Page 24 of Lucky
“Good night, Lucky,” she repeats, sliding her key in the lock.
I reach out, grab her wrist and give it a gentle tug so she turns to face me.She lets out a small gasp of surprise.
“I didn’t get a good-night kiss,” I say, reeling her in closer.
“Oh, but… you… I’m not sure…”
Her stammering is adorable and I ignore every bit of it.Putting my hand behind her neck, I bend and brush my lips across hers, feeling victorious when she sighs in a melting sort of way.
When I pull back, I squeeze her neck and ask one more time, “Will you go out with me again?”
Her eyes are half open, glassy, but she nods.“Yeah… okay.”
Grinning, I draw away from her.“Good night, Winnie Shaw.”
She mumbles something and disappears inside.
I walk back to the Tahoe smiling like a lunatic.
CHAPTER 8
Winnie
The end-of-day bellblares through the kindergarten wing, and the classroom erupts like a bottle of pop after a single Mentos has been dropped into the top.Backpacks are already slung over tiny shoulders, art projects flapping from overstuffed folders, and half the kids are mid-hug as I herd them toward the dismissal line.By the time I walk the last straggler out to the carpool loop, the hallway smells like Goldfish crackers and dry-erase markers, and my brain feels like it’s been through a glitter tornado.
Only then do I make my way to the break room, where I foolishly hope for a minute of peace.My day isn’t over yet, but I’m going to take a tiny break with my giant water bottle, a half-eaten string cheese, and the hope that no one is in the mood to talk.
I am disappointed.
“Oh my god, Winnie!”Kelsey exclaims, already perched at the table with a yogurt and too much energy.“Start talking before I combust.That TikTok last night?You looked like you were one swoony sigh away from falling in love.”
I’d managed to avoid this all day because once you start supervising kids, you really have no time for anything else.Alas, I knew Kelsey would pelt me with questions as soon as she could.
“Please,” I say, slumping into the chair across from her.“It was just a date.”
Emily from second grade leans around the fridge door.“A date with Lucky Branson.”
“And you made a TikTok with him.On your porch.And he called you electric.”Kelsey leans forward, eyes glinting.“We dissected it during our entire lunch break.Which… why didn’t you join us?”
“Had a massive glue disaster I had to clean up.”A white lie because there was glue, but it wasn’t disastrous and I had something else I wanted to do.Also, I wanted to hold space with my memories of last night to look for any sign that I’m being played.
I haven’t found it yet.
I peel my string cheese in slow, careful strips.“It wasn’t that serious.”
“Uh-huh,” Emily says, closing the fridge and flopping into a chair.“Which is why he posted it to his TikTok too?And it’s already pushing a million views?”
I groan.“Don’t remind me.”
The video exploded overnight.Comments were… a lot.
Most were enthusiastic, begging me to go out with him again.We ended the video before I agreed on a second date and so at that time, no one knew that I did, in fact, agree to it.
A few comments said we had great chemistry.Some were hilarious—one person said we looked like the couple in a Hallmark movie but with sex appeal.
But then there were others.
Unkind ones.
