The Lucky Five - By Arow Jones Page 0,3

stay for a bit. High Five is about to give birth any day now and Gramps is gonna be down at the stables.”

“Yay!” She squeals. “I promise, we’ll only stay for an hour or so.” One hour will likely end up two. Double everything she says and that’s about what I count on.

“Seriously though, don’t leave me alone. Last time we went to a party it took me forever hours to find you. I was cornered by a very, drunk as a skunk, sophomore. I felt like I needed to take three showers to get the smell off my clothes!”

“Ha, oh my, that’s right! What was his name?” She reminded me of Tigger when she was giddy, jumping up and down with her long red curls bouncing along with her. Guys always drawn to her fire red hair and blue eyes.

“Logan the Hammer.” I say dryly. Ugh. What girl in her right mind would find an alcohol induced flirty teenage mouth attractive? Apparently, I’m in the minority since Logan always has a following of girls more than willing to give in to temptation.

Skye puts me in a jean skirt and green halter top with black cowboy boots. She wears a blue summer dress and brown cowboy boots. She snickers. “You’re like a life size doll. You are going to look hot tonight!”

“Gramps and all the hired hands on duty tonight are down at the barn monitoring High Five and playing poker. We need to be quiet and take the back trail.” We can hear them from the back porch. Luckily the trail leads behind the house and away from the barn so no one sees us leave. The moon is full and lights our way. We walk along the trail across the fields and through the woods until we get to a clearing on the other side of the lake.

The lake is fed by a river that separates The Lucky Five property line from JT’s family property. The bonfire is on his side of the property. Cars line the clearing, surrounding a blazing bonfire. This spot has been a town tradition. The Tanner family is one of the founding families. The party’s here are legendary, in a high school sort of way. Tonight was no exception.

On one side of the bonfire were kegs and coolers with drinks. There was dancing, laughing, and couples wandering off towards the lake’s hidden, moonlit, make out shores. Can something really be hidden if everyone knows about it? I used to come down here to swim and spy on the unruly boys next door. We grab some drinks and find spots to hang out.

“Hey, I gotta pee.” Skye says with a little sway. With all the excitement we might have had a drink too many.

“Okay, do you want me to come with?” I’m not sure what I think is funny but I start giggling. She just grins and points at someone walking towards the woods. I think Chase. Grayson is with him. My heart flutters. If they’re here then so is JT. I grin back at her. She knows I have a secret unspoken crush on JT. Okay, it’s a little more than a crush. It’s silly. JT’s never looked my way. He could have any girl he wants. He’s the town’s beloved.

I want to be his beloved.

The beer is getting to my head. I lean back on the front bumper of her truck when I lose my footing.

“Whoa there.” I looked up and see the most beautiful green eyes staring back at me.

Four

I hate going to these bonfires. I don’t even go to this school but technically they are hosted on my family’s property abutting the Lucky Five so my father expects me to attend. We’ve only been here for an hour and I’m already feeling the itch to leave. Chase is off in the woods. Some jock head is grinding against the red head, Skye. Grayson isn’t going to be too happy to see that. I wish he would ask her out already. I’m sick of hearing how much he likes that girl.

“JT,” a voice purrs next to me. Small hands roam up my chest. I know who it is and she obviously can’t take no for an answer. “Baby, why didn’t you tell me you were going to be here tonight?” Blanche tries to put my arm around her but I grab her wrists and step away, removing them from my body.

“You knew I’d be here. Stop pretending we didn’t already have