Second Chance Summer

by Kait Nolan

  “Of course, there is. With chocolate and another graham cracker.” Another woman held some out and sandwiched the marshmallow goo between them.

  Audrey took the treat with careful hands and bit in, her eyes going comically wide as she started fanning with one hand. “Hot!”

  Her friend laughed. “You’re supposed to wait a little bit for it to cool off. Here, have some water.”

  Audrey washed it down, then almost immediately took another bite. “I didn’t need the skin on the roof of my mouth anyway. Holy crap, this is so much better over a real fire.”

  “Told ya,” her friend said, smug.

  Audrey polished off the s’more with a happy little moan that had parts of him thinking happy thoughts as well. His stick dipped and his marshmallow caught fire.

  “Shit.” Hudson yanked it back and blew out the flame.

  Eyes twinkling, Audrey stood up and stepped forward, extending her hands to warm them. “Need a refresher?”

  “Some people like them charred.” He wasn’t one of them, but she didn’t need to know that. He popped the blackened lump of sugar into his mouth and chewed. “Good day?”

  Her smile spread wide. The sight of it did funny things to his chest.

  “Great day. I made pottery.”

  “Enjoyed getting your hands dirty, huh?”

  “So much.” She laughed. Someone called her name and she turned.

  Everything seemed to snap into slow motion. Hudson could see her pivot, see her knee buckling, her balance failing, tipping her toward the heart of the fire.

  He didn’t hesitate. He exploded up, leaping through the flames. With relief, he felt the impact of her body against his, their combined momentum carrying her away from certain disaster. He twisted, wrapping himself around her so that it was him who hit the ground first, cushioning her landing.

  For an instant, he froze, his body remembering the fall as the roof gave way. Phantom flames licked him from all sides, and he could see Steve falling beside him, slamming into a railing, and plummeting down the stairwell.

  Not real. Not now. Audrey.

  Hudson shoved himself up, running his hands over her, checking for flames, for burns. Frantic. A dim, distant part of himself recognized he was kind of losing his shit. Which was the reason he hadn’t been out on any fire calls in three months. He couldn’t be trusted to hold it together.

  Soft, cool hands pressed against his cheeks. “Hudson, I’m okay.”

  His brain short circuited, abruptly cutting off the panic.

  Audrey was sprawled across his lap. As he focused on her face, she gave him a lopsided smile. “Well, I guess you can take the fireman out of the turnout pants.”

  God, yes.

  It was clearly meant to be a joke, but his dick didn’t get the message. It leapt to attention, ready and willing to burn through some of the adrenaline still pumping through his system.

  He saw the moment she caught the sexual undertone. Those bright blue eyes went dark, and the pulse at the base of her throat began to throb.

  And they were surrounded by at least a dozen other people.

  “Dude, that was amazing.”

  “Are you insane?”

  “No, he’s a firefighter.”

  “Are you burned?” Audrey asked.

  Would he even register if he were? “No.” If he found anything later, he knew well enough how to deal with it.

  They disentangled themselves. Hudson rolled to his feet and reached down to pull Audrey to hers. She wobbled a little but stood on her own, no apparent lingering issues in her legs.

  “Why don’t you walk me back?”

  Which was how Hudson found himself on the trail, alone with Audrey a few minutes later. He was mortified to realize he was shaking. The adrenaline dump was a killer.

  Once they were out of earshot, she touched his arm. “Are you okay?”

  No, no he was definitely not okay. He hadn’t been okay for three months. But he wasn’t gonna talk about that.

  “You’re really okay?” he asked instead.

  “I really am, thanks to you. Again.” Her face twisted with chagrin. “I swear, I’m not normally that much of a klutz.”

  She’d nearly fallen into a campfire from nothing more than turning wrong. His heart still hadn’t quite settled back to normal. He could too easily imagine the damage if he hadn’t caught her in time. The woman needed a keeper.

  They arrived back at her cabin, and he found himself in the exact same position he’d been in last night. Because he wanted to touch her, Hudson shoved his hands in his pockets.

