Page 14 of Kiss and Tell
The four of us still ran around and did almost everything together, and Ben and Natalie were good about not doing any public displays of affection in front of the campers. But when it was our time off, all bets were off.
Natalie had dragged me out of the cabin on her second morning to report they had finally kissed at Moon Rock, and it wasthe best. I’d have guessed from her glowy eyes and the way she kept touching her lips even if she hadn’t told me.
Sawyer and I even exchanged amused glances and rolled eyes at breakfast as they fussed over each other.
It wasn’t so bad after a couple of weeks. I went out of my way to make sure Sawyer didn’t get any “vibes” from me. Gave him the hardcore friend treatment, calling, “Hey, buddy,” across the camp when I saw him, or making sure Ben and Natalie sat together between us instead of sitting side by side, like two couples.
If Sawyer had sensed anything in our airport hug, there was no evidence of it now. I kept getting twinges if he brushed against me, or if our eyes met as we laughed at camper antics. There were times I could have sworn he rearranged his cabin’s schedule so our campers did the same activities at the same time.
But I never acted any differently, and pretty soon, I was convinced we were back on the same footing as last summer.
By the end of camp, I was sure of it, and I walked down to the lakeside final campfire as relaxed as usual at this point of the summer. The final session campers left by noon; all that was left to do was hang out, get up early to clean up and winterize the camp, and say our goodbyes.
I didn’t know what it was about the closing counselor campfire, but it smelled better and the s’mores tasted more delicious than any other campfire we’d had that summer. It had been like that last summer too.
I glanced over to where Sawyer struggled with his s’more. He never roasted the marshmallow enough, so it didn’t do its job of melting the chocolate and sticking the graham crackers together.
I grimaced and sat beside him. “Let me do it.”
He scowled. “You burn them.”
“Let’s call it flambé. I do it because it’s the right way to make a s’more.” He grumbled but handed it over, and in a few minutes, I returned a perfectly gooey s’more to him.
He bit into it, and a satisfied smile flickered over his mouth. It was such a good mouth. Full lips without being too thick—
Anyway. I set about making another one, distracting myself.
“You ready to go home tomorrow?” he asked.
“Sure,” I said. “I only have to be there a few days before I head back to campus.” I went to the University of Virginia, Arlington, majoring in marketing.
“Sounds like you don’t want to be home for long. You don’t like it there?”
We’d never talked about our families much. Annoying campers, yes. Counselor gossip, yes. The number of times we caught Director Warren and Nurse Debbie making eyes at each other when they thought no one else was watching, definitely.
“I like home,” I said. “Mostly. Grace and I fight sometimes, but it’s not a huge deal. I get along great with my dad.”
“What about your mom?”
I sighed, barely conscious I was doing it.
“I guess that’s a no.”
“She’s…” I tried to think of how to explain my mom. “She didn’t want me to go to school in state. She had big plans for herself, and she gave them up when she and my dad got married. They love each other, but she’s always on our case to get out of Creekville. Out ofVirginia. She wants us to be astronauts and doctors.” It was also why she got anxious if either of us dated a guy more than twice.
“She’s not thrilled you’re going into advertising?” he guessed.
I shrugged. “I’m not either, honestly. I don’t know if anyone grows up and says they want to go into marketing. But I’m good at it, and I can get a good job when I graduate. It’s not enough for her. My ambitions aren’t big enough. I’m not goodenoughat marketing, and she thinks I won’t get a goodenoughjob.”
“She sounds intense.”
I snapped and pointed at him. “Bingo. What about you? You ready to go back?”
His eyes met mine for a couple of seconds. “No.”
It was a simple answer, and he didn’t follow it up with anything, but I suppressed a shiver when he looked away.What was that?!That hadmeaningand stuff in it.
Right then, Brinley Wexler stood up and swayed the tiniest bit on her feet.
