I hate that she doesn’t see it. “You are.”
“I don’t want to be sunlight, Russ.” She shakes her head adamantly. “If you stand in the sun for too long, you get burnt. I don’t want to be another person who burns you. Let me be moonlight.”
The look of vulnerability on her face steals my breath away. “What if we get caught in the rain? You don’t get rainbows at night.”
“You don’t need rainbows when you have the northern lights,” she says softly. “And last time we got caught in the rain we did just fine. Incredible, in fact.”
I want to say something sweet and funny, but looking at her scrambles every thought in my head. Nothing seems good enough. Nothing quite tells her how mesmerized I am by her. “If you’re moonlight, does that make me the sea?”
I’m cringing at myself as she leans in and kisses me. Slow, soft, meaningful. “You want me to talk about sharks again, don’t you.”
Just like that, the tender moment slips away as we both begin to laugh, but I don’t mind. “We should probably head back before someone comes looking for us.”
Scooping the chairs under my arm, we walk hand in hand toward the door. Rory turns the lights off as I pull the door open and that’s when Jenna appears.
My voice hasn’t cracked since I was fifteen years old but it does now. “Jenna, hi!” I clear my throat a few times. “Sorry, dusty in here.”
“I wanted to check you weren’t lost, you’ve been forever. Where’s Aurora?”
There’s a split second where we have to telepathically decide which avenue to take.
Or more accurately, which lie to tell.
Thankfully, Aurora steps out from behind the door and huffs. “Maybe if the storage in this place was labeled or made any freaking sense we wouldn’t have to check everywhere for some chairs.”
“Okay, attitude,” Jenna snaps and it reminds me how like siblings these two are. “Sorry for caring about your wellbeing. What a terrible boss I am.”
If Jenna suspects anything she doesn’t let it show as we all walk back toward the kids. After grabbing an extra chair for her and some paper for Rory, I position all three in a line in a shaded spot where we can watch all the different groups practicing.
I shouldn’t feel this on edge considering we didn’t get caught doing anything and sitting here together isn’t illegal, but considering I can smell Aurora on the hand I’m leaning against while Jenna asks me about college, it feels pretty illegal.
Chapter Twenty-Five
RUSS
You know when you feel like everyone is staring at you while you’re doing something but you tell yourself it’s your imagination?
That. Except I look up from my breakfast plate and everyone is staring at me.
“What?” I mumble with my mouth full of scrambled egg.
Aurora looks ready to start a fight, but she was perfectly content an hour ago when I managed to find us a private spot for two minutes and press her against a very large and discreet tree to make out.
Emilia looks like her usual, perfectly normal self, but Xander looks as pissed as Aurora.
“Do you have something to tell the group?” Aurora says dramatically, leaning back in her chair and folding her arms across her chest. I’ve hated getting into trouble my whole life but the way she’s staring at me is kind of sexy.
“No? Am I supposed to have something to tell the group?” There’s that many fucking traditions in this place that it’s perfectly plausible I’ve forgotten something ridiculous.
“Your birthday, Russ,” Aurora snaps, “is tomorrow.”
I concentrate on my eggs but Aurora kicks me under the table so I look back up. If I look at her for too long she’ll pout or smile and I’ll agree to something that makes me the center of attention when I don’t want to. “Is it?”
“Did you ask him?” Jenna asks no one in particular as she walks up to our table.
“Oh God, ask me what?” I groan.
“What type of cake you want for your birthday?” Jenna says.
“I don’t need a cake. I’m not really into birthdays, so please don’t feel the need to do anything.”
Jenna takes the seat beside Aurora and steals a piece of toast from her plate. Aurora is too busy glaring at me to notice. She takes a bite and turns her attention back to me. “Aw, don’t be like that when it’s your twenty-first.”
“Your twenty-first?” Aurora squeaks. “And you want to spend it here with no birthday cake and no party? I love this place but that sucks, Russ.”
Jenna scowls at her. “Uh, family legacy? Rude.”
“You’re the farmer equivalent of a nepo baby, calm down,” Aurora grumbles. “Can we all have time off to go to Vegas?”
“You’re not even old enough to enjoy Las Vegas,” Emilia tells Aurora, only to be met with an unimpressed glare.
“I don’t want to go to Vegas,” I add, even though I don’t think anybody in this conversation cares about what I want.
Aurora looks appalled. “Why not? We can take our camp counselor riches and put it all on red.”
I’m back to studying my eggs, wondering how I can say I don’t gamble without it creating more questions I’d rather not answer. Thankfully, Jenna saves me. “Can someone tell me what cake I’m buying? Ideally the birthday boy himself.”
Xander is the first to reply. “Chocolate.”
Followed by Emilia. “Lemon.”
And finally Aurora. “Ice cream.”
They’re all looking at me again. “No cake.”
“Y’all are impossible,” Jenna moans as she stands from our table. “I’ll be at the cabin in twenty minutes to do the inspection. Who’s not working today?”
“Me and Russ,” Aurora says casually.
“I’m so glad I work so hard on all your programs for you to all switch it around whenever you feel like it,” Jenna drawls, rolling her eyes. Jenna has been nice about us switching, even though it ruins her spreadsheet and she has to reprint it. Aurora told her we’re the only ones who like hiking and that’s why we’re spending so much time together. “I’m just going to put you two on the same day off from now on. I’m wasting so much paper.”
I don’t know how people sneaking around at other camps do it considering so many of them offer hardly any time off. Aurora and I struggle for privacy, but we’re lucky Emilia and Xander are flexible and like each other enough to swap with us so we can be alone.
I feel like I’m sweating beneath the pressure of being around Jenna, but Aurora looks perfectly cool as she changes the topic. “Do you want anything from the ice cream shop in Meadow Springs?”
“I thought you were hiking?” Jenna says and I’m definitely sweating.
“Jen, how do you feel about having a huge food fight tonight instead of a pajama party?”
Xander says, quickly changing the topic.
“I do not feel good about it,” she says, instantly turning her attention to my roommate.
I take the attention being elsewhere as an opportunity to inhale the rest of my breakfast, while Aurora has already made a quick exit saying she needed to do something.
“I’m mad at you,” she says as we approach my truck.
“I know, sweetheart.”
I open the passenger door for her, holding her hand to help her climb in. The summer dress she’s wearing rises, the lace of her underwear just visible as she bends over to climb in and when she looks back at me, I realize this is supposed to be a punishment. “Really mad at you.”
“I accept and encourage you to continue reminding me how mad you are,” I say, closing the door.
Meadow Springs is a tiny little town not far from Honey Acres that’s popular with the staff.
I’ve been saying I’m going to visit since I got here, but there’s only so many hours in the day and I prefer spending it wandering around after Aurora.