  Audrey turned toward him with a sweet smile. “Thanks for walking me back.”

  “Sure.” Hudson wanted to maybe thank her for getting him the hell away from all those people before he made more of a fool of himself. But that would require admitting it had happened, and he wasn’t doing that either.

  She lingered, tucking a chunk of hair behind her ear. Her tongue darted out to moisten her lips.

  She’s waiting for me to kiss her. The realization slammed into him. He wanted to. And it wasn’t just because of the lingering adrenaline buzz. He’d been thinking about it since last night, wondering if her hair was as silky soft as it looked and if she’d be hesitant or if she’d throw herself into a kiss with the same kind of enthusiasm she’d shown for everything else at camp. Which was stupid. He didn’t know this woman. Not really. She’d come up here to have some fun and accomplish some stuff on her bucket list. The last thing she needed was to get dragged down by all his shit.

  Hudson took a step back. “Glad you’re okay.” He ignored the way her face fell a little and told himself he was doing them both a favor. “See you around, Audrey.”

  Before he could change his mind, he turned away and disappeared into the darkness, her soft “Good night” lingering in his ears.

  Chapter 5

  “Somebody’s got a camp crush.”

  Audrey looked up as Charlie sat down at their table, a plate piled high with bacon and eggs in his hands. “What?”

  “Hudson, sugar. He’s talking about Hudson,” Sam clarified.

  Did they mean he had a crush on her? Surely, they meant the reverse, which—okay, yeah, she kinda did have a camp crush on Hudson. Not that it mattered.

  “The guy jumped through a fire to keep you from falling into it last night. I hope you rewarded him appropriately for his heroics,” Charlie continued.

  Sam picked up her coffee. “I had two extra s’mores to give you time in case you did.”

  Audrey’s cheeks burned as she remembered the look in his eyes. Even she’d recognized the expression of absolute hunger. If there hadn’t been all those people around maybe there might’ve been…something.

  “He walked me back to the cabin like a gentleman. There was no hanky panky, so your caloric sacrifice was for nothing.”

  “Opportunity lost.” Charlie paused. “Unless you’re with somebody back home and not free.”

  “She’s available,” Sam informed him.

  “Then I stick to my original assessment. He at least deserved a kiss.”

  She’d been willing. But there’d been more than simple attraction and adrenaline-fueled arousal going on last night. She’d lain awake a long time thinking about it, about him. There’d been something in his eyes, in the frenetic movement of his hands as he’d checked her for injury. As if, for just a little while, it hadn’t been her he was seeing.

  She understood those moments of being not quite connected to the present because something from the past still had a hold. For the most part, she’d moved past the nightmares and the flashbacks, but she recognized someone still suffering. It made her want to be Hudson’s friend. To earn his trust, learn his issues, and find a way to help him deal. And that was a very different thing from the uncomplicated camp fling her friends were imagining.

  “I’m starting to see why you’re a romance editor,” Audrey said.

  “I love love,” he declared. “And it makes me a tota
l hit with the ladies.”

  “Be that as it may, I’m pretty sure he’s not here looking for anything of the sort.”

  “Don’t you read? All the best relationships happen when you’re not looking,” Sam insisted.

  Audrey sipped her coffee and decided their brains had been addled by spending too much time in fiction and not enough in real life. Or maybe not. What did she know? It wasn’t like she was an example of “normal” in any category.

  She opened her mouth to change the subject but trailed off as she saw Hudson walk in. Surely it was a crime in several states to look that hot in basketball shorts and a t-shirt. He moved with an easy grace and economy of motion that she appreciated on a whole different level since walking had become a thing she had to actively think about so as not to face plant on a regular basis.

  Charlie let out a whistle and waved Hudson over. His gaze skimmed over them, lingering for a moment on her before he lifted his hand in a wave and began loading his plate from the continental breakfast. Audrey didn’t think he’d join them, but a few minutes later, he was pulling out the chair beside her and dropping into it.

