Chapter 3
Nate
“Holy shit, I’m fucked.” I throw myself on Leo’s couch. “Lock your cabin door before Cunningham comes back and beats the shit out of me.”
“Nathaniel Davenport,” Mom snaps with a bite that would scare a wild animal.
I sit up, wide-eyed. “I’m sorry. I thought you left.”
She stomps her way over to me and grabs me by the ear, pulling me off the couch. “Ouch.”
“Yeah. Ouch, that’s what my poor head is saying from those filthy words coming out of you.” I rub my ear once she lets go. “And how could you think I’d leave without saying goodbye?”
She takes me in her arms and kisses my cheek before calling Leo over, and then pulls us both back into a hug.
“I’m going to miss you boys so much,” she mumbles through a crack in her voice.
“One second, you’re pulling Nate by the ear, and then the next, you’re cuddling us, crying,” Leo teases, and she pretends to smack him upside the head.
“Don’t tease me, León. Soon enough, the two of you will be leaving me for the West Coast. At least your brothers’ colleges were within driving distance, and your sister’s school is in the same city.
I can’t stand the thought of you two being so far away.
” She lets the tears fall freely. “Couldn’t you have skipped camp this year to stay home with me? ”
“Rosa, honey.” Dad wraps his arms around her, pulling her into his chest. “Parents’ weekend is in three weeks, and they’ll be home most of August. Don’t forget we just built a new hotel thirty minutes from USC. We’ll visit whenever you want, you know that.”
“Once they’re gone, that’s it. All my babies are out of the house for good.”
He rubs her hair, soothing her. Their affection toward each other is normal, but how upset she is is not.
Mom is a rock, built like no other woman I know.
“Seb and Harrison graduated and are back living in the city,” I remind her.
They may live downtown now, but I can bet on everything in the world that they will be at the Morales household every second they can.
“You’ll probably get sick of them in no time, and you’ll be thanking everyone that we’re out of your hair. ”
“You’re right. You’re all a pain in my behind most of the time anyway.” She smirks and doesn’t break eye contact.
“What’s with that look?”
“Did you meet Mason’s sister?” she asks, her eyes twinkling with curiosity.
“Yes. Why?”
Her smile deepens, if possible. “Did you think she was pretty?”
I look at her deadpan. Maddie Grace looks like an angel on earth, and she knows it based on her expression alone. “Where are you going with this?”
“A mother can dream for one of my boys to date a nice young lady like that, with manners and a good head on her shoulders.”
“What the hell?” Leo cuts in. “Why didn’t you ask me?”
Rosa waves him off. “She wasn’t interested in you.”
Leo bulges his eyes, then looks himself up and down, smirking. “Have you seen me?”
“You’re unbelievable.” I shake my head alongside Dad as Mom laughs, used to Leo’s antics.
Luckily, Dad speeds along the goodbye, so we drop the subject of Maddie Grace, our best friend’s sister, and get another long hug.
“Love you, both.” She kisses us again for the tenth time as if we’re going off to war. “See you in three weeks.”
“Love you,” Leo and I respond, and then the second they’re gone, Leo questions me about Maddie Grace.
“You made a face.”
I drop my ass back on the couch and put my head in my hands, shaking it back and forth. “I had only said three words to her that weren’t a stuttering mess.”
“Oh, please.”
“Aliens must have taken over my body. Otherwise, how does anyone explain this? I couldn’t take my eyes off her, and Mason definitely saw.”
“Wait, you’re being dead-ass?”
I throw my head back out of frustration. “Yes! Why do you think I’m freaking out? Mason is going to bury me alive.”
Leo bursts out laughing uncontrollably. “Who are you, and what have you done with my brother?”
“I don’t know,” I yell. “I was a goner the second her eyes met mine. I need to see her again.”
“This is like a story out of one of Camila’s Cosmo magazines, but seriously, Nate. Mason will break you into one million pieces.”
As if we summoned him, the cabin door flies open, and an irate Mason barges in. “You so much as look at my sister again, Davenport, I will fucking kill you.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I play dumb.
He pushes me back down on the couch, looming over me. “Don’t fuck with me. I saw what I saw, and I also saw my sister all fucking giddy after you left.”
My ears perk up. “She was?”
The second the words are out of my mouth, I know they’re a mistake.
Mason’s hands wrap around my throat, and I’m almost positive I’ll die of suffocation right there and then until Leo steps in and pries his hands off of me.
I cough, trying to catch my breath, knowing I deserve whatever he serves.
I was eye fucking his little sister right in front of him.
