The Fourth Time Charm: A Friends to Lovers Romance

by Maya Hughes

  “Marisa!” she shouted so loudly more than a few heads turned. “You’re here.” She squeezed me tightly, like she was overcompensating for her vertically-challenged state and channeling it into bone crushing.

  “How was it? Tell me everything. Where’s your bag?” She glanced at my hands which were empty. My backpack was hefted on my back.

  “They didn’t.” Her eyes widened before I could say a word. “And you just replaced everything.”

  “They think it’s still in Venice and someone should deliver it after it gets here on the flight tomorrow.”

  “I’m sure you can borrow something from LJ until then. It’ll be like old times.” We walked toward the exit. The old times when we shared a bed, sleeping beside one another and I’d almost given him a handy. My chest flushed.

  Ford stood with his hands in his pockets, eyes darting everywhere like he was a Secret Service agent waiting for trouble.

  Liv had her hands full with him, of that I was absolutely sure.

  “Hey, Ford.”

  “Hey, Marisa.” His smile beneath the beard was totally teddy-bear cute. How Liv hadn’t fallen for him earlier was the only mystery there. “Where’s your bag?”

  “They lost it.” Liv butted in, anger dripping from every word.

  “We can pick you up some clothes on the way to your place.”

  Over his shoulder, an obnoxious cloud of multicolored balloons walked through the door, the person holding them completely obscured by the colorful latex.

  “Who is this asshole?” Liv mumbled under her breath.

  All heads turned in the direction of the walking version of Up. How their feet weren’t lifted off the ground was a miracle. The movements of the person behind the balloons were frantic before they whirled around and I got the full view, but I didn’t need to see the maniac to know exactly who would show up at the airport with a circus’s worth of balloons.

  LJ’s face lit up the second he spotted me and he ran toward me like he was headed into the end zone.

  Lifted off my feet, I yelped, laughing and holding onto him. The latex and helium bomb masked his evergreen smell, but it was still there.

  “Magician Marisa does it again.” He dropped me, grinning so wide my cheeks hurt.

  “What exactly did I do?”

  “My dad’s got the all clear again for another six months.” He picked me up and spun me around. Staring into his eyes, the joy he radiated was contagious.

  Relief for him, Charlie, and the rest of the family flooded through me. They deserved to have one another for as long as possible. But there was also a part of me that feared a day where the cancer came back. Would I stop being Magician Marisa? Would he still look at me and tuck a strand from my unkempt ponytail behind my ear, before tugging on it like we were eight again.

  He glanced around behind me, his gaze sweeping over the floor. “Where’s your bag?”

  I explained again, and the four of us walked across the sky bridge connecting to the parking garage, Liv and Ford hand in hand and me with half of a ridiculous bunch of balloons. Down below, people were running across the drop off area with umbrellas, or just going for it and avoiding puddles while dragging their bags behind them.

  “Thanks for coming. I figured by the time I got here, you guys would be gone and I’d have to race back to the house to meet her.” LJ’s cheek-aching smile hadn’t let up since we’d left baggage claim.

  “We’re glad you made it. Is there any helium left on the planet though?” Liv smirked and Ford swallowed a laugh behind the beard, his chest rumbling.

  “How could I not welcome Marisa back properly? It’s been forever since I’ve seen her. I wanted her to know without a doubt how much she was missed.”

  The leaping heart feelings had to stop or I’d trip over my own feet—although holding onto these balloons, I probably wouldn’t hit the ground.

  We handed at least fifty balloons out to people waiting for their loved ones, but I still felt seconds from being lifted off my feet by the time we made it to the parking garage.

  Shoving the balloons into the trunk, we slammed it against a popping that sounded like a small war taking place inside.

  “How did you even get these here?” I slid into the passenger’s side seat.

  LJ closed the door and ran around to his side. “Some in the trunk, I used trash bags to keep them anchored in the back of the car. Everyone at Party City hated me when I went before the doctor’s appointment.”

