by Selena Kitt
Once we're back in the house, I take a shower and rest on the couch with a book. Hunter sits next to me the whole time reading something about football plays while my dad and Angela bake cookies in the kitchen.
"The really do love each other." He says, and I watch them for a few moments.
"They do. I'm glad my dad found someone as great as your mom."
"I wish you wouldn't go on that date tonight." He reveals quietly.
"Hunter, no. We can't start this." I say cautiously.
"Not because of that. Because you need to rest." He says and puts his notes down.
"I'm not a delicate flower, Hunter. I'll be fine." I say a little too harshly.
"Fine." He says and goes to our room.
I probably should have listened to Hunter about the date. It goes about as horribly as you might have expected. I spend the entire time thinking about Hunter, and my date, Brad, spends the entire time trying to convince me to come back to his apartment after dinner.
I don't even make it through the whole tasting before I get up to go to the ladies room and sneak out of the restaurant. I called a cab, and when I get back to the condo, Hunter and the blond are in the hot tub, and our parents are nowhere to be found. Did I mention the condo had a hot tub on the back deck? No. Well, it does, and Hunter and the bimbo are out on the deck making googly eyes at each other in it.
God, I hate him.
I read for a while before I start to get sleepy. Around eleven, I turn off the light and try to go to sleep. A few minutes later Mr. Universe comes in and I hear his bed creak under his weight.
"You awake, princess?" He whispers.
"No."
"How was your date?" He teases.
"How was being disgusting in the hot tub with the bimbo?"
"Good night, Allison."
"Leave me alone." I say and cover my head with my pillow.
Chapter 7
Hunter
If you'd have asked me four years ago if Allison could ever be more beautiful I would have told you no. I would have been dead wrong. The last four years have turned her from a beautiful girl into a striking young woman. I thought I could give her up, but I was wrong about that too. Spending the evening with Brittany, or whatever he name was, made me realize how no one but Allison would do.
She's mine.
I just have to figure out how to make her realize that we belong together. Every time we get close she backs away, and it's just like high school all over again. I think she's still worried about what people will think if we're involved, but I really can't see it being that big of a deal. We were eighteen when our parents got married, and we didn't grow up together.
She'll probably worry even more now that I'm going to play professional ball, but I'm sure there are PR people who can handle these types of situations. I'm starting to wonder if our parents getting married is the real reason she broke things off with me. I don't think it's because she didn't care about me, but what could it be?
The next morning I get up, and I smell food cooking. Our parents are gone already, but Allison is up making breakfast. I take a seat at the breakfast bar and watch her work. She doesn't hear me at first because she's so involved with her cooking. It's mesmerizing watching her work.
"Good morning, princess." She startles a little and almost drops her spatula. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you.
"I'm making breakfast if you can stick around long enough to eat." She says sharply.
"You're making enough for me, that's sweet. Where would I be going?"
"Of course, I'm making enough for you. I'm not an asshole. As to where you're going, I assumed you'd be spending the day looking for more blonds to play hot tub soup with." She says and flips what looks like a chocolate chip pancake.
"Are those chocolate chip pancakes?" I ask ignoring her hot tub soup comment.
"Actually, Mr. NFL, they're banana walnut chocolate chip pancakes." She says and flips again.
"Oh my gosh. Those are my favorite." I say and rub my hands together. I should calm down because I'm acting like a kid, but they really are my favorite.
"I know. Your mom told me. I'm making bacon too. If it smells spicy, that's because it's habanero bacon."
"Oh man." I say, and she giggles at the way my face lights up when she puts my plate down in front of me.
"Does it taste okay?" She asks and I regret having to stop shoveling it into my face long enough to answer.
"It's the best." I respond and take another bite of the spicy bacon.
"I guess I'm just going to hang out here today. I brought a few books." She says and looks forlornly at the pancake that she stabs with her fork.
"Nonsense. We're going on a jungle tour today."
Allison
Wouldn't you know the tour guide for our jungle expedition is a statuesque blond with a huge rack. She hones in on Hunter the second we walk up to where the tour party is waiting. Her name is Kimber, and I'm pretty sure I want to murder her within the first five minutes of meeting her. Let me give you a little taste of the conversation I get to overhear while I’m making sure our gear is ready for the tour.
“Wow, so you’re like, the Hunter Marks.” Insert insipid giggle here. “I’m a huge fan!”
“Oh, so you like football?” Hunger replies with obvious feigned shock. She doesn’t pick up on it.
“Who me?” She says and bats her eyelashes at him furiously. “I never watch it, but I’m a huge fan of your abs.”
