“This is so much fun!” Joey cried out, and it was just another thing my brother and I completely disagreed on.
The next thirteen holes were torture, and I swore my brother and Parker’s voices had each gone up a few octaves since yesterday. I rubbed at my temples, willing the incessant throbbing to stop, and thought about last night… how much fun I had, and about how sweet Hunter was to me. Then, I wondered if it was all in my head. When I woke up this morning, all I cared about was seeing him, but it was obvious he didn’t feel the same way. He made sure to be out of the house and out of sight before I even crawled out of bed.
Where did he go? Who was he with? And, why didn’t he ask me to go? I’d rather be anywhere with him, hangover and all, than be here aimlessly tapping a ball into a hole. The clang of golf clubs hitting against each other pulled me out of my own head.
I glanced over to Joey and Parker who were sword fighting with their clubs.
“On guard!” Joey yelled, and I ran over to the both of them, grabbing the clubs before they could do any damage.
“Clubs on the ground,” I said, pushing them down.
“Oh, come on, you’re no fun.” Parker whined.
“I’m fun!” I blurted, feeling I had to defend myself against a ten year old. “I just don’t want you guys to get hurt, or to hurt someone else.”
“That’s because you’re no fun,” Joey chimed in.
“I am fun,” I stated, again, before realizing that it was me against a nine and a ten year old. This was a battle I wouldn’t win, and I didn’t need to. There was no reason why I should care what they thought of me, but the problem was… I did. What if I wasn’t fun? Maybe that’s why Hunter disappeared this morning without a single word.
* * *
A couple hours later, the parents finally made a reappearance, and we headed back at the house. When we arrived, I made a beeline for my room, grabbed my book, and started toward my spot at the end of the dock. Before I was able to make it to my sanctuary, Hunter’s hand wrapped around my wrist and yanked me off course.
“Hunter!” I exclaimed. “Where have you been?”
“How was mini golf?” he asked, with a laugh that sounded a little more like mocking.
I didn’t answer him. Instead, I asked, “Where are we going?” He ducked beneath a low hanging tree and I obediently followed like a puppy trailing his master.
“Swimming,” he said.
“I don’t have my bathing suit on.”
He guided us through another row of trees until we could no longer see the house. We were in a tiny inlet that was completely secluded from the rest of the lake. “You don’t need one,” he said with a wink, as he pulled his shirt over his head.
I looked down at my white shirt and skinny jeans. “But…I can’t swim in my clothes.”
“Who said anything about clothes?” Hunter asked, as he dropped his pants. I darted my eyes away from him. He had boxer briefs on, but it was still more than I’d ever seen of a guy before. Heat flared up my neck, and quickly spread through my cheeks.
I kept my eyes fixated on a rickety old dock that jetted out into the lake. I didn’t look away, not even when his hand slid into mine. “Charlie, look at me,” he said. His other hand cupped my face, and urged me back to him.
“I promise to keep my eyes right here,” he said, as his blue eyes penetrated mine. “It’ll be fun.”
My mind drifted back to earlier today when Joey and Parker told me I was no fun. It bothered me because I knew they were right. I was the “goody” Piper claimed me to be. I always did the right thing. Didn’t take risks, or try anything outside of my comfort zone. Yesterday was the first time I allowed myself to step outside of my self-imposed boundaries. I thought of how much fun I had, and how I didn’t want moments like that to slip away because I was scared or uncomfortable.
“Right here,” I said, and held two of his fingers up and pointed back and forth between us.
He nodded. “Promise.”
With that, I lifted my shirt over my head and tossed it to the ground. Hunter’s eyes didn’t waver, not even when I bent down to push my pants off. I stood back up, meeting his gaze. A breeze blew by, skittering across my bare skin as if to remind me how vulnerable I was. Instead, it did the total opposite. It made me feel free and alive.
Hunter took my chin in between his hand, making sure his eyes didn’t drift beyond my nose. “You ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
“On the count of three. One.” His hand slipped back into mine. “Two.” He gave my hand a little squeeze, and I took a deep breath. “Three.” We both took off running for the water, and neither of us stopped until we were chest deep.