  “I’m sure they did.”

  He turned on the car and we pulled out of the parking garage into the steady downpour. The beads of rain drummed on the roof and streaked down the windshield.

  Streaks of lightning crisscrossed the sky and claps of thunder rumbled in the distance, but inside the car there was nothing but sunshine.

  “I tracked your flight, and I swear there were clear, bright skies up until fifteen minutes before you landed.”

  “Looks like Philly is happy to have me back.”

  “I know I am.” He reached over and patted my knee.

  My heart leapt, centering everything on those five fingers wrapped around my leg. “You just need me to do your laundry don’t you.”

  He let go making an exaggerated offended scoff. “All my laundry fits in the baskets in my closet.” The dropped ’s’ covered by a cough didn’t fool me.

  “How many baskets did you buy? It’s a Jenga tower of dirty clothes, isn’t it?” I poked his shoulder. Laundry had always been my forte when it came to the home up-keep arts. Something about the fresh clean smell comforted me. Also because I used to run the washer and dryer when I was home alone growing up, so I didn’t hear every bump and creak.

  LJ acted like his skin would burn off at the touch of a dryer sheet. For me, it was the thing that gave me comfort on cold, lonely nights.

  “I might’ve picked up a couple extra from people who left them out on the curb after move out before the summer.”

  “And here I thought you just missed my sparkling personality.” I tucked my hands under my chin.

  “It’s been boring without you here being the eternal pain in my ass, and workouts were less entertaining.”

  I laughed, forcing the air through my tight vocal chords. “Just getting you used to how things will go next year.”

  He drummed his fingers along the steering wheel and pulled onto the highway. “If I get drafted.”

  “Of course you will. You’ve been talking about this since we were seventeen. Don’t tell me you’re losing faith in the last quarter.”

  The worry line around the faint scar from his eyebrow to his hairline crinkled.

  “LJ, in the worst draft possible, you’ll go in the second round, maybe.” I leaned back and slid my feet out of my sneakers, propping them up on the dashboard.

  “Yeah, you’re probably—” His eyes flicked to my feet and he swatted at them, while snapping his gaze back to the road. “Are you seriously putting your eight-hour plane feet all over my car?”

  I clutched my sides, laughing and shifting my legs to evade his fingers.

  At a light, he threw the car into park and mounted a tickle attack that left me in tears and out of breath. “I give. I give!” I shouted, scooting to the far edge of my seat with my back pressed against the door and my feet firmly on the floor.

  “Did I say I missed you? I take it back.” He shifted back into drive and we drove the rest of the way while filling each other in on our summers. His worry line was gone.

  By the time we made it through the city and back to campus, my eyelids were harder to keep open. The rain had let up, leaving only a spitting spray as we drove through the streets of off-campus housing.

  I yawned as we pulled up to the front of The Brothel. “How can I be tired when I’ve been sitting on my ass for ten hours, if you include how early I had to get to the airport to check in?”

  “Because you need to sleep in a bed, not propped up like a store mannequin with someone’s head reclined three in
ches in front of your face.”

  LJ hopped out of the car and I grabbed my backpack from the back seat and opened my door.

  Staring up at the house I’d stayed in for nearly a month last semester, I braced myself for what was to come. We were roommates now.

  He stood at the bottom of the steps leading up to the gray and white porch.

  The front door opened and Berk and Keyton burst past the door frame holding a cookie cake.

  I grinned and laughed, walking up the porch steps past LJ, who stood leaning against the railing.

  “You’re here!” Berk jumped up and down while Keyton tried to steady the chocolate chip cookie cake with chocolate writing so it didn’t splat onto the porch. He rushed toward me in full drama mode and wrapped his arms around me, spinning me in circles and nearly taking out Keyton, who balanced the cake in his hands.

  “What the hell?” Keyton grumbled.

  Berk set me down and ruffled my hair like I was a four-year-old.