  “Morning.” Since when did she sound like a teenage girl, all breathless and excited?

  Hudson grunted and shoved bacon into his mouth.

  Okay then. Not a morning person.

  Audrey searched his face for lingering signs of…whatever she thought she’d seen last night, but he was relaxed and focused on his breakfast. He’d shaved and his hair was damp from a shower or swim. Because she wanted to stare—he was a fine thing to see first thing in the morning—she clutched her coffee like a shield and changed the subject. “What’s on today’s activities list? I didn’t look before we left the cabin.”

  “Didn’t you hear? It’s Field Day,” Charlie replied.

  “Field Day?”

  “Yeah! It’s a full day of relay races, water games, target games, tug of war. It’s awesome.”

  It didn’t sound awesome to Audrey. It sounded like torture. She was aware of Hudson’s gaze on her as Charlie continued.

  “They’ll probably have us pair up or divide into teams.”

  Teams. Meaning competitions. Meaning winners and losers. Anybody paired with her would automatically come in dead last. She couldn’t run anymore and wasn’t coordinated enough to do anything fast. She was a liability to any kind of competition. Maybe some of the other activities would still be open. She could hide out in the pottery studio and play so Sam wouldn’t feel obligated to partner up with her.

  “Winner gets to pick the movie tonight. I heard they were setting up a projector on the side of the lodge,” Sam said. “Obviously, we’ll be together for girl power.”

  Audrey opened her mouth to make an excuse, but before she could get it out, Hudson spoke up.

  “She already promised to be my partner.” He shifted calm gray eyes to hers. “Remember?”

  She had, of course, done no such thing. He’d barely said a dozen words since they left the campfire last night. Snapping her mouth closed, she looked at him, trying to figure out if he was messing with her. He just stared back, placid as could be, and took a bite of toast.

  “Well you should definitely go with Hudson. Charlie?” Sam asked.

  “All yours, sweetness.” He shoved back from the chair. “Shall we go plot strategy?”

  Sam wasn’t actually finished with her breakfast, but she shoved the last couple of slices of bacon onto her bagel and rose. “Let’s. We’ll see y’all on the field!”

  Like rats jumping from a sinking ship. That was fine. She didn’t much want to have this conversation with an audience.

  Audrey waited until they left to speak. “You don’t have to do this. I can go do something else.”

  “Do you want to do something else?”

  No. Damn it. She wanted to be included. She’d never been included as a kid because nobody wanted the baby on their team. But she didn’t want to be the pity pick, even if it was by her camp crush. Maybe especially by her camp crush. “You’ll end up losing with me as a partner.”

  “I’m not in it to win. I’m in it so you can be.”

  She hadn’t known him long, but she felt confident that spending the day surrounded by dozens of other rowdy campers was not what he really wanted to be doing. He’d come up here for solitude. “Why?”

  “Because you deserve a shot at the authentic camp experience. This is part of it. And…because it’s fun for me to see you get excited about all this stuff.” He shrugged those massive shoulders as if uncomfortable with the admission.

  “Excited is a strong word. I’m not sure I can physically do a lot of this stuff. I mean, maybe if I had no time clock and no audience, but…” She trailed off, too able to imagine falling on her butt in front of all of camp. Not that falling on her ass was a new experience since the accident. But there’d already been half a dozen people by their table this morning to ask if she was okay after the fire last night. She didn’t relish any other entries that confirmed her position as camp klutz, and she wasn’t keen on advertising the reason why. She didn’t want to become the entire camp’s object of pity.

  “Do you trust me?” He’d leaned forward when she wasn’t paying attention, so the rumble of his voice came near to her ear. Why should just the sound of it continue to soothe her anxieties?

  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “It’s a simple question. Do you?”

  She had a simple and instinctive answer. “Yes.” With her life, certainly. Though bringing that up right now seemed like overkill.

  “Then meet me at the soccer fields at ten. And bring your game face.”

