Chicks, Man Read online

  Feeling dismissed, I whip around and walk out of his office. I don’t care what Levi Dent says, I’m going to ask Braydon to go camping. Give us the whole weekend to find that spark. If my dad gave me the green light, he’s okay with it.

  It’s settled.

  I throw myself back into my chair, ready to take on the rest of the day, when an evil growl erupts from my stomach.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  “Oh, okay…no, I understand. Honestly, it’s fine. It’s just a family trip. You would have hated it anyway—been weirded out and never spoken to me again.” I sigh into the phone, trying to hide my disappointment. We are literally seventeen minutes from leaving for Ketterville, and Braydon just called to cancel. Apparently, there’s a case that needs special attention, and he was asked to stay and work through the weekend. He said he’d try to get out of it, but what does that say about me if I hold him back from getting ahead at work?

  Am I mad? No.

  Disappointed? Yes.

  Everyone will have someone, and it will be just me. Not that I’m not used to being a one-woman band, but still. And then there will be Levi, who will throw it in my face. I tell Braydon for the millionth time it’s fine, and we make plans to reschedule for when I get back. I drag my feet out of the kitchen and step out onto the front porch. My brother is at the end of the driveway helping Stacey put her bag and tent into the back of his SUV. I catch movement coming from the street. “You have got to be kidding me,” I groan watching Rebecca sashay up our driveway.

  “Eeeek! This is going to be so much fun!” she squeals to Stacey as they hug and bounce up and down. What a joke. Rebecca? Camping? I doubt she’s ever been inside a tent or on a campground in her life. I roll my eyes as I step off the porch, walking toward my brother’s SUV.

  Stacey sees me and releases her friend. “Hey, honey! Excited?” She wraps me up in a hug. I return her embrace with warmth. I love Stacey and don’t think my brother could have gotten any luckier.

  “I am. Should be fun.” I pull back, and like the polite person I am, I try to say hello to Rebecca, but she flips her hair and offers me her back. Not in the mood for her attitude, I move on. It’s like they say, once a bitch, always a bitch.

  “Hey, Kipley, where’s Dad? He should be here already,” I ask as Kip throws another cooler into the back.

  “Oh, didn’t you hear? He’s going to be running behind. He’s got a case that won’t wrap up. He’s hoping to meet us by tomorrow.”

  I lift my shoulders and let out another huge sigh. This trip is going downhill fast. With each passing minute, it’s sounding better and better to stay home.

  “Finally! There you are,” Kipley says, and I cock my head to see who he’s talking to.

  Great. I was praying he’d come down with leprosy or something and cancel.

  “Traffic was a bitch, sorry,” Levi says, regarding me with a nonchalant smile. “Hannah.” Without meaning to, I roll my eyes.

  “Geez, little sis, that was rude. What’s up with you?” Ugh.

  “Sorry. It’s nothing. Just…Braydon called and cancelled on me. Work came up. And now Dad. I’m just not sure I’m up for going anymore.” I understand Dad had good intentions of getting us all together, but this is far from a family trip. Just glimpsing the amount of suitcases Rebecca brought is a clear indication of it.

  “I’m sorry, Han, but you can’t back out. It’ll be fun. I promise. Plus, your tent and bag were the first to go in. It would take me an hour to rearrange.” He winks at me and brings me in for his infamous brotherly hug. He squeezes tight and places a kiss to the top of my head.

  “Don’t worry. Levi can keep you company. His date seemed to back out last minute as well.” I pull away to get an eyeful of Levi. He shrugs at me, his hands in his pockets. I assumed after seeing Rebecca they were trying to pair those two up—again.

  “Oh,” I manage to say, trying to sound uncaring. “Well—”

  “There you are! I heard you were coming. We get to spend all weekend catching up since we weren’t able to do it at the wedding, yay!” Rebecca’s smile resembles a dying rat. I don’t get what anyone saw in her in high school, and even more so now. Aging has done her no favors, nor has the tanning bed and Botox.

  “Yeah…um, great.” Levi doesn’t take the bait and offers his back to her. “So, where should I put my stuff?” he asks Kip, holding a small backpack, his tent strapped to the back.

  “I’ll take that, man. We’re almost ready. Grab shotgun, yeah?” Kipley says, tossing Levi’s things in the car.

