Three
Kaleb
Week One
Cars begin arriving at seven on the dot the next morning, and Avery is nowhere to be found. Which checks out, honestly. I know there’s no way he’s taking this seriously, and that’s exactly the reason I asked why he was here. Because, while this might be all fun and games to him, working here is something I take very seriously.
And as much as I enjoy being right, it also pisses me off to no end.
Half of the campers in our age group have arrived, unloaded, and checked in by the time Avery comes skidding to a stop beside me.
Not bothering to glance up from the clipboard in my hands, I mutter, “You’re late.”
“Only by fifteen minutes,” he says in a huff.
Four words out of his arrogant mouth already have my irritation spiking, but I do my best to remain composed. “Fifteen minutes, one minute, or an hour. The amount of time you’re late by doesn’t change the fact that you’re still late.”
A sharp scoff comes from him. “You’re really getting off on this shit, y’know that? You have some sort of superiority complex I don’t know about?”
I finally lift my gaze to find his blue eyes aimed at me in a glare. “If being on time and responsible is a superiority complex, then yeah, I guess I do.”
He blinks, frustration written all over his face.
Well, he can join the club. Because I’m sure as hell annoyed to no end by his inability to be on time for the kids’ arrivals. Or his presence here in general.
I’m about to tell him this too, when out of nowhere, his fingers wrap around my wrist, causing a small zing of electricity to shoot straight through my chest. And that’s the best way to describe it. Electric. Not the same white-hot heat that ripples through my extremities when I get angry, nor the jolt of adrenaline when fear kicks in. It’s a sensation I’ve never really felt before, apart from yesterday in his cabin, and I don’t really know what to do with it.
Avery uses his grip to haul me toward the side of the lodge, and it snaps me out of the momentary stupor I fell into at his touch.
“Reynolds, I’m a little busy—”
He stops us dead in our tracks, turning on me and cutting me off before I have the chance to finish my thought. “This isn’t going to work.”
I yank my arm free from his hold and snarl, “You pulling me away from what I was doing? Yeah, it sure as hell isn’t.”
“I meant this” —he motions between our chests— “isn’t going to work. This bickering and snarkiness. If it keeps up, one of us is bound to snap. From the way things have gone the past twenty-four hours, it might even get nuclear. And that can’t happen in front of all these kids.”
He happens to be right. Unfortunately .
And him being right only pisses me off more. Still, I keep my temper reined in as best I can. The last thing we need right now is me losing my shit on him.
“For once, I’ll agree with you. So let’s make it easy on both of us.” My eyes narrow on those sky blues. “Tell Colin you’re no longer interested in working here. I’m sure there were plenty of applicants for the position who would gladly take your place, even this last minute. If not, we have counselors-in-training who can help me. Then all our problems are solved.”
A frown creases his forehead. “What? No. I’m not going anywhere.”
I shouldn’t be surprised by his unwillingness to listen. I’ve known him long enough to understand he’s stubborn as a mule and not one to back down from any sort of confrontation.
Taking the time to look at him—I mean really fucking look at the guy—I do my best to figure out, once again, what the hell his game is here. Because none of it makes any sense to me.
This isn’t a place he’d be caught dead of his own volition. He knows it, I know it, and most importantly, it’s written all over him. In the way his hair and clothes are a disheveled mess, like he just threw himself together after rolling out of bed. In the whites of his eyes, bloodshot to hell, no doubt from lack of sleep.
Which brings me to ask him the same damn question as yesterday.
“Why?”
“Because I need to be here.” His tone is insistent, but not as much as the look in those bloodshot eyes. “I just do, okay? So would you just accept it so we can move on and try to get along?”
My mind catches on one, single word.
Need.
Jonesing it outdoors wouldn’t be Avery’s scene unless it was on some rooftop bar for brunch with his richie-rich friends back in Vancouver. Not roughing it in the wilderness, even if we do have running water.
He’s here out of some sort of necessity, and it’s backed him into a corner.
Which is why, rather than fighting with him more—possibly bringing out the raging bull living deep inside him—I let it slide. I’ll just wait for him to crack instead. Which he will, eventually.
“Look, I don’t know how you got this job or why you think you need it in the first place. I don’t really care either,” I tell him, my tone low and serious. “But this camp is my safe space. My haven away from real life. I want to be here, and I’ll be damned to hell before I let you ruin it for me or for any of these kids who feel the same way.”
His voice is earnest as he utters, “I won’t. I swear.”
A promise from him means next to nothing, but I don’t really have another option than to take it right now.
“Fine.” I slip a sheet of paper out from the clipboard and hand it to him while trying to keep the irritation from showing in my tone. “These are the bunking assignments for the kids. per cabin. They’re all unlocked already, no thanks to you, so you’ll just need to take the kids to get settled in as they arrive. The CITs can help you. I’ll take care of checking them in and all the goodbyes.”