  I glowered and crossed my arms over my chest. “What the hell?”

  “I’m just glad you’re here.” Berk jerked his thumb in LJ’s direction. “Maybe Mr. Mopey will lighten the hell up.”

  “Fuck you.” LJ’s gaze narrowed at Berk before softening and turning to me. “He’s been a pain in the ass all summer. We’re happy you’re here.”

  I fought against my yawn and kept my hands over my mouth. “Me too.”

  “Let’s get you inside.” LJ slipped my backpack off my shoulder. “You can borrow some of my clothes until your suitcase gets here.” He pushed past Berk, who winked at me as I followed LJ into the house.

  “Just like old times.” I trudged up the stairs behind him.

  By the time I made it to the last step, LJ had disappeared into his room.

  I walked down the hall to the second door, the one that shared a wall with him and had been Reece’s old room. On the bed were my favorite shampoo, conditioner, body wash and lotion.

  My bag hit the floor with a thud.

  Turning, I slammed straight into LJ’s chest, pinning his arms between us. “You got my stuff.”

  The tips of his ears pinked up. “I figured they didn’t have it in Italy and you’d probably run out while you were away. Here are your PJs and a towel.”

  I hadn’t turned on the light and I was happy I hadn’t. Tears prickled in the corners of my eyes and I threw my arms around him.

  Sometimes it felt like I could disappear and no one would really care. It felt like I was a temporary fixture in someone’s life until they moved on. But with LJ I felt like I mattered—always.

  Dropping my arms, I rubbed my nose with my long sleeves and took the clothes from his hands. “Thanks, LJ.”

  “The bathroom’s all yours. We’ll stay out of your way. I know you’re tired.” He stepped back and walked out of the room before popping his head back in. “I missed you, Marisa.”

  I’d have said it back, but my throat was too tight to speak. I nodded and closed the door after he disappeared from the doorway.

  How was I supposed to make it through this whole year without making a fool of myself—again?

  8

  Marisa

  SENIOR YEAR - HIGH SCHOOL

  Standing at the bottom of the porch steps, I got my answer to how the hell he pulled this off.

  One of the freshman football players had been squeezed into a Tinkerbell costume, complete with blonde bun, wings and a wand. His legs in those tights made me the slightest bit jealous.

  “Welcome to the wonderful world of adventure. We hope you have a magical day.” His falsetto voice, pouty smile and curtsy almost burst the dam, but I kept my laughter contained. They could probably have heard me from four blocks away. I bent over, holding my stomach.

  My sides hurt as we stepped inside the house, which had been transformed. String lights were attached to the ceiling flowing out from the square columns, which made for perfect shielding during sock wars.

  There was a popcorn machine in one corner. A cotton candy machine. A VR headset hooked up to the TV. Face paints on the dining room table complete with glitter.

  “I know it’s more like a carnival than Disney…” He shrugged.

  “Are you serious? This is amazing. How did you get all this put together?”

  “A little bit of raiding the concession stand supplies, bribing the underclassmen with a couple cases of beer and pulling the cancer card to get people to help out. Plus, after telling them why you were missing the senior trip, people were more than happy to pitch in.”

  “I can’t believe you did this for me.”

  He peered over at me and my stomach flipped like there was a wacky-waving-inflatable-arm-flailing tube man going bonkers inside. “When are you going to get it? I’d do anything for you.”

  All those achy feelings came rushing back. The ones I felt when we were up late at night playing video games. The ones where I looked at him and wondered what his lips would feel like on mine. Not in a preteen or playground kiss, but a real kiss.

  “Wait until you see the back yard.” He grabbed my hand and I let him drag me through the house at a moderate pace to the back yard.

  I walked out back, shielding my eyes from the glare of the sun.

  It was complete with a treehouse we hadn’t slept in since we were eleven. A wooden swing set where we’d both gotten more than our fair share of splinters had been out of commission for more than a few years.

