REBEL

On the way back to the garage, I call April. If there was ever a moment I needed my best friend, it’s now. 

Unfortunately, she doesn’t pick up and I realize she might be out on a lunch date with Chance. Do I interrupt or do I leave her alone? 

Glancing down, I see my bare foot curling against the gas pedal and change directions, heading for the Tipsy Tuna instead. Chance can spare April for a few minutes while I try to make sense of my tangled thoughts. 

After I find a parking spot, I put my heels back on. The stilletos click against the concrete and then thud up the wooden stairs of The Tuna. I throw the door open and look desperately around the crowded restaurant. 

 April and Chance are nowhere to be seen. 

“Hey, Rebel!” Mauve calls behind the counter. She’s wearing a giant grin. 

I stagger across the room to her. “Mauve, have you seen April?”

“Not today. Why?” 

“No reason.” I shake my head. “I’ll try calling her again.”

“Rebel, wait a moment. I have Gunner’s congratulatory drink here. Think you can drop it off for me?”

Dread pools in my stomach. The congratulatory drink is a Lucky Falls custom. All hockey players get free drinks after a game. Win or lose. “Um… I’m a little busy.”

“It won’t take but a second.” 

I lick my lips nervously. “The thing is I won’t be seeing Gunner any time soon.”

Mauve tips her head back and bursts out laughing. “That’s funny.”

Was it funny? I wasn’t trying to be funny.

“I’ll be right back.” Still cackling, Mauve disappears into the kitchen.

Looks like I’m stuck.

As I wait for Mauve to return, I meet someone’s eyes across the room. It’s Phil Bradley, a bank clerk who moved out of the trailer park with his family a few years ago. Phil gives me an indulgent smile as if he knows a secret I don’t. Then he turns to one of his co-workers. The woman glances over, sees me, and smiles widely too.

I wipe my face and check my skirt in case there’s a rip.

Nothing’s wrong with my outfit. 

Why are they smiling at me?

Mauve comes back with two drinks—and one of them is pink. 

“Thanks, Mauve.” I pull out my wallet. “How much?”

“It’s on the house.” 

“What’s the occasion?”

“Nothing special. I just… love love.” 

O-kay?

“Rebel, hey!” Kierra Griffin and her cousin, Deon Griffin approach the cash register. 

“Hey, Kierra. Deon. You folks have a good day.” I turn to leave.

“Where is it?” Deon asks me.

I turn back around and scrunch my nose. “Where’s what?”

Deon scrutinizes my hands and neck. “What’d he get you?”

Kierra elbows her cousin in the gut. “Shut up, Deon. Maybe he hasn’t given her yet.”

“What are you talking about?” 

Kierra’s smile grows. It’s the same secret smile that Phil threw at me across the room and it’s the one Mauve greeted me with when I entered.

The journalist tilts her head. “Someone posted a video of the Lucky Strikers in a… let’s say… an unexpected store?”

“What kind of store?”

“Haven’t you seen the video?” 

I shake my head. 

“I’ll send it to you,” she offers.

My phone dings a moment later.

“Sent.” Kierra waves her cell phone in the air. 

“Thanks.” 

Kierra sighs pitifully. “Watching that video made me feel so single. When will I find my own Gunner?”

I resist the urge to say ‘you can have him if you want’. The man drives me absolutely insane. It’d be nice if he could point all those intense, smoldering gazes at someone else for a change. 

Deon laughs at his cousin as he puts his card back in his wallet. “Maybe if you weren’t so mean to any guy who came up to you, you’d have one.”

Kierra’s eyes sharpen. “Hey, being mean worked for Gunner and Rebel.”

“What are you talking about?” Deon chuckles.

“I remember Rebel being very vocal about how much she couldn’t stand Gunner Kinsey.”

I cringe. Guilty. 

“Gunner totally ignored her in high school too, so I’m sure he felt the same way,” Kierra adds. 

“That’s not how I saw it.” Deon looks surprised. He asks me pointedly, “Weren’t you and Gunner fooling around back then?”

I shake my head wildly. “No, not at all. Never.” 

Kierra arches a brow. “Why? Did you hear something, Deon?”

“It’s just…” Deon rubs his chin. “Gunner would get real scary every time someone mentioned Rebel in any, uh, inappropriate way.”

Kierra places her hands on her hips, her eyes on fire like they were when she interviewed me. “I need specific examples.”

