Get Lucky: A YA Anthology Read online

  “I’m comfortable here,” he stated.

  She pouted her lip for a second, but Hunter didn’t waver. He stayed put in his chair, and lounged back, casual as ever.

  “Fine, be that way,” Piper spat, and stormed off to the other side of the fire where she flopped onto a bench. Her eyes stuck to him like flies on a glue trap, giving him a death stare.

  Colin sat down in the chair beside me, and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. He tugged me close and away from Hunter.

  Colin was awesome. He made me laugh and was so sweet, but the chemistry just wasn’t there for me. Or, if it was, it wasn’t anything like I felt with Hunter. That spark that made me come alive. I knew I had to tell Colin that we could only be friends, but I felt bad knowing I had to let him down. I just had no idea how to tell him without alienating him as a friend and hurting his feelings. I didn’t really want an audience, either, especially not Piper.

  Hunter looked over at us before getting up and going to Piper. When he denied her earlier, I was smiling on the inside, but now I was frowning. I wanted to like her. She clearly had to have some redeeming qualities to hang out with this crowd. I just couldn’t seem to find a single one. I was willing to try, though. It was worth a shot. At least, in the end, I would know that I was the bigger person.

  “Piper, I really like your sandals,” I said, pointing down to the gem-encrusted straps.

  She all but rolled her eyes as she muttered a cold, “Thanks.”

  “Do you think hell just froze over?” Dylan asked, and Piper turned her venomous stare onto him. “Did Piper just say something nice?”

  “Screw you, Dylan,” she spat.

  “You wish,” he said with a wink and I expected the ice queen to freak out, but his wink seemed to melt her blackened heart. She gave him an amused smile and rested back in her chair.

  Colin stood up, and took my hand in his. “Want to go for a walk?”

  “Yeah, sure,” I said, hoping that maybe I’d find the guts along the way to let him down gently.

  He guided me toward the lake’s edge, and onto the dock. I noticed Hunter’s eyes on us the entire walk there. We continued down to the end, and he sat on the edge, patting the spot next to him. I hesitated, feeling that dangling my feet over the edge of the dock with someone was my and Hunter’s thing, but I didn’t want to leave the poor guy all alone. So, I plopped down next to him and looked up to the million stars in the sky.

  We didn’t have views like this in New York, and I wanted to savor it. Remember what it was like to be beneath a blanket of shining specks.

  “I like you, Charlie,” Colin said, completely taking me by surprise. Our gazes met, and my lips parted.

  “I…I like you, too,” I said, not able to find any other words for the moment.

  “I mean, I like you, like you,” he clarified.

  I fidgeted with my hands and looked back up at the sky, wondering if I wished upon one right now to zap me out of here if it would work.

  “I…”

  “You like Hunter,” he said, and I could hear the heartbreak in his voice. I wanted to hug him, and assure him that he was amazing. There was just something between Hunter and I that I couldn’t explain, not that I expected anything to come of it. After all, Hunter was with Piper, but I couldn’t, in good conscience, lie to Colin.

  “Yeah,” I finally said.

  “Well, I gave it a shot,” he said with a smile.

  “You’re not mad?” I asked, thoroughly confused.

  “How could I be mad? Come here,” he said, and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. I rested my head against him and smiled.

  “If it’s any consolation,” I said, turning my head up to meet his eyes. “Any girl would be lucky to have you. We are still friends, right?” I questioned, wanting to reassure myself we were okay.

  “Of course we’re friends and thank you, Charlie.” He pulled me in for a brief hug, and turned to look at me. “And, just so you know, if Hunter doesn’t figure out what’s right in front of him then he’s a moron.”

  “Thanks, but he has Piper,” I said, and I could hear the disappointment in my voice. Feel it in every ounce of my being.

  “It won’t last,” Colin said. “It never does.”

  His words hugged me like a warm blanket on a crisp night, giving me the comfort that I needed.

  “Let’s head back, aye?”

  He stood up, and reached his hand down to mine. I grabbed hold of his hand, and let him pull me up.