  There were plastic tubs filled with balloons and water guns set up like an arsenal on plastic folding tables ten feet apart, with chairs behind each one.

  “I know you can’t really run around and stuff, but I figured we could have a sitting water battle, if you’re up for it.”

  We spent the day with off-brand cartoon characters popping into the house. I had my fill of every carnival food I could think of, including hot dogs, so I wasn’t in a sugar-induced coma by the end of the day. I changed into the spare clothes tucked into my drawer in LJ’s room.

  With soaking wet hair, I turned off the VR headset recreating some of the biggest rollercoasters in the world, complete with a fan blowing my drenched strands.

  The sun had set a couple hours ago.

  LJ handed off the cases of beer he’d acquired to the underclassmen. It would definitely require some prodding to find out how he’d broken his straight-arrow code to come up with that bribe.

  He sat on the edge of the couch.

  “That was the best day I’ve ever had in my life.” I rested my hands over my stomach, which wouldn’t rumble for another decade.

  “I have one other thing to show you.” He held out his hand.

  Stuffed, sore and sleepy, I took his hand and followed him down to the basement. A disco ball spun from the ceiling and a multicolored ball light bathed the ceiling and walls in different colors.

  He walked over to the tablet beside the speakers and tapped the screen.

  An early-2000s hit filled the large space. “It wouldn’t be a senior trip without a dance party.” He waved his hands over his head, showing off his moves, which had gotten a lot better over the years.

  I laughed and moved right along with him.

  Anyone who thought a dance party of two didn’t sound like a fun time hadn’t met me and LJ. Bringing back old dance moves long since retired, we moved through the playlist he’d made and sang along to every song, screaming up to the ceiling and right beside each other.

  Sweaty and filled with more joy than I’d ever been, I dropped my hands to my sides when the last song ended and the next one came on.

  It was a slow song.

  LJ had one hand behind his back and held the other out to me. “May I have this dance?”

  “Why, yes, kind sir.” I laughed and attempted a restrained curtsey.

  We went old school—middle school. He slid his hands on either side of my waist.

  I’d popped another round of pain meds, so there wasn’t more than a distant throb, even after all the running ar
ound today. I held onto his shoulders. Rocking back and forth, I felt like we’d been transported back to the seventh-grade dance. The same one where our mouths had been almost welded together. Neither of us were sporting braces anymore.

  “How are you going to get all this cleaned up by tomorrow?”

  “The underclassmen are coming by in the morning to take everything away and put it all back the way it was.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Football player perks.”

  A chuckle rumbled through his chest. “If you hadn’t helped me with Quinn, I’d never have even been able to play football for the past two seasons.”

  “I did what anyone else would’ve done.” And hanging out with his sister had given me a reason to be at his house. It hadn’t only been for selfish reasons—LJ needed to focus on football, and Jill had a lot to handle with Charlie. I helped out where I could.

  “No, they wouldn’t have. A lot of people acted like I had the plague once my dad got sick last year, but you didn’t.” His gaze held an intensity that sent a flush flooding through my body.

  Staring at him, I knew then that my feelings for LJ were real. But in a matter of months I’d be going to New York and he’d be going to Fulton U.

  The level of attention for him would be even higher, especially female attention. Not to say there weren’t girls who flirted with him now, but he mostly didn’t pay any attention. But his college games would be on national TV. There would be coeds from all over the US—and some from outside—vying for his attention. And he wouldn’t have me there as the plucky tagalong cock-blocking him with my presence alone.

  His fingers inched closer to my back and I let my arms soften, the joke of our middle school dancing fading with each repeat of the chorus.

  Soon my arms were draped over his shoulders and his hands were locked around me, resting on the small of my back.

  His lips were inches from mine.

  The light from his glow stick glasses shone off his tropical ocean blue eyes.

  “This was the best senior trip ever.” I interlaced my fingers against the back of his neck, letting them rub the short, smooth hairs.