Always You, Always Us

by Savannah Carey

  “He is so freaking hot. And his biceps…have you ever seen arms like that? They look photoshopped!”

  “Oh my God, forget the biceps, check out that ass!”

  I know I shouldn’t do it. I know I should go back to Hunter and Jena, but my feet disagree. They are set on a determined path, and nothing my mind tells them is going to stop what comes next.

  I step outside and flash a big smile at three more amazingly gorgeous women. More teachers, I’m sure, because this school obviously only hires huge-boobed, fake-tanned models. “Hi! I’m Liv Larson, Hunter’s partner. Are you ladies interested in our sports program?” Okay, I really have to get a handle on this jealousy thing, but first I need to send these women packing. Watching Jena fawn all over him is bad enough.

  They exchange glances and take a few steps backward. “Oh, well, yes, some of the parents are curious about the new summer camps, so we wanted to find out some more details.”

  I force my lips even further upward. “Of course! Although, I’m sure you’ve already checked out the website, right? That’s where you can find out all of the details you need.”

  Another glance exchanged. The spokesperson smiles and nods. “Yes, it’s a great website. Very informative.”

  For a moment, I consider giving her a little test, but what I really want to do is get them the heck out of here, especially since Hunter is calling my name and will no doubt come out to investigate my whereabouts if I don’t answer.

  “Excuse me, I need to get back to my meeting. Thanks for your interest!” I give a small wave and walk back into the gym, making sure the door closes behind me. I let out a deep sigh. I don’t know what kind of game I’m playing with myself. Women constantly throw themselves at Hunter, and even if I stop a few of them, there are always more lurking, waiting for the chance to strike.

  “Where’d you go?” Hunter asks once I return to the gym.

  “Oh, I overheard some teachers asking about the program, so I ran out for a second to give them the web address to check out.” The lie rolls off my tongue without thought, and I’m rewarded with a smile that awakens the butterflies in my belly and sends them aflutter.

  The impact of that grin and those dimples has rendered me deaf and mute, and when it comes time for me to explain the tumbling part of the program, I struggle to find the words. Luckily, or unluckily as the case may be, Jena is so enthralled with Hunter and his enthusiasm that she barely pays attention to a word I say.

  And it doesn’t take much more explanation before she is welcoming us into the school as an official service provider. Hot guy, mad basketball skills, a smile that can melt a glacier…who would turn all of that away? The fact that he’s amazing with kids is just an added bonus.

  I flex my foot as he signs the contracts and settles the logistics and timing with Jena. She’s more than excited to get started and to huddle up with Hunter to discuss strategy. I can see the wheels turning in her mind. It’s only a matter of time before she starts to call her own plays while I watch from the sidelines, crushed and defeated. Yet again.

  Because that’s the way this story always ends.

  Hunter

  “If you decide on the strawberry shortcake one, let me know, and I’ll just wait for you in the car.” I snicker and flip open the menu even though I get the same thing every time we come to Pop’s.

  Liv giggles and runs a finger down the mile-long page of milkshake options. “Okay, fine. Today, because you did something super sweet for me, I’ll do the same and spare you.” She looks up at the waitress with a smile. “Chocolate peanut butter explosion, please.”

  The waitress winks. “It’s brand-new and my favorite. Much better than the strawberry shortcake, if you ask me. Besides, you wouldn’t want to banish your boyfriend to the car, right?”

  My eyes meet Liv’s, and I see her mouth drop open. She starts to stutter a reply, a deep pink flush coloring her cheeks, but the waitress has already moved on to the next table. It’s a weird reaction. I mean, people make that mistake all the time and it’s never fazed her. In fact, I’ve never even heard her correct any of them. I know what it looks like, and it’s nice to pretend that it’s true every once in a while. But before I can press her on it, she clears her throat.

  “I need to tell you something.”

  “Sounds serious.”

