10. Hunter
Hunter
Luke approaches Greer’s door and knocks quickly, then turns and sprints across the street, where I’m waiting behind the bushes.
“This is a stupid idea,” I say. “You know that, right?”
Luke motions for me to be quiet as he ducks down behind the bushes, panting slightly. He shoves a plastic clown mask, complete with razor teeth and fake blood, in my hands. I roll my eyes.
It takes a moment to pull it over my face and get the damn thing in place. When the plastic practically suction cups to my nostrils, I instantly regret my decision to go along with his dumbass prank.
“I wonder which one is going to kill us,” I whisper.
“My money is on Navy.”
“The stuff I do for you, man,” I say.
The truth is, though, we’ve been ride or die friends for our entire lives. Being asked to buy a nine-foot skeleton and Halloween masks pales in comparison to the things we used to pull as kids.
Even Bob, the man who runs the pop-up Halloween store every year, just rolled his eyes as I was checking out and said, “You boys never learn, do ya?”
I thought for sure the jig was up when I saw Sutton watching me wrestle the box the skeleton was in, but somehow, we managed to construct the monstrosity and set it up right in front of Greer’s door.
“I can’t breathe in this thing,” I say, pointing to my mask.
“Don’t be a baby.” Luke motions for me to lower my voice.
Just then, Greer’s front door opens, washing the porch in warm, bright light.
“What the actual hell,” Navy says. “That definitely wasn’t there when I got here.”
Greer runs up to the giant skeleton. “No freaking way!”
Navy steps into the yard, hands on hips, and stares up at the skeleton. “Where did this come from?”
Luke nudges my ribs. I know if I could see his face, he’d have a massive smile plastered across it. He motions for me to move down to the end of the shrubbery for the next phase of our plan.
I peer through the small openings in the branches to make sure Navy’s and Greer’s backs are turned, then make a beeline for Navy’s SUV.
When I look over my shoulder, Luke’s standing stock-still behind the hedge.
Even from my viewpoint, the clown mask Luke picked out is creepy as hell.
I stand up alongside the SUV and stare at the girls through the window of the vehicle.
“Greer,” Navy says, “will you focus for a minute? How did a nine-foot-tall skeleton suddenly appear in your front yard? This thing was not here when I—” A twig snaps, and she suddenly looks over her shoulder and spots Luke. She pulls on Greer’s arm and backs toward the house.
“What are you doing?” Greer asks.
“There’s someone over there,” Navy whisper-yells.
Sutton appears on the edge of the walkway wrapped in a blanket. Doesn’t matter how long I’ve known this woman, she takes my breath away every time.
I step out from my hiding spot, wanting nothing more than to go to her. But when I get to the back bumper, Navy spots me. I freeze.
“Who are you?!” she shouts in my direction. Navy now has Greer’s arm in a vice grip and pulls her backward until they bump right into Sutton.
“Navy,” Sutton says, “have you lost your mind? Who are you shouting at?”
Navy points to where I’m standing. “That asshole in the clown mask right there.”
Now that Navy’s called me out, there’s no going back. I may as well embrace this prank. I hang my arms limp by my side and tilt my head to the right at an awkward angle. I take a slow step toward the girls.
Luke steps into my peripheral vision, now standing in the middle of the road. He copies my stance, and we both take deliberate steps forward.
“Okay,” Greer says, “this isn’t funny.”
Sutton hasn’t taken her eyes off me. She matches my posture and tilts her head to the right. “Hunter?”
I don’t answer.
Luke takes another two steps closer to the house. Navy immediately hides behind Sutton, her arms locked across Sutton’s middle.
Greer steps to the edge of the walkway. I can feel the heat from her glare all the way from here.
“Luke Bradley.” She enunciates each letter of his name. “This is not funny at all.”
I take a step toward the right, one step closer to the girls. Greer catches my movement and does a double-take when she realizes that Luke and I have them cornered. She pulls Sutton’s arm around her body, causing Sutton’s blanket to fall from her shoulder.
“That can’t be Luke,” Navy says. “His truck isn’t even there!”
That part had been my idea. There’d be no way they’d fall for our prank if our trucks were still in Luke’s driveway, so after we set up the skeleton, we parked around the block.
“What the—” Sutton cuts off when Greer backs into her, forcing her and Navy backward toward the front door.
When I step onto the sidewalk, Navy shouts, “Screw this!” She releases her grip on Sutton and runs inside. When Luke reaches the first block of her walkway, Greer lets out a squeaking noise and dashes inside.
“Sutton!” Navy yells from behind the safety of the door. “Get in here!”