Deon scratches his neck. “Man, it’s been a while. But the biggest blow up I remember was between Kinsey and Buddy White.”

“Buddy White? Gunner’s best friend?” I gasp. 

“Buddy told the guys in class that he was throwing a party just to invite you and he was gonna kiss you during truth or dare.”

My eyes widen. I remember that night, but the bottle spun on me and Gunner, not on Buddy. I’d leaned forward to kiss Gunner and he chose truth instead. 

In a moment, the entire room saw how much Gunner despised me and I’d been utterly humiliated. 

“Buddy thought Gunner hadn’t kissed you because of bro code. He was real happy about it and he told us he was going to take you out for a walk and kiss you by the lake. But all of a sudden, Kinsey grabbed him by the collar and told him if he touched you, he’d get a black eye for his birthday.”

Kierra’s jaw drops.

I blink rapidly. 

“Buddy thought he was joking and he started yammering on about what your lips would taste like. Kinsey threw the punch.” Deon laughs. “Buddy ended up getting a black eye and no kiss on his birthday.”

I shake my head, stunned. “I had no idea that had happened.”

Kierra snorts. “You must be remembering wrong, Deon. I was in class with Rebel and Gunner never paid her the time of day. They walked right past each other. Why would Gunner be that protective of her?” 

Deon shrugs. “Don’t know. Maybe he had a thing for her from back then.”

My eyes widen.

Kierra looks intrigued.

Deon checks his watch. “Kierra, are you taking me back to the factory or nah? I’ll be late for my shift.”

Kierra seem reluctant to leave, but she bids me goodbye. 

I wave distractedly as she and her cousin leave the Tuna. Did all that really happen at Buddy White’s party?

It’s so hard to believe. 

If Gunner had a crush on me all the way back then, why didn’t he kiss me that night? Why did he act like he hated me so much?

I look at my cell phone. 

Maybe the answers are in this mysterious video Kierra sent. 

I don’t have the patience to wait until I’m back in my car to watch the video, so I take a seat at the bar. 

Heart swelling with anticipation, I press play.

The footage is shaky, but I can tell the setting is a boutique of some sort. Whoever’s filming is giggling. The sound is childish. I wonder how old they are? 

A glass display case is prominent in the scene. There’s jewelry glittering in the glass shelves and clothes sitting on a nearby rack, all in various shades of pink. 

Renthrow, Gunner, and Chance are standing at the counter. The giant athletes look comically out of place in the pink-themed store.

Chance keeps turning to the door, making it clear that he wants to leave.

Renthrow grips a pink shopping bag and I know instantly that he bought something for his daughter.

Gunner’s face is turned away from the camera but, from the rigid line of his shoulders, he seems unhappy. 

“That won’t work,” Gunner says brusquely. 

“Maybe if you told me exactly what you were looking for, I could help you better,” the clerk responds with exasperation. 

Gunner grunts. “I’ll know it when I see it.”

“He’s been in here for hours,” the owner of the phone says to her friend. 

Chance taps on Gunner’s shoulder. It’s hard to hear what he tells him, but I can guess he’s making a plea to leave because, a second later, the team captain and Renthrow stroll out.

Gunner stays behind. 

The clerk sighs dramatically. “Sir, why don’t you tell me more about your girlfriend. Maybe that will help.”

Gunner pauses.

I hold my breath. 

“She’s got blonde hair.” 

“Mm-hm.” The clerk taps his chin. 

“And blue eyes.”

“Okay, blue eyes.”

“Like the sky.”

“Yes, I know what blue looks like.” A smile crawls across the clerk’s face. “She pretty?”

“Stunning.”

My heart picks up speed. Somehow, hearing Gunner talk about finding me beautiful makes my heart flutter. 

Gunner shows the clerk a picture. 

The man’s eyes widen. “Whoa.”

“Yeah.”

“What about her personality?”

“She’s feisty.” 

“Alright.”

“And sweet at the same time.”

“I see.”

“She’s stubborn.”

“Okay.”

“But soft too.”

“She sounds…”

“Perfect.”

“I was going to say unhinged.”

The girls filming laugh.

Gunner’s jaw does that clench-unclench thing. 

Fear flashes across the clerk’s face. “Um, sorry. That was a joke. We, uh, just got new inventory in the back. I was saving a few pieces for our most loyal customers, but I’ll grab some for you to look at.”

