“Hunter? I wanted to say that I’m really sorry about your parents. That must really suck.”
His dark eyes grew distant. “Thanks. It does suck. But… It’s weird.”
“What is?” I asked, using all of my willpower to look him in the eyes rather than admire his glistening body. “You can tell me.”
He shrugged. “I was originally supposed to go with my parents on their trip to Florida. But my lacrosse team had a make-up game that week, so I stayed here. If not for that game, I would have been in Florida with them, which means I would’ve been on their boat when it crashed…”
Hunter trailed off, then sighed. “I don’t know if I’m supposed to grieve for my parents, or be happy that I wasn’t with them. It’s a weird feeling.”
“You can be both,” I said hopefully. “Life’s complicated like that, right?”
He nodded slowly, then flashed a weary smile. “Yeah. I guess I can be both. Thanks for the pep talk, Erica.”
Erica. Hunter had been my brother’s best friend for years and I couldn’t remember him ever calling me by my name. He always addressed me as, “Hey you,” or, “pipsqueak.” By comparison, my name sounded strange and exotic on his tongue.
I smiled and closed the bathroom door before he could see me blush.
3
Erica
It was weird having the dreamiest guy in school live with us at first, but I started getting used to it. He got up early for lacrosse practice, so we didn’t have to fight over the bathroom in the mornings. By the time I got up and showered, there was just the tiniest hint of his deodorant lingering in the bathroom air.
He worked as a mechanic after school, so he was usually home late. I was already in bed by the time he came home, closing the door to his room and then turning on music. I closed my eyes and imagined himself nodding along with the beat while changing clothes.
One Saturday afternoon, I went into the garage to find my dad working on his vintage Mustang. He was always tinkering with it, legs sticking out from underneath the faded red car.
I nudged his leg with my toe and said, “Hey dad, can you give me a ride to volleyball practice?”
Dad popped up on theotherside of the car. “Volleyball practice?”
I blinked in surprise. If he was over there…
Hunter slid out from under the Mustang until his head was next to my foot. The smudge of grease on his smooth cheek somehow made him even hotter than he normally looked.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“Helping your dad fix up the old Mustang. Trying to, at least.”
“Hunter is a whiz with cars,” Dad bragged. “Why do you need a ride to volleyball practice? What’s wrong with your Mazda?”
“The AC is broken again,” I complained.
“When I grew up, only the wealthy families had a car with air conditioning,” Dad said. “It won’t kill you to drive fifteen minutes with the windows down.”
“It’s a thousand degrees out,” I said. “Lizzy said she can give me a ride home if you take me.”
“I can take you,” Hunter said.
I hesitated. “You don’t have to do that.”
Hunter popped up and wiped his hands on a rag. “I don’t mind. Besides, I want to swing by the shop and see if they have a spare timing belt we can use.”
“You think we’re ready for that?” my dad asked him.
Hunter patted the hood of the car. “She’s just about ready, Mr. P. I’ll be back in half an hour.”
I followed him out the front door just as Brad was coming home. “Where are you two going?”