How to Kiss Your Enemy

by Amanda Ashby

  “Not that day.” He lowered his eyes, then let out a sigh. “It was the morning my parents told me about the divorce.”

  Via swallowed down her gasp.

  She’d heard his parents had split up, but not when it had happened.

  Not that it had been on the same day as the science fair.

  “I didn’t know.” Guilt lodged in her throat.

  “I don’t like talking about it. Which is probably why I made such a mess of fixing the capacitor. And when I saw flames, all I could think was you might get burned. Crappy day all around.”

  A brush of wind swept past, trying to loosen the maps on the table and sending her hair flying into her face. She pushed it aside, her mind whirling. All he’d ever said was sorry. He’d never defended himself, and she’d assumed he’d done it on purpose.

  It really had been an accident?

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” Her voice came out as a croak. Probably trying to get past the guilt. He rubbed his chin. It was a habit he had when he wasn’t sure of an answer. Because he always considered things before he spoke. Unlike her.

  “I tried…but, Via. In case you haven’t noticed, you can be a little intimidating. And you were pissed. Very, very pissed. I figured I should give it some time. I didn’t expect it would take so long.”

  The guilt in her throat expanded.

  She opened her mouth and then shut it again, not sure what to say.

  They sat there in silence. Finally he tilted his head, a pained expression on his face.

  “I know you don’t like being the center of attention. I messed up.”

  “I’m sorry it took so long to hear you out,” she admitted, still not sure how she’d managed to get everything backward. He’d really been trying to help. He’d been upset about his folks and probably needed a friend. Instead, he got her cold shoulder. For two years.

  “I’m pleased you did,” he said. “Because trying to avoid all your favorite hiding spots was getting a bit exhausting.”

  “You knew I was hiding?”

  “Not all the time. But you often went to that outcrop of rocks, then there were the shrubs by the lake. Oh, and behind the woodshed. And of course the tree. It wasn’t hard. You like to read, so you always went somewhere you could get comfortable.”

  Via let out a reluctant laugh. “And here I was thinking I had all the makings of a secret agent.”

  “You should probably stick to using your brilliance for the good of science.” He grinned and cautiously held out his hand. “What do you say? Truce?”

  He wanted to be friends again?

  She’d spent the last two years convinced he was her enemy. But that was no longer true. And he was right. Hiding was exhausting. If she didn’t have to avoid him, it meant the next thirteen days might even be tolerable. She slowly took his fingers in hers.

  “Truce.”

  xxxx

  Hudson shielded his eyes against the sun as Via carted the trash bag back to Ruth’s car. Her bra strap was showing, and the heat of the day made her T-shirt cling to the swell of her chest. It was the second time he’d seen her bra. The first was at the science fair when her shirt had been dripping wet.

  Pink with tiny cats on it, the only thing covering her skin.

  He shook the image from his mind.

  Thinking about Via’s chest probably wasn’t the best way to rebuild their friendship.

  Neither was sitting around with a sprained ankle while she did all the work. He balanced his weight and stood up, reaching for his crutches. If he hooked the bag of empty drink bottles to his belt, he could manage it. It was light enough.

  He swung his way across and fumbled to loop it over. Success.

  “Really? Your alpha gene goes that deep?” Via said, and he turned around. Her arms were folded, and a bemused expression was on her mouth. In the process the bag flew from his belt and empty water bottles tumbled out onto the dry grass.

  “Apparently not.” He sighed. “Sorry. Being sidelined sucks.”

  “It’s okay.” She dropped to her knees and gathered them all up. “Zac broke his leg last year, and I once caught him trying to skateboard using his crutch like a paddle. Though that was less alpha gene and more the stupid one.”

  “At least I’m in good company,” he said.

  Via and her twin brother were poles apart, but underneath their teasing he knew they were close. And Zac was one of the few jocks he liked. Sure, when it came to girls, he had a magnetic pull to rival Jupiter, but he was actually nice to everyone. After the science fair, Hudson had expected Zac to beat him up. But he’d shrugged and said Via could fight her own battles.

