Coming Up for Air(17)

When our server drops off our food, nobody moves to dig in.

"We love you," Hunter says, squeezing her shoulder. He's such a great guy friend to her, like Levi is to me. "And we're all that matter."

"But you guys won't always be there," she says quietly. "It's only six months until I start college, and you'll all be so far away … but at least there I'll be away from my mom." Georgia takes a long sip of water, presumably to distract herself.

Music from the jukebox fills the silence that falls over our table.

I wish I had a way of helping Georgia feel better. That's always been Hunter's job. He gives Levi and me a knowing look.

"So I had another run-in with Shelby's dad," Hunter announces.

Georgia spits out her water. "Nooo."

"I knew I shouldn't have gone back to her house, but I needed to see her."

"Did you go in through a secret passageway?" I ask.

"No. Shelby suggested I pretend to be a pizza delivery guy."

Georgia narrows her eyes as she uses a napkin to clean up the water she spewed. "What?"

Hunter shrugs. "Shelby said it would be adventurous." He takes a bite of his cheeseburger.

"How did you pretend to be a pizza delivery guy?" Levi asks.

"You know my teammate Logan? Well, he works for Pizza Hut. He let me borrow his uniform and the sign for the top of my truck."

"Then what?" Levi asks, eating fries one at a time, like popcorn, watching Hunter as if he's a movie.

"I got to her house. She pulled me into the parlor, where we started making out on the sofa. We were really getting into it when her dad showed up-he saw the pizza delivery truck outside and wanted a slice … but I didn't have one."

"You didn't have a pizza?" I ask.

Hunter looks sheepish. "That's the one part of the costume I forgot."

"How do you forget the pizza when you're pretending to be the pizza delivery dude!" Georgia asks.

Hunter squirms in his seat. "I wasn't thinking clearly."

"Clearly," Levi jokes, and we all start laughing again.

"But it was worth it," Hunter says.

"For a two-minute make-out session?" Georgia asks.

"I really like her. I keep asking her to be my girlfriend, but she says no since I'm leaving in June." Before he starts classes at the Air Force Academy this fall, Hunter has to complete boot camp over the summer. He leaves right after graduation.

Hunter drops his burger onto his plate, aggravated. "I guess we'll just keep sneaking around …  I wish I didn't have to leave."

"You don't want to go to Colorado?" Levi asks.

"I want both," Hunter says. "I want to go to the Academy and stay with Shelby."

Hunter's father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and pretty much every male member of his family was in the Air Force. I'm not sure if Hunter actually wants to join, or if he's doing it because it's expected of him. I'm not sure he can make the distinction himself.

I feel bad for him, but listening to the story gets me even more wound up than I already was. And by wound up, I mean … turned on. It's not normal for your friend's silly hook-up story to turn you on, right? I sigh, wishing I had someone to make out with. Sure, some people exercise to relieve stress, but I already exercise for half the day, so I need some other way to get rid of this tension.


      ///
       
         
       
        

When I roll my shoulders, I catch Levi giving me a concerned look.

Dinner is over sooner than I would like, but I need my rest before conferences tomorrow. In the parking lot, as I walk to the truck, I stretch my arms over my head. Levi walks up behind me and massages my upper back. His thumbs expertly work my knotted muscles. I peek over my shoulder at him, and he returns my smile.

"Feeling tight?" he asks.

"A little."

He pokes my back. "This knot isn't little. It's bigger than a golf ball. Hot tub?"

"Yesss!"

If there's one thing I truly need in life, it's a hot tub. I'm lucky my best friend has one.

Back at his house, we find his mom actually home at a reasonable hour, playing a game of Scrabble with Oma and Opa in the kitchen. Two empty wine bottles and the remains of a cheese platter sit on the table. Pepper is zonked out in her doggie bed; the hair hanging over her eyes flutters when she snores.

"Maggie!" Levi's family says, and they each demand a kiss on the cheek. I oblige, then sit down next to his mom.

She gives me a sly smile. "Got a surprise for you." She reaches into her tote bag on the counter and pulls out a CD with Jesse Scott's face on it. It's his next album, which doesn't come out for another month! He autographed it: "To my favorite future Olympian."