My Lucky Days: A Novel

by S. D. Hendrickson

  I rolled my eyes. “No.”

  “I could totally practice on you. You could be my first patient.”

  “Stop!” I gave her a warning glare.

  “Okay, but—”

  “Come on. I want pasta. And garlic cheese bread.” I grabbed her by the arm, pulling her up from the bench.

  She giggled as we walked down the sidewalk. “And that very reason is why I love you more than Skylar.”

  “My love for you is debatable right now.” But my words only made her laugh harder.

  The next day moved at the speed of molasses. I came home from class and cleaned the entire kitchen. Then the bathroom. I mopped the floor twice since the new cleaner left streaks. After wiping the baseboards down with Murphy’s Oil, I took a shower and removed all traces of the dirt and sweat.

  I dried my hair, letting it hang long down my back and threw on a T-shirt with a gray pair of yoga pants. Carrying my box of candles into the living room, I sat down on the couch next to Peyton.

  She gave me a side glance as she fiddled with her shoe. “Don’t get those out. Come to Dusty’s with us.”

  “I’m tired.”

  “You’re obsessing. The house smells like three kinds of Pine-Sol. And it’s just going to get worse if you stay here.”

  “I’m fine.” I blew a strand of hair out of my eyes. “Okay. Maybe. I am. Just a little.”

  “You think?” Peyton laughed as she continued to use a rag to wipe mud off of her tan, spiked, high-heel pumps. “Shit. This is stuck on here like glue. Maybe it is glue. I have no freaking idea what this is. Can you tell?”

  “Gross, Peyton.” I scrambled to move away as she shoved the nasty shoe in my face. “Get back.”

  “Geez. Don’t get testy. It’s just a little glue.”

  “That is not glue. It’s probably dried vomit. Or blood. That looks like blood.” I wrapped the blanket around me a little tighter as I perched on the arm of the couch.

  “Wait. I know what this is.” She jumped up and went over to the sink, grabbing the dish scrubber. “I wore these over to that guy Christopher’s house. It’s dog crap. He had some horse-looking thing that left landmines in the backyard. I rinsed them off at his house, but I guess I didn’t get it all.”

  My stomach flipped a bit. Peyton proceeded to lather her tan pump with the object that touched all of our glasses and plates. I would need to throw that away after she left.

  I couldn’t watch the zombie apocalypse taking place in the kitchen. Settling back down on the couch, I looked in the opposite direction, which gave me a full view of the clock. It was almost ten.

  Peyton came back over to the couch and sat down. She slipped her fire-engine-red toes inside the clean shoes. Standing up, she locked her knees and held her back straight as she adjusted to the odd angle of her foot. Chin up. Chest out. I’d watched her performance a hundred other nights.

  “Want me to drop you off so you don’t have to walk over there?” I suggested.

  “No. I want you to go with us.” Her glossy lips turned into a slight pout. “Now that you’re dating Lucky, you won’t do anything fun.”

  “Nice try, but you know I’ve never been the fun roommate.”

  “Okay, fine.” She turned her head toward the hallway and shouted, “Skylar! Get your ass out here. Katie’s driving us.”

  Skylar came into the living room in a dress that could be on the runway at New York Fashion Week instead of Dusty’s. Who knows—maybe it would be one day.

  “Get together. I’ll take your picture.” I smiled at my roommates. They looked really good tonight. Both of them.

  Peyton was about five inches shorter than Skylar, even with those killer heels. They struck a funny pose with pouty model lips, making me laugh as I snapped a few pictures on my cell phone.

  “Come on. Get in here with us.” Peyton grabbed my hand, pulling me between them.

  Skylar held the phone back since she had the longest arms. Three faces with wide smiles filled the screen as the camera clicked away.

  “I’ll grab my keys,” I said, running to my room.

  I threw a coat over my T-shirt before following my glittery roommates out the door. They actually sparkled. Peyton had coated herself with iridescent perfume.

