Page 28 of The Lucky One

Granted, I was probably taking awhile to get ready but I like to look nice. It’s not a crime. And maybe I was taking a little too much consideration for how I wanted to look for Weston. Something I shouldn’t be doing.

But he seems to like the way I look in green, because I can tell the difference when I wear it. Which is fair because it brings out the green in my eyes. I like it, too.

Andrew hated the color in general, so some of my favorite shirts collected dust in the back of my closet.

I at least conceded and wore jeans. But my shoes are definitely not what someone wears to traipse through the forest.

“I can practically hear you thinking back there. Get the move on, Spitfire! We’re wasting daylight.”

I sigh, and speed up because again, he’s not wrong.

“So, remind me what we’re looking for again?”

“A ring of mushrooms, Spitfire. Where faeries dance. We’re looking for one with a tree, a tethered ring.”

I sigh. “You’re creeping back into First Down, Last Nerve territory again. Do you keep all of this written down somewhere or do you just store random trivia away for a rainy day?”

We’re walking deeper into the trees where moss grows over random rocks and overturned tree trucks. I miss when I was younger and it was easier to buy into the idea of a magical forest where unicorns might exist. This would definitely fit the bill.

“Some of us enjoy winning at trivia night,” he says.

“I’ve never gone to a trivia night,” I mutter.

Just ahead, off to the left, something catches my attention and I dart ahead, my shoes crunching on the forest floor. I crouch by a perfect circle of mushrooms nestled beneath an ancient oak.

“Well, look at that. You found it.”

“We found it,” I correct him. Without his insistence that we participate in this event, I wouldn’t be sitting here under a canopy of tree limbs.

The moment sits quietly between us. Even Bailey seems to appreciate the gravity of whatever we’ve stumbled on, as he sits obediently next to Weston's bad knee. We can’t sit here longbecause it’s getting dark fast. Thankfully we’re not too far from downtown, but I don’t want Weston to trip over something.

“Smile,” he says, and I glance up to see him pointing his phone at me.

We’ve traded off taking photos with the found items of the clues all day, but somehow this feels different.

“Shouldn’t we take this together? It’s the last clue.” I stand unsteadily, careful to not step on a mushroom.

“Sure.” He clears his throat. “Yeah, we can do that.”

I step into him, slightly leaning into his shoulder. The photo would look better if his arm was around me, a trick I’ve learned from Laila, but that’s a strange request. So I keep my mouth closed and smile into the front facing camera while he snaps the photo. I’d be blind to not recognize how great we look together.

But I’m not here for that.

I’m here to find… me.

“So what do we do now?” I ask, taking a couple of steps backward out of his spicy amber scent, cozy like a bonfire. “Do you step inside it? Make a wish?”

He pockets his phone and frowns down at me. “No. Not unless you want to get dragged to the Otherworld.”

I press my lips together. Sure, my frame of reference of faeries basically consists of Tinker Bell and she doesn’t seem all that dangerous.

“You can’t be serious.” I roll my eyes.

“I am. You can only go in on a full moon. That’s when it’s considered good luck. Any other time is bad luck.” There’s a sincerity in his voice that makes me realize he’s being serious.

“We’ve already been over this.” I shrug. “I don’t believe in luck.”

His jaws ticks once before he speaks. “Spitfire, it doesn’t matter if I believe it. I respect that other people do. So you won’t see me stepping inside a faerie ring outside a full moon, or tryingto capture a leprechaun. You know they’re a protected species?” He nods toward the tree behind me.

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