The Danger With Fireworks (Holiday Romance Book 3) Page 4

  “Be honest, were you one of those dodgy rule breakers?”

  A mask of innocence slipped over her face, and she placed her hand on her chest. With big eyes, she fluttered her long lashes. “Who, me? Never.”

  “Yeah, that was super believable.” I chuckled as we moved a little farther through the trees and stopped at a grouping of rocks. She raised her finger to her lips and motioned for me to check behind them. I snuck around the corner but came up empty. It was slightly disappointing. Not that I hoped to find kids playing tonsil hockey, but if I had, it’d have been fun to bust them up. “All clear,” I said with a sigh.

  “I did dumb stuff every now and then,” Chloe admitted. “But never anything too sketchy. My biggest offense was probably when I got in trouble for sneaking into the walk-in refrigerator. On hot days, my friend Pearl and I would hide in the back and snack on any sweets we could find.”

  I gasped dramatically. “You’re a thief?!”

  She giggled. “The funny part is that nobody cared too much that we were stealing food. It was more about hiding in the fridge. Vivian was worried other people would catch on and Benji would be shooing kids out of it all day. There’s an electronic lock on that door now because of me. Pearl and I had to do dishes for a week.”

  “Such a rebel.” I clucked my tongue in disapproval. “But you still haven’t answered my original question. How do you know about all the hiding spots? Did you frequent the make-out bush?”

  The second I asked, I wished I hadn’t. Hearing about fifteen-year-old Chloe swapping spit with some brace-faced kid wouldn’t bother me. But what if she’d gone there with Clint last year? Or worse…after lunch today.

  She hemmed and hawed for a few seconds. “I wouldn’t say frequented.”

  Another gasp, even more dramatic this time. “Naughty girl.” I tsked and shook my finger at her. She batted it away.

  “I only went to the make-out bush once. It was my junior year, with a boy named Jack. He was way cute.” Relief washed over me, until she added, “All the other times were at the beach under the dock.”

  “What?” My jaw dropped. I stared at her while she laughed…and laughed…and laughed. Finally, she reached up and pushed my mouth shut.

  “I’m kidding!” She paused while I regained my composure. “Under the dock is where the staff go to make out.”

  This time I laughed with her. “Is there a lot of dating amongst counselors?”

  “Oh, yeah.” She nodded. “Staff romances are unavoidable when you work at a summer camp. The setting is just too romantic.” I scoffed, and she stopped walking, eyebrows raised in challenge. “You don’t agree?”

  “What’s so romantic about dirt, bugs, and a hundred annoying high schoolers?”

  Chloe snorted as she shook her head and continued back to the trail. “You’re such a guy.”

  I hurried to catch up. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means all you see is the dirt and the bugs and the kids. I see the wind rustling through the leaves while you’re lying in the hammock next to someone you like. I see two people on the lake, alone in a canoe at sunset. I see couples snuggling up by the fire or holding hands on a walk through the woods.” She leaned over and nudged me in the arm with her shoulder. “Don’t you ever think about that kind of stuff?”

  “I’m thinking about it now,” I responded. Her eyes bulged and I gasped. “Shoot, that came out way wrong! I didn’t mean it like that.” I tried to backpedal, but it only made me sound worse.

  Chloe stared at the ground, and there was a moment of awkward silence before she glanced up, all shy-like. “So the idea of being romantic with me repulses you?”

  Her bottom lip poked out and trembled. Her eyes got glassy as tears welled up in them. She was about to cry. Oh no. I’d hurt her feelings. And I didn’t know her well enough yet to understand how to fix the mistake. My head started to spin.

  “I didn’t say that. What I was trying to say was…” There were no suitable words to get me out of this, so I just stopped speaking. That’s when she sucked in her cheeks, and I realized I’d been played. “You’re messing with me!” I practically shrieked and shoved her on the shoulder. Chloe dropped to the ground, howling. “You suck.” I grumbled and stomped off.

  “Wait!” She called and ran to catch up. I slowed down. “I’m sorry. That was mean.”

  I glared at her. “Dancer, my rear end. You should be an actress.”

