Chapter 19 #2
Valeria walks right up to Camila, standing so close that she can smell the slight peppermint scent of her toothpaste.
“Good morning.” Valeria smiles, thankful when Camila doesn’t step back.
“Good morning. How’d you sleep?” she asks, taking a sip of her coffee.
“Terrible, everything woke me up. You?” Valeria asks, though she knows Camila slept like the dead.
“Honestly, I slept great. I don’t think I woke up once.”
“Lucky,” Valeria says dryly.
“Maybe next time we go camping, I’ll bring you a sound machine so you can’t focus on the noise outside.”
Valeria nods, a spark lighting her face as she pops up on her toes with a little bounce, excitement creeping in as she thinks about doing this again with her.
Everyone moves to grab a plate and help themselves to breakfast, which consists of pre-cut fruit, oatmeal packets, and coffee.
They eat in quiet, no one caffeinated enough to bother starting a conversation. When Valeria drains her first cup, she finally breaks the silence.
“What are we doing today?”
“We were thinking we could go paddleboarding in a bit and then, I don’t know, play some games?” Clara replies.
“I knew I was forgetting something.” Camila rubs her temple.
Valeria’s heart does a quick, happy little spiral. “We can use mine, I think we’d both fit,” Valeria offers quickly.
“Are you sure? I don’t mind staying back. I brought my e-reader and a couple of books. I can catch up on some reading.”
“No, come with us; it’ll be fun. I have a waterproof backpack so we can throw one of your books in there and you can read on the water.” She pauses, then lets out a softer, quieter laugh. “Man, now I wish I’d brought a book.” The image alone seems so relaxing.
“You can borrow one of mine. I brought more than I could finish in three days.”
Valeria nods, biting her lip in approval. “Perfect.”
Thirty minutes later, they all retire to their tents to change. As Valeria exits hers, Camila steps out of her tent in board shorts and a loose T-shirt, hair still a little messy, tattoos fully on display.
Valeria had seen them peek from under Camila’s long sleeves in her house, and she’d obsessed over wanting to know what they were.
Yesterday, when she finally got a glimpse, Camila covered them by throwing on a button-up, but now, she can see them all, and she forgets all about subtlety.
She just . . . stares. Tracing the line of ink, the way the tattoos move when Camila stretches.
The sleeve is a patchwork of American traditional work, bold lines, and slightly muted colors.
There’s a big piece on her shoulder of a cowgirl with clown makeup, a sad expression on her face.
Followed by a bunch of other small ones in the same style: a dagger, a snail, a skull.
Her arm is completely covered in all sorts of flowers, animals, and women.
Valeria wishes she could sit her down and ask her about every one, memorizing the order, starting with the one on her fingers.
Alejandra clears her throat. “You are staring.”
Valeria shakes her head and shifts her weight, forcing herself to look away. It only lasts for half a second, though, then she immediately looks back. Unable to keep herself in check. It’s unfair, honestly. Rude of the universe to make Camila so attractive.
Camila walks up to her. “Ready?”
Valeria short-circuits, and her brain forgets how to do words—or blinking—forced to simply nod.
They all walk toward their cars to fish out the paddleboard backpacks.
Valeria tries not to think too much about how close she’s walking to Camila.
Has it always been this way? Or did telling the girls she was into her make it okay to let that closeness happen, just a little?
Valeria cuts off that train of thought. If she thinks about it too much, she’s going to spiral, but then, she catches herself watching Camila’s hand as it swings while they walk, more into it than would probably be considered normal.
There’s this faint memory of how soft it’s felt in Valeria’s hand anytime Camila has reached for her, and she aches for that touch now.
“Val,” Clara says a little louder than she usually would.
Valeria snaps out of it, her eyes widening when she realizes they’ve all stopped moving, and they’ve all caught her fixated on Camila’s hand. Heat moves up her neck. She turns her head pointedly, fixing her attention anywhere but Camila.
“Yes?” Valeria says, doing her best to feign casualness.
Alejandra and Lily try—and fail—not to laugh, both shaking their heads.
“Did you bring the paddle cooler?” Clara asks.
Valeria nods. “Yeah, it should be in my bag.”
“Perfect, we can fit a few cans and waters in yours and some in mine, so we don’t have to paddle back.”
Valeria nods again, grateful for normalcy. “Perfect.”
Once they have their bags, they fall into step together, heading toward the lake’s edge.
Valeria drifts to the back without meaning to, and Camila ends up there, too.