Sutton looks back and forth between us. I tilt my head to the left and take another step forward onto the edge of the driveway.
“Knock it off, you guys,” Sutton says.
I take another step forward up the walkway.
Sutton backs up.
Luke and I simultaneously take another step.
Sutton, now close to the front door, almost loses her footing when Greer and Navy grab her arms and yank her inside. They slam the door and throw the lock into place. The interior lights wink out, plunging the house into total darkness.
“They’re going to head toward the guest room,” I tell Luke. “It’s got the best vantage point.”
He makes a run for the front windows. I sprint to the backyard, knowing Greer’s probably left her curtains on the back door open.
My foot hits a slick patch of grass, and I go down in a heap.
Moisture seeps through the thick cotton of my coveralls, but I ignore it.
I pop up quickly, knowing I’ve got seconds to be in position.
I’m coming around the corner when I hear a screech from inside and Duke barking his head off. I freeze in place and try to contain my laughter. The three women are huddled at the end of the hallway, Duke growling and barking at the masked man at the front window.
They’re shouting something, but I can’t make it out from where I’m at. Greer disappears down the hallway, Sutton and Navy right on her heels.
From my left, I hear Luke’s pained “Holy shit” followed by thundering footsteps as he runs around the corner of the house.
“You okay?” I keep my eyes on the back door.
“Slipped on the damn grass,” he says, stepping up next to me. We’re now shoulder to shoulder.
The women reappear, and based on the way Navy’s hands are frantically waving around, it looks like they’re arguing about something.
Sutton shakes her head and returns to the kitchen, still wrapped in the blanket.
She freezes immediately, eyes locked with mine.
She mouths something, but I don’t know what she’s saying.
Navy and Greer stop their squabbling and stand behind Sutton.
She opens a drawer and pulls out a huge wooden mallet.
“Oh shit,” Luke says.
I can’t help but laugh, remembering when Sutton whacked Luke in the head with a hockey stick as kids. He needed three stitches that time. “Stick to the plan,” I say.
“My plan didn’t involve going to the ER because my sister beat me with a kitchen utensil.”
“Yeah, well, just remember this was your idea.”
Sutton drops her blanket, and my heart hammers against my sternum. She’s wearing my old ratty sweatshirt from my early days in the police department. You could ask any man, and he’ll tell you that seeing his woman wearing his clothes comes a close second to seeing her wear his ring.
I match Sutton step for step as we approach the door. She pauses when she reaches the handle, the wooden mallet held off to her right.
“Who are you?” she yells.
I tilt my head.
She looks down at my hand, then immediately back to my face. Her eyes narrow. “You both are so dead.”
She reaches for the handle at the same time I do. She flips the lock, yanks the slider open, and proceeds to chuck the wooden mallet at Luke.
It hits him square in the gut, and he grunts, “The hell?” and doubles over in pain.
“You two suck.” She steps up to me and pushes my chest.
I’m laughing so hard, gasping for air as the mask clings to my face.
“Har har har,” she says and pushes me again. She bends down to pick up the mallet, but this time Luke’s smart enough to get out of the way.
“Luke?” Greer peers out from the safety of her dining room. Sutton’s about to hit him again, but Greer quickly steps behind her and grabs the weaponized kitchen utensil before Sutton can do any real damage. Luke’s doubled over in a fit of laughter.
“You guys are such assholes,” Navy says, leaning against the doorjamb.
“We are,” Luke says through his laughter. “But you love us.”
Recognizing Luke’s voice, Duke sprints out from his hiding space behind Navy. Duke doesn’t even slow down as he launches himself at Luke. The two fall backward into the grass.
“No!” Greer yells. “I get to kill him first.”
She dives for him, but he catches her and wraps her in a bear hug, laughing uncontrollably.
“That was so not funny!” Greer yells.
“It was kind of funny,” I say.
I try to pull the clown mask off, but I’ve sweated so much it gets stuck. After a few seconds, I look up at Sutton, who stands two feet in front of me, arms crossed over her middle. “A little help, babe?”
She raises an eyebrow. “And what if I said no?”
“Then I’ll just have to—” I jump forward, wrap my arms around her body, and throw her over my shoulder.
She lets out one yelp and punches my backside, screaming, “Hunter James Michaels, let me down now!”
“Not until you agree to help me out of this damn mask.”
“Serves you right,” Navy says. “You guys are a bunch of jerks.” She turns on her heel and disappears inside.
“Hunter. Put. Me. Down.” Sutton punctuates each word with another punch to my back.
“Only if you promise to help me.”
She goes limp. “Fine.”