  When I got back from dropping them off, I sat on the couch, watching television instead of going to bed. I made it through an episode of Friends. And then another. And somewhere during the third one, I must have fallen asleep.

  I woke up sometime later to the sound of my phone buzzing next to me. Peering at the screen, I saw Lucky’s name. I answered with a grin. “Hey.”

  “Hey.”

  I imagined him sitting in his house in Nashville with his sexy smile and messy hair. And that image was better than all the other images I’d had today.

  “Did I wake you up?”

  “No, I’m watching TV. Well, I kind of fell asleep in here, I guess.” I glanced at the clock, and it said one-thirty in the morning.

  “So you are sleeping on the couch instead of out with your roommates?”

  “How do you know they aren’t home?”

  I heard his chuckle. “Same reason I know you are wrapped in a brown blanket.”

  I jumped up from the couch and spun around in a circle. And then I saw Lucky, looking into the house through the dining room window. The rush I felt was bigger than I expected. A high that drowned out all the other feelings. “How long have you been watching me?”

  “Well, long enough to see that you probably snore because your mouth was wide open. And I think you drool too.”

  “No . . .” I shut my eyes. “Get in here.”

  I hung up and went to the door. He was already on the steps by the time I had it open.

  “So I was in the neighborhood.” He grinned. “Thought I would stop by.”

  The flutters in my chest held me captive. Lucky might be the star, but right now, I felt like all the lights in the world had shifted their focus onto me.

  I knew in that moment, the inevitable lonely ache that was destined to follow our relationship would be worth the torment—if those days allowed me to experience this mind-consuming rush of happiness that came each time he returned home.

  Before I could say a word, Lucky pulled me into his arms as he kissed me hard, grinding his mouth against mine. He was holding me, running his hands over my body, into my hair, against my cheek. And I wanted so badly to feel his warmth against me.

  “Take your coat off,” I managed to say between kisses.

  He let go long enough to shrug out the leather jacket. And then I felt myself being lifted up in the air. I wrapped my legs around his waist as my arms went around his neck, holding us together.

  Lucky tugged at my lips and then he slid his tongue across mine. He did it again, pulling harder this time. I opened up to him. His kisses were wild tonight. So wild that I didn’t even realize Lucky had walked into the living room until he sat down on the couch with me straddling his hips.

  I stared into his eyes. They were dark and sexy in the dimly lit room as he smiled at me. I rested my hands against his chest, feeling his breaths move up and down. My hands ran up his neck and into his hair.

  My eyes closed as he kissed me slowly. I was drawn into the feel of his mouth. He controlled my lips. He controlled my thoughts. They were consumed by the feel of our tongues, rubbing slowly together.

  Lucky ran his hands softly over my thighs before cupping my butt cheeks. He shifted me slightly in his lap, pushing us flush together. Every part of me against him. I felt him against my breasts and my stomach and between my legs. That, coupled with his tongue running across my lips, felt like the most erotic thing in the world.

  I was breathing hard. He was breathing hard. The feelings inside of me had grown so deep that I was now burning. I scrambled to gather my thoughts. They were spinning in every direction. I pulled back and stared at him.

  “You came back early,” I whispered.

  “I wanted to see you. So I got
an earlier flight.”

  I nodded, feeling the heat move slowly up my neck. I knew my face was getting flushed from the way he still had us pushed together—like very tight puzzle pieces.

  Lucky kissed my lips softly and then the tip of my nose. “I missed you.”

  “Me too.”

  “Can I stay the night?” he whispered against my lips.

  I eyed Lucky, suddenly feeling nervous. I wasn’t sure what he meant and what I was ready for yet. But I knew what he was ready for right now. I felt it pressing hard against my inner thigh.

  “We can just sleep, Katie. I promise. I want to hold you and fall asleep.” He gave me a soft smile that made my heart melt. If he asked every question with that look, he would always get a yes. I might even follow him through a desert without water.

