Sun Kissed (Camp Boyfriend) (3 page)

We sat on the dock’s end and his sandaled foot hooked around my ankle. Our joined feet swung out into the crisp summer-night air, the sound of moth wings beating against a dull lamp above us. I gazed at the lightshow overhead. The sky was an overturned bowl, rimmed with lavender fading up to periwinkle, then indigo into velvet studded with twinkling diamonds.

Normally I had eyes only for those stars, wondering which distant suns sent those lights to us, which galaxies embedded them. But instead, my eyes kept returning to Seth, loving the way the moonlight outlined his straight nose and square jaw in silver, shadows and light playing along the handsome angles of his face. I sighed when his hand found mine again. I couldn’t deny wanting to take things further. If the game sped up my timing, then so be it. I had to take this leap of faith sometime. Better to do it quick before I lost my nerve.

I turned then pulled back when our noses collided.

“Ouch.” I laughed to cover my embarrassment and straightened my crooked frames. Smooth, Lauren. Real smooth. No wonder I was a KV. But hopefully not after tonight….

“Sorry.” The left side of Seth’s mouth lifted before the right, the crooked pirate smile I dreamed about on cold winter nights. “I was going to ask you how your year was—besides getting braces.”

“Yeah. That kind of sucked. But it’s only for a couple of years, I guess.” I looked down at our joined hands resting on Seth’s muscular thigh. How weird that he hadn’t let go yet. Not that I objected. I loved the feel of his skin.

“Guess I got lucky there.” Seth’s white teeth flashed. “Except for this.” He pointed to a small chip in his right incisor. To me the imperfection was edgy and quirky. A formula that only made him hotter—if that was even possible.

I rested my head on his shoulder, loving the clean boy smell of him and the fit of our bodies hip to hip. “I like it. It gives you character.”

“So do your braces. Especially since you used Indiana U colors for your bands. My dad would go nuts.”

I smiled, glad he’d noticed the red and white. When I peeked up at him, I caught an unreadable expression before he looked away—out over the lake.

“The bands are the only fun part. The rest is hideous. If they wired these shut I could do a pretty good Darth Vader.”

Seth’s shoulders lifted and fell beneath my cheek as he chuckled. He cupped a hand over his mouth and said, in possibly the worst impression of Vader I’d ever heard, “Lauren… come to the dark side, for I am your real friend.”

What a dork. But that’s what made him adorable…adorkable.

“I know,” I sighed. Why was it so hard to break out of the friend zone?

Fingers tipped up my chin and our eyes met. “What’s wrong? You make that sound like a bad thing.” His thumb brushed the skin beneath my chin, then traced along my jaw. I trembled at the frissons of electricity his touch ignited.

“It’s not.” Something soft swept against my cheek but it wasn’t until wings beat against my hair that I realized what it was. I bolted upright and let go of his hand. “Uck. A moth.” I started to shoo it away, but Seth gently snagged my wrist before I could damage the fragile bug.

“Careful. That’s a
Coelostathma Discopunctana
.” Seth separated strands of my hair while I did my best not to squirm.

“Say that again,” I asked once he’d freed the black, furry insect from my temple. Ugh.

“It’s a Batman Moth. Cool, right?” He grinned, his enthusiasm infectious.

I smiled back, forgetting about my totally un-cool grill before I brought a hand up to cover it. “Never thought I’d get that close to Bruce Wayne. I feel special.”

“Peter Parker would have been better, but let’s not start that old fight again.”

I lightly punched his shoulder. “Yeah, because you know Bruce could totally kick Peter’s ass.”

The electric hum of cicadas heralded nighttime, competing with the campers singing “B-I-N-G-O.” Seth’s chuckle joined the evening noise. “Right. Peter can swing from skyscrapers. What’s Bruce got—a grappling hook?”

Indignation  made me temporarily forget my “Kiss Seth” mission. “He doesn’t need to web sling. Bruce has a helicopter—and a Bat Taser, Bat saw, Bat rope, Bat smoke grenades, Bat pellets, Bat—”

A finger pressed to my lips made my eyes dart to his. Amusement danced in his amber depths. “Fine. You win.”

My shoulders lowered and my breath whooshed against his finger, my heart a jackhammer. “Never doubted it,” I said in a rush.

“Did you like the latest X-Men movie?” He rubbed his palms against his shorts. Was I making him nervous? A thrill of excitement shot through me. It was weird to think I could affect a boy that way, especially one I liked so much.