The whole thing makes me want to vomit, so I turn my attention to the surroundings. We’re in a clearing right now, but just ahead of us is a dense tropical forest. If I turn around, I can see the beach on the edge of the island off in the distance. The tree line we’re about to walk into is lush and full of various shades of green punctuated by bursts of color. The scent of the brightly colored tropical flowers is subtle on the humid air. Occasionally, a large blue or red bird will cry out and take flight from the trees.
“I’m kind of a fan of them too.” Hunger says and runs his hand over his stomach.
I realize that I’m not going to be able to ignore them, so I decide to join the conversation. It never hurts to try and be social, right? Sometimes, I’m so wrong it’s painful. I walk over closer to where they’re standing and Kimber immediately shoots me a death glare.
“The tour hasn’t started yet, Ma’am. You can wait over their by the sign.” She says with a sickening artificial sweetness the turns my stomach and points to a wait here sign a few yards away.
“This is my sister, Allison.” Hunter says loudly and wraps his arm around my shoulder.
I hate him so much.
“Oh, I didn’t know you had a little sister.” Kimber says and looks at me like I’m a preschooler who doesn’t speak English.
“Hi, Allison. I’m Kimber.” She says very loudly and very slowly.
“I’m not his sister.” I say and shoulder check him to get out of his embrace.
“She’s my step sister, actually. Our parents got married when we were seniors in high school.” He says and tightens his grip around my shoulder.
I hate him.
Is he trying to get out of talking to Kimber, or is he enjoying making me squirm. At this point, it could be both. Or, is this some weird way to get her attention? I don’t want to play this game anymore, so I reach down, grab his butt, and squeeze hard. He yelps and jumps away from me quickly.
“We’re very close.” I say and wink at Kimber.
I hear her audible scoff as I walk towards the wait here sign with a satisfied smile on my face. It’s quickly replace by a frown when I hear Hunter loudly telling her that I’m special. She giggles and grabs his huge bicep. I want to rip her hand off her body and make her eat it, but why? Why am I being territorial over him? I’ve made my decision, and Hunter is free to have all the Kimbers he can handle.
The tour starts and Hunter stays up near the front as Kimber points out various plants and animals. I fall to the back and make friends with an a
dorable 10-year-old named Ben. He’s got a notebook and flora and fauna field guide, and he relishes in telling me every time Kimber is wrong about the plants and animals she’s explaining to the tour group. She’s wrong almost every time, and the kid and I laugh and share a granola bar.
“You should be leading this tour.” I tell him and take a bite of my half of the bar.
“Maybe someday I will. Well, I might own an animal sanctuary instead.” He says and takes another bite.
“You’re not supposed to talk to strangers.” A tow headed boy a little older than him falls back next to us and looks enviously at the granola bar. He’s got a phone in his hand, and I saw him taking tons of pictures with it earlier.
“She’s not a stranger. She’s Allison, and she loves birds.” Ben says proudly as he finishes his granola bar and wipes his chocolate smeared fingers on his black shorts.
“I’m Allison Landry, nice to meet you.” I say and extend my hand out to the rail thin boy with piercing blue eyes.
“I’m Wesley, do you want to see the picture I took of a huge snake back there?” He says and smiles.
“Sure Wesley, show me.” I say.
The tour group stops and I dig out another granola bar from my bag while he searches his phone’s photo gallery for the best picture.
“I only have chocolate chip left, is that okay?” I say and hand him the bar.
“Yes, thank you so much. Here’s the picture.”
He shows me the screen and there is a shot of a humongous green snake coiled on a tree branch.
“Whoa, where was that?” I ask him and fake shock and horror. I like snakes, but he gets a kick out of it.
“It was back there about ten feet. He was right off the path, but the tour guide didn’t say anything. She’s not a very good guide.” He says and rips open the bar.
“Where are your parents?” I ask my new friends.
“They’re right over there.” Wesley says and points to a woman bent over examining a huge bug on a tree branch and a tall, thin man watching our interaction cautiously from a distance.
Ben runs over to the man and get’s two juice pouches from him. They have a brief conversation, and he returns and hands one of the drinks to Wesley. I take out a bottle of water, and we rest for a few minutes while Ben tells us more about the trees and flowers around us. A few minutes later, Hunter walks over to our little group and interrupts our conversation.
“Hey boys. How’s it going?” He says excitedly.
I figure I’ve lost them now that Mr. NFL has shown up on the scene, but the exchange doesn’t go the way I expect.
“Hi. Who are you?” Ben asks him and takes another long draw from his juice pouch.
“You guys don’t know who I am?” Hunter asks suspiciously.
The boys shake their heads no.
“I’m Hunter Marks, and I just got drafted by the Atlanta Falcons.”
The boys just look at him.
“Football, I’m going to be playing professional football. It’s in the news.” Hunter offers, but I see the wind going out of his sails.