  “Okay.” I nodded slowly. “Just sleeping tonight.”

  His eyes lit up and he gave me a smirky grin. “And maybe touching.”

  I laughed as I climbed off his lap. “Sleeping.”

  “Touching.” He grabbed me around the waist as we walked down the hall, holding me against his chest.

  “Sleeping.”

  “Okay, fine. But do I finally get to see what you wear every night when I talk to you on the phone?”

  “Yes.” I grinned at him. Knowing where his mind was going, but Lucky was about to get a funny surprise. “There’s a reason I didn’t tell you. So you have to promise not to make fun of me.”

  “Why would I do that?”

  “Well. Just promise.”

  “I won’t make fun of you.” His hands went up in an innocent surrender. “I swear.”

  I went over to my dresser and pulled out my clothes, sticking them quickly under my arm. “Be right back.”

  I darted into the bathroom, getting a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror. My lips stood out bright against my pale skin. They were red and swollen from kissing Lucky.

  I brushed my teeth and ran a comb through my hair before slipping off my clothes. I put a clean pair of panties on and what I normally wore to bed.

  I opened the door slowly, seeing Lucky stretched out across my bed. His eyebrows shot up as he struggled to muffle the laughter.

  “You swore.” I pointed a finger at him.

  “Yeah, well, that’s before I knew you slept like a prairie woman. I can barely see your neck.”

  “It’s winter. I sleep in something warm. Naked people get cold. And you can see my neck.”

  “Maybe. Just not enough of it.” Lucky shook his head as the smile remained on his lips. He got up from the bed and came over to me. “But I like them.”

  “You do?”

  “Yes. Makes me use my imagination.” He winked before kissing me on the forehead. “I got some of my stuff out of the truck. I’ll go brush my teeth, then I’ll be right back.”

  Lucky picked up a small brown bag from beside the bed and disappeared into the bathroom. After the door shut, I let out a deep breath. Things could get blurry once two people crawled under a set of sheets. Maybe I wanted them blurry. Maybe not yet.

  I took each of my throw pillows off the bed, placing them in a large holding bin that sat at the end of the footboard. As usual, I flipped off all the lights before coming back to the bed. Turning back the top layer of sheets, I crawled inside, pulling the comforter up to my neck.

  I waited, feeling the nerves as they danced around in my stomach. The bathroom door opened, casting light across the room. He was shirtless. And from what I could tell in the shadows, only wearing boxers.

  “Why is it so dark in here?” He laughed as he walked over toward the bed. He reached for the lamp, lighting up the room.

  “Wait. I—” I stopped mid-sentence as I saw him.

  The lamp cast a glow across his naked body. I looked everywhere at once. His gray boxers. His wide shoulders and hard chest and stomach with a dusting of hair and then to something else. Both sides of his rib cage had ink across the skin.

  “You have tattoos,” I whispered.

  “I do.” He sat down on the bed next to me. “Does that bother you?”

  “No. I just didn’t know.” I crawled out from under the covers, sitting next to him. I reached forward to run my fingers across the blue ink, but I pulled back when I realized what I was about to do.

  “You said no touching, but I’ll make an exception.” Lucky grinned as he leaned back against the pillows for me to get a better view. “Touch anything you want.”

  My gaze caught the mischievous glint in his brown eyes, which caused a warm rush in my stomach. I stared at his exposed body. He was beautiful. A strange thought I guess to have about a guy. But he really was beautiful. Every muscle and piece of skin was put together so perfectly beautiful—if that was such a thing.

  My attraction to him was undeniable. I wanted to touch him. I wanted to touch the words inked into his skin. My hand hovered briefly over his chest before my fingertips traced lightly over the lines written on the left side of his body.

  God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. The courage to change the things I can. And the wisdom to know the difference. While living one day at a time and enjoying one moment at a time. And accepting hardships as the pathway to peace.

  “The Serenity Prayer,” I muttered more to myself than to him.