The camera gets shakier and shakier, as if the girls are tired of the scene and want to end the video. In the corner of the shot, I notice the clerk bring out something and Gunner nodding enthusiastically. 

“From your face, I’m guessing he hasn’t given you the present yet,” Mauve says, inspecting me as she wipes down the counter.

I shake my head, struggling to make sense of how Gunner described me in the video. 

The bell on the door jangles.

“Mauve, I forgot my keys again.” Bobby, Mauve’s husband, waddles to the bar. “Do you have yours?” 

An indulgent smile crosses Mauve’s lips and she teases, “Rebel, tell Gunner he needs to stop by and teach my husband a thing or two.”

“Gunner?” Bobby’s eyes widen. “What can he teach me?”

Mauve places her hands on her hips. “How to be romantic.”

Bobby bursts out laughing. “Gunner?”

“Yup.”

“Gunner Kinsey?”

“You know any other Gunners, Bobby?”

“Son of the Sheriff and Carol Kinsey?” 

“Yeeees.” Mauve stretches out the word. 

“The player who scowled his way through an entire season? Romantic? Since when?”

“Since he fell in love with Rebel, of course.” 

Heat blazes through my face and I take a sip of my cold, pink lemonode. 

Bobby seems to notice me for the first time and he smiles. “Hey, Rebel.”

Mauve comes back with the keys. “Love changes you, you know.” Making eye contact with me, Mauve says, “But don’t get too comfortable or you’ll wake up thirty years down the road and your husband won’t even bring you gifts anymore.”

“I got something right here for you, my love. Just gimme a sec.” Bobby digs his hands into his pockets and pulls out a wrapped mint. He places it in Mauve’s hands. “See? Don’t say I never gave you anything.”

Mauve bursts out laughing and tucks the mint into her apron pocket. “I’ll treasure it always.”

Bobby winks at her and then turns to leave. Stopping at the last minute, he wags a finger. “You know, I did find it strange when Gunner begged me to post about Rebel and the Society on the Jumbotron.” He lowers his voice. “Players aren’t technically allowed to do that. But Kinsey was not going to back down.”

I nearly fall out of my seat. “Gunner was behind my announcement at the game?”

Bobby nods. 

I breathe out a panicked breath. As far as I knew, Gunner hated me since he was seven years old. I never guessed that he would be the one behind the announcement.

Though, now that I’m thinking about it, it makes sense. Who else would have known all the details of our Lady Luck Society fight enough to help me? The timing of that announcement allowed me to keep the door of opportunity open when Carol Kinsey wanted it firmly shut. 

Dazed, I mutter a goodbye to Mauve and Bobby and hurry out the door.

April calls me back on my way to the garage. “Sorry I missed your call. Chance insisted on cooking for me at his place. What’s up?”

“Nothing.” I clear my throat. “I just wanted to check on you.” 

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” I squeak.

“Chance and I are going to visit my dad at the nursing home after this so I won’t be at the garage until later.”

“I’ll hold down the fort. And tell your dad I said hi.”

“Are you sure everything’s okay, Rebel? Are you feeling better about the presentation this morning?”

“The presentation?” Rodney Howard and the Society had completely slipped my mind until now. “Oh, for sure. I’m much better now.”

“Great!”

I decide not to tell April about my kiss with Gunner until my mind stops spinning. I wouldn’t even know what to say to her right now.

Cordelia is in the autoshop alone when I walk in. 

She takes one look at my face and whistles. “That bad?”

I press a hand to my cheek. 

Cordelia flings a towel over her shoulder. “I’ve heard I’m not that great at empathizing, but if you ever want brutally honest feedback, I’m not too shabby.” 

“Thank you,” I say with a genuine smile. “But to be honest, I’d rather work than talk anything right now.” 

“Say no more. I get it.” She nods. 

I keep a few clean jumpers at the shop, so I swipe one and head to the bathroom. As I change, my mind runs through everything that happened today. 

The video.

The fact that Gunner punched Buddy White in high school. 

As I work on a faulty brake line, the truth goes around and around my mind like a washing machine on spin cycle. 

All the evidence is pointing to one unbelievable truth.

Gunner Kinsey…

… quite possibly…

… has liked me for a very long time.

***

Thanks for reading this exclusive deleted scene from ICE PRINCESS!

Come back to Lucky Falls soon,

Lia