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“And she’s basically our sister,” Spike added. “Like, we were there the first time she got her period and let me tell you…” I reached across the hot tub to whack him in the shoulder. He chuckled. “Fine, I guess we don’t want to bring you two into sibling status anyway, am I right?”
Moody put his hand up. “Hazel once stepped in my shit when we were camping.”
Silence. As if the hot tub itself had been stunned, the jets went off at that moment too. Cruz asked, “By shit, you mean metaphorically?”
“No, he means poop. Turds. Excrement.” I volunteered the information.
“How?” Bodhi asked. “And why have we never heard about this before?”
“Remember our first overnight backpacking trip before fifth grade?” Moody asked and the guys nodded. “I didn’t know you had to like, dig a hole and cover it with dirt. I mean I kicked some leaves over it but it wasn’t far enough from the campsite, and then Hazel went to pee later when we were roasting marshmallows and –”
“Yup, I think they get the picture,” I finished for him. “Why are you telling this story right now, Moody?”
“Oh, you know,” he said, “to explain why we won’t ever kiss.”
Another round of silence. Moody did not seem the least bit embarrassed while I wanted to disappear. It wasn’t the poop story making me feel this way though, it was the other reason attention was on me.
“And here I thought you loved me like a sister,” I mumbled.
“Oh I do, Haze.” He threw an arm over my shoulder. “There’s that too.”
Cruz wasn’t finished though. “So what’s happening here? I have permission to kiss Hazel? You guys won’t ditch me as your friend if I do?”
“Well, first we’ll beat the crap out of you,” Spike said. “Like big brothers should.”
“But then you can have her,” Bodhi finished.
“You guys will not beat the crap out of Cruz if he kisses me.”
Cruz was suddenly right in front of me. “You mean when I kiss you?”
His face was right there, his lips inches away, but I shoved him back with a foot to his stomach and he fell back spluttering.
“I will not have my first kiss with all of these guys watching,” I growled. Then I got out of the pool to turn the jets back on. And also to hide the giant smile taking over my face.
Cruz
My heart had been in my chest for nearly twenty-four hours at this point, ever since Hazel kicked me in the stomach. I had no clue how that girl felt about me, if she wanted this half as bad as I wanted it. The guys had conveniently left only two seats open in the back of the van so that Hazel and I were squished next to each other for the five-hour drive home. Not like I was about to try anything, with her dad having a perfect view of us in his rearview mirror.
She seemed to have a reaction to me, but she didn’t show it like other girls. It made me wonder if I was imagining the way she looked at me, reacted to the slightest touch, if I was wishing for it so hard I wasn’t seeing clearly, or if it was real. Like when she moved to sit in my lap last night? What was that? Was she just being Hazel, not giving a shit what it might look like because she was curious? Or was it more? It had to be more.
We got dropped off for a few hours of school, and then we had a rare afternoon free from practice coming off the four-day tournament. Vanessa, the twins’ mom, was set for carpool duty for practice today anyway, so she picked up the others after school before coming to get me. When I suggested she drop us at the Lake, my family’s property on the edge of town, she seemed to l
ike the idea.
“We have soccer balls there, so we can get in some training. And the lake will be cold but we can maybe take a swim,” I explained.
“It’s fine, Cruz, I know no one will be there but it’ll only be a couple hours before Spike’s mom comes to pick you up so you can’t get into too much trouble. I’ll let her know where to find you.”
Now, it was thirty minutes until we’d get picked up and I was running out of time. If I didn’t do something soon, it could be days before I saw Hazel again. Sure, we’d pass each other at practice, but I’d never get a chance to kiss her.
We’d been kicking the ball around, scrimmaging for nearly an hour before we finally got brave enough, and hot enough, to jump in the lake. We only had our workout clothes with us and now I couldn’t decide if Hazel in black underwear and a sports bra was worse than Hazel in a bikini. Or better. It all depended on perspective. Either way, I was grateful the cold water was keeping things under control better than the hot tub had.
She hadn’t been ignoring me, not exactly, but why wasn’t she giving me a sign? I watched her cannonball into the lake from the dock and when she came up for air, I silently begged her to look my way. Come on Hazel, any sign and I’ll take you somewhere for that kiss.
She ducked her head down under water and disappeared. I was treading water a little ways out, waiting for her to come up again, when I felt a hand grasp my ankle and tug.
I went underwater and there she was, her face inches from me. She winked. Wow. I’d never seen anyone wink underwater, and it was one more thing about Hazel Ross that turned me on. I didn’t care if it meant nothing in her mind. To me, that was just the sign I needed.