  ~*~

  “Welcome to Field Day, campers!” Heather’s voice boomed from the bull horn from where she stood in the center of the soccer fields. “Everybody have their partner?”

  A cheer went up from the assembled crowd. Well, everybody but Audrey. She stood beside Hudson, arms crossed over the number nine pinned to her shirt, mouth set in a grim line. He was starting to wonder whether pushing her into this was such a good idea. But he’d seen the expression of half longing, half regret in her sky-blue eyes when Charlie brought Field Day up, and he’d hated it. It was such a departure from the fierce determination she’d shown the other night when she’d talked about pushing her limits. So, he’d made the snap decision to be her partner and help her through the stuff she found physically difficult. He didn’t think they’d win, but he figured he could keep her from coming in last place.

  “We’re kicking things off today with a camp classic. The wheelbarrow race. One partner will be the wheelbarrow, the other will hold that person by the legs and push. The object is to get all the way down to the orange cones, circle around, and make it back to the starting line as fast as you can. Partners, take your positions!”

  Audrey took a slow breath and let it back out. “Obviously, I’m the wheelbarrow.”

  “Ever done this before?”

  She lifted a brow in his direction. “What do you think?”

  Okay, yeah. She wasn’t excited about this at all.

  Hudson caught her arm as she headed for the starting line. “We can walk away right now.”

  Those eyes licked with temper. “I’m no quitter.”

  The faint tone of insult had him smiling. “That’s my girl. Let’s go.”

  At the starting line, she looked at the other players getting in position and dropped down to all fours.

  “The key to this is keeping your core tight and focusing on one step at a time with your hands. Don’t think about anybody else,” he told her.

  “Got it.”

  “On your marks!” Heather called.

  Audrey rose into a push-up, and Hudson couldn’t help but notice the flex of muscle in her shoulders and arms beneath the tank top she wore.

  “Get set!”

  He grasped her by the ankles and lifted.

  “Go!”

  She took off, all but running on her hands. They
edged to the front of the pack, neck-and-neck with two other teams. He kept a close eye on her, expecting her to start flagging any second. The team to their left went down in a heap. Curses rose on the air, but Audrey kept moving, smooth and steady as they neared the cone. The team ahead on the right fell over into a pile of giggles as they rounded their cone. Audrey didn’t fumble once as they entered the final stretch and took the lead.

  “We’ve got this,” he said. “Just keep doing what you’re doing.”

  In his periphery, Hudson saw a couple of guys closing in, the wheelbarrow guy eating up the distance with his longer arms. Audrey saw him too. Was she growling? Hell yes, she was.

  “Push!” she shouted.

  So, he did. She threw her arms out, reaching, bucking, until she was practically galloping on her hands.

  “Almost there!” he yelled.

  Audrey leapt for the finish line, tucking into a graceless somersault as they crossed to a shout of “Tie!”

  Hudson squatted down beside her. “That was awesome! You were a beast.”

  From where she lay sprawled, panting on the ground, she peered up at him. “Wheelchairs are great for developing upper body strength and coordination.”

  He wondered how long she’d spent in one over the last couple of years but wasn’t about to ask. Instead, he offered a hand and tugged her into a sitting position. “Ready to go kick some more ass?”

  She turned to glare at their competition and narrowed her eyes to slits. “It is on! Help me up.”

  After her reluctance to even admit she needed help the other night, this felt like a different kind of victory. She wrapped her hands around his forearms and he rose, lifting them both to their feet. Audrey wobbled a bit, stumbling into him. Instinctively, he shifted to steady her, one hand going to her waist and brushing bare skin where her shirt had ridden up. Before he could stop himself, he rubbed a thumb along the smooth warmth of her flesh. Her fingers tightened on his arms, her pupils blowing wide. It would be so easy to slide his hand around to the small of her back and pull her against him—

  “Good job everybody!” Heather’s voice rang out over the cheers of the crowd. “Big round of applause for Team 4 and Team 9, who are currently tied for first place.”