“So awesome. You saw it, right?” I didn’t wait for him to nod since obviously he had. “That part with the submarine was sick.”

The dock lamp shown on his golden waves, the longish strands falling in his incredible eyes when he nodded. “Crazy. All of the effects were intense.”

I nodded, although the storyline was all that really mattered. I shifted my sweaty thighs on the planks. “Definitely.”

Seth’s eye searched mine, then he blurted, “Did you go with anyone?”

I blinked up at him in surprise. “Of course.”

His body seemed to tense all over, a breeze molding his tee against the planes of his chest. It carried the soothing scents of fresh water and pine, yet his expression looked pinched, his lips pressed together. Did he think I’d gone on a date? Was he jealous?

“My dad loved it too,” I added quickly and watched, amazed as his body relaxed, his face lighting up in a heart-melting smile. Wow. He
had
been jealous. Did he
like
-like me? A weightless, floating feeling overtook me while I turned over the possibility.

“How is your dad doing?” Seth leaned back on his arms, his biceps flexing. “Is he coming for parents’ weekend?”

“He’s writing a book about sustainable energy… so, lots of research. But he’s not teaching any summer courses at Cornell, so he’ll make our rafting trip.” Seth and I had been taking that thrill ride down the Nantahala River with our professor fathers for years. It was one of the highlights of the summer. I stole a peek at Seth. Would tonight be one of them too?

Seth nodded, his dimples popping in a grin. “Great. My dad’s going to come too. He’s got a few college wrestling recruits to work with but he wouldn’t miss it. Is your mom going to visit?”

Suddenly Seth’s voice sounded tense again but I didn’t have to wonder why this time. He was always polite to ask about my mother, but the fact that his mom had dropped him at daycare on his fourth birthday and never returned was a hurt that never healed. Not that we talked about it much. It was just in moments like now—the tone of his voice, the things he said or didn’t say—that let me know how he felt.

“No. She’s volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, installing solar panels in homes. Plus Kellianne’s bringing some guy home from college. He’s Texan.” I drawled out the last word, adding a cowboy twang to it, making Seth laugh. “She says it’s serious, but we’ll see.”

Seth waved away a buzzing fly then dropped his hand on mine and squeezed.

“Will you miss her?”

I gazed up at the stars, wondering. A part of me would, I supposed. But now that Kellianne and I were too old to need Mom as much, she’d thrown herself into all kinds of projects that used her Environmental Science degree. “Yeah. Though she’s always so busy now, I hardly see her. How about you? Have you heard from your mom?”

Seth rubbed his jaw uncomfortably. “Got a birthday card from her in April.”

“But your birthday’s in—”

Seth’s head tipped back, his eyes roaming the sky. The wind ruffled his curls, the moon caressing the planes of his face. “February. I know. But better late than never, right?”

His wavering smile didn’t fool me. I laced my fingers in his. “Sorry, Seth. She sucks.”

“She tries.” He sighed. “It’s not her fault she didn’t want me. I mean … that is … well … she just didn’t want a child.”

“Then how come she had two more with her new husband, the movie director in LA?” It burned me that she’d hurt him like that.

Seth turned my palm over and traced my lifeline, the sensation making me tremble. “I don’t know, Laur. I try not to think about it much.”

I picked up a pebble and threw it as far as I could, wishing it was at her head. “She’s a jerk.”

“She’s still my mom.”

How messed up that he defended her. Maybe it was because she was the only woman he’d ever loved? My heart stuttered to a halt. At least I thought she was. I’d never asked him about dating back home.

“Are you seeing anyone?” I blurted, then gasped. Could I be more obvious?

He ducked his head until his shimmering eyes caught mine. “No. There’s no one else—” His throat cleared. “I mean, there’s no one.”

He leaned closer and I angled toward him, drawn by the magnetic pull of his eyes. “Kind of a lone wolf then.” My voice rasped in the still night air.

“Maybe that could change,” he said, his lips inching closer. His eyelashes fanned across his cheeks and mine lowered as well, my heart beating like a wild animal.
This is it. This is it. This is it.

“There they are!” hollered a boy behind us. Seth and I broke apart, his eyes full of regret… and promise. He’d been about to kiss me. The realization of how close we’d come overwhelmed me.

“Vijay, wait up.”

I turned to see Alex and Siobhan burst from the woods behind Vijay and Julian, two of Seth’s bunkmates from the Wander Inn.

