Love Story (Love Unexpectedly 3)

“Two weeks? What was your plan, just driving in big loops around Kansas?”

She ignores my sarcasm, looking back at her parents. “I really appreciate the offer, guys, but if I’m not going to stop in Miami on the way, I might as well just fly.”

Miami? Only Lucy Hawkins would get from Virginia to California by way of Florida.

“I’m sure Reece won’t mind the detour,” Delia is saying. “Reece have you ever been to Florida?”

“Nope.” Not planning on it either.

I thought it’d be a cold day in hell before Lucy and I would agree on something, but we’re on the same page right now. This joint road trip is a no go. She can take the car if she wants, but no way am I getting in there with her. I’ll find another way to get to California.

“And it could be nice for Oscar to meet a family friend, even if he’s never met your actual family.” Delia is still rambling.

There’s a slight pout to Lucy’s mom’s tone, and I narrow my eyes on the three Hawkinses, who seem to be having some sort of silent standoff.

Then the name registers. “Oscar?” I ask, before I can think better of it.

“My boyfriend,” Lucy says in a sugar-sweet voice, shooting me a smile laced with venom.

Boyfriend. The word rocks through me.

I knew she was seeing someone, but I figured that it was some overeducated douchebag she’d dump when she moved across the country.

That’s what Lucy does. Looks ahead, moves forward.

But if she’s planning to go out of the way to see the guy…

Something hot and dangerous rips through me. Possession.

I don’t want Lucy Hawkins. I got that pipe dream out of my system a long time ago.

And yet somehow, I hear myself uttering the most idiotic words of my life: “I wouldn’t mind seeing Miami.”

The look she shoots me would have made me laugh if I hadn’t been so rigid with the shock of what I’d just agreed to.

Me. Lucy. Horny.

And I’m not talking about the car.

Chapter 4

LUCY, FIFTEEN, REECE, SIXTEEN

The song ended, and Lucy lifted her head from the pillow and reached out and hit back on her CD player so that the song would repeat.

It wasn’t even a good song. Two days ago, she and her friend Kayley had talked about how much they hated it.

Now, however, she was listening to it with fresh ears. The pop star was no longer singing about generic heartaches, she was singing about Lucy’s heartache.

Her phone buzzed, and she picked it up, then dropped it again when she saw it was a text from Paige. Like Kayley, Paige was dying to know all about what had happened this afternoon at Tyler’s house. Wanted to know if Lucy had finally gotten her first kiss.

Lucy rolled onto her back as the singer launched into her chorus about how the boy she liked liked another girl.

I get you, Amber, Lucy silently told the first-name-only singer. I so get you.

There was a knock at her bedroom door, and Lucy heaved a sigh. “Go away!”

There was a moment of silence, then someone spoke. “You okay?”