Camp Forget-Me-Not (29 page)

“I didn’t know what to say.” He let go of my hand and scrubbed his fingers through his hair. “I felt so stupid for being a jerk to my brother, and it made me think about how I’ve been…pushing away people who care about me all summer, like you and Zach. I never wanted to be like my dad, you know? Being hypercompetitive and getting down on people if they don’t do well. But at that game, I acted just like him.”

“So you left because you were embarrassed about that?” I still didn’t understand.

“No, I left to fix it.” He leaned a shoulder against the outside wall of the walk-in fridge, his backpack at his feet. “I couldn’t face you again when I was feeling sorry for myself and like I’d messed up. So I stopped in Charlotte to see my brother and I apologized.”

“Really?” I remembered how much we used to trash Zach when we were younger and didn’t understand how much their dad fostered the competitiveness between the brothers.

“Yeah.” Nick smiled. “He was totally cool. In fact, I convinced him to take a few days off and go up to Whistler with me.”

“Whistler?” I was a New York girl, but I remembered a long-ago conversation with him about the mountain. “As in Alaska?”

“I needed to shoot some of the live-action footage to put in the commercial for Backcountry Gear. Remember how we did mostly still shots at camp?”

I nodded, hardly believing he’d gone to Alaska while I’d been finishing CIT training here. But that was his life. He was used to flying all over the country.

“I thought you were tired of the travel and the hectic schedule? Didn’t you come to camp for a break?”

“Kind of. But after you told me about pushing me into training and all my whining about it, I woke up feeling like a stupid, entitled baby. I mean, I wanted to know if it was really as bad as I made it sound that night or if I was just feeling down on myself.”

“And?” Was he giving up snowboarding for good?

Even in the dark, I could see something flicker in his eyes. A spark of interest. The same glimmer I’d seen three years ago when he talked about the sport.

“I freaking love snowboarding.” He grinned in a way I hadn’t seen in a while. “I mean, it’s tough as hell when you’re training seriously, but when you’re doing it just for fun, it still ramps me up. I could spend all day on a mountain.”

A tightness in my chest eased. I felt like I could breathe again. “So it wasn’t such a bad thing that you took up snowboarding?”

“I owe you a huge debt that I get to do something I love every day.” He shifted closer to me in the darkened kitchen. “The only thing that would make me happier is if I could be with you, too.”

My heart pumped harder, both from the words and from his nearness. But how many times had we gotten close this summer only to have things end in hurt? My eyes locked on his, searching for answers.

“I’m not the same girl you used to know.” It had taken me a long time to see past the old Nick to appreciate the guy that he was now. Would he be able to see the new me?

“I’ve noticed.”

“Have you? Because I’m not just blindly following anyone these days. Not my friends. Not cute snowboarders.” I folded my arms to keep myself from touching him. These weren’t the words that I’d practiced in my head, but if he wanted to be with me— and I still couldn’t believe it—then it was important he understood.

“Brooke texted me to tell me how much you helped her on her video shoot.” He lifted a hand to toy with a strand of hair that fell along my cheek, the whisper-soft touch making me shiver.

“Brooke White?” I couldn’t decide if I felt jealous or just surprised. “Does she text you often?”

I had to ask.

“Never.” He smiled again, winding the ends of my hair around one finger. “But she posted a picture of her with Nia this afternoon when you did Nia’s hair. I think she wanted me to know she’d made up with her friend because I’d given Brooke hell about not going to see her when Nia sprained her arm that night.” He shrugged. “I was shocked to hear from her, but I think she was trying to fix things after terrorizing the whole camp this summer.”

“You know she’s Gollum’s niece?”

“Seriously?” Nick laughed. “Can’t you see her running the camp in twenty years?”

“The campers will be singing ‘So Not Into You’ instead of B-I-N-G-O around the bonfires.” I moved closer to him, feeling like I had my friend back and much, much more. The shared jokes warmed my insides. His touch warmed…everything else.

“Kayla.” His voice tripped over my senses and sent a shiver over my skin. “I’m so proud of you for all you’ve done this summer.”

