Always You, Always Us

by Savannah Carey

  “So, tell me. Are you planning to blame all the booze when you make another colossally horrible decision, sweetie?”

  Kacie’s arm tightens around my waist. “Elle! Congratulations-s!” she slurs. Fabulous. Drunk and oblivious, two things I normally welcome with open arms. But not tonight. Nope, tonight that combination equates to disastrous consequences.

  Elle smiles and links her arm with Kacie’s, pulling her away from me right before those fingers were poised for some rather inappropriate grasping. She points Kacie in the direction of a group of guys in a corner. “Those are Brandon’s fraternity brothers. They don’t think they can find a girl here who can keep up with them. I knew you’d be able to set them straight.”

  “Darn right.” Kacie flashes a grin at me and drags a finger down the front of my shirt. “Let me handle them. Hunter, I’ll be back. Miss me, okay?” She sidles off with no regard for the people she is hip-checking along her path.

  Elle lets out a deep sigh and folds her arms. “Hunter, really? What are you doing with Kacie? Didn’t you learn your lesson the first time?”

  “What do you care?” I grumble, raking a hand through my hair. My eyes are trying so hard to find Liv, but the Best Man is still blocking my view. I want her to see that Kacie is gone. I need to know what those death looks meant, and why she’s so angry at me one minute and somewhat back to normal the next. I need to know what happened to my best friend because I’m starting to think I left her back at school and brought home her alter-ego instead. I don’t know who it is I’m dealing with anymore.

  Maybe it’s me. Maybe it was the wasp. Maybe this is some alternate reality. I’m kind of hoping for the third option. That way, I may eventually wake up and things might revert to a time when everything made sense.

  “It’s not me you should be worried about.” Elle cocks an eyebrow and takes a champagne flute from a passing tray. She takes a quick sip, waiting for me to process her comment. I guess I take too much time because she rolls her eyes and cuts to the punch. “I’m talking about Liv, moron.”

  “Why would she care? She’s fawning over the best man right now. It doesn’t look like she cares about anything but what he’s selling.”

  Elle glances over her shoulder and turns back to me with a mischievous smile. “You sound a little...how should I put this…jealous, Hunter?” She taps her face with one red fingernail. “Now, why would that be? You want your best friend to be happy, right?”

  “Yeah,” I grunt, stuffing my hands into my pockets. “Sure I do.”

  “As long as it doesn’t interfere with your agenda, right?”

  “What’s that supposed to mean? And why are you harassing me, Elle? Shouldn’t you be celebrating your engagement?”

  “Trust me, I’ve been celebrating plenty.” She winks and holds up her glass. “And let’s face it, your agenda includes lots of hot girls that you kick to the curb shortly after you tire of them. And then you run back to Liv for everything else.”

  I open my mouth to speak and then close it when I see Kacie stagger back toward us.

  But Elle’s not finished with me. She leans closer, dropping her voice. “Maybe Liv is tired of being last on the agenda. Did you ever consider that? Maybe she wants to be first in someone’s pecking order. And I don’t mean it in the way you probably just took it, perv.” She smirks and backs away. “Have fun.”

  “Bye, Elle!” Kacie waves as Elle walks back toward Brandon. Her heel gets caught in a groove in the carpet, and she falls forward, plastering herself against my chest. I steady her and she flips her hair over her shoulder. “Whoo! I showed those guys! I mean, not every girl could have done what I just did, but…” Kacie hiccups. “…then again, I’m not every girl.”

  I tune out the rest of what she’s saying. The problem is, she is every girl. Every girl except Liv. Elle was telling me something important, something I should respect, and something I should understand. Step back, Hunter. Leave her alone and give her a chance to be somebody else’s number one since she so clearly isn’t yours.

  I got her message loud and clear. And knowing what she does, I can’t blame her for saying it. But she’s only got half the story, just like Liv. I’m watching Kacie’s lips move, but all I’m hearing are Elle’s words over and over again. You run back to Liv for everything else…tired of being last on the agenda…wants to be first in someone’s pecking order. My pulse races, almost out of control, and before these crazed conflicting thoughts explode out of my mouth, I interrupt Kacie. “I’ll be back in a minute. I need to make a call.” It seemed to be a pretty plausible lie, and it shut her up.

