Page 2 of Broken Brothers

But, then again, she knew full well she couldn’t wait forever. We were both too curious for our own good.

“Should we move further into the woods?” Sarah asked. “I don’t want to get poison ivy or anything gross, but I feel like your mom and dad could see us right now if they tried.”

I thought I had gone back far enough to hide from Mr and Mrs Hunt. I took a few steps forward, grabbing for Sarah’s hand. Her fingers curled easily into mine, and my confidence somehow soared even higher. She might have prevented me from getting what I wanted in the moment, but she wouldn’t prevent me from getting what I wanted eventually.

“Can’t hurt to go out a bit more,” I said.

Truth be told, I did not think there was any chance the Hunts would discover us. Unless we started howling like wolves underneath a full moon in winter, unless we started a fire like in California, unless we deliberately drew all the eyes of the town upon us, it would take a deliberate awareness and effort on the Hunts part to discover us. It felt like there was less than a one percent chance.

But why was I going to risk any chance today? I had Sarah Hill by my side, the most beautiful girl in our school. Even Morgan had to acknowledge how cute she was. Only someone like me could have gotten her, and I was not about to waste any time with her.

“OK, I’m following your lead.”

Of course you are. You’d be silly not to.

We held hands, ducking under branches and stepping in as much of the dirt as we could, the better to avoid the plants which had who knows what kind of poison ivy or other itch-producing leaves. Above us, birds chirped with an unusually excited pitch, the kind that suggested something ominous—or, in our case, enticing—would soon come. The skies above had gotten a smidge cloudier, but nothing that left me concerned we’d get rained on.

And if we did? Well, Chance Hunt was there to save the day.

We got about five minutes worth of walking in before we came to a small creek.

“It’s so beautiful,” Sarah said.

“Just like you,” I said, drawing cooing and some hugs from Sarah. She kissed me on the cheek, and then the neck, and oh how I wished she kept going but instead she stopped and leaned into me.

“Hey, I got an idea,” I said.

It was daring, dastardly, and a bit stupid. If it failed, Sarah was probably going to storm off on me and I’d have a lot to apologize for. It could even mean losing her.

But something besides my brain was pushing me forward. And damn if I couldn’t help myself.

“We should go skinny dipping.”

“Here?!?”

Well, her first response wasn’t no at least. That’s promising. Just take a little bit of that Chance charm.

“Yeah, why not? What, do you want to head to Brooklyn and do it there?”

“Well, no, but it’s just, the water is so shallow, and…”

“And that’s the fun of it,” I said with a wink. “Anyone can go skinny dip in a deep lake or the ocean at night. It’s more fun this way. Besides, it’ll build trust between us. And that’s what relationships are about, right?”

Sarah smiled and stammered. I knew if I could just press a little bit, it might work out. I just had to find out how to…

“Let’s play a little truth or dare first,” Sarah said.

“Can I dare you to go skinny dipping?”

“Sure, but I go first,” she said. “And I’m going to go with truth.”

“Alright,” I said, completely unfazed and unconcerned with what she was about to ask me.

“What’s your most closely guarded secret?”

Duh.

No, don’t tell her that one. Do not tell her that one.