“Are you okay?” Camila asks in a slightly worried tone.
“Yeah, why?”
“You seem distracted.”
“It’s the lack of sleep,” Valeria says, which isn’t entirely a lie; she’s sure she would be handling this all with a lot more grace had she gotten her preffered nine hours of sleep.
Valeria readjusts the massive backpack on her shoulders, shifting the straps so they don’t dig in as much.
“Do you need help with that? It looks like it’s seconds from crushing you,” Camila says, amused.
Valeria shakes her head. “Looks heavier than it is.”
Camila hums, clearly unconvinced. Her eyes linger on the straps as if she’s considering stepping in anyway, but doesn’t.
“If you change your mind, I’m here,” she says instead.
Valeria smiles. “Thanks.”
They keep walking, shoulders almost brushing now, and the weight on her heart disappears as Valeria is too consumed by their closeness to think of anything else.
When they reach the shore, Lily and Isabella drag their paddleboards to a patch of dull rocks where they can sit and pump. Valeria sets her bag down near them.
“Ouch,” Camila says almost as soon as Valeria stands.
She doesn’t need to ask Camila what she’s talking about. She feels the slight sting on her shoulders where the backpack used to be.
Valeria reaches for her shoulder and smoothes over the indents.
“Can I?” Camila asks.
Valeria nods before she fully processes it.
Camila lifts her hand slowly, almost hesitantly, and brushes her thumb lightly over Valeria’s skin. The touch is gentle, but Valeria feels it everywhere, and her breath falters. Want pools in her chest, her back, in the space between, and sends an unexpected thrill down her spine.
After a few seconds, Camila pulls her hand back, and Valeria wishes she could reach out, make the moment stretch a little longer. Instead, Valeria fiddles with her thumb ring, keeping her hands busy, trying not to show how much she misses Camila’s touch. “Thank you,” she says, turning toward her.
Camila’s mouth twitches into a small, nervous smile as she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, then immediately does it again, almost like she forgot she’d already done it.
“No problem.”
Valeria needs a distraction, so she immediately drops to her knees, pulling everything out of her backpack and grabbing the pump. Once everything is set up, she works the pump, each push sending out a wheezy gasp of air.
Everyone’s complaints rise with each stroke, drifting over them in dramatic waves about how they really should have bought an electric pump by now.
“Need help?” Camila asks, nodding at the paddleboard sprawled lifelessly on the sand.
Valeria nods and drops beside her, trying to catch her breath.
She gives the pump a few determined plunges. The hose twitches, and the board stirs. She keeps a steady rhythm, each pump sending a faint puff of warm lake air into Valeria’s face.
Sweat beads at Camila’s temples and slips in a slow trail down her neck. Valeria swallows, averting her eyes, not daring to keep following the drop any further south.
It’s an extremely hot day in August, and the heat hangs over everything like a heavy, invisible quilt. Valeria can feel that the ground is hot even through her shoes.
Alejandra starts on her and Clara’s paddleboard, but after a few pumps, she tosses the pump to the side.
“I need to get in the water before I melt,” Alejandra announces as she turns, marching straight toward the shoreline, not bothering to check if anyone else is coming along. Clara doesn’t hesitate. One heartbeat, two, and she’s up with a grin, sprinting after her.
Clara catches her from behind, arms hooking around Alejandra’s waist, lifting her clean off the ground.
Alejandra yelps, kicking in the air, but Clara’s already charging into the shallows.
They topple forward together right at the sweet spot where the lake deepens, bodies hitting the water with a splash big enough to echo.
They all laugh and shake their heads before going back to pumping the paddleboards. Lily and Isabella finish first, hoisting their newly inflated board under their arms and wobbling off toward the water.
Then it’s just Valeria, Camila, and the pump. They trade it back and forth until the board grows firm enough for Valeria to press a palm into it and nod in satisfaction.
Camila leans back on a tree. “I wish I’d remembered my paddleboard. I have an electric pump.”
“Rude,” Valeria says, giving her a mock glare before it turns into a bright smile.
Camila laughs before brushing a strand of hair from her forehead, the sun glinting off the tiny beads of sweat that have gathered there. “Ready?” she asks, hand slipping under one end of the board.
“Ready,” Valeria says, grabbing the other.
The board wobbles between them as they lift it, warm from the sun and surprisingly heavy for something full of air.
The first touch of water slides over Valeria’s ankles, and it’s relief made physical. The board slips from their hands and lands with a gentle thud, bobbing once before settling.