  The car ride is going exactly how I imagined it would. Absolutely horribly. With Levi riding shotgun and the two girls in the backseat, I was left to the third row by myself. As in, all the way in the back where no one can hear you when you talk or truly pay attention to you. Anything I try to say, Rebecca, the evil witch, talks over me. Stacey has given me a few apologetic smiles, but at this point, I just give up. I sit back and stuff my earbuds in my ears and listen to an audiobook while watching the scenery pass by.

  We’re only an hour into our five-hour drive when Rebecca starts whining about having to pee. Matthews’ number one rule: you go before we get on the road and again when we hit our destination. Even Stacey knows that. But if anyone has to hear Rebecca’s nails-on-a-chalkboard voice any longer, we might all jump out the window.

  Kipley stops at a rest stop off the highway. Being as the weather is starting to get chillier the closer north we go, I get out and pop the hatch in search of my bag.

  “Need help?” I cock my head to see Levi standing beside me, leaning against the Tahoe.

  “No, I got it,” I lie. I can’t get my bag out for the life of me. I have no muscles and trying to lift one of Rebecca’s many suitcases is impossible.

  “Here, let me help you.”

  “Seriously, I don’t need any—” He doesn’t listen and cuts me off as he moves me to the side and leans in, grabbing for my bag. His arms flex, his gigantic bicep in clear view. A screaming voice inside my head yells at me to turn away, but it’s like watching a train wreck. I watch as he maneuvers bags and coolers and reaches far back, his t-shirt lifting up for a sneak peek of his toned obliques. Jesus, it’s like Christmas in summer getting an eyeful of his yummy—

  “Here you go.” He pulls back, and I completely forget why I was even standing here in the first place. “This is yours, right?” Bag. Oh yeah! Bag! Mine. Sweater. Weird, because now I suddenly feel on fire.

  “Uh…yeah, thanks,” I mumble and grab for my backpack. During the exchange, our fingers touch ever so slightly, and I can’t deny the spark flowing through my hand as his skin skims against mine. I fight not to raise my head, but I have no control. Our eyes lock, and there is no doubt he felt it too. Seconds feel like an eternity as we stare at one another, unwilling to break contact. I want to say something, but my throat is suddenly drier than the Sahara.

  “I…uh...”

  “You’re really quiet back there. Not your normal self.”

  I didn’t realize he’d been paying any attention to me. He and Kip have been locked in a conversation since we pulled out of our driveway, even brushing off Rebecca any time she pathetically attempted to intervene.

  “I was just—”

  “Hey, Levi!” I’m interrupted, our connection lost, as we both rotate to face Rebecca. “I got us some snacks. Anything you like?” She sticks her hands out to display her array of strange picks. We’re both quiet as we observe her choices of roasted soy nuts, turkey jerky, vegan protein bars, and Big Red bubble gum. Levi’s eyebrows rise as I fight the smirk growing on my face. If Rebecca knew anything about Levi, she would know he’s allergic to nuts. Not to mention, he thinks anything cinnamon is the devil, remembering his rough night in high school with some Aftershock, scarring him for life. “The gum’s my favorite. Always leaves my mouth tingly. You should try it sometime.”

  That’s it.

  I did my best, but my laughter slips up my throat. I try stickin
g my head in my bag to mask it, but Rebecca clearly hears me.

  “And what are you laughing at?” she snarls.

  I pop my head up, trying to practice my breathing techniques so I don’t lose it again. I sense Levi’s grin without even looking at him, which makes it harder to keep my cool. He knows what I’m thinking about, since I was the one who found him in our backyard passed out behind our shed with a puddle of red vomit around him. I also remember him swearing to do horrible things to the next person to ever offer him anything cinnamon again. I’m hoping the threat still stands.

  “Who, me? Uh…I was just…uh, remembering a joke. I was going to tell you guys later…at the campsite…” Wow, that sounded super lame. Levi chuckles, catching Rebecca’s attention. “Anywho…I’m gonna go change.” I unsnap my tent from my backpack, dropping it into the back of the car, and with my bag over my shoulder, excuse myself, feeling both sets of eyes on me as I walk up to the convenient store.

  “Hey, Hannah?” Levi calls out, and I halt in my step, turning back. Rebecca’s sneering eyes shoot daggers at me, but I let her nastiness roll off and move my focus to Levi.