I don’t bother waiting for a response, instead turning on my heel to head back to the safety of the parking lot.
It’s five to eight by the time my father’s truck rolls into the camp’s parking lot.
He’s barely thrown the vehicle into park when my twin brothers bolt out the back doors, making a beeline straight past me to their friend, Liam, who’s waiting for Avery to come back and take him to his cabin.
Colton practically tackles Liam, Dayton not far behind. The three of them instantly start chattering animatedly at each other, surely filling in the blanks they’ve missed in each other’s lives since they saw each other skiing at Mount Bachelor this past winter.
“Nice to see you too, guys!” I shout to the twins, holding my arms out to the side. “What am I? Chopped liver?”
Dayton’s nose wrinkles in disgust at the same time Colton yells back, “We saw you yesterday!”
“Doesn’t mean you can’t at least say hi,” I mutter to myself as I check the two of them off the list and head over to Dad’s truck to grab their bags.
“Your mom barely got a goodbye out of them this morning,” Dad says by way of greeting as he pulls their duffels from the bed of the truck. “They’re just excited. I wouldn’t take it personally.”
He hands me Cole’s bag, and I roll my eyes before hauling it over my shoulder. “Eight weeks without their parents. Of course they’re excited.”
“Especially when they think their big brother will let them get away with everything.”
A snort mixed with a laugh leaves me. “They won’t be getting away with a damn thing if I have anything to say about it.”
His deep, warm chuckle floats over me like warm honey, and a tiny twinge of homesickness courses through me. I don’t see my parents nearly enough since heading to college in Portland, leaving them back in Bend, and it’s not until I’m in their presence again that I realize how much I miss them.
“I’m certain they’ll be testing you on that.” His expression sobers slightly as we approach the edge of the parking lot where the twins are. “I know you don’t have a lot of time, but how’re you doing? I’m sure not a lot has changed in the past twenty-four hours, but…”
My eyes search Dad’s face momentarily, debating if I should tell him the truth or not. But needing to talk to someone about it wins out, and a long sigh leaves me.
“Avery’s here,” I tell him quietly.
“Avery?”
“From school. The one who was on my team who…” I give him a silent, imploring look. Begging him to understand what I’m saying without spelling it out where other parents, counselors, or kids could hear, even if they’re all too busy with their own conversations to eavesdrop.
I know of a few older kids who’ve been attending camp here regularly for years who are out and open about their sexual orientation. Not only to their families but publicly as well. They don’t need to find out about the shit one of their counselors pulled not even a month ago, outing someone in their own community.
My own community.
Thankfully, my father just nods in understanding before his gaze tracks Dayton and Colton instead. “If you don’t feel safe, you have the right to say something.”
I shake my head. “It’s not my safety I’m worried about. There’s no way he’s going to find out about me while we’re here.”
“Then what’s the issue?”
I explain my line of thinking with the queer campers, then add, “Plus, I don’t want his bigoted, biased bullshit to rub off on anyone. Look at Day and Cole; they just want to fit in with their friends and be cool. Kids their age are impressionable, and I’m concerned he might do or say something that’ll hurt one of them with some off-hand comment. Or worse, guide some of them down the path he followed.”
“Valid concerns.” He gives me a thoughtful look before asking, “So what are you gonna do about it?”
Another sigh leaves me as I scratch the back of my neck. “I don’t know yet. But if you’ve taught me anything, it’s that hatred and bias aren’t ingrained in us from birth. It’s a line of thinking that’s taught or learned. And it’s a chance the camp is taking by letting him be here.”
A grin appears on his face and he nods. “I stand by teaching you that, and again, I see your concerns. But I think you’re looking at this from the wrong perspective.”
I blink, frowning. “Meaning?”
“Maybe instead of worrying about what he might accidentally teach them, you can make this summer about what you know you can teach him .”
“You think I can reverse his bigotry?” I ask, dumbfounded.
Dad simply shrugs. “It might be harder than getting him fired, but I don’t think it would hurt to try.”
Yeah, except that would mean spending more time with the dick than I already have to. Something not very high on my to-do list.
Doubt must be written all over my face, because Dad lets out another low chuckle. “No need to look like I ruined your summer before it’s begun. I’m just offering some food for thought.”
“As if I needed more on my plate,” I mumble, my voice laced with sarcasm as I grab Dayton’s bag from him too. “But thanks.”
A smile tilts the corner of his lips and he claps me on the shoulder. “I’ll let you get back to it. But your mom and I are proud of you. And we’ll keep being proud of you no matter what you decide to do.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
I’m pulled in for a quick hug before he releases me and heads back toward his truck.
“Wait, aren’t you gonna say bye to the twins?” I call after him.
He waves me off, a grin on his face. “Not a chance, kid. They’re too preoccupied, and I’ve gotta get back home anyway. Make sure those two don’t kill each other.”
“I’ll do my best.”