  “Well, yes. It is to me.” She twists a strand of hair around her pinkie. “And it would have been good for you to know before we met with Jena, but things happened so fast, and I really wasn’t sure how you’d react, and I—“

  “Livvie, just spit it out!” I snicker. God, she’s long-winded. She’ll give me every reason to say yes or no to a question before she even asks it. It’s just her way. Convincing you to make a decision before one is available to be made. Cutting to the chase has never been her strong suit.

  “ESPN contacted me last week. Coach Val sent them my tapes, and they want me to audition for the Legacy exhibition team.”

  “Are you serious? Livvie, that’s fantastic!” I furrow my brow. “Except I don’t understand why you wouldn’t have told me right away when you got the news.”

  “Well…” She averts her eyes, grabbing a straw from the table and toying with the paper wrapper. “The audition is my performance in Hawaii.”

  “Okay…”

  “And if I make the team, they start practicing in July…”

  I sit back against the booth and nod. “When we’d start running the camps,” I finish for her.

  She nods, the pained expression on her face almost too much for me to bear. I should have mentioned something first. Springing it on her like that wasn’t fair. And it also means I need to pick up the slack in the tumbling department.

  “Yeah. Hunter, I’m so sorry. You did something so amazing for me, and I would love to be your partner, but this chance to be part of Legacy…it could open up so many doors for me.”

  “Hey, I’m really proud of you. And don’t worry about anything. It’s my fault. I wanted to surprise you, but if I were smart, I would have spoken to you about it first. You’re gonna kill it at internationals, and I’ll be in the front row cheering. I’ll handle the camps. I can do a decent cartwheel, don’t you think?”

  “You can cartwheel better than most; I’ll give you that.” She stirs the milkshake that’s just been set down in front of her. “I really would have loved to work with you on this, not that you need my help at all. You’ve already done so much and look at where Rising Star is today as compared to when you first started.”

  “I guess that accident didn’t do as much damage to my future as everyone thought.”

  “You’re so lucky it wasn’t worse, but looking back, maybe Rising Star was supposed to be your path. I know how much you loved basketball, but you couldn’t have played and built this business. And you’d have never been able to leverage all of your jock connections if you hadn’t been on the team and traveled with them. I guess everything happens for a reason,” she muses, tapping her fingers on the Formica tabletop.

  I pull out a twenty and drop it on top of the check. Liv’s lost in thought again. Must be thinking about the ESPN thing. My gut clenches as the reality sinks in. I’m going to lose her. She’ll be offered a spot because she’s that amazing, and then she’ll be all over the place with that exhibition team. The biggest stars shoot the farthest, and this is only the beginning for Livvie. But even though she’s worked like a lunatic for this and deserves every bit of success about to come her way, it makes me realize that, while some things are meant to be, others are most definitely not, us being a prime example.

  I poke her with a wrapped straw and point to a text on my phone. “Come on, let’s get out of here. Cindy just texted me. Allie is flipping out, waiting for us to get home.”

  The waitress places two to-go cups in a cardboard carrier on the table and I grab it. “Thanks,” I say, flashing her a quick smile. Pop’s milkshakes are legendary. If Cindy and Allie knew I was here and didn’t bring anything bac
k for them, that’d be a fate worse than death for me.

  Liv slides out of the booth and straightens to her full height, still several inches shorter than me; enough that she can still wear heels and not slouch to look shorter. Not that the thought crossed my mind too often, except when she’d stand next to that loser Thomas and tower over him in her shoes. Then again, short or tall, he’d always look like a tool anyway.

  Her body heat singes me as she brushes against my chest to grab her jacket. It takes every ounce of restraint I have not to back her against that booth and taste her chocolate peanut butter flavored lips. I breathe in the sweet scent of her shampoo as she leans over to grab the drink tray from me.

  “Thanks for the shake.”

  “You’re welcome.” I wink and follow her out to the car, forcing my eyes anywhere but on her perfect ass. Seems like I do that a lot lately. I unlock the car and reach past her to open the passenger side door when a loud yelp erupts from my throat. A burning sensation shoots through my finger like I’ve just stuck it into a flame. “Ahh!”