“We don’t really like football. Do you know anything about birds?” Ben asks, and I laugh so hard that I spit water out.
The boys join in with my laugher and Hunter just walks back over to Kimber. I like these kids. I like them a lot. Wesley shows me some more photos, and Ben tells me about a few more flowers on the edge of the path before the tour starts again. Their mother calls them, and Wesley texts me the picture of the snake before they join their parents.
“It was nice to meet you boys. Enjoy the rest of your vacation.” I say before they run off.
“It was nice to meet you too Allison.” They say in unison and then take off towards their mom.
I feel a little more confident and relaxed after my exchange with the precocious boys, so I make my way to the front of the group and join Hunter. We reach the end of the path and it opens up into another clearing. Off a little ways in the distance are the ruins of a sugar cane plantation, and I watch Wesley and Ben run past us shouting something about finding hermit crabs.
“Adorable fan club.” Hunter snarks at me, but I see a small smile turning up the corner of his lips.
“Don’t be jealous. Not everybody likes football, Hunter.” I say with mock sympathy.
“Everybody loves a pretty woman, though.” He says and his smile turns into a Cheshire cat grin.
“Hunter Marks, are you flirting with me?” I say in mock astonishment. “Because I’m pretty sure that would make you a full on weirdo pervert. You know, since I’m your sister and all.”
“Are you upset about that? I was just messing with you.”
“No. It’s fine. Of course, it’s fine.” I say and start walking towards the ruins.
“Uh oh.” Hunter responds and hurries to catch up with me.
“What?”
“Well, whenever a woman says something is fine, it means it’s the polar opposite of fine.”
“No, really I don’t care, but shouldn’t you be spending time with Kimber? If you want to get her over to the condo tonight for a round of hot tub gymnastics, you had better get a move on because the tour is half over.” I say and move a little deeper into the ruins.
“Allison, I brought you on this tour so I could spend time with you.”
“You could have fooled me.” I can’t even look at him now. I don’t want him to see how jealous I am. Why can’t this be easier?
“Look, Allison, I was just trying to get your riled up. I thought it would make me feel better if you got a little jealous.” He says as he gently grabs my shoulder and turns me to face him. “And, it did.”
“We cannot do this, Hunter.”
“Do what?” He knows what I mean. God he can be unbearable. Why does he have to make me say it?
“We can’t be together Hunter as anything more than friends. You know that as well as I do.”
“I know no such thing. Yes, we’re step siblings, but our parents got married when we were practically adults, Allison. We didn’t grow up together. There is nothing immoral or weird about us being together.”
He’s so gorgeous, and funny and talented too. He wants me, so why do I keep rejecting him? Because I know this can’t possibly be real. He can have his pick of any woman he wants, and eventually he’ll get bored and break my heart. Eventually the Kimbers of the world would steal him away from me.
“It’s not just that, Hunter.” I say and look down at my feet.
“Then what is it, Allison?”
“I’m not good enough for you.” I cringe as I say the words. That sounded a lot worse aloud than it does in my head.
“Seriously woman?” He says and pulls me into his embrace. His arm is circled around my waist and his other hand is cradling the back of my neck. “There is no man on this earth good enough for you, but I’d like to try to be worthy of you.”
His lips touch mine, but those words felt like lightening striking my body. Hunter pulls me closer and deepens his kiss. I feel his fingers dig into my lower back, and the feeling of having him so close to me again makes my entire body buzz. I feel like I’m about to surrender to the tidal wave of feelings rushing through me when laughter rings out nearby.
“Ewwww, so gross.” Wesley calls out, and then he and Ben run off towards their parents with a hermit crab in each hand.
“We should get back. I’m sure we’ll be going back soon.” I say and break free from Hunter’s embrace.
He takes my hand and leads me back towards the group. Thankfully, he let’s go when we get closer to the group, and I appreciate him respecting my boundaries. The tour still hasn’t started yet, so I pull out my phone and show Hunter the picture of the snake.
“At first I thought it was an anaconda, I was going to send it to you. Ben, the younger one, told me there aren’t any anaconda’s around here.”
“That snake isn’t that huge. I’m sure you’ve seen bigger.” Hunter says and laughs loudly at his joke.
I have to chuckle too at how much he’s enjoying his joke and at how annoyed Kimber looks. She starts the tour again, but you can tell she’s annoyed that Hunter isn’t fawning all over her.
She leads us back to the starting area, and by the time we get there, I’m starving. Hunter suggests that we get some dinner before we go back to the condo, and I agree. Kimber tries to slip him her phone number before we leave. He takes the piece of paper with her cell number on it, but as soon as she’s out of sight, he throws it away.