He dove under the glassy surface, and wrapped his arms around my midsection, pulling me down. A scream slipped out of my lips before I went under. My eyes popped open and, though I couldn’t see much through the water, I spotted Hunter only a few feet away. He held his fingers up and pointed at my eyes and then back to his. It made me laugh, and I rushed to the surface before I could inhale a mouthful of lake water.
He reemerged a few seconds later, flipping his hair back, and sending droplets of water flying through the air. “Come on.” He took my hand again and we half walked, half swam to the rickety old dock.
He let go of me, and drifted under the broken boards, reaching up and holding onto the wood. I swam close enough to grab on myself.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Better. Not so hot this morning. Thanks by the way. I’m not exactly sure how I got to bed, but you made sure I did. And you still got me fries too.”
“You don’t remember getting out of the car at the Burger Hut, and dancing on the hood of the Jeep?” he asked, and my mouth fell open in shock.
“Oh my God. No, I didn’t. I wouldn’t. Please tell me I didn’t.” I covered my eyes and peeked through my fingers, waiting for him to continue.
“You didn’t,” he said matter-of-factly.
“No, don’t tell me I didn’t if I did. Only tell me I didn’t if I didn’t,” I yammered, as I unsuccessfully tried to remember last night.
His lip curved in that adorable way it did. “You didn’t. I was only kidding. You were passed out before we even pulled out of Dylan’s driveway.”
I swatted at his chest, my eyes dropping down to the bare skin of his chest. He gently tucked his finger under my chin, and pushed upward as he urged me to look at him. He let go of me, and I felt the loss instantly. He held his two fingers up and pointed between our eyes. “Up here, remember?”
I settled my eyes back on his. “I thought that rule only applied to you.”
“It’s all about equality here. Whatever applies to me applies to you. However, I know how hard it is to resist looking at all of this so, if you want to make a revision to the rules, I’m up for negotiations,” he said with a pretend cockiness that made me laugh.
“I think the rules are just fine the way they are.”
“Me too,” he said. “The view is pretty good from up here.”
My teeth slid over my lip, and those pesky birds
in my stomach went into a frenzy.
“Look,” Hunter said, and nodded his head to the space behind me.
I used the wood to turn myself around and gasped at what was in front of me. Beautiful shades of oranges, reds and yellows streaked across the sky as the sun began its descent. Bright rays created glistening streams of light that extended for miles.
“It’s beautiful,” I said, in complete awe of how amazing Mother Nature was.
“Beauty is everywhere if you just open your eyes to see it,” Hunter said, and it was the most honest thing I’d heard from him yet. And as the sun continued to turn the light off on another day, a new light shone down on Hunter.
Chapter 8
Mom, Janice and I walked into the only grocery store in town, Chadwick’s, that looked more like a house with white vinyl siding and a wraparound porch than it did a store. The boys had taken the boat out for a little fishing, leaving us girls behind for the day. Joey was so excited it was all he would talk about at breakfast. He promised he’d catch a fish that was so big it would feed all of us for dinner tonight. Mom and Janice weren’t convinced, which was part of the reason for our drive into town.
Hunter had skipped breakfast in order to get the boat ready for their trip. After watching the sunset with him, in my underwear, I was hoping to spend more alone time with him. I felt like we were finally getting to know one another, and now he was no longer just a hot guy. He was so much more. He was fun, witty, and charming. He made it easy for me to step outside of my comfort zone; something no one else was ever able to get me to do. He was sweet and caring and the fact that he carried me to bed, leaving me a hangover kit, was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for me.
The grocery store was half the size of the ones back home, but, because of that, there was no rhyme or reason to where things were placed on the shelves. We were woman on mission for bread crumbs and garlic. We decided to divide and conquer, so I took the last two aisles.
I strolled by Band-Aids and boxes of rice on my right, and napkins and glass cleaner on my left. My hopes for finding what we were looking for diminished when I passed the shelf of batteries and hamburger buns.