  I drop the keys and grab the finger that the wasp just stung. It was hiding, just waiting for me to pull that handle. The stinger is stuck in the center of it, an evil black prick that sliced into me with a vengeance I most definitely didn’t deserve.

  I put my other hand on the car window, trying to steady myself and pull the stinger out. My eyes blur, and I blink fast to clear my vision.

  “Oh my God, Hunter…” Liv’s voice trails off, and it sounds like it’s coming from far away even though she’s standing right next to me.

  I try to grab the stinger, but my other fingers aren’t working. I can’t pinch them together to grab it and pull it out. They’re moving in slow motion, like fat sausages that won’t go in the direction I need. I fall back against the car, hoping I can get leverage, but my body feels so heavy, like it’s been weighted with cement blocks. My hand drops against the side of the car, stinger forgotten, and I let out a wheeze. Just fantastic. My body apparently has no ability to draw in oxygen, either. I manage to form a single word with my lips and force it out. “Libbie…”

  Liv

  “Oh my God! Are you allergic to wasp stings, too?” My voice rises in panic, and I fling open the car door, not even checking to see if the wasp was still hanging out behind the door.

  “I donb’t know. I’b neber been stung before,” Hunter manages to reply through lips that are so swollen, they now occupy the lower half of his face.

  I ease him into the passenger seat and grab his collar when he closes his eyes. “Don’t you dare sleep on me! Where’s your Epi Pen? You need a shot, or you’ll die!”

  His green eyes are now slits, and he points to the glove compartment. “Mnpfhere.”

  My pulse throbs against my neck. What if it’s not in here? What if I call 911 and—

  I press the release button and it falls open. The biggest mess of crap I’ve ever seen shoots out, but there’s just one thing I’m looking for right now. I sift through the papers, the candy, the condom packets…really? I finally find what I’m looking for. I pull off the blue part of the cap and thankfully, he’s wearing shorts. I jam it right into his thigh, angling it like he taught me to do years ago, and his eyes fly open, teeth clenched.

  I leave it in, waiting for the epinephrine to flow through his veins. My whole body trembles, my hand the only part of me that remains strong and steady. Have to call 911, have to call 911.

  “Hunter,” I murmur. I can barely breathe myself; my throat is so tight. “I need to call 911.”

  “Scbew bat. Hosbibal.” The medication works fast enough to save his life, but not enough to eliminate the swelling immediately. That part takes a little time, so I still can’t understand what he is saying.

  “What about a bat?” I close my eyes for a brief second, my hand still clenched around the Epi Pen. Beads of perspiration pop up along the back of my neck, and I force myself to draw in a deep breath.

  “Hosbibal!”

  “What the he…oh, wait! You said ‘hospital,’ right? Yes, let’s go to the emergency room.” From this side of town, it’s close, and I don’t want to wait around for EMTs. My eyes flutter open and meet his slightly puffy ones. How is it possible that I’ve almost lost this guy twice? First the strawberries, then the wasp…

  And has he ever wondered why he’s been near-death twice with me?

  I pull out the needle and stick it back in its long plastic case, dropping it into the cup holder. Soft fingertips graze my arm, and I turn my head to find his swollen lips curled upward. At least, I think they are. It’s still hard to tell. The pounding in my chest is so forceful, my heart might just explode out of it any second.

  “You sabed my life.”

  His fingers are now wrapped around my arm, and tiny shivers skitter across my skin in response. I bite my lower lip, fighting the urge to press my lips to his, to press every part of my body to his. I force my eyes away. It is so inappropriate to have these thoughts when the guy is near-death.

  Near-death. “Hospital! I have to get you to the hospital!” I leap out of the passenger seat and run around to the driver’s side. Jesus, the guy needs medical attention and all I can do is moon over him and his swollen, yet still kissable, lips?

  Sick. I am a sick person.

  I gun the engine and tear out of the parking lot. His breathing is less labored, but I don’t want to take any chances, so I maneuver in and out of lanes to get us to the hospital as quickly as possible. I pull around the semi-circular driveway and screech to a stop right in front of the emergency room, praying that someone can take him in while I park the car.

  “Jesus, Libbie. You’re a lubatic!”