  “Yeah, sometimes it helps to remember what you can change about your life. And what you can’t.”

  I flattened my palm over the whole prayer, feeling the words touch my skin. “And sometimes you need a reminder to live in the moment and not take anything for granted.”

  “You’ve got me figured out.”

  I smiled at him. “Maybe I do.”

  I moved to the other side of his rib cage. My hair fell over my shoulder and brushed against his stomach as I read the words. They appeared to be lyrics, covering about six inches of his skin.

  The first time I took you out.

  We drank sweet tea,

  And pretended it was wine.

  And ate sandwiches,

  ’Cause I didn’t have a dime.

  But it don’t matter when you’re sixteen,

  ’Cause all you need is a tailgate,

  And a little moonlight to have a good time.

  “That’s the first song I ever wrote.”

  I traced the words with my finger. “Is it true?”

  “Most of it.” He grinned. “It’s not my best work, but I had it inked when I decided to make a career out of music. I wanted to remember the beginning no matter what direction I went.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, if everything turned to shit, then I would always know that I tried. And if I made it big, I would have a constant reminder of who I was before everything started.”

  “That’s pretty deep. And reflective.” I placed my palm over the words. “Deep reflection.”

  “Ink is permanent. That’s the whole point. Something you want to remember so much, you make it a permanent part of your body so you can see it every day until you die. And even then, it goes with you.”

  I leaned back, letting my fingers move slowly over his stomach. “Do you have any others?”

  “No, at least not for now. I’m sure some time over the course of my life, I’ll have something else that I want to permanently see.”

  Running my hand up the middle of his chest, I wanted to keep touching him. His skin felt good under my fingers. I held my palm in place for a few moments. I felt his heart beating. I felt him breathing. And I found myself wanting to kiss the place that my hand was touching.

  Looking up, I saw the desire written in his eyes. Lucky rolled onto his side, patting the comforter next to him. “Come here.”

  “Okay,” I whispered. I lay down, rolling onto my side so I was facing him.

  He smiled at me, running a finger through my hair. “I think you would sleep better if you undid some of those buttons.”

  “You’re funny.” I smiled.

  “But aren’t you suffoca
ting?” He touched the top button, pushing it through the hole. His fingers ran softly over my skin at the base of my neck. “Isn’t that better?”

  I laughed. “If you say so.”

  He moved down to the bottom of my shirt to the last button. “And I think you need to open this one.”

  “Oh, you do?” I arched an eyebrow, teasing him back.

  “I do,” he whispered.

  “You’re supposed to be only sleeping.”

  “You’re the one who started the touching.” He grinned as he fiddled with the bottom button. It didn’t take much before it was open too. Lucky pushed the flaps aside, revealing my stomach before slipping a hand inside.

  I sucked a quick breath—an automatic reflex to the skin-to-skin contact. His fingers moved over my rib cage and across my stomach. I always liked the way he touched me.

  “Your skin is so soft,” he whispered. “And glittery.”

  Lucky pulled his hand out and rolled me gently onto my back. “You’ve got glitter all over you.”

  I laughed. “Must be from Peyton. She had some sparkly perfume on earlier. That stuff spreads like a disease.”

  He sniffed my neck. “Smells good.”

  “It’s not bad.”

  I felt his lips on my neck. Warm and soft as he brushed across my skin. And then he licked me. He opened the next button as his tongue flickered across the top of my breast. “I guess it’s not edible. I taste only you.”

  “Touching and now tasting,” I whispered. I was breathing heavy as I smiled.

  “You didn’t say anything about not tasting.” Lucky pulled back and grinned at me. His hand cupped the side of my face, brushing my cheek with his thumb. “Spend Christmas with me.”

  “I already told you I would.”

  “No, I mean all of Christmas. I know that I’m keeping you from going home with Peyton by coming with me on Christmas Day, which means you will be here all of winter break alone. After your last final, just pack a bag and come home with me.”