Sun Kissed (Camp Boyfriend) (27 page)

“Can I at least help you collect some things?” I tugged on the needles of a red spruce. “I know a thing or two about the local flora and fauna.”

Massive understatement. I would major in environmental science at school in the fall.

Distracted, she tucked her dreadlocks behind an ear and dropped a few buckeyes in the basket. 

“No need. I know you’ve got the roofing crew coming today.” She smiled, but it felt like an afterthought. More politeness from a girl who would never just tell me that she was still mad at me for how I’d acted toward her. “But thanks, Seth.”

She moved through the trees and out of sight, leaving me in the clearing to stare after her like an idiot. I’d alienated a sweet, talented, beautiful girl. A girl who’d shown her heart to me, which had taken guts. Strength. Commitment. I hadn’t just shut out the world— I’d shut my damn eyes and hadn’t appreciated what a gift it was. What a gift
she
was.

 Trinity might have cured her crush once and for all. Unfortunately, in the process, I was pretty sure she’d passed it to me.

Chapter Eight

Trinity

“Trinity, you’re in big trouble with the Divas!” My cabin mate Piper announced a few days later as she jogged toward me near Rockbrooke Falls with a bamboo sack bouncing on her hip that looked like a big purse but was actually a discreet bag for recyclables. She was alone, which meant the other girls in my cabin where probably showering or hanging out before dinner.

“I’m shaking in my shoes,” I muttered, not caring at all what the girls in the Divas’ Den were up to this summer. Twenty-four/seven, my mind was on art and Seth.

Not necessarily in that order, despite my best efforts.

“You missed the big video shoot,” she announced, slowing up as she reached where I knelt beside a potential bent-willow archway to install around the gazebo entrance.

Wrestling with one stiff piece of willow, I held the branch in place while Piper lowered her bag and helped me steady the rest of the unwieldy arch decoration.

“There was a time when Divas’ Den was filled with wannabe diva girls. Not actual tantrum-throwing starlets.” I hated to be unkind. But YouTube singing sensation Brooke White, a new addition to the Divas’ cabin, was more than I could take.

She was trying to make all of Camp Juniper Point into her personal entourage this summer and I had zero interest in shaking my butt in her latest video.

Piper whistled softly. “Trinity! Where has that snarky side been hiding all these years?”

She was only teasing. But on top of Seth’s insistence that I lived in a fairytale world, Piper’s comment grated my last nerve.

“I don’t have to always be Miss Sunshine,” I muttered, searching for the drill in the dirt around my knees with one hand while I kept the design in place with the other. Finding it, I secured the newly bent piece of willow to the rest of the frame with a short screw.

“Of course not.” Piper let go of her half of the arch to peer at it sideways. “But you’ve been an optimist who never says a harsh word for as long as I’ve known you. I’m just surprised to hear your real view of Brooke White.”

Wiping the sweat off my forehead, I wished I’d brought a band to hold back my hair. I couldn’t blame the heat for the bad attitude though. My mood had Seth Reines written all over it.

Tossing aside the drill, I sat back in the dirt near the falls.

“Truth? She’s a difficult person to like, but I still feel bad for not supporting a fellow artist.” I’d forgotten all about the video shoot in my race to try out the bent-willow archway features this morning. I’d been out here since dawn. “But ever since I started working on the gazebo, I’m obsessed with trying to get it right.”

“Well, your hard work is paying off.”

“You think so?” I kept thinking about all the stuff I hadn’t done, not really taking time to enjoy what I’d created. There was so much to do lately; I barely slept. I saw willow twigs in my dreams, my hands rough and callused from working with them every day.

“Are you kidding? I had no idea your art had blossomed in so many cool directions. I especially love the willow twig railings. Everything you’re doing is so eco-friendly.” Piper slipped off her flip flops and tossed them on the ground next to me, then took a seat on the shoes. “I saw the roofers finishing up the shingles today. They just need to come back to put the cupola on tomorrow, right?”

“So I hear.” I wasn’t crazy about the roofing contractors, who used a forklift that left deep tread marks and ran a generator all the time. Plus, a couple of the guys must have been smokers because there were cigarette butts all around the gazebo after they left each day.

