Page 77 of With a Little Luck

Her brow furrows. “What did that fortune teller say to you?”

“Something about … luck,” I stammer.

She laughs, like she should have guessed. “Well, that makes sense. You areabnormallylucky.”

“You’ve noticed?

“Uh,yeah. The concert tickets? The coin flips? That random bet on Mrs. Jenkins? It’s hard not to notice. What do you have, a four-leaf clover stashed away somewhere?” She jokingly pats the pocket on the chest of my shirt, and my heart leaps at the touch.

No … Itshouldleap at the touch.

Which, I guess, is not exactly the same thing.

“Maya,” I say, and something in my tone stops her. Her expression goes serious. She’s still so close. “I’ve liked you for a really long time.”

Even as I say it, cold sweat prickles at the back of my neck.

Maya’s lips form a small, surprised circle, even though I don’t think this is a big revelation to her. I’ve always known that I wasn’t any good at hiding my crush—from her or anyone else. I’d just never planned toacton it, until that day when I won the radio contest, and the power of the dice gave me the courage to finally do something about my feelings.

“I have been lucky lately. But not because of any of those things you’ve mentioned. I’ve been lucky because I’m finally getting to knowyou. And you’re even more amazing than I always thought.”

Music swirls around us, but I hardly hear any of it. All I see is Maya. All I feel is the erratic pounding of my heart.

Maya’s look of surprise turns into a small smile, and in that moment198she looks almost bashful. She peers at me through her eyelashes, then seems to reach a decision. She tilts her face up toward mine.

I glance at her lips.

I take in a breath.

And I kiss her.

199

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Fireworks.

Trumpets.

Shooting stars.

A symphonic crescendo.

The rest of the world fading away until there’s only us, alone at its center.

Okay—clearly, Hollywood has given us some pretty hefty expectations of what kisses are supposed to be like. And it’s not that I hadhighexpectations. It’s not like I thought the world would stop turning on its axis. It’s not like I thought my lips would touch Maya’s and a Level 8 Sunburst spell would explode around us or anything like that.

But if my expectations were low …

No, not low.

If my expectations wererealistic…

Why do I feel so disappointed?

I break the kiss and pull away, already trying to mask the uncertainty roiling inside me.

Maya’s eyelids flicker open. We hold each other’s gaze for a second, but I can’t read her.

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