  He hadn’t been wrong.

  “What are you smiling at?” She finished with the bag and began to walk to the car. He followed her, the crutches jabbing into his armpits as he went.

  “Nothing,” he quickly said, eager to change the subject. “So…what are you doing tomorrow?”

  She swung back to face him, her long dark hair tumbling over her shoulders and glinting in the afternoon sun. “I might not be avoiding you, but I’ll be avoiding my crazy parents. There was talk of another canoe adventure. You’re lucky. You have the perfect excuse.”

  “I don’t think you need your ankle to row a canoe. But I won’t be here. The nurse wants a second opinion, so I’m going into Shallow Falls for an X-ray.”

  “Lucky you. I miss towns. And shops. Make sure you get a coffee from that place on the corner. Oh, and go to the bookstore and touch all the spines for me.” She let out a forlorn sigh.

  He smiled. Via had always been more of a town girl than a camper. Which had probably been the most surprising part of finding her up a tree. Or the most depressing part. Still, if she was serious about forgiving him, then hopefully it was in the past.

  And they could really be friends again.

  He gave her a cautious smile. “Ethan’s been roped into driving me, but I know he’d rather stay here.” He licked his lips, not sure if this was the dumbest idea he’d ever had. “If you volunteered, you’d get a legitimate pass from canoeing. And there would be coffee.”

  “Real coffee?” A shudder went through her, as if she was considering it. “Doesn’t Ruth want to go with you?”

  He shook his head. “No. Thanks to the poison ivy, she’s pretty tired. But…if it’s weird, then forget I said anything. Ethan won’t mind—”

  “It’s okay,” she said, her eyes meeting his. “I’ll do it. I’m in.”

  Really?

  Hudson blinked. He hadn’t expected it to work. But it meant she was serious about their truce. And for the next thirteen days they might even be friends.

  4

  “I still can’t believe they fell for it,” Zac said in a mournful voice as he lazily kept a soccer ball up in the air, occasionally switching it from one foot to another. “You get to drive into town, and I’m stuck here. Smuggle in some chocolate for me. Oh, and soda. And tell the outside world I’m still alive.”

  “I’m the one who hates it here, not you. You just spend your whole time being a jock and flirting,” Via reminded him.

  “Good point.” Zac grinned and kicked the ball higher before neatly bouncing it off his knee.

  “And Mom and Dad didn’t fall for anything,” she added in a sharp voice. “I really am driving Hudson to get his ankle X-rayed. Then I’ll go and hang out in some stores and meet up with him later. And if you hadn’t deserted me yesterday, I might have invited you along.”

  “You say deserted, I say tactical retreat. And it turned out great. You got your differences all sorted out. You’re welcome.”

  Via sighed. Arguing with Zac was like catching a rainbow. It was tempting until you actually tried it.

  “Fine. You win.”

  “I do like to win.” He kicked the ball up and spun around to keep it off the ground with the back of his heel. Then he spun and bounced it off his head and deftly sent it back to his foot. “Are you two solid again?”

  “I wouldn’t
say solid. It’s a truce, which means we’re capable of spending a few hours together without wanting to kill each other. End of story.”

  “You mean without you wanting to kill him. I don’t think Hudson wanted to kill you. In fact I’ve always thought he had a—”

  “If you finish that sentence, we’re going to have a problem.”

  “What…crush?”

  “Stop it, Zac. It’s not funny. We might not have spoken much lately, but he’s always been focused on schoolwork and studying.”

  “Sounds like someone else I know. Besides, he wasn’t sixteen back then. Trust me, he’s not thinking that now. I know you got this weird thing about dating, but you should try it. You’re not so different from everyone else, Vee. You might even like it.”

  Her face heated. There was a reason she didn’t date. Because dating would lead to kissing, and she’d never kissed anyone. Unlike her brother, who seemed to specialize in kissing girls. Once again, she wondered how they were related. Did he steal all of the ‘I know how to fit in’ genes while they were still in utero?