  “Okay,” she murmurs. “I’ll be waiting.”

  I head toward the exit, trying to figure out what to do next. This whole uncertainty thing is foreign to me. I always know what to do and say. Always. But I’m in strange territory, and I haven’t quite figured out how to navigate through it. Something tells me there are lots of minefields to avoid, but I feel like any step I take, no matter what the direction, will blow me to bits.

  Liv is happy. She found a good guy. She deserves a shot with him without me messing things up. Elle pretty much told me the same thing, and it’s exactly what I have to repeat to myself every time visions of Liv in that skimpy cheerleading uniform flash before my eyes. She doesn’t belong to me. Never did, never will.

  I pace in front of the country club entrance in the cool evening air. Another drink is a necessity; immediately, if not sooner. It’ll either relax me or make me say something stupid. I really hope it’s the former. I think I’ve reached my quota of dumb moves this weekend, and it’s only Saturday night.

  “Hunter, what the heck are you doing out here? It’s freezing!”

  I spin around in the direction of the voice that keeps me awake at night. Liv, with a navy jacket draped around her shoulders, is standing outside the entrance, her cheeks pink, and her eyes glittering like the stars in the darkened sky. My chest tightens, the urge to say something stupid is back in full force. She should be wearing your jacket, Hunter. Yours, not his! I clench my fists, but the annoying voice inside my head continues to taunt me.

  Say something. And try not to sound like a complete tool! “I, um, just came out here to get some air.”

  “Alone?” A tiny smile lifts her glossy red lips upward. “What happened to Kacie?”

  My face relaxes into a grin. “I needed a break.”

  Liv giggles, and the sound immediately soothes my aching heart. “I’m sure she’ll be disappointed to find that out. You know how persistent she can be.”

  “Yeah, I guess subtlety isn’t really her bag, huh?”

  “You’ve got that right.” She hugs her arms around herself, her teeth chattering slightly. My arms twitch at my sides, longing to pull her close, to bury my nose in her sweet-smelling hair. That is until the door opens and out steps her date, the GQ cover model, otherwise known as Randy. I bet he has a lame name like Randolph. I narrow my eyes. Yeah, I can definitely see it.

  He drapes an arm around her shoulders and flashes her a smile that makes her light up like the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. I want her to light up like that for me, not for this guy! But I lost my many chances. Every time I took home a new girl, I wasted an opportunity to win the heart of the one girl I can never replace.

  She’s happy, she’s happy, she’s happy…

  Yeah, but not with me. With Randolph.

  “Everything okay?” Even his voice is GQ. God, I hate him.

  “Hey, there,” she murmurs. “I just came out here for a minute to check on a friend.” She turns toward me. “Hunter, this is Randy, Brandon’s best man.”

  I swallow the words I really want to say and force out the proper ones while trying not to choke on them. “Nice to meet you, Randy.”

  “So, this is Hunter? The one who runs those basketball camps?” Randy pumps my hand and his grin widens. “Nice job, man. It’s always great to make a few extra bucks at school. Pretty resourceful of you.”

  Liv
clears her throat. “Hunter actually does business with universities up and down the West Coast, and he’s going to be expanding into the southwestern states pretty soon.”

  Randy looks a little perplexed, and I’ll admit, I’m enjoying watching this information sink into his pompous brain. “Oh, that’s great. Well done, Hunter. Good luck to you; although it doesn’t sound like you need much luck.” He chuckles and rubs Liv’s shoulder. “Hey, why don’t we go inside and get a drink?”

  He puts a hand on the small of her back and leads her back inside. I scrub a hand down my face, praying for a wasp to swoop in and put me out of my misery. No such luck. It’s too cold. I follow them into the foyer, scouring the space for Kacie. She’s the one person I actually do want to find, second to the wasp.