  “Complain if you want, but we’re in one piece. That’s all that matters.”

  An orderly meets us with a wheelchair and opens the door for Hunter. I give a quick update to the man helping Hunter out of the car. “I think he went into anaphylactic shock after a wasp sting. I gave him an Epi Pen.”

  The orderly nods at me then points to a parking lot not too far away. “Park over there. I’ll get him set up inside.”

  I watch him wheel Hunter into the hospital, and I back into one of the open spots. This place is usually a zoo, so how I got a spot so quickly is beyond me. Someone is definitely watching over us today.

  I pull out my phone and dial Hunter’s house. They must be really nervous since we’re so late. Cindy answers, her voice laced with panic.

  “Liv, what’s going on? Are you both okay? I’ve been calling Hunter’s phone for the past hour!”

  “Hey, Cindy. I’m really sorry. He brought me to a business meeting on the way home and then we stopped at Pop’s. We were about to drive home, and he got stung by a wasp hanging out by the car, and then he went into shock—“

  “Oh my God,” she shrieks. “Is he okay?”

  “Yes, I used his Epi Pen, and now we’re at the emergency room. I’m heading back inside, but he’s already been checked in.”

  “I’m leaving now! I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  “Okay.” I rush back into the hospital and head straight to the nurse’s station. “Hi, I’m looking for Hunter McKinnon—“

  The brunette nurse…her nametag says Gina…grins at me. “Let me guess. Libbie?”

  I force a return smile, even though my knees are wobbling from the stress of everything leading us here. “Yes. Is he back there?” I gesture to the big red door leading to the exam rooms.

  She nods. “Yes, we already set him up with an IV and are administering antihistamines. All signs point to anaphylaxis, so you were smart in remembering to use his Epi Pen.”

  My throat is so tight that breathing is a chore. It all happened so fast; I didn’t get a chance to think. I only acted, packaging up all of my emotions until the time came to wrestle with them. The weight of the situation is finally setting in…hard. There’s a sob working its way out as the nurse speaks, and before I can choke it back, it’s out. My shoulders quake, and I swi
pe at the tears streaming down my face. These feelings…this unfamiliar mixture of relief, fear, panic, and love…pour out of me and onto the nurse’s scrubs when she pulls me in for a hug.

  “It’s okay, sweetie. He’s going to be just fine. You thought fast and saved his life. Had you waited for emergency personnel, things might have ended up very differently for your boyfriend.”

  I sniffle. Boyfriend. That’s the second time someone made that mistake today. Warmth floods my body as I let the word consume me like a giant security blanket, fuzzy and soft. My boyfriend, who I almost lost. Again.

  I pull away. “Thank you so much for taking care of him. Can I see him now?”

  She smiles and rubs my back one more time. “Of course. He’s probably pretty sleepy by now, since the combination of medications will make him drowsy. But he’s going to be just fine.”

  I take a few deep breaths as I follow her through the heavy metal doors. We pass room after room, where machines beep incessantly and the smell of antiseptic cleaner assaults my nostrils. The thumping in my chest only increases with force when we step into Hunter’s room. It’s small, but there’s a chair next to the bed where Hunter is lying. I eye the machines and the drip into his IV.

  I walk over to him and lace my fingers with his. “Hey,” I whisper.

  His eyes, much less red, open a crack. His lips slowly form my name. “Livvie,” he murmurs.

  “How are you feeling?” His hair flops over one eye and I long to smooth it back, to caress his jawbone, to graze his now-normal sized lips with my own…

  “Great, now that you’re here.”

  “Aww,” Nurse Gina coos. “How cute are you two?” She adjusts some wires, and I grin at Hunter. He’s so doped up on meds, he probably won’t remember this, anyway. I’m just going to live out my fantasy for a bit longer. Nobody has to know.

  Hunter squeezes my hand, his eyes heavy. “If it wasn’t for Livvie, I’d be lying dead in a parking lot. She saved my life.”

  “You’re a very lucky young man, in more ways than one. Your girlfriend is quite a beauty.”