  “Yeah?”

  “Can you check to see if they have any Aftershock in there?”

  My lips break into a mischievous grin that mirrors his own. I nod, offering a small chuckle, and without giving Rebecca another thought, I give them my back and practically skip into the general store.

  Levi

  My mood is a lot lighter the rest of the drive. It could have something to do with the image of Hannah and that cute fucking smile of hers floating in my mind. I turn my head to reply to something Kip says, seeing her in the rearview mirror, and force that image away. Ain’t gonna happen, bro. I must be losing my marbles to even consider anything between us. I shake my head and stare out the window. How the fuck did I find myself even considering that? I tell myself I wasn’t. But I was. Watching her face light up did something to me. Made me happy to make her smile. Put some color in her cheeks as she blushed, sharing an inside joke. And shit, I remember that night. I thought I’d thrown up my liver. I barely remember passing out, but I do remember small hands wiping a wet towel over my mouth and holding my chin to get water down my throat. Ashamed, I also remember taking her down when she tried to get me to stand and go into the house. I remember passing back out and waking up on top of her. Scared the shit out of me, wondering why the fuck little Hannah Matthews was under me. Funny thing was, it was her trying to reassure me. She wasn’t trying to pull anything on me. She was only trying to get me inside before her parents found me. It was while I stumbled inside, my arm wrapped around her tiny shoulders, that I swore if I ever drank Aftershock again, it would be the end of the person who gave it to me.

  The next morning was hell. I woke up feeling like death, but at least I was in the guest room instead of behind the shed. I never said anything to Hannah, and she never mentioned it. I steal another glance through the rearview mirror, able to catch a silhouette of her all the way in the backseat. Her head is leaning against the window, and she appears to be lost in thought, her emotions unhidden by the crease of her brow and down curve of her lips. I wonder what she’s thinking about. Gone is the baby face, braces, and childish grin. In its place, a woman all grown up. She has a beauty someone like Rebecca wished for. Natural. Soft. Enigmatic. Robust. I wish I could see her eyes. Get lost in the beauty of her soul. Feed off the passion radiating from within that makes her irresistible.

  Shit, what’s wrong with me?

  It doesn’t help that I can’t pull my eyes away from her pouty lips, reminding me of when my mouth was on hers, savoring the smoothness, the sweet taste. It’s a shame any time I get lost in the memory, the anger of how she got to me resurfaces, putting me back in my foul mood. What the fuck was she even thinking? The trouble she could have gotten me in. The lifelong friendship she could have ruined. It takes a lot for me to get mad, and Hannah Matthews went straight for the jugular. That breaks the hold she has on me and I rip my eyes away from her to get a quick glimpse of Kip. He’s still going on about a time when we came up to Ketterville with kegs and almost got busted, having to roll three full barrels down the side of the dunes so we didn’t get arrested for underage drinking.

  “But shit, remember that? Took all seven of us to roll those kegs back up the hill.”

  “We’re here!” Stacey chirps from the backseat as we all spot the Welcome to Ketterville sign. Everyone, minus a few garbles from Rebecca, admires the scenery as we drive through the quaint, historical town. The place has made a few changes, but it still has that small-town feel. We pass the bait shop, the bakery, the diner, and the small antique store, before hanging a left onto the dirt road leading to the campground.

  We pull up to the familiar spot that’s been the Matthews’ stomping ground since day one, a patch of land surrounded by a thick forest aged beyond our lifetime. Hidden behind the greenery lies the most peaceful natural lake, which backs up to the wide rivers, perfect for kayaking. Kip pulls to the right to park, and everyone begins to shuffle out. Kip helps Stacey, and when Rebecca gets out, I watch her shut the door before allowing Hannah to exit. I shake my head, then open the door, lifting the seat up to give Hannah space to get out. I grab her hand, making sure she doesn’t slip, but it doesn’t stop her feet from tripping when they hit the ground. She falls into me, her body carved perfectly to fit against me. The beating of her heart and jagged breaths has me transfixed on her full lips.

  Rebecca clears her throat, and I snap out of my haze. I quickly release her, not needing any more contact than necessary.