  Randy claps me on the back. “So, Hunter, Liv tells me you used to play basketball. I played forward when I was at Ohio State.”

  “Yeah, unfortunately, I didn’t play as long as I would have liked, but my love for the game inspired my company, so I guess that’s the silver lining.”

  Liv’s hand grazes my arm and I stare at it, then at her, seeing the hint of sadness in her gaze. “You turned a major setback into a very profitable future. Not many people could have come out of that situation so determined to change their fate. But you did.”

  My eyes are locked on Liv, and for a second, I let myself forget that Randy is even standing next to me with a very dumbfounded look on his face. Jesus, he’s even got the vacant model look down pat.

  Heat radiates from her hand, and it blasts through me like a raging fire, singeing my body from the outside in. “You were always there to cheer me on.”

  She winks at me. “Well, that’s kind of my thing, you know.”

  “Yeah, so when are cheer internationals again?” Randy interjects.

  “April tenth,” we both reply at in unison, our eyes fixed on one another.

  “You must be getting really excited,” Randy continues, obviously looking to divert the conversation back to them. I almost feel bad for him. He’s trying really hard to recapture her attention, but she’s lost in the past…at a time I never want to think about again. But it’s just one more thing that connects us, and as much as I need to forget the anguish of that night, I want her to remember how it cemented our relationship. Deep down, I knew then that she was meant for me, and stupidly, I let her go. Like I have every time since then.

  “Yes, but I have a lot of work to do in the next few weeks.” Liv smooths back a stray wave and smiles up at him, but her eyes have lost their glint. She never looks back at me. My throat tightens. Leave her alone, Hunter. Let her be happy. You don’t belong here.

  “I want to hear all about it.” Randy laces his fingers with hers, a very territorial move. I’m glad he opted against pissing on her.

  I spot Kacie in the corner and take a few steps backward. “Guys, I’m going to head over to the bar. I’ll catch you later, Liv. Randy, it was great talking to you.” I don’t wait for their response. I just go. As fast as I can, so she can continue her next chapter.

  And I now know for sure I’m not part of her book’s ending.

  Liv

  “So, you’re thinking about Alaska, huh?” Dad nods his head at Brandon. “Interesting choice for a honeymoon.”

  I smooth the front of my dress and shift slightly so I can find Hunter and Kacie. It’s not hard to make them out in the crowd. She’s got a high-pitched laugh that can make your ears ring as if you’ve been at a rock concert for days on end, even from twenty feet away. And in that hot pink spandex dress - if it even qualifies as a dress - she’s very difficult to ignore, despite the blur of colors in the crowd surrounding her.

  But I can deal with the barely-there outfit that compliments her porn star body. I can even deal with the threat of tinnitus from standing too close. What I cannot handle, and my stomach is confirming the same, is the way she is plastered against Hunter. Her face is so close to his, way too close, and her are lips poised for attack. My chest tightens, and the urge to run over and pummel her to the ground takes a strong hold. I swallow hard, trying to tear my eyes away, but if I do, I might miss something…the thing that will tell me in no uncertain way that Hunter has found his flavor of the evening. That I was crazy for thinking he wanted me.

  I can’t not look.

  “Liv, what do you think about Alaska?”

  I force my head in Brandon’s direction, battling the magnetic pull of my best friend. “Um, that it’s cold?”

  Brandon, Randy, and Dad laugh. “Yeah, during certain months you’d definitely not want to be up there sightseeing. But it sure is beautiful.” Randy smiles at me. It’s a genuine smile, not like the one Hunter flashes at every pretty girl who crosses his path. Randy doesn’t have an agenda, other than being a really great guy and getting to know his wedding partner.

  Why can’t that work for me? Why do I insist on the self-torture?

  “I think you need to learn a little more about my sister,” I say in what I hope sounds like a playful tone. “Elle’s idea of a vacation is her sitting on a beach with a fruity drink in her hand. Packing to her means bikinis, shorts, and little dresses. Definitely not jeans, heavy coats, and scarves.” I bite my lower lip and clap a hand on Brandon’s shoulder. “You might want to come up with a Plan B.”

