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“You’re staring again.” From her seat on the bench beside me, Kinsley’s voice is quiet. I have a feeling she’s not even looking at me, as her eyes scan the beach from behind her sunglasses.
“You don’t know that,” I mutter, readjusting my grip around my knees as I stare at Kayde on the lifeguard stand. He’d informed all of us last night that Mr. Fink was quick to hire him for his lifeguard training and CPR certification. While all of us here are CPR certified, as we have to be, I don’t think any of us have a lot of lifeguarding experience outside of glaring at kids and crossing our fingers they don’t drown. “You’re not even looking at me.”
“I don’t need to be. I can feel that weird energy you have. Besides, if I don’t watch our cabins, they’ll drown. You aren’t watching them, after all.” There’s a teasing note in her voice, and I roll my eyes with the intent of them to stay stuck in my head, even though the effect is lost on her when she doesn’t look. “Thought you said he’s not your type. What was it you called him? A golden retriever? Lassie?”
“Both of those,” I agree flatly, though it’s impossible to take my eyes off of Kayde in his lifeguard chair. It’s not as tall as the ones I remember from the local pool where I’d gone as a kid, and Darcy Lewis doesn’t seem to mind that at all. In fact, it appears as if she’s trapping him. With her fingers clenched on the metal slats of the ladder where Kayde would need to go in order to get down from his perch.
Or rather, considering the way he’s sitting there, his throne. Kayde lounges like the lifeguard chair was made for him, and carted in just for his exclusive use. He nods along behind his big, reflective aviators as Darcy talks, mouth pulling in a wide grin that flashes white, pearly teeth. I can’t help the soft sigh that leaves my nose, though I do glance back at the kids from our combined cabins splashing in the water.
“If you kill her, Melody, then you won’t get to sing in the talent show next week,” I call lazily, as one of my favorite problems shoves another girl’s head under the water. She makes a face at me but lets her up, earning a sarcastic thumbs up from me.
A loud, braying laugh comes from the lifeguard chair, and my head whips around so I can stare at Darcy. She’s trying a little too hard and giggling a little too loudly for any of us to believe she really finds whatever Kayde has said funny.
“I hate it here,” I mumble under my breath, and Kins snorts.
“Never thought I’d see you jealous of a man Darcy’s trying to hook her claws into.” Kinsley sips at her water, and gives a quick whistle to attract the attention of one of her own campers that’s probably gearing up for a murder spree. “How sad.”
“Whoa, whoa!” I whirl around on her, dropping my legs to the ground under the bench. “Aren’t you the one who started up with this summer love shit?”
She nods, sipping more water, and acts just as unfazed as if I’d told her the weather forecast for the week. Which, unexpectedly, includes a nasty storm in a couple of days that I’m sure is going to bring out the worst in these kids. At least for the next morning, since I’m sure most of them will be too afraid of the storm to do much in the dark. “Yeah,” Kinsley agrees, still casual. “Summer love for me to make Liza fall in love with me. You’re the one who said you didn’t want a conquest. You’re the one who likes to remind me how not-your-type Kayde is.” She leans over enough that when she nods her chin, I can see her eyes over her sunglasses. “You want to tell me that there’s been a change in the lineup? A new development?”
Instead of answering right away, I turn to look at the lifeguard throne again. Darcy is still there, though her smile has wilted somewhat. Is she not getting the progress she’d expected? Maybe Kayde doesn’t love the way she’s stretched out her camp counselor t-shirt to show off as much of her chest as she can, though who am I to say? My eyes flick up to Kayde, and while I can’t see what he’s looking at, I can see the direction his face is tilted in.
It’s as if he’s looking at me. Or trying to listen to what Kinsley and I are saying, though I know for a fact there’s no way he can hear us. My lips twitch as I look away, shaking my head. “No changes. He’s gorgeous.” Anyone with even a little bit of eyesight can see that much. Today his golden-brown hair is up in a bun, though loose strands frame his high cheekboned face like an aura that calls for a chorus of angels.
It’s a shame I can’t blame my attraction to his features on marijuana today.
“He’s still gorgeous. But he’s just so…nice.” My nose wrinkles like I’m using the word as an insult. And maybe right now I am. “I can’t do nice. What if I said something stupid, and he cried or got really hurt by it?” I’m great at saying stupid shit. But Kinsley is great at ignoring it, or laughing it off like it doesn’t matter.
“Poor thing.” Kinsley leans back on the bench. “Well, in better news, Liza and I are going on a camp date. Which isn’t a real date, obviously.”
“Much like summer love isn’t necessarily real love?” I point out, trying to be a little less than helpful. It works enough that Kinsley tips her sunglasses down to glare at me balefully.
“Sorry he’s not your type, but I can assure you that over this session and the next one, I’m going to convince Liza to be my girlfriend.”
“I look forward to cheering you on.”
“And I look forward to these little chats, and getting to see you wince over Darcy’s interest in the guy who you definitely, really, aren’t interested in.” Her scathing grin brings a smile to my lips. Kinsley may be mean enough for the both of us when she wants to be, but I love everything about her and every second of our conversations.
“Mm-hmm.” Her gaze goes over my shoulder, and she flashes a smile at Darcy when the counselor strolls past us with irritation on her face. “Oh hey, look. The line’s empty.” She gestures at Kayde, and I glance over at the lifeguard chair in confusion, only to see that this time, he’s definitely looking at us.
Or at Darcy’s retreating figure.
“The line?” I repeat, brows jerking up in disbelief. “There’s not a?—”
“Yeah, there so has been. So come on, Summer. This is your chance to go shoot your shot. Maybe Lassie isn’t as kid friendly as he appears.” She wiggles her brows suggestively, and I wonder if she even knows what she’s implying.
I certainly don’t. But I snort anyway, and drape my arms back over the bench to turn and look at the campers we’re supposed to be keeping from drowning. “I spent enough time with him yesterday. Pretty sure I know exactly how nice he is, okay Kinsley?” But even through my words, I know for a fact I’ll still be staring at him any time he might not notice. Not just because he’s easily the most gorgeous man who’s ever landed in my eyesight.
But because I’m nosy as hell, and I want to see that at-odds expression on his face from yesterday, just one more time, to see if I can figure out what makes him do that.
My teeth rake along my bottom lip as I stare out over Otter Hall, where all the kids are gathered to finish dinner. After this is campfire time, then bed, and I’m more than a little excited to go to my room and pass out. My hair is damp from the shower I’d taken after my dunk in the pool with my cabin, and I’m happy that I no longer smell like strong chlorine as I had all afternoon.
Part of me is disappointed that this is the second to last summer camp session of the year. I don’t hate my summer job. Far from it, actually. The kids can be a problem when they think they can get away with it, but the counselors are mostly my friends, and I love the outdoors.
Being here is the most time I get to spend outside, and the closest I normally get to actually camping. Mom has never been a big fan of it, and she certainly wasn’t the type to send me off to summer camp as a kid.
But saying I’m living out my childhood camping dreams at twenty-three sounds weird at best. At worst, I should book with extra therapy sessions when I’m done with camp this year.