  The smell of burning wood grew heavier in the air as we neared the rest of the group. Hunter had moved his chair back to the other side of the fire, and Piper was currently sharing the bench with Dylan. Mason was swinging back in forth in a hammock, trying to drink his beer without spilling it.

  “Everything okay?” Hunter asked, as Colin and I took our seats.

  “Fine,” I said with a smile. Hunter eyed me curiously, but I didn’t say anything more.

  I turned my attention to Piper again, in hopes that we could end this Spring Break rivalry. We were the only girls amongst three boys. We should have been coming together in solidarity not fighting against each other.

  “Piper,” I said, and her eyes lazily turned to me.

  “What? Do you have another compliment for me?” she asked.

  “No, I was just wondering if tomorrow morning you’d want to go into town.”

  “For what?” She raised her eyebrows in question.

  “I don’t know, a little shopping? It’ll be my last full day here, and I wanted to make the most of it.”

  Piper fixed her gaze on me before quickly looking to Hunter. She let out a perturbed breath, and then smiled. Except it didn’t look like a smile; it was more of a grimace.

  “Let’s see,” she said, tapping her finger to her chin. “I’d rather eat shit.”

  “Nice, Piper. Real nice.” Hunter scolded, but she didn’t pay him any attention.

  Her words were like a slap across the face. They stung with a thousand piercing stabs. I refused to give her the satisfaction of seeing me angry.

  Instead, I stood and held my head high. “That’s a shame,” I said, keeping my tone controlled. I wouldn’t let her squeeze a single emotion from me. “Enjoy the shit,” I said, and flounced away.

  I knew where I wasn’t wanted, and I wouldn’t stay there as long as she was there. I stalked up the driveway. Hunter called after me, but I didn’t turn around. I couldn’t. The fact that he could even like someone like her annoyed me.

  “Charlie, wait up!” Hunter called again.

  I picked up my pace and ran past his Jeep, heading for the street. I got about fifty feet down the road before Hunter’s hand grabbed my arm and halted me.

  “What?” I snapped.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Back to the house,” I muttered through clenched teeth. I yanked my arm out of his grasp, and continued on my way.

  He jogged up beside me. “You’re not walking out here alone. Come back, and I’ll drive you.”

  “No,” I said, afraid that, if I went back there, I’d have to face Piper again. Afraid that, if I stopped for a minute, my anger would turn to disappointment and doubt. Afraid if I didn’t keep walking, and keep pushing forward, I would cry. “I’ll be fine.”

  He fell into step beside me, despite my insistence not to. Tension pulled tight across my neck, and I just wanted to be left alone to wallow in my misery.

  “Please just go back to your girlfriend,” I pleaded.

  “She’s not my girlfriend,” he sighed, and I stopped.

  “What?” I looked at him through the fringes of my eyelashes, trying to hold my tears at bay.

  He reached up, dragging a finger along my hairline, and tucking a stray piece behind my ear. “I didn’t like the idea of you and Colin, so I used Piper to make you jealous. She knew, and that’s why she’s been such a bitch to you.”

  “Why would you do that? No wonder she hates me.”

  His hand fell from
my face, and I immediately missed his touch. “She was fine with it at first. Completely playing along, but we have history, and it made things complicated. There’s nothing going on between us, though. I promise you that.”

  “It doesn’t look that way.”

  “I’m here now, aren’t I? I’m not with her. I’m with you. I choose you, despite whatever you have going on with Colin. I still choose you. And I’ll wait. Because there’s something between us Charlie. It’s been only a week, but I’ve felt more of a connection with you than I ever felt with Piper. Than with anyone.”

  “There’s nothing going on with me and Colin.”

  “I don’t care if you…wait. What?”

  “There’s nothing going on with me and Colin,” I repeated.

  Hunter ran a hand over his face, and then pointed toward the house. “Then, what was that on the dock? I was watching you two.”

  “I was letting him down gently because, as great of a guy as he is, I can’t stop thinking about someone else. Someone I used to know.”

