“No, you’re free to leave if you want, but fair warning. You’ll miss one of the best kept secrets on The Row if you do.” We head across the street and in through a forest of pines. It takes a brisk five-minute walk in almost pure darkness until we hit our destination.
“I swear, if you put on a clown mask and start chasing me around this den of horrors, I will go ape on your ass.”
“I love a good threat when it’s from the right girl.” I take a step on the overgrown root of an old oak tree. It’s so gnarled and behemoth it takes up half the forest in girth, width, and height—and amidst its many branches, not too high up, is the ideal spot to sit and nest a while.
I give her a hand, and she takes it.
“Oh my God!” She gasps with what I’m hoping is excitement. “Are we climbing a tree? How did you know this is like my favorite thing to do ever?”
“Because I read minds.” I help Lucky up several feet before catching up to her. “By the way, you have a particularly dirty mind. You should really see about bleaching it out for the sake of your pristine morality.”
“Funny,” she says it flat as if it’s anything but. “You’re the morally bankrupt one, remember?”
“Why is that?” I ask, helping us up another level until we’re high enough to where the fireflies greet us.
Lucky expels a sigh as deep and wide as the ocean. “Dear God, it’s magical.”
“I’m glad you think so. But if you stop staring at my crotch for a moment and look around, you’ll see a bunch of fireflies. They’re pretty cool, too.”
She swats me over the thigh in lieu of a response, and I pull her next to me on a branch as thick as a field bench and wrap an arm around her waist.
“Sorry, sweetheart. I gotta hold you for the duration of this ride. If you get dizzy, don’t look down.”
“I prefer up.” She leans into me and wraps her arms around my chest. “And I volunteer to be your seatbelt,sweetheart. But just know if I take a tumble, I’m taking you with me.”
The breeze picks up and swirls her signature floral scent around the two of us, and I can’t help but dig my face into her neck a moment.
“You smell good. I’ll fall with you anytime.”
She laughs, and her body trembles over mine. “I’m not sure if telling a girl shesmells, even if you mean it in a nice way, is ever a good thing.”
“You still my wingman?”
“Wingwoman.”
“How are we doing on our hook-up rate?”
“Misty Richards slept with Tom Hilden. I know Courtney is still dating Don. I think we’re doing pretty good.”
“And don’t forget Emily and Freddy. They’re practically on their way to forever.”
“Half that middle school is on their way to forever no thanks to us.” She holds up her hand, and I connect with a high five. Her entire face lights up with the blush of the moon. “But seriously, we practically groomed Emily and Freddy for their wedding. They’ll have to name their kids after us—little Lawson and little Lucky.”
“Lawson and Lucky,” I repeat. “It has a nice ring to it.” I give her ribs a squeeze without meaning to. Crap. It’s like I’m gunning for her to admit we fit. It’s desperate, and it pisses me off that I’m coming across that way.
“I guess it does.” She glances up at me, the shadow of her lashes elongate over her face. “This place is amazing.” She looks around and a firefly swoops in, and she does her best to catch it. “I bet you bring all the girls here—the kissing tree.”
“I haven’t brought any girl here except for you. And it’s called the tree of secrets. You have to tell the one you’re with your deepest, darkest secret and vice versa. Then make a wish, and it’s bound to come true.”
“Tree of secrets, huh?” She sounds doubtful. Lucky Madden doesn’t seem to believe a word that comes from my lips, and I’m not sure she should. I’ve never fed her any bull, but for some reason, whatever this is between us feels like a cheap impersonation of who we really want to be, who we really are. “I’ll bite. You go first.”
“Okay.” I tip my head back, and the quarter moon seems to spin above my head like a thumbnail. “Back in high school, I had a girlfriend—nine months—her name was Anna. One day, out of the blue, she said she needed space. It hit me pretty hard. I thought we were solid. I had just bought her a bracelet for her birthday, and we had already rounded out all the bases—exchanged the L word like a couple of idiots. Anyway, she cut me loose. Two days later, she was with Sean Culp—biggest dick on the basketball team. My own fucking teammate.” I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment as if trying to expunge the memory I just vomited up unwarranted. I could have told her anything else, a work of fiction, and here I’m pulling the truth straight from the bottom drawer of my mind.
“I’m really sorry, Lawson. That’s terrible.” Her arm cinches tight around me as if consoling me. “But if it makes you feel better, I think she’s a total bitch. In hindsight, she probably did you a favor.”
“You’re right. And it actually gets better. No sooner do I get home from school the day she cut me than my dad announces he’s met the love of his life. For a second I expected to see Anna standing next to him. Thankfully, it was Lynette, his now-wife, but in the back of my mind I thought the worst. My parents didn’t last. Anna and I didn’t last. I didn’t think my dad’s new relationship would last either—I guess the jury is still out on that one. It was around the time my sister, Sabrina, stole Scarlett’s boyfriend, and I had come to the conclusion true love, at least in the romantic sense, was pretty much a joke.”
“Do you still feel that way?” Lucky reaches up and gently scratches the scruffy three-day shadow on my cheek.