  “Thanks.” Her voice is soft as she adjusts her hair and tugs at her oversized hoodie. If I wasn’t still fighting to hold onto my anger, I’d confess she doesn’t need to hide herself, because under those thick clothes, she’s beautiful.

  “Yeah, whatever,” I reply like a dick, then walk away from her, unable to miss the wave of sudden hurt settling in her eyes. If I stick around, she will see the confusion flooding in mine. Possibly a little bit of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, because what the fuck is wrong with me? One minute, I’m trying to earn her trust and friendship, and the next, I’m giving her the cold treatment. Figure your shit out, man. What I need to do is keep my distance. Let this little infatuation brewing die out. Because there’s no way I’m actually interested in Hannah Matthews.

  I head toward the rear of the car as Kip throws the back open.

  “All right. Everyone grab your shit.” Kip starts lifting coolers and placing them outside the Tahoe. I grab for my bag and walk right past Hannah, not bothering to acknowledge her. When I pass by Rebecca, she sways into me, purposely causing our bodies to graze against one another.

  “Levi Dent, be careful now,” she teases, tossing her hair back and sashaying to the back to get her ridiculous amount of luggage.

  I start setting up my tent when I hear Hannah’s voice rise amongst the group.

  “But I did bring it. I had it at the gas station.”

  “Are you sure?” Kip asks his sister. I head back to see Kip and Hannah still standing by his SUV.

  “Kipley, I’m not dumb. I brought it.” Hannah blinks rapidly, on the verge of tears, while Kip gives her the once-over, confused. Stacey walks up to Hannah and rubs her back, telling her it’s going to be okay, while I take a peek at Rebecca, who looks guilty as fuck.

  “What’s going on?” I ask. What the fuck is Rebecca up to now?

  “We can’t find Hannah’s tent.”

  “What do you mean you can’t find it?” I ask again. There’s no doubt Hannah brought her tent. I saw it myself.

  “It’s not in here. But I brought it,” she snaps, bringing her eyes straight to Rebecca.

  Kip bends forward into the back of his Tahoe in one last attempt to find it and climbs back out. “I’m sorry, Han. It’s not here.”

  “That’s because she probably threw it out back at the gas station! She was the last one by the car!”

  Rebecca theatrically b
rings her fingers to her chest. “Me? I wouldn’t do such a thing.”

  Bullshit. My focus is on Hannah, her hands formed into tight fists, her eyes shooting off daggers at Rebecca. She’s pissed as fuck, and I’m about to be the same.

  Kipley tries to console his sister. “Listen, no need to blame anyone. It could have accidently fallen out while we had the back open. We can call Dad and have him bring one up tomorrow. For tonight, I’m sure we can figure something out—”

  “She can sleep in my tent.” What. The. Fuck? Did that just come out of my mouth? Hannah’s head flies in my direction, her posture becoming rigid. Her almond eyes shine with shock as my offer sinks in. A heavy feeling settles into my stomach, realizing my mistake. What did I just do?

  Rebecca’s audible gasp breaks our strange moment, her mouth dropping and practically crashing to the ground. “You have to be kidding me,” she whines, stomping her foot on the ground.

  “That’s a great idea. Thanks, Levi,” Kip says, patting his sister on the shoulder. “No different than sleeping in our tent.”

  Hannah’s still in shock. Rebecca reins in her tantrum and speaks up. “Wait, I mean, isn’t that weird? Can’t she, like, sleep in the Tahoe or something?”

  “Levi and Hannah have known each other since we were kids. It’s like sleeping with her brother. They’ll be fine,” Kip says nonchalantly, brushing it off. He sees no problem with us sharing a tent while the red flags are flying all around me, bashing me in the goddamn face. Hannah must feel the same way, because she’s suddenly turning pale as shit.

  “See, Han, it’ll be fine.” Kip walks past me, slapping me on the shoulder. “Thanks, man.” And he’s off with Stacey to set up their tent.

  What the fuck did I just do?

  I can’t figure out whether to aim my anger at Rebecca for being so conniving or Kip for thinking this is a good idea. Maybe I should be angry at Hannah for putting me in this position. For making me care. Because she should not be my problem. Then why the hell did I get myself involved? She would have been just fine sleeping in the Tahoe. Shit, she can have my tent, I’ll sleep in the fucking car. There’s no way I can sleep in the same small, cramped space as her. Not without tempting myself.