  Hunter moved forward, wrapping his hand around the back of my head, and capturing my lips with his. It was like a burst of sunlight on a cool rainy day, infusing me with warmth, and shining rays of happiness down on me. His hand cupped my cheek, and every thought about not knowing what I was doing vanished as our motions synced. Our mouths moved as one, taking and giving with the same amount of passion. His fingers knotted in my hair, as he tilted his head and deepened the kiss.

  Time was at a standstill as we lost ourselves to each other. Slowly, Hunter pulled away, resting his forehead against mine and cupping my cheeks. I’d never been kissed before, and this went beyond my imaginings. Even now, I could still feel the press of his lips on mine, and the electric current running through my body.

  He kissed my forehead, and ran his thumbs across the apple of my cheeks. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

  “What?” I breathed.

  “I’m just wondering how I got so lucky.”

  “Especially since you don’t have the luck of the Irish on your side like Colin does,” I joked.

  A low rumbling laugh fell from his lips. “Funny,” he said.

  I reached up, running a finger down his jawline. “But you don’t need that when you have sunsets and abandoned boat houses.”

  He pulled his head away from mine, and stared into my eyes for a second, before giving me the second best kiss of my life.

  Chapter Twelve

  Mom and Janice insisted on a massive breakfast for our last day at the lake house. I had never seen so many pancakes and slices of bacon in my life. The sweet smell of maple syrup, mixed with the delicious scent of Mom’s famous cranberry muffins. There was so much food I didn’t know where to start. All I knew was I wanted to eat everything.

  I stood in front of the massive plate of pancakes and Hunter came up behind me, pressing his chest to my back as he reached for a blueberry pancake. “Hey,” he said in my ear, before pulling away ever so slowly.

  I spun around to face him and, even though I tried to play it cool, my face betrayed me completely. My and lips curved up so high I swore they were going to poke me in the eye. My face flamed up like a bonfire, and my eyes are doing some flirty fluttering thing I didn’t even know they could do. “Hey,” I said back, like I just ran a mile and didn’t have the lung capacity to get it out.

  “I’ll save you a seat outside. It’s your last full day. It’d be a shame to waste it inside.”

  My teeth slid over my lip, and I nodded. “Great. I mean, thanks, that would be awesome. It’s so nice out and, you’re right, I wouldn’t want to waste it being inside. So, we’ll eat outside and it’ll be great. I already said great. I’m going to stop talking now.”

  “Don’t,” he said. “I love when you babble. It’s cute.” With an adorable grin, he headed out the French doors and onto the back deck.

  I quickly threw food on my plate, and joined him…and Parker and Joey. Not that I expected a romantic breakfast for two overlooking the lake, but having our little brothers there kind of killed the cloud I was floating on.

  Hunter kicked out the chair next to him, and I sat down, placing my plate on the table. I glanced over at Hunter and, even though words weren’t exchanged, I felt like a lot was said between us.

  “Why do you keep looking at him like that?” Joey asked, snapping me out of my bubble.

  “Looking at him like what?”

  “All googly eyed,” he said with a snort.

  “Yeah, you’re all.” Parker held up his hands, and pretended to make out with his palm.

  My body froze, as embarrassment settled in. My blazing cheeks from earlier had turned into a three-alarm fire.

  Hunter reached out and smacked his brother upside the head.

  “Hey!” Parker exclaimed.

  “Knock it off,” Hunter said, giving Parker a stern look.

  “But he started it,” Parker said, pointing to Joey.

  Hunter lowered his head to get closer to his brother, and make the conversation more personal. “That didn’t mean you had to finish it.”

  Parker blurted out, “Sorry,” then jammed his fork into his scrambled eggs.

  Hunter’s fingers grazed mine, and then he took my hand in his, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

  “I never brought you guys for ice cream,” Hunter said, clearly feeling bad for the scowl on Parker’s face. “What about, a little later, we go into town?”

  The scowl disappeared, and Parker’s eyes lit up. “Can we?”

  “Sure.”

  “Awesome!” Joey exclaimed, and gave Parker a high five.