“For saving Brooke’s makeup job? Or being a great prop in your commercial?” I was still joking. Mostly.

“For sharing your talents and letting your warm heart shine on everyone else. You’re really special.” He let go of my hair and traced the wing of the butterfly on my shoulder. “I knew how great you were all along. Now everyone else sees it, too.”

“I don’t want to be in the background anymore.” I knew he understood that. I guess I just wanted to say it. “I’m going to Milan with my mother this fall. It’s a big risk, and I’ll be alone a lot. But I’m going to push myself.” I still got so nervous when I thought about it. “I want to learn more about the fashion world anyway. I think… that is, I
know
I’ve got an eye for it.”

“I’m really happy for you, Kay. I actually spend a lot of time in the Alps, so if you wanted, I could come down and see you sometimes.”

“Really?” A flicker of hope grew inside me. A hope I hadn’t dared to think about in a long time. “As in…you could come to Milan?”

“I travel a lot. I’m pretty great at it, in fact. I can ask where the bathroom is in six languages.”

I laughed. “That sounds useful.”

His expression went serious again. “So what do you think? About you and me? I don’t think I can settle for being just friends again. It was great in the past, but I’ve always wanted more. At least, as soon as we were old enough, I’ve wanted—”

I kissed him.

Not with a lot of skill or anything, since I’d never took the lead on kissing a boy in my life, but my lips landed right where I wanted them. It was the start of a new era in my life and in our relationship.

When I leaned back, I had to smile at the heat in his eyes.

“I’ve wanted that, too,” I explained. “For just as long as you have. I was waiting for you to come back to camp, but I’m not waiting anymore.”

“Wow.” He unfastened the butterfly from the strap of my tank top and set it on a rack of metal shelving near the flour sacks. “I don’t want to crush this.”

My heart went wild. “No?”

“Definitely not.” He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me in, his lips covering mine.

I closed my eyes and lost myself in the feel of him all around me, his strong arms holding me tight, his chest pressed to mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held on for dear life. This was one time I didn’t mind letting him take the lead. Not even one little bit.

“Kayla.” He said it softly against my mouth when we were both breathless. “We should go back. I don’t want you to miss your last night at camp.”

“I’m dying to kiss you more.” I ran my fingers through his hair, unable to get enough of him after the years of missing him. “These last few days were awful.”

“I’m going to have you all to myself soon,” he promised. “I’m going to be here for you as long as you want me to be.”

His words gave me the courage to untangle myself from him.

“I know when you make a promise, you keep it.” I kissed his shoulder through his T-shirt since another kiss on the lips might be my undoing. My fingers trembled a little as I reached for my butterfly and pinned it back where Brittany had put it. “I’ve always trusted that.”

He kissed the top of my head and squeezed my hand as he slung his backpack over one shoulder.

“You ready for your walk down Memory Lane?” He guided me toward the door into the mess hall.

“Almost.” I reached behind the industrial mixer and retrieved the note I’d written him earlier. “But you ought to take this before we go.”

There wasn’t much for him to read since I’d spent most of my time decorating the postcard with hearts and flowers like a first-class romantic goof. But I meant every one of the words I’d written.

I opened the door as soon as I handed it to him, not ready to talk about what it meant right now.

In front of us, our friends had gathered near the Warriors’ display—a retrospective of volleyball matches they’d won, complete with a small net for mini-games. Piper and Hannah were spiking the ball to Cam and Julian. Brittany and Rachel chased each other with Nerf guns. Brooke and Nia were making up a new dance with some help from the Mermaid girls.

It was fun chaos and so noisy I couldn’t hear myself think. And I couldn’t imagine a nicer way to end my last year at Camp Juniper Point until Nick slung his arm around me.

“Love you back,” he whispered for my ears only.

I’d never been so happy. We joined our friends, grabbing some cans of silly string from one of the Pirates. Things were about to get out of hand at the End of Summer Bash.

Totally. Freaking. Perfect.