Eww. Why couldn’t they pick up after themselves?

“Well, then they’re really close to being done. I hope we have parties there. Like, what if just the seniors got to have a dance in it some night? Wouldn’t it be so magical?”

I smiled, grateful that I wasn’t the only girl at Camp Juniper Point who still wanted some magic in my summers.

“Definitely.” I could picture myself dancing with Seth under the stars in the woods nearby. I’d be sad when our work on the gazebo ended, even if we’d barely spoken for the last week.

Seth was dealing with too much this summer to see me as a prospective girlfriend. I got that. But I hated to think that our friendship was ending. That I’d never get a real chance to be with the guy I’d dreamed about for so long.

“Who would you dance with?” Piper asked out of the blue, as if she’d read my thoughts.

“Everyone knows who I’d choose,” I reminded her. “All of camp knows I had a crush on Seth last year, thanks to the Divas’ stupid diary prank.”

“That’s old news.” Piper reached behind us to pick a few buttercups. “What about now? Do you still like Seth? He’s different now. Harder, I guess.”

She wove the stems of the buttercups together with deft fingers.

“I think he realizes he was being unfair.” I remembered how sincere he’d seemed when he’d offered to help with the nature exhibit wall. “He’s come around to the artwork. I think he sees how it will make the gazebo more memorable. More special.”

That day in the forest when he’d helped me gather leaves, I’d wanted more than anything to accept his help. To stay by his side all day and listen to him talk about birds and pine needles with the same enthusiasm he’d had when we were kids.

“But do you still like him?” Piper asked simply, cutting to the heart of the matter. She tucked the trio of buttercup stems behind my ear, then leaned back to admire her work. “Wow. That makes you look like Titania, the queen of the fairies.”

I doubted that very much, since I was sweating like a pig and covered with dust from the willow project. But I was grateful for a friend. I’d never spent so much time alone at camp as I had over the last ten days that I’d been working on the gazebo.

“Thank you.” I would have given her a hug, but she was already scrambling back to pick more buttercups. Which left me no option but to answer her sticky question. “And about Seth…”

Piper straightened, hands full of flowers. “I’m listening.”

“I’m scared I will love him forever.”

“Scared?” She set down the buttercups. “Why is that scary? That’s beautiful.”

“Not when he doesn’t see me that way in return.” I had almost tucked away my feelings for him when he’d strode back into camp and took my breath away with that kiss…

“Are you sure of that, Trin?” She picked some leaves off a stem before winding it with another one. “I mean, I know he’s bitter about Lauren and— from what I’ve heard— not happy about his mom coming back. But in all the time you’ve hung out with him since he and Lauren broke up, are you really sure he’s never shown any interest?”

The kiss flamed to life in my memory, so vivid I practically needed to fan myself.

“Well—” I didn’t want to talk about it, but then again, how could I say
no
?

Piper dropped the flowers. “What happened? Spill, girl! Tell me something.”

I covered my face with my hands. “We kissed once.”

She squealed. “Seriously? Oh my God! That’s awesome. And why aren’t you happy about it?”

“He said it was a mistake and it only happened because I had a crush on him.” My stomach still cramped up when I thought about what he’d said afterward, while my heart was racing and my skin hummed from touching his.

“You kissed him?” she clarified, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

I nodded. Why had I rushed things?

“But…did he kiss you back?” She shot me a level gaze. Practical Piper seemed determined to get to the bottom of things.

“He did. I guess that’s the part he thought was a mistake.” It killed me that he would apologize for what happened when it had been so…incredible.

“Then there’s still hope for you two.” She tucked another set of buttercups behind my other ear. “My mother says where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Sounds like you’ve got some sizzle going there, Trinity.”

She didn’t ask me any more about it, and we spent the rest of the afternoon working on the willow bark arches and decorating each other’s hair with flowers. But she’d given me more than a much-needed day of friendship. She made me wonder if Seth felt more for me than he let on.

And this time, instead of writing in my diary about it—hoping, wishing, and dreaming for something magical to happen between us—I planned to proceed with logic and strategy.

I’d just have to kiss him again.

***

“Trinity?”

I heard Seth’s voice as he entered the arts center the next day during the dinner period. I had told Emily I needed to work more on the dedication sign—which was true—and had skipped dinner to get it done.