Mason takes a deep breath. “You’re lucky I have orientation in the athletic department. Otherwise, you’d be a dead man. It’s your one pass.” He points at me. “I’m not kidding. Stay away.”
He leaves. I don’t agree.
I can’t.
No matter what anyone tells me, I already know I can’t be stopped. I’m getting to know Maddie Grace whether he likes it or not.
Someone knocks on Leo’s cabin door, and I groan, throwing a pillow over my face. Of course, just when I was having the best nap of my life.
Leo answers, his voice soft. “Sorry, your brother hasn’t been back since earlier. Did you need anything?”
“I thought he might show me around. But that’s okay. I can wander on my own with the map.” The sound of a soft Southern drawl filters through the room.
My body snaps up to attention—that voice.
“I can take you,” I blurt out without thinking.
Leo turns, shooting me a murderous look. “No, you’re busy.”
I ignore him, running a hand through my bedhead and straightening my shirt before shoving a piece of gum in my mouth.
Leo grips the door tight, but I pry it open anyway, stepping in front of him.
“Hi.” I flash a smile.
Maddie Grace’s eyes widen in surprise while stumbling over her words. “O-oh. Hi.”
Through the thin white tank she’s changed into, I can see that her breath picks up, rising and falling, matching my wildly beating heart.
“I’ll show you around,” I say, forcing a casual shrug, trying not to look as eager as I feel.
“No, no, that’s okay. You don’t have to do that. I can wait for Mase to get back.” She fidgets with her hands, which are clasped in front of her.
She’s so damn cute, I can’t stand it.
“Maddie Grace, it would seriously be my pleasure. I mean, unless…” I pause, realizing I could be coming on too strong. “You don’t want me to.”
Say you want me to…
She bites her lip, eyes flickering with uncertainty before finally saying, “You can call me Maddie.” A small smile tugs at her lips. “And, okay, if you’re sure.”
“Never been surer in my life,” I mumble, quiet enough for only Leo to hear.
I clap him on the shoulder, grinning as he shakes his head.
We both know the same thing…if Mason catches us, I’m screwed.
After showing Maddie all the main buildings and introducing her to the important people, I’ve finally gotten her to loosen up and break out the dimples I’m quickly becoming obsessed with.
If the day ended now, I’d be a happy guy.
Spending time with Maddie has been the highlight of my summer so far, and it’s just begun. There’s something about her I can’t put my finger on.
She’s incredibly easy to get along with, and surprisingly, we have a lot in common.
It doesn’t hurt that she’s the hottest girl I’ve ever laid my eyes on, but it is so much more than that, and I can’t wait to get to know her better.
“Come on. I’ve saved the best for last.” I extend my hand.
She stands there still as a statue, staring at my outstretched hand.
At first, I think she’s about to reject it, but then I catch the look in her eyes. It’s not hesitation but curiosity, like she’s trying to figure me out.
She fingers the bottom of her long, dark-brown hair, still contemplating.
I wiggle my fingers. “I promise I don’t bite.”
She exhales softly, and then, after a few moments, she slides her hand into mine.
The moment our fingers intertwine, goose bumps prickle my skin, and I notice her body shiver on contact.
This is the shit you only see in the movies.
I never thought it was real. But this feeling is as real as it gets.
My eyes rise slowly, unsure what to make of our strong connection, and I’m met with her big emerald eyes. They’re bright and unreadable, a contradiction I suddenly want to unravel.
But I’m also positive she’s scared.
And I get it.
Knowing what I do about Mason and his family, I doubt she’s had much experience with guys her age.
I want to reassure her. Of what, I don’t know.
I barely know her, barely know what would make her feel safe with me. But something deep in my gut tells me she would listen to anything I said like it mattered.
Like I mattered.
And I’m not sure I’ve ever wanted something more.
Maddie Grace
Is this what it feels like to be alive?
If it is, then please, someone, let me live forever.
When my hand is securely in Nate’s, he squeezes it a few times and then leads us toward the lake.
It’s hard for me not to stare. I’ve never met anyone like him.
He’s devastatingly handsome, with his flirty grin and sharply chiseled jaw, and he walks around here like he owns the place.
He’s boisterous and friendly to most. Sometimes a bit reserved with the people he doesn’t know, but never cocky.
He’s kind to everyone we’ve encountered: other campers, staff, and even wildlife. He picked up a snake on the trail and moved it off the main path so it wouldn’t get trampled.
Every second we’ve spent together, I like him a little more than the last.
“My brother said you sail.” I’m glad I’ve remembered the tidbit, eager to contribute more to the conversation.