  Our parents joined us at the table, and we relived stories of their youth while Joey and Parker raced to see how many pancakes they each could eat. In the end, Joey ate five and Parker ate six. They both ran from the table when they were finished, though I couldn’t figure out how they were able to move at all.

  We cleared our plates, and Hunter nudged my shoulder. “Want to go for a walk?”

  “With you. Of course.”

  “Did you want to bring your book?” he asked, pointing to the one sitting on the kitchen counter.

  “Nah. I’d rather live in my own story today.”

  “Cool,” he said and, after telling our parents we were heading out, we made our way to the abandoned boathouse.

  We walked down the stone path jutting out into the lake, and I sat down at the edge. This time, instead of sitting beside me, Hunter sat behind me, pulling me against him. He played with one of my blonde waves, twirling it around his finger. “I can’t believe you’re leaving tomorrow. It’s not fair.”

  “I know. It’s like we just found each other, and now we have to go our separate ways.”

  “Maybe you can come here this summer. Your parents usually take a few trips. Unless you have robotics camp.”

  “The summer is Environmental Ed camp in New York, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go back this year anyway. Even still. It seems so far away.”

  He laced his fingers through mine, and brought my knuckles to his lips. “We’ll find a way to make it work. We’ll video chat, and my Dad takes business trips to New York all the time. Maybe I can tag along for a few.”

  He pulled me in closer, completely wrapping me in the comfort of his warmth. He kissed the top of my head, and any doubts I had disappeared with his touch. Us being able to make it work was a long shot, but it was a shot I was willing to take.

  * * *

  We stayed at the abandoned boathouse for a few hours before heading back to the house. Hunter had promised the boys ice cream, and he didn’t want to let them down. I decided to stay behind since I was still full from breakfast.

  I grabbed my book, and headed out to my favorite spot, when I noticed Piper walking up the driveway. I went around to the side of the house. “Hey, Hunter’s out. He brought our brothers into town to get ice cream,” I said.

  “Good because I wasn’t here to talk with him anyway.”


  “You weren’t?” I questioned.

  “No, I’m here to talk to you.”

  “About what?” I asked, and shifted my weight from one foot to the other, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with the whole situation.

  I didn’t want her to have the upper hand. I wanted to be able to stand up to her and even the playing field. I wouldn’t let her hold anything over my head, and try to make me feel inadequate. “Hunter already told me about you two. How you were just playing along because he asked you to.”

  There was a slight change in her demeanor, but then that cocky smile of hers returned. “So, then I assume he told you about the car, too?”

  “What car?”

  “The one that his parents are going to buy him because he was nice to you.”

  My heart plummeted like a rock sinking in the lake. “What are you talking about?”

  “Oh.” She held her hand to her mouth. “He didn’t tell you that part, huh? Oopsie. Well, it’s only fair that you should know. Hunter’s parents were going to buy him a car, but he messed up in school, so they told him the only way they would was if he made sure to be nice to you and take you around with him this week.”

  “That’s not true,” I said, as the crushing feeling turned to a pit of misery. “You’re lying because you’re jealous.”

  She reached out, resting her hand on my shoulder, as if she was my friend and had the right to comfort me. I pulled away from her touch. “I’m sorry, but it’s true. I just thought you should know.”

  With a shrug of her shoulders, she turned on her heel and left. Hot, burning tears filled my eyes, and I forced them back. I took off running, just needing to get away to hide. I ran up the stairs, thankful our parents were out in the backyard. I didn’t want to have to explain. I didn’t want them to see me. I didn’t want to admit I was just a pawn in Hunter’s game that his own father created.

  I got to the bedroom, and shut the door behind me. I leaned against the frame, trying to be strong. Wishing and praying that what Piper said to me was a lie, but, deep down, I knew it wasn’t. I remembered that first day in the kitchen when Mitch said, I bet Hunter here would be more than happy to take you out. The way Hunter’s jaw tightened at the mention of it and, with one glance to Mitch, Hunter’s brooding turned into that charming smile I had come to know so well.