Dad’s truck has barely disappeared from sight when I turn around to find Avery standing with Liam, Colton, and Dayton. His eyes are locked on the bunking assignments, probably searching for all their names, when Colton all but yanks the paper from his grasp.
“Cole!” I shout, immediately moving toward them, and by the time I’ve reached the group of them, he’s already put the paper back in Avery’s waiting hands.
“Sorry,” Cole says, and at least he has the decency to look a bit sheepish.
I arch a brow. “Not to me.”
His nose wrinkles a little before he looks up at Avery instead. “Sorry. I was rude.”
“It’s all good,” he tells Colton. He pauses for a second, glancing from Cole back to me with his brows furrowed slightly. “I take it you know them?”
“Only their entire lives,” I mutter, pointing at their names on the bunking assignments. “Dayton and Colton LaMothe. My brothers.”
His brows shoot up as he, once again, looks between the twins and me. Only this time, to try and place the resemblance.
There’s no mistaking the two of them; they’re identical. Down to the scraggly bodies, mops of light brown hair, and hazel eyes. But I don’t share many of their features. Which makes sense, seeing as their dad isn’t mine. At least, not biologically, though that doesn’t mean shit to me. He’s still the only dad I’ve ever known.
“I don’t see it,” Avery confirms after a minute.
“Usually how it goes,” Dayton confirms with a lilt of laughter. “We don’t like to claim him most of the time anyway.”
I roll my eyes, already regretting my request to be assigned to their group this year. “Hilarious, Day.”
My attention shifts to Avery again to find him already staring at me, and the instant our gazes collide, the buzzing feeling from earlier is back. Resurfaces with a roar, ripping through me and impossible to ignore.
Clearing my throat, I nod toward the twins. “All our kids are here, so I’ll take my brothers to their cabin if you’ll take Liam.”
He nods before breaking eye contact to glance at Liam. “Let’s get a move on, kid. Your friends are waiting.”
Liam’s giddy, excited energy radiates off him as he says bye to the twins before heading off with Avery for the cabins. The tingly electric feeling fades the farther the two of them walk away, disappearing entirely when they also disappear from sight.
When I finally allow my gaze to shift back to the twins, they’re both already watching me with curiosity.
“Who was that guy?” Colton asks, arms crossed over his chest like he’s some kind of badass, not my twerp of a brother I could snap like a twig with one hand.
“Yeah, he’s never been a counselor here before,” Day chimes in. “Do you know him?”
Cole’s brows furrow as he shifts his attention to Dayton, cocking his head. “Didn’t you feel that tension between them? Of course they know each other.” He looks at me again. “So who is he?”
Ah, yes. How I’ve missed this—classic Day and Cole. Always bouncing off each other, reading each other’s minds, and never letting another person get a word in edgewise.
“Are we playing Twenty Questions and I didn’t realize it?”
Dayton shrugs before grabbing his bag from me. “If we are, we’ve still got like seventeen to go. Technically eighteen, since Cole asked the same question twice.”
“Smartass,” I murmur before handing Colton his bag too. “Yes, I know him. That’s Avery. I played baseball with him at Foltyn.”
Dayton’s eyes widen and he smacks Colton in the chest. “Oh my God. That Avery?”
I let out a long sigh before nodding.
The nice thing about being out to my family is not only the freedom to be myself with all of them, but it also gives the chance for Mom, Dad, and me to teach the twins about the queer community. And it allows me to share things about my life—things like what happened this spring at Foltyn with Avery and Keene—so the twins can learn from them.
Teaching them to be loving and accepting toward those who are different from them. Not a couple little assholes who can’t handle some diversity or people being their most authentic selves.
Colton’s the first to ask the question we all want the answer to. “Why is he here?”
I roll my lips inward before answering honestly. “I don’t know. Haven’t managed to figure it out yet.”
Both their noses wrinkle up, speaking more about their feelings than words ever could. And if I had any worries about my brothers being influenced by Avery this summer, they’re completely gone with that single look.
But this is supposed to be the fun time of year, and I’m not about to let it start off with heavy shit. So I change the subject.
“C’mon, let’s get you to your cabin,” I say before ushering them deeper into the camp. “I’m sure you’re both excited. Seemed like it when you couldn’t even say hi earlier.”
They both nod, the same giddy energy they had when they first got here, back with a vengeance. But then Dayton lets out a little disgruntled noise before whining, “But why’d you have to pair us with Elijah for a bunkmate?”
“Dayton Matthew,” I hiss in warning, glancing around to make sure no one—especially Elijah—is around to overhear my dickhead little brother’s callow remark..
“Kaleb Jackson,” he retorts back, all attitude and sass.
Oh, the joys of fighting with a preteen. And lucky me, I get to spend the camp season doing it with not just the twins but eighteen others too. Then add in the one guy on the planet I’d rather never see again being my co-counselor, and this is bound to be one interesting summer.
What the hell have I gotten myself into?