Page 21 of Six Wishes

“I got tagged all over the place. They say that I am your girlfriend. They got my name and pictures of me, and everything!” She starts scrolling on the screen of her phone like she is possessed. “Oh my God!” she slaps a hand over her mouth. “My mom is going to kill me, Van!” she cries out and I take her phone away from her.

It takes me a few seconds to figure out what got her so wound up. It is a picture of the two of us from earlier at the beach, after we won. They actually have a sequence of pictures showing her as she throws her arms up in victory, then me with my arms wide open, her running toward me with a happy grin on her face, then jumping in my arms and wrapping her long ass legs around me.

“You’re beautiful, baby,” I grin at the screen, then look up at her. She doesn’t find things as amusing as I do.

“Van, this is serious. Hunter told me the other night that there was a picture of us kissing in the parking lot at Mud Duck’s. It got posted on some wag thing page, whatever that is,” she starts waving her hand around in distress. “Ugh,” I need some water.

Both Zach and I watch in fascination as she power walks to my refrigerator, opens it and eyes it for a minute, then comes out with a bottle of water. She holds it in her right hand and unscrews the cap with her left. I am reminded again that she is left handed and how hot I find it.

“Did you say Hunter?” Zach gets her attention after he sees that she’s done with the water for now. “Hunter Montgomery?”

“Uh, yeah,” Chloe looks from him to me and back. “She is my cousin. Do you know her?”

“You could say that,” Zach chuckles but I can’t tell if it’s a good thing or not. What does Zach have anything to do with Chloe’s cousin? We’ve been friends for a long time, and I can definitely say that the name Hunter Montgomery never came up.

There’s an awkward moment when neither one of us says anything, and I can tell that Chloe is getting uncomfortable. When our eyes meet, she gives me a wide eyed look like she’s questioning me on the situation. I shrug because I have no clue what that’s about.

“Anyway, uh,” Chloe takes another sip of water, “I hope I won’t have a bunch of your puck bunnies chasing me down the street now.”

I frown in confusion. “Why would puck bunnies chase you around?” Then another thing she said strikes me. “And they are not my puck bunnies.”

“Well, are you going to tell them I am not your girlfriend?” she asks with an attitude, like that would be the only acceptable outcome for her as far as this situation goes.

“Why would I do that?” I am amused now by her reaction. I got girls that would line up the street for a chance to become my girlfriend. The position literally drops into Chloe’s lap, and she wants me to announce that it is not true.

“Because I am not your girlfriend, Van,” she talks to me like I’m thick. “What’s my mom going to say?”

“Your mom?” What’s her mom got anything to do with this?

“Yes, my mother,” she darts her arms out. I’m pretty sure she’d punch me if she could. “There can’t be stuff like this floating around about me. What if they show it on TV? I’ll never hear the end of it.”

“Well, then I think it’s time I met your mother,” I stick my hands in the pockets of my shorts and rock on the heels of my feet.

“You… What?”

Zach gets on it now too and pats me on the back. “Good idea, man. You should always try to make a good impression with the future in-laws.”

“The future what?!” Chloe may beat Zach first before she gets to me.

I finally decide to take it easy on this girl. I take a step toward her, take the bottle of water and set it on the counter, then grab both of her hands in mine.

“Chloe Montgomery,” her lips part in a rush of air and her eyes get dilated. “Seeing that we already are Instagram official,” I hear Zach chocking back a laugh behind me, “would you do me the great honor of also being my real life girlfriend?”

---