Ryan Hunter

off in the early morning hours, I found myself curled in a strange position against the headboard, still hugging the pillow. I groaned and got up, rubbing the nasty kink in my neck.
    A few stretches and push-ups helped ease the stiffness. Slipping on a black tee and shorts, I felt the rush of excitement coming over me. While I had endured most of the summer without seeing Liza, the past twenty-four hours without her had been a torture.
    I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and slipped on my sneakers, then I headed downstairs and out to my car. From hanging out at Mitchell’s place for years, I knew where Liza lived.
    I didn’t know if she was ready to go or still asleep, and if I had to wake her, how I would go on about it, since it wasn’t really an option to ring the bell at five in the morning. Mitchell shouldn’t see my car in front of her house if he got out early, so I parked two houses down then walked back up.
    Everything was silent, the street as well as her house. No light shone from any room. In the dark, I walked around the house, wondering what to do. Maybe I should just throw a pebble to one of the upstairs windows. But if that was the bedroom of her parents, I might get into trouble. Brilliant.
    Above a small shed beside the house, the window to one room was open. The glass reflected not much, but a desk and a wardrobe. Could be the room of any teenager. Maybe she had left it open because she knew I was coming? It was the best chance I’d get, so I decided to try.
    “Matthews,” I called her in what happened to be a little more than a whisper—a suppressed shout. Nothing happened for a minute, so I tried again, just a little louder than before. This time it took about ten seconds until my very own Juliette appeared in the window. My heart knocked its approval when I saw her. First because I had really, really missed her. And second, because I’d picked the right window and not that of an angry father who’d come after me with a shotgun for seducing his daughter.
    She looked sleepy and surprised to see me here.
    “Hi,” I said. “You don’t look like you’re ready to go.”
    Liza leaned over the sill, her long hair slipping from her shoulders and hanging down . “How did you know this was my window?”
    “I didn’t. It was trial and error.”
    Her face paled in the dark. “How many windows have you tried?”
    I laughed and gave her the truth. “Yours.”
    Something went on inside her head. I couldn’t tell what, but some very interesting emotions played out in her eyes then. Shock, fascination, happiness, then shock again. All the time, she didn’t say anything.
    “Are you coming?” I demanded.
    “I can’t. I’m grounded,” she whispered back.
    “For sleeping with me?”
    That made her smile, even though she tried to hide it. Baby, you failed.
    “For not sleeping in my own bed, ” was what she answered.
    “How long are you grounded?”
    “Until Sunday. But I can come to the training.”
    “At least there’s that.” I would have hated not to see her there when she was at long last on my team. But I wanted to train with her now, too. There must be a way to get her out of this room without her parents finding out. Scanning the garden, the tree, and the shed, I had an idea. “What time do you usually get up in the morning?”
    She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know. Eight, nine, sometimes later.”
    “So we have at least three hours until someo ne will expect you downstairs.” That was enough time to get her out, do some running, and get her in again. And I wouldn’t waste one minute of that precious time with her. With a flick of my head, I motioned for her to get moving. “Come out.”
    “What?” she gasped.
    “Get dressed and climb to the roof of the shed. I’ll help you down.”
    “You’re crazy.”
    I smirked. “ You are a coward.”
    “I’m not!”
    “Prove it.” If I judged her right, she wouldn’t let this pass and turn tail. She bit her bottom lip, looking a bit wary, but needed a little push. “So?” I prompted.
    “Fine. Give me a minute.”
    Hell, yeah! I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, keeping a leash on my delight. While Liza disappeared into her room again, I leaned against the tree and spied through the window glass, trying to see what was going on up there. Unfortunately, I saw nothing but a shadow.
    I stepped closer to the shed when she reappeared and started climbing out the window. She looked scared and clumsy, definitely not a