  Brandon grins. “Point taken. We’ll save Alaska for much later.”

  Much much later, as in when you are planning the honeymoon with your new wife because Elle has not one touch of sightseer in her. Something you should probably know before you marry her.

  But they didn’t take the time to figure all of this out. Not knowing what kind of a vacation your future wife would like is a pretty big red flag. That’s a simple topic. What happens when you get to the big stuff and flat out disagree?

  My eyes flicker back to Hunter, and I feel a pang in my heart when I hear him laugh at something Kacie just said. I know everything there is to know about him. And it’s taken time. Opinions will likely change because we’re only twenty-two, but I know who he is at his very core – the good, the bad, the ugly, and everything in between.

  And I would marry him in a heartbeat.

  My eyes widen, my fingers clutching my champagne flute. Holy cow, I really did let that one slip out, didn’t I? I truly am hopeless.

  The guys are still yammering about honeymoon destinations, and I continue nodding and tossing out comments when I need to steer them back on track. Elle had better appreciate this. Actually, she’d better find out a bit more about her betrothed before walking down that aisle. It sure sounds like Brandon has a lot of adventures planned for them; rocky ones that require sneakers and not her signature four-inch heels.

  I take one sip of the champagne and my eyes water as the bubbles explode into my nose. I am not a drinker at all. Jeez, I can barely sip champagne without looking like a total amateur. Kacie, on the other hand, has tossed back plenty. I honestly don’t know how she’s still standing on those stilts right now. I peer back at them and let out a little gasp, my eyes focused on a small flash of color that can do way more damage to Hunter than Kacie in that dress.

  “Oh fuuu—“ I glance at my dad, who raises an eyebrow in my direction. “Fudgy the Whale! Excuse me, guys.”

  I turn on my heel and push through the group of guests mingling around the tables. “Hunter, no!”

  I’m knocking into people, sending their drinks flying, tearing through the crowd toward Hunter, whose hand is poised to take a sip of champagne. I leap through the air toward him, giving the flute a swift backhand, the bubbly sloshing over the rim. Tiny droplets of liquid splash onto Kacie’s dress, followed by the lone strawberry that lands neatly in her cleavage. Just one more thing to draw the eye to those ridiculously huge knockers.

  My pulse races, throbbing against my neck as I lie in Hunter’s arms a few inches from the shiny, lacquered dance floor. The air all but squeezed out of my lungs when I took that short sprint and dove toward the lethal berry to save Hunte
r’s life. My chest heaves, drawing in the air I need in order to speak and breathe again. I look up, meeting Hunter’s confused gaze.

  His lips finally curl into a smile when he sees the offending fruit in Kacie’s cleavage. “So, I seem to have a problem with walking into these near-death situations.”

  I nod, still trying to catch my breath, but keenly aware of the tingling sensations shooting up my arms and down my legs. And they don’t stop there.

  “You saved my life. Again.”

  “Yes,” I rasp.

  “Liv, what is wrong with you? My dress is ruined!” Kacie’s whiny voice pierces my ears, but it’s not enough to crush the euphoria surrounding me at this moment when I’m exactly in the place I was always meant to be.

  I’m caught in Hunter’s gaze. His deep-set eyes pull me in, daring me to look away, begging me to show him my cards. Because they’re so close to being fanned out on the table, and this time, I’m all in. “I’m sorry about your dress. It’s a mess, and you should probably leave now.”

  “You’re such a bitch! Hunter, is that what you want? And why haven’t you let her go yet?” Kacie’s voice rises even higher, and if I was a window, I’d be plenty scared right now that I’m in danger of shattering.

  My heart thumps harder and harder, waiting to hear his response. He hasn’t let me go, but does he want to? Does he really want to be with Kacie tonight? I stare at his face, searching for his answers before he has a chance to speak them, but it’s a blank slate for a few agonizing seconds, until his eyes crinkle slightly in the corners, a glint of amusement flickering in the golden depths.