  She wove her arm around mine and grabbed my bicep again, like she had at lunch. “I couldn’t help it. You were listening so intently. It’s like you served me the opening on a silver platter. Clint never pays that much attention to what I’m saying.”

  “Yeah, well, Clint’s a dishrag.”

  “A what?”

  “A dishrag.”

  “Ha. that’s a new one. Sounds like someone’s not a fan,” she teased.

  I hadn’t meant to bag on him. Now I sounded like a giant baby. “It’s not that I don’t like him…” That’s exactly what it was like. “He’s just failed to impress me.”

  Chloe laughed. “Well, you can join the club. There are a lot of guys here who don’t like Clint.”

  Her implication bugged me. I stopped and grabbed her by the shoulders, turning her to face me. “I’m not jealous, if that’s what you’re getting at. I have zero reason to be envious of him.”

  She studied me carefully. “You know what? I believe you.” We stared at each other for a moment longer, and then she started walking again. “Most boys are intimidated by Clint because he’s hot and all the girls drool over him. But you aren’t, and you’re confident. I like that about you.”

  I pulled a page from the Chloe playbook and frowned. “Are you saying I’m not hot?”

  She started to argue, then narrowed her eyes and shoved her finger in my chest. “I know what you’re doing. It won’t work. Besides, you already know I think you’re good-looking.”

  “And that’s what I like about you.” I chuckled. “A woman who actually says what she thinks. There’s no guessing when it comes to what’s going on in there.” I tapped the side of her head. “It’s refreshing.”

  “Eh.” She stuck her hands in her back pockets and kicked a small rock off the path. “I figure boys have it hard enough. They have to deal with my crazy energy. They don’t need to be confused by me, too. It’s easier just to put it all out there.”

  “Why can’t more girls be that way?”

  She smirked. “Because then I wouldn’t be special, and you wouldn’t like me so much.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Who says I like you?”

  “You did, silly. Ten seconds ago.”

  “Huh. I guess I did.”

  We made three full loops during the two-hour shift. It went by so fast that I was surprised and disappointed when our rotation ended. Hanging out with Chloe was easy. I liked it. Turns out she was serious about making sweep a regular thing. When we got back, she walked straight over to the office and signed us up together, every Monday for the next eight weeks.

  “All right, partner. It’s official,” she declared as she walked out of the office and met me on the front porch.

  “What’s official?” A smarmy voice asked from behind me. I tried not to cringe. Clint was a perfect way to ruin a nice evening. “And why are you partnering with someone other than me?” He stepped next to Chloe and slipped his finger through a belt loop on the side of her jean shorts. She rolled her eyes but didn’t pull away.

  “Garland’s officially my new sweep buddy, since you’re too important for that now.” Her derision was in jest, but there was a hint of bitterness behind it.

  He pulled a face. “Eew, you’re right. That’s grunt work.”

  “Well, us grunts had fun tonight.” Chloe held her hand up for a high five. But instead of slapping it, I pressed my palm against hers and lingered. Clint bristled when I wrapped my fingers around hers and squeezed them before letting go.

  “Best date ever!” I exclaimed.
He definitely didn’t care for that.

  “Cheapest one, too,” Chloe joked. She had no clue how much she was helping my cause. Clint’s smile got tighter and tighter.

  He pulled his finger out of her belt loop so he could run his hand up and down her bare arm. “There’s a bunch of staff headed down to the lake in a little bit. How about you throw on a swimsuit, and I’ll pick you up at your place in ten?”

  He’d phrased the question so that it was more of a command than a request. I was shocked when Chloe readily agreed. “Sounds fun. You want to join us?” she asked me. Clint’s jaw tensed, but he held that plastic smile like a champ.

  “Sure, why not?” I replied. His eyes narrowed. I had him on the ropes. Now I needed to get a good punch in. “I’ll meet you down there, though. I’m going to rustle up a snack first.” I grinned impishly. “Thought maybe I’d sneak into the fridge and look for something sweet.”

  Her reaction was priceless. She giggled, and I laughed as if we shared some intimate secret. The best part was that we kind of did. I could tell it bugged the crap out of him. “Bring me some of whatever you find,” she said.

