Hope Breaks: A New Adult Romantic Comedy by Alice Bello, Stephanie T. Lott

by my venomous accusations that she seemed to forget that we’d never met before.  Her head as well fell as she succumbed to drunken guilt.  
    I shook my head disgustedly and rea ched out and took both of them by the hand, yanking right on past the forest of giants and through a gaggle of shimmying scuba babes in barely-there wetsuits. 
    I glanced back once about twenty feet later, to find the forest giants had lost interest in us and had hooked up with the scuba babes.
    Perfect.
    Still, I didn’t risk slowing down our momentum.  I pulled Jake and Drunk-Girl through the sea of concertgoers and vendors until I caught sight of the Evergreen we’d been lined up with on lawn seating. Then glanced around until I found the young man with the blue body paint, grass skirt, and silver Cesar crown of ivy on his head.  About twenty paces later I pulled us all into the nearly deserted blanket strewn plot where we’d started.
    Drunk-Girl stumbled as I let go of her.  She careened out of control and bounced off the throng of concertgoers that surrounded our little plot of space.  A couple of Jake’s friends had stayed behind to keep watch on their stuff and their spot.  They sighed in unison and high fived both Jake and myself.
    “That’s the fastest anyone has ever found her.  Way to go!”
    The other grabbed hold of her friend and started tugging her off into the crowd.  “And now we have to go pee!”
    Drunk-Girl, a.k.a Mandy flopped to the blanket covered ground and called out, “Bring me a Madras or a Corona!”
    I rolled my eyes and caught Jake stifling a laugh.  Mandy looked up at us both and her eyes became round as saucers. 
    “Oh... my… god!  I’m so sorry Jake… and I was so not trying to do anything!” That last bit was aimed at me.  “I swear, me and Jake are just friends… I would never…” And then her owl-eyes became confused.  “Do I know you?”
    “No,” I said, and bent down so I wouldn’t have to scream so loud.  “But you owe me.  I saved you from a forest of giant trees.”
    Her eyes bugged out again and she nodded her head rigorously.  “Giant trees.  Oh my god!  They would have eaten me!”
    I nodded.  “So to repay me, I want you to stay on the blankets.  Got it?  No leaving the blankets unless someone else is holding your hand.”
    She looked briefly like she was confused, or like she was going to argue. 
    “Or the giant trees will grab you and eat you alive… with barbeque sauce!”
    Mandy yelped and pulled a stray blanket up over her head.
    Jake burst into a riotous laugh and grabbed hold of me, pulling me into him and…
    H e kissed me…
    Long and slow and soft…
    I lost my breath, I forgot my name—I couldn’t even hear Jimmy singing any longer.
    I popped up on the balls of my feet , wrapped my arms around his neck and licked up into his mouth.  My nervous system exploded from just the taste of him, from the feel of his lips against mine, of how our tongues met and entwined.
    His strong arms encircled me and pulled me into him, his hard, warm body the only thing that was holding me to the earth.  His bare skin slid against my arms and I was sorely tempted to rip my shirt off just so more of him would be in contact with more of me.
    I didn’t even realize a warm mist had started to fall until I heard Mandy lament, “It’s raining!  I can’t friggin’ believe it!”   
    Our lips parted and I looked up into his eyes.  So warm and brown and beautiful.
    I reached up and ran my hands through his now wet hair. 
    “I love it when it rains.”
    Jake smiled and leaned down toward me.  “Me too.”
    Just then Mort and the rest of the “search party” showed up, all of them giving Mandy—still under her blanket—a gentle pat on the head.
    “Next time we put her on a leash!”
    That got a couple of surly responses, and Mandy popped her hand out from under her blanket and shot Mort the finger.
    A song all too familiar started to come from the