Summer Breeze Kisses - Addison Moore Page 0,113

will work out. You’ll see.”

“It will,” he says it stern as if he doesn’t really believe it.

I’m not so sure I believe it either.

I hop into my truck and stare at my phone a moment before shooting a text off to Scarlett. We were in a study group together last fall for Spanish II, thus the number exchange. She was the redheaded señorita all of the boys couldn’t stop drooling over. We didn’t say more than a few words to each other because at that point it was painfully clear our parents were an item. In fact, we’ve spent the rest of the school year being less than friendly toward one another for exactly that reason.

Where are you? We need to talk. I wait a few minutes, and sure enough, she fires right back.

Deep in the woods. Don’t bother looking for me. We have nothing to say.

This doesn’t surprise me. Scarlett is obsessed with archery. I learned this first from my mother’s intro last summer, and I’ve witnessed it a few times during the unpleasant forced gatherings we’ve had thrust upon us.

In the woods. Huh. Near the Witch’s Cauldron? The least she can do is give me a hint.

Maybe.

I start the engine and head out in that direction. “All right, Little Red. I’m coming to find you.”

No sooner do I hit the Witch’s Cauldron than I spot Scarlett’s black Jeep tucked in a clearing not too far from the start of the trailhead. I hop out as the blazing sun baptizes me with its fiery glory. The sharp scent of jasmine and the woodsy evergreens takes over my senses, and that alone has the power to make me feel lighter than air. The thousand-pound burden of my parents’ nightmare magically releases from my shoulders as if this elevation has the power to cure anything that ails me.

“Crap.” The hiss of a female voice comes from my left, so I make my way around a couple of scrub oaks, only to find Little Red herself reloading an arrow onto her compound bow. The light hits her just right, illuminating that wild mane of hers into strands of burning flames. Her skin is piqued with color, the apples of her cheeks a rosy shade compared to her naturally pale complexion. Scarlett is fierce and strong in every capacity. Her bare arms show off a sinewy muscular structure that redefines itself as she tenses over her bow. Her physique is far more toned than any other girl I’ve seen.

Scarlett Kent is damn beautiful. There, I said it. It feels as if another weight has just been lifted. Deep down, I’ve always wondered what would have become of us if I simply saw her in that Spanish class for the first time. Last summer when my mother gathered us together at some greasy Chinese restaurant for the big intro, I groaned inwardly when I saw her. She and her sister were waiting impatiently near the front, and I remember thinking, please, God, don’t let it be her. Even then, I was far too attracted to her to ever want my mother to date her father, let alone to make her my new sister.

I wait until she lets another one fly before stepping out of the shadows.

It lands just above her target and embeds itself firmly into the trunk of a pine.

“Nice shot.” I step forward, and she pivots on her feet, pointing her arrowless bow in my direction.

“Stand still while I reload.”

“Funny.”

She’s squinting hard, sizing me up as her new favorite target with her lips knotted up in a ruby bow. I can’t tell if they’re red from lipstick or not. All I know is every last bit of this girl is cherry red at one time or another. My gaze dips to the deep V of her T-shirt as my mind strips her clean of all clothing. Then it occurs to me that if her hair is that red on her head—

“My eyes are up here.” She relaxes her bow at her side. “What’s so important that you’ve sacrificed your Saturday to track me down? You need me to spot you while another cheerleader pole vaults onto your penis?”

“You’re pretty sick, you know that?” I swipe the spare bow she has lying on a pillow of pine needles and position it over my arm. “Give me one of those,” I say, plucking an arrow off the basket hanging off her back. Knox and I used to have a membership down at the archery