  “I got you covered.” I made a little gun out of my thumb and index finger, then pointed it at her and pulled the trigger.

  Walking away, I felt like I’d won that round. But as I headed toward the kitchen, I wondered what I was fighting for. I wasn’t trying to pursue Chloe, so why did I care if she and Clint were an item? Ultimately, I decided I was standing up for the all the men who’d been friend-zoned because of someone like him.

  My best friends had always been the guy who could get any girl he wanted. During middle school, it was a kid named Mark. In high school, it was my neighbor Nate. At college, it’s Evan, my roommate. But here, “that guy” was Clint, and I had no loyalties to him. He didn’t seem like the kind of individual who deserved my respect, much less my friendship.

  Chloe was an awesome girl. She should be with somebody better than that meathead. It didn’t really matter who, just not him. And he needed to know that he wasn’t the be-all-end-all of male companionship at Singing Oak. There must be dozens of other dudes here that outclassed him. By the time I made it down to the lake, I had a clear goal. A mission. A crusade. If I only accomplished one thing this summer, it’d be putting Clint in his place.

  Marissa was right. I figured things out in the first couple of days. Even though I wasn’t an expert actor, the kids didn’t know that. And a lot of them had more theater experience than I did, but they still looked to me like I knew what I was talking about. So I rolled with it. By the end of the week, I felt confident in my ability to do my job well. It was a huge relief.

  Due to my initial stress, I hadn’t been as socially engaged as I’d have liked. I’d spent a lot of my free time planning with my team and shadowing Josie instead of hanging out with the rest of my family. They invited me to do stuff every night, but I didn’t want to let loose until I felt confident. It sucked because that meant Clint was spending gobs of time with Chloe. But this was a job. One I’d really like to be invited back to. I had to put it first.

  “Are you ready to hang out with us, or what?” Marissa asked at breakfast on Saturday.

  “Don’t fault me for actually working. I don’t think you guys have done anything but play this week.”

  Matt held up his finger and spoke with a mouthful of pancakes. “That’s not true. We’re working hard until we clock out.”

  “And playing even harder after you clock out,” I teased.

  Matt was by far the biggest partier of our group, which was hard to do since there wasn’t a drop of alcohol allowed on campus. But somehow, he still managed to act like a wild and crazy drunk guy. I now understood why he constantly slept in. He had a fun hangover every morning. His energy rivaled Chloe’s; he just kept it stuffed in the closet until sundown.

  “Leave him alone, Matt,” Chloe chided. “He doesn’t have years of experience here. You and I could do this in our sleep. He’s still learning the ropes.”

  “Yeah, Matt,” I agreed in a childish tone. “Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?”

  “Ooo, burn!” Marissa hissed.

  “Hey.” His brow furrowed. “Short jokes are off limits.”

  “I wasn’t making fun of your height.” I defended myself with a guilty grin. “Short jokes are beneath me.”

  “Bahaha!” Marissa bellowed. “That was a knee slapper!”

  Matt wadded up his napkin and threw it at me. “Shut up, Jolly Red Giant.” His eyes got squinty.

  I shrugged and stuffed a slice of bacon in my mouth. “Fine, Frodo Baggins.” Marissa was still laughing hysterically, but now Shelly had lost it, too. Only Chloe remained calm. She looked like she wanted to scold us both.

  “Do I need to put you in timeout together?” She drummed her fingers on the table.

  Clint appeared out of nowhere. He had an uncanny knack for doing so. “Are these guys giving you trouble?” he asked. Chloe was sandwiched between Marissa and me, so Clint had to take the seat across from her. He pushed his way between Shelly and Matt, then made himself comfortable with his arm draped over Shelly’s shoulder. He picked a piece of sausage off her plate and popped it in his mouth. She turned red as usual. “Because I can give them extra duties if they need some time to cool off.”

  “They were playing, Clint,” Chloe said.

  “Didn’t sound like playing.”

  “It sounded exactly like playing,” Matt replied.