  “Can we not talk about this?”

  “Just floating an idea.” He shrugged. “What does Frankie say?”

  “Nothing,” Via retorted, mainly because she hadn’t told her best friend about what had happened yesterday. Frankie had enough going on in her life right now. Besides, there was nothing to tell. If only she could get her clueless brother to believe her.

  “Because you haven’t told her,” Zac said in a smug voice as Diana appeared from her cabin wearing a bikini and not much else. “Gotta go, but have fun on your date.”

  “It’s not a date.” But he’d already left, jogging over to his latest target. Had she mentioned how annoying her brother was?

  She muttered something in his direction and turned around as Hudson appeared in the doorway of his cabin. He’d mastered the crutches and swung toward her at speed.

  His arm muscles were bigger than she remembered and strained with the effort. As he got closer, she studied his face. The shorter haircut made his cheekbones and square jaw stand out. There was a faint scattering of freckles, and his pale brown eyes had ridiculously long lashes. But that was irrelevant. If she did want to date him—which she didn’t—it would never work.

  For a start, they’d be a laughing stock. It always happened when unexpected couples got together. And then she’d be the center of attention.

  Her heart hammered and her palms went clammy. It would be the science fair all over again.

  “You don’t think this is a date, do you?” she said, trying to force back the faint tendrils of panic.

  “A date? Now who’s hit their head?” He leaned forward on his crutches and studied her face before holding up his right hand and tucking down his thumb. “How many fingers can you see?”

  “I’m serious, Hudson.”

  “O-kay,” he said, not taking his gaze away from her. “No, I don’t think it’s a date, Via. It’s been about a nanosecond since you hated me. I wasn’t even sure if you were serious about driving into town today. Best outcome is we get through the day without you hiding up a tree.”

  Her panic lessened, and she nodded. “If I do, I promise not to fall on your other ankle.”

  “Fair enough.” He shrugged. “So, we’re good?”

  She slowly nodded. “Yes. Though since it’s not a date, after you’ve been to the doctor we can split up. Do our own thing. Is that okay?”

  “Works for me,” he agreed in a calm voice. “You ready to go?”

  “Sure.” She fumbled for her keys and they walked over to the car. She waited as he tossed the crutches into the backseat and then climbed in next to her. Without looking at him, she started the engine and headed back into civilization.

  xxxx

  Hudson had long ago given up trying to understand girls. They made about as much sense as Schrödinger’s cat. Just let him measure and analyze things. Thought experiments hurt his head. It was pointless to figure out why Via had asked if he’d thought they were going on a date.

  He hadn’t.

  For a start, if they did ever go on a date, it wouldn’t involve having an X-ray. Not to mention she was helping out because spending time with him wasn’t quite as bad as being stuck in a canoe.

  It was hardly headline news. Via had never been interested in him, even when they’d been friends the first time around. It was probably for the best. When it came to relationships, he sucked. He couldn’t even relate to his parents, so girls were out of the question.

  He said a final thank you to the doctor, tucked the large envelope under his arm, and headed out to the waiting room where Via was sitting.

  Her long curls were hanging over her shoulder, and the denim miniskirt she was wearing showed off a lot of leg. She was studying her phone.

  “Hey,” he said. She looked up with a start.

  “I’ve been trying to keep up with Frankie’s life. She’s had a bit of a crazy summer. How did it go? Any fractures?”

  “Nope. Just a sprain.”

  “That’s good news.” She stood up and plucked the envelope with the X-ray from under his arm. “It’s going to get crushed if you do that.”

  “Thanks.” He’d always liked the way she never had a problem saying what she thought and taking control of things. It was strangely reassuring. And kind of hot.

  He groaned.

  Had his brain listened to nothing it had just been told?

  His phone rang in his pocket, but he kept walking. Moments later a second call came through. He didn’t need to look at the screen to know who the callers were. Via walked beside him, brows pushed together.