It wasn’t until then that I realized the camp singing was over, flashlights bobbing on paths through the woods like fireflies. Our counselors would know we were missing if we didn’t hurry. My fingernails dug into my palms. Why had I wasted so much time debating Spiderman versus Batman instead of making my move? God. I hadn’t done my dare or gotten my guy.

Their footsteps thundered down the dock, the boards vibrating.

“Gollum is looking for you guys,” yelled Siobhan, her jet-black hair falling from its bun. In the distance, our camp director Mr. Woodrow’s whistle blew.

“Looks like he’s got his ‘Precious’ with him.” Vijay laughed, making air quotes.

“Gollum, Gollum, Gollum,” Julian croaked, rubbing his hands together like the
Lord of the Rings
character. Since our whistle-obsessed leader was short, balding, and had a nasty habit of sneaking up on us, we’d nicknamed him after the creature. And now he was after us. Crap.

“Lots of rumors going around camp now.” Vijay wiggled his thick, dark eyebrows.

“Yeah. Ones you started.” Alex gave Vijay a shove. The force, combined with his own momentum, toppled him into the water with a loud
sploosh
. He came up gasping, while the rest of us whooped and laughed. His dark hair plastered to his narrow head, making him resemble an exotic lake creature.

“Ohmigod, Vijay, I’m so sorry.” Alex gasped, not sounding sorry at all. Her laughter had her doubled over and bending at the waist.

Vijay’s hand shot up. “Fine. Whatever. It was hot out anyway. Now help me up.”

Alex grabbed his hand but was flipped over his head, landing with a splat in the lake behind him. Now Vijay laughed, his guffaws echoing from the treetops.

 I squatted down and whispered across the water to Alex, “Shhhh. We’ve got to get out of here or its mess hall duty for all of us.”

“Yeah,” Siobhan added. “Not the best start to camp.”

Alex and Vijay splashed each other, shrieking and out of our range, despite our protests and offers to help. Julian shucked off his cape and handed Siobhan a walking stick carved with so many sigils it could have been a
Lord of the Rings
prop. “Guess someone’s got to go in after those two before Gollum gets them.” And with that, he executed a surprisingly graceful dive.

He came up sputtering and put Vijay in a headlock, his attempts to drag him to shore turning into a wrestling match.

“Idiots,” I murmured, one eye on the still empty beach. If we got caught….

“Yeah.” Seth quirked an eyebrow at me. Something warm and fizzy exploded inside me at the devilish twinkle in his eyes. “But they’re my idiots.”

And in a heart-stopping moment, Seth’s lean abs appeared as he tossed off his shirt and dove in.

“Lauren, Siobhan—help me.” Alex finally evaded the boys and treaded water close enough to the dock to reach for help. Seth dunked both the guys until they quieted. But when we each grasped one of her hands, Vijay swam over and grabbed her waist, yanking us off our feet.

The water closed over my head, its cold fingers sluicing off the muggy summer air. For a moment I held my breath and stayed underwater, enjoying the sensation, until strong hands pulled me to the surface.

“Lauren,” Seth said urgently. “Are you okay?”

With my body clasped against his hard chest, I couldn’t speak over the buoyant sensation overtaking me. Hell yes, I was okay. More than okay. Then a sinking realization nearly dragged me back down. I felt around my eyes, feeling skin, not glass.

“My glasses!”

“Got ’em.” Siobhan held up the brown-and-tan frames as two high wattage flashlights blared on, freezing all of us in their glare. Busted.

“I’d say Lauren is
not
okay,” Gollum announced then blew his whistle from shore. Susannah bumped into him when he stopped short and lowered his instrument.

“And neither are the rest of you.” Bruce, Seth’s counselor, thundered beside Gollum, his broad face as dark as the sky behind him. He definitely looked every inch the nickname we’d given him—Bam-Bam—for his work as an explosives expert in the war.

“It’s mess hall duty for all of you this week.” Gollum padded out onto the dock and proclaimed our punishment with another long whistle blast. What a diva.

But stumbling onto the beach, Seth’s arm wrapped around my waist, I knew nothing could make this less than an amazing summer.

“And you still owe me that dare,” Siobhan whispered as she passed me my lenses. “By the end of the week.”

I shot her a glare, which she ignored. What a friend. She must have seen how close Seth and I’d come to a kiss. Wasn’t that enough to let me off the hook, allow me to take things with Seth at my own pace? We were off to such a great start and she still expected me to rush it. I ground my teeth.