I’d also invited Seth to see it.

“In here,” I called, capping a small tube of paint I’d used for a decorative border.

If Seth thought it was strange that I was working on the sign while wearing a sun dress, I didn’t care. I wanted to look my best for my last ditch effort. I didn’t want to seem desperate. But if there was any chance he was holding back feelings for me…well, that just wasn’t fair.

“Hey.” He stopped just inside the backroom, where easels and paint trays were lined up around me like I was about to teach an art class to invisible students. “I hope it’s okay I came in here. My grandfather lectured me twenty times about the dangers of mingling with the campers.”

He winked, and I saw that half smile that had always turned me inside out.

He was…so handsome. Seth was tall and broad-shouldered. His sandy hair was streaked with blond that lightened more the longer he stayed at camp. His pirate’s smile always looked like he was up to something, but his amber eyes were so sincere that you didn’t care.

My heart beat faster.

“Luckily, you’re only mingling with me.” I gestured to the empty room and tried not to blush. “I just wanted you to take a peek at the dedication sign and see if you thought I should mention anyone else.”

Turning away from all that massive Seth-appeal, I grabbed a corner of the bark-rimmed wood and shifted it so he could read the words there. It mostly just said the gazebo was a gift of the Reines family and the summer campers who’d worked on it.

I watched his face as he read, his strong arms braced on the wooden countertop, where I’d been working.

“My grandfather made the cupola?” he asked, reminding me of the detail I’d included in the dedication—a note about the restoration of the original, handmade cupola.

“Yes. You didn’t know?” My palms were sweaty, the air warm in the arts center, even though most of the windows had been left open.

The sun was sinking, the daylight casting long shadows over us through the slats in the blinds.

“No,” he admitted, drumming his thumb on the counter. “I can’t believe I didn’t know. That I never asked him about it.”

I did. But I suppose Seth had guessed as much.

“Your grandparents are really great. They’ve been so excited about this project. I know they are proud of you for taking it on.”

He straightened. “It’s beautiful,” he murmured, staring at me. “Really beautiful.”

I had to remind myself he was talking about the sign since his amber gaze tracked my every move. I swallowed over a throat gone dry.

“Thank you.” I felt like he must hear my heart pounding away. It sounded like someone had cranked the volume on it.

Seth stepped closer to me. What was that about?

I’d planned tonight so carefully. I needed to kiss him, test his feelings for me. It was supposed to be a matter-of-fact kind of thing from my side. I would stay objective while I paid attention to Seth’s reaction.

But who could stay impartial with him so close? I could smell his clean skin, a recent shower making the scent of soap waft to my nose.

“I like the buttercups,” he observed, lifting his hand toward me.

Tongue-tied, I couldn’t even ask what he was talking about, my eyes fixed on his fingers as he traced my ear to thumb the yellow flower.

“Piper put them in,” I said, my voice scratchy.

A lone ceiling fan spun lazily overhead, stirring a breeze that made the skirt of my sundress tickle my knees.

“I keep thinking about you,” he said, so softly I wouldn’t have heard him if I wasn’t standing this close. His thumb and forefinger skimmed along my cheek now. “I keep thinking about doing this.”

Softly, his lips met mine.

I held myself very still, hardly able to believe that
he
was kissing
me
. My eyes fell closed even though I wanted to memorize every second of this incredible moment. But in the dark behind my eyelids, I could hear his ragged breathing. Feel the tension in his arms as he slid them around my waist and pulled me closer.

Closer.

The warmth of his body heat made me shiver for a second before I molded myself to him. Chest to chest. Hip to hip. Sensations flared to life everywhere just under my skin. I twined my arms around his neck, raked my fingers through sandy-blond curls.

The moment spun out in the best way— like we had all the time in the world to touch each other. Kiss each other. He cupped my face in his hands and then rounded his palms over my shoulders, fingers sliding under the straps of my sundress. He didn’t linger anywhere too long, though. It’s like his hands were on a mission to feel all of me, and I was only too glad to be touched. Everywhere his fingers went, I came alive. The small hairs on the back of my neck tingled. Goosebumps lifted on my arms.