  “Aren’t you going to answer either of them?”

  “Definitely not. First one was from my mom. Second from my dad. They might be divorced but they have an uncanny knack of calling me at the same time.”

  “They probably want to know how the X-ray went.”

  “Yeah. That would be the obvious conclusion,” he said, trying not to think of the ongoing argument his parents had been having between themselves. It would be hilarious if it wasn’t for the fact they were fighting over who had the right to not have him more. Too late he realized Via was intently studying his face, her sharp eyes narrowing in on everything he was trying to keep hidden.

  He’d forgotten how much she noticed.

  Probably should have kept my mouth shut.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing.” He shrugged, but her gaze didn’t falter. “It’s not a big deal. My mom’s pissed that my dad never collected me because now she feels guilty about not being here.”

  Not enough to cancel her cruise, of course.

  “Why didn’t he collect you?” she asked.

  The sixty-four-thousand-dollar question.

  “Something came up.” It wasn’t exactly a lie. He assumed something really had come up. His father hadn’t bothered to mention what it was. Just that Hudson would have to stay at Camp Doom for two more weeks. “Maybe he knew how much fun I was having?”

  He expected her to laugh. Or at least smile, but her expression was grave. “I…I didn’t know there were things going on.” Her words were uncertain. Like she didn’t want to say the wrong thing. Like she cared what he thought.

  It had been a while since anyone cared.

  “It’s okay. Your mom and dad seem pretty happy together. I caught them kissing the other day.”

  “Join the club. Membership includes being scarred for life,” she said in a dry voice, but her eyes clouded. “Did it suck when they split up?”

  He shut his eyes. He never talked about this stuff.

  Not with anyone.

  It was his dirty little secret, that instead of being a Band-Aid baby they’d hoped would improve the marriage, it had become worse. Thanks to him.

  He’d already told her some of it. Might as well fill in the blanks.

  “Yes and no. I mean, they fought all the time. I’m talking war zone. At first it was bad, but
it was also a relief to be in a house that wasn’t so…loud. They really hated each other. They still do, but now they communicate via me.”

  “That doesn’t sound fun.”

  No. It really wasn’t.

  “It’s not so bad.”

  “You always were a terrible liar,” she said as a tentative smile spread across her mouth. The kind of smile he hadn’t seen in two years. It was nice. He just wasn’t sure why it had appeared. Was she happy his folks were acting like toddlers? Then she reached out and grabbed his hand.

  Heat travelled up his arm and he stiffened. “Via, what’s going on?”

  “I have an idea,” she explained as her fingers tightened in his. Then she nodded for him to follow her. “Are you coming, or what?”

  Okay. A mysterious adventure it was.

  5

  “Um, Via. What are we doing here?” Hudson’s brown eyes were wide, and tiny slivers of gold flickered through them. She didn’t blame him for being surprised.

  It also proved he didn’t know her as well as he thought he did.

  “We’re here to take some photos,” she explained in a patient voice, enjoying his continued confusion. The old-fashioned photo booth next to the hairdressers had been there for almost as long as Camp Doom itself. She held open the gray curtain.

  “That will teach me to ask an obvious question.” He let his crutches rest against the outside wall and used the doorframe to maneuver himself inside. His arm brushed hers as he went past. Her skin prickled, but she ignored it. Just one friend helping another.

  Well, she hoped she was.

  When he’d mentioned the calls from his folks and how he was stuck in the middle, it had been impossible to miss the tightness in his jaw, and the offer was out of her mouth before she could stop it.

  Probably from guilt.

  “You said your parents were being annoying, right?”

  “Yes.” He nodded cautiously. “This will help how?”

  “I’ve been dragged to this wretched campground since I was six years old. Trust me, I know all about annoying parents. Every year Zac and I would come here and pull the worst faces ever. By the time we were done, we’d be laughing. I swear you can’t be unhappy when you’re in here.”