  Clint held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay, I was only trying to help.” He wasn’t trying to help. He was finding an excuse to insert himself in our conversation, which he did often. Particularly whenever Chloe and I were in close proximity. “Do you want to have a bonfire tonight?” he asked Chloe, ignoring the rest of us.

  “Can’t,” she said.

  He frowned. “Why not?”

  “Because we’re having family game night.”

  “That could be cool.”

  Chloe shook her head at him. “I love you, Clint, but you’re not invited. It’s family game night. You’re not family.” I couldn’t revel in the fact that she dissed him because she also said she loved him. What kind of love were we talking about here?

  “Chloe, babe. Why you gotta do me like that?” His lip dropped toward the table. Clint was the king of manipulation. He leaned his head over and rested it on the top of Shelly’s. “Come on, Shell-bell. Talk some sense into your mother. You want me there, right?” He glanced down to find Shelly glowering at him. He grinned at her, pinched her cheek, then looked back at Chloe. “That means yes.”

  “Sorry, Charlie. Family only.” I had to give Chloe props. She was sticking to her guns.

  “But I don’t have a family,” he whined.

  “That’s the disadvantage of being management,” Matt pointed out. “It’s lonely at the top.” He reached out for a fist bump, and I gladly accommodated.

  “I’m sure Vivian would love to host a game night for you and her.” I was going for patronizing. It worked. Flaming daggers shot from Clint’s eyes. I smashed my lips together to keep from laughing.

  “Whatever.” He stood, nose in the air. “I guarantee another family will be happy to adopt me for an evening.”

  “Have fun!” Chloe called, waving as he walked away like a beaten puppy.

  “Way to stand your ground, Chloe.” Marissa sounded highly impressed. “You put your man in his place. Nice job.”

  Chloe smirked. “He doesn’t have as much pull over me as he thinks he does.”

  I considered this another win, but I wasn’t all that happy about it. I didn’t feel victorious. She told Clint she loved him. Granted, it sounded facetious, but she still said it. She didn’t refute him when he called her babe, either. Nor did she argue when Marissa referred to him as her man.

  Chloe had been with Clint a lot this week. That was kind of my fault, since I hadn’t made much time to hang out. I didn’t know what went on when they were alone, but s
he wasn’t affectionate with him in public. As far as I could tell, she touched me more than she touched him. And I for sure hadn’t seen him kiss her again. Were they together, or weren’t they? I was dying to know, but not desperate enough to ask. I’d have to find another way to get it out of her.

  “All right, children, what shall we play tonight?” Chloe asked.

  “Strip poker,” Matt answered automatically.

  “Gross, Matt.” Marissa gagged. “What kind of pervert plays family strip poker?”

  “The kind that has two hot sisters and a mom who he’s not physically related to in any way, shape, or form.” He turned to me for backup. “Am I right, Garland?”

  “I’m not stupid enough to answer that.”

  “Traitor.”

  “What about regular cards?” Marissa asked.

  Shelly surprised me by saying, “I think we should do something active.”

  “Me too,” I agreed.

  “Like what?”

  I thought for a moment. “Have any of you ever played sardines?”

  Shelly clapped. “Yes. I like that one.”

  “What’s sardines?” Matt asked. “And is there stripping involved?”

  “Cool it on the stripping, bro. Sardines is like reverse hide-and-seek. Instead of everyone hiding and one person seeking, one person hides and everyone else seeks. When someone finds the hider, they hide with them. Last one to the hiding spot loses.”

  “That could be fun,” Marissa said. “Especially at night, in the woods.”

  Shelly was nodding her head in agreement, so Chloe looked at Matt. He shrugged. “Sounds cool. I’m down.”

  “All right then, sardines it is.”

  Matt had a sweep rotation after dinner, so we met on the front porch at dusk. Everyone agreed that the thick wooded spot by the lake was the best place to play. By the time we got there, it was starting to get dark. Marissa looked down at her yellow staff shirt, then back up at my dark long-sleeved T-shirt. “Of course, this is the one time that I didn’t wear black.”

  “Maybe you should roll in the mud for camouflage,” Matt suggested.

  “Um, no thanks. I’m prepared to lose.”