Acknowledgements

From Joanne

To Dean, for encouraging me to follow my Muse, no matter what path she ventures down. To my sons for making the journey a pleasure: Taylor for always caring enough to ask about my work (and patiently listening while I talk about it), Camden for texting me encouraging words on days that I think I can’t write anymore, and Maxim for lifting my spirits by suggesting story ideas so offbeat that I laugh long afterward. I am so proud of you boys, you can’t begin to imagine. Thank you to the savvy book sellers who make the Camp series a success by mentioning it to the customers who will love it most, especially Elizabeth Bluemle and Josie Leavitt of The Flying Pig Bookstore in Vermont, who hosted a fabulous launch for us. We are so grateful. To Barbara Vey of Beyond Her Book, for her support since the first time I met her, and to my agent, Barbara Collins Rosenberg, who is a much-needed voice of wisdom and encouragement. Thank you also to Amy Guglielmo, who invested so much time and her considerable fabulousness toward helping Karen and I launch this series with flair. Finally, thank you to the community online who have cheered us on since before our first book came out. We have tried to keep up with the bloggers on our “Rock Star Bloggers Hall of Fame” Pinterest board, but we know we’ve missed some of the awesomely supportive reviewers, bloggers, readers and fans who share their love of Camp Juniper Point. Your posts, emails and tweets have made our time at camp so special.

From Karen

Thank you to my loving husband, Greg. There is no greater gift than knowing that I get to spend the rest of my life with you. I’m also am so grateful to my amazing daughter, Danielle, who never stops pushing me to be the best that I can be and reminds me to never stop chasing my dreams. I love you both so much. Thank you as well to my wonderful in-laws, my father, and sisters, Jeanne and Cathy, for being such a caring family to me. A hug and huge shout out to to my wonderful and supportive writer and blogger friends like Amy Guglielmo, Lucy Cooney, Jacqueline Tourville, Kayleigh-Marie Gore, Gaby Navarro, Dale S. Rogers, Jen Cooke Fischer, Brooke Watts DelVecchio, Lola Verroen, Marci Curtis, Cindy Ray Hale, Rachel Harris, Trisha Leaver, Lindsay Currie, my wonderful editor Patricia Riley and the rest of my writer family at Spencer Hill, and our amazing street team, The Rock Stars, whose talent, support and positivity have been a great source of inspiration and encouragement!

About the Authors

J.K. Rock
is the pseudonym for writing partners—and sisters-in-law—Joanne and Karen Rock. Sharing a love of young adult fiction, marathon shopping and men with the last name “Rock,” the two teamed up to write
Camp Boyfriend
and found they had a whole lot more to say than what could fit in one book. Look for them in matching t-shirts at book signing events around the country or chatting with their Facebook street team, the Rock Stars. FMI, visit jkrock.net.

In a quest to provide her eighth grade students with quality reading material, former English teacher
Karen Rock
read everything out there and couldn’t wait to add her voice to the genre. In addition to co-authoring young adult books, Karen is a Harlequin Heartwarming author. Her second novel,
His Hometown Girl
, is an April 2014 release, with more to come in the months ahead. When she’s not busy writing, Karen enjoys watching
Supernatural
marathons, cooking her Nona’s family Italian recipes, and occasionally rescuing local wildlife from neighborhood cats. She lives in the Adirondack Mountain region with her husband, her very appreciated beta-reader daughter and two King Charles Cavalier spaniels who have yet to understand the concept of “fetch,” though they’ve managed to teach her the trick! Hmmmm…wonder how that happened?! Check out her website at
www.karenrock.com
, her Facebook page at
www.facebook.com/karenrockwrites
, and follow her on twitter @KarenRock5. She’d love to meet you!

Joanne Rock
fell in love with reading at a young age and stayed out of trouble—mostly—as a teen thanks to long stints at her local library where she routinely checked out as many books as a bicycle basket would carry. She still pronounces all the names of the Greek gods incorrectly because she learned them through reading- a small price to pay for the vast amount of knowledge she gained from books! She started writing when the voices in her head kept her awake at night, demanding she tell their stories. A successful romance author, she’s penned many books for a variety of Harlequin series and has been nominated for the prestigious RITA award three times. Learn more about her work at joannerock.com or follow her on Twitter @JoanneRock6.