I cut the engine and turned to her. I could see tears in her eyes.
“I knew calling the kiss a prank was stupid the second it came out of my mouth. But I didn’t think you’d ever actually like me, I’m so--”
“Amazing?” I said.
“Annoying,” she filled in. “And you asked me before what is wrong with you. There in nothing wrong with you. I think you’re fantastic.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Except for when I tease?”
She shrugged looking down at the seat. Her fingers picked at a loose thread. “I don’t even mind that. As long as it’s not in front of anyone. I mean, I don’t care about Millie and Alex. And Alka Seltzer was kind of funny as long as everyone in camp isn’t saying it.”
My hand slid across the seat to grasp hers. “You’re serious?”
“I am,” she nodded. “It’s just when you teased me in front of all the other counselors that I thought you were trying to torture me or something. No guy has ever really liked me and so when you kissed me, I guess I assumed it was one more way you were teasing. Especially since you didn’t tell me it was you.”
I rubbed my hands down my face. “My sharp tongue is a plague.”
“That’s not true. I love it when you stand up for me. I’m so bad at that.”
My heart squeezed at those words. I did want to protect her. She deserved to be cherished. “I guess I just can’t figure out how, after I kissed you, you didn’t know how I felt. I’ve never had a kiss like that before.”
“Really?” She beamed at me and scooted closer. “It was that good?”
“Yep,” I said. “It was that good. Was it for you?”
Her head bobbed up and down, that hair cascading around her shoulders. “It was unbelievable. I guess I thought they were all like that. I didn’t,” she paused. “I didn’t have another to compare it to.”
My mouth fell open as I tried to process that. Millie’s words about how Chloe didn’t have much experience came crashing back. “You’ve never kissed anyone?”
Her eyebrows drew together as she cocked her head to one side. “I’ve kissed you.”
“Yeah,” I pulled her into my lap. That was the amazing thing about these old cars with the big wide seats. “And you’re going to again.”
A touch of a smile ghosted across her lips before mine descended to cover hers. It started slow but soon we were full on making out in the parking lot of the Day’s Inn. I didn’t even care. It was the best kiss of my life.
I don’t know how long we sat there but it was a really long time. Finally I pulled away. Not because I wanted to but because we had to get back to Camp Winni. It had gotten dark and we still had over an hour to go. “Chlo,” I ran the pad of my thumb across her swollen lips nearly losing my resolve. “I don’t want this to end but…”
“We’ve got to get back,” she said as she kissed my thumb where it rested on her lips. That only made it harder to set her on the seat next to me.
“So you have to tell me how you figured out it was me and not Alex that kissed you. I was on my way to confess by the way. Down on the beach the other night, I was going to tell you.” I inserted the key back in the ignition.
“I went to tell Alex that even though he’d kissed me, I only wanted to be friends and he looked completely confused.” She giggled. “And then it all just clicked into place.”
I turned the key and nothing happened. Nada. We were stuck at the Day’s Inn, in the dark.
Chapter Fifteen
Chloe
I was stuck at a hotel with a completely hot guy that I’d just made out with. I didn’t know whether to jump for joy or quake in fear.
“I’ll call my dad.” Drew picked up his phone and then set it down again. “He’s a mechanic.” He hit the home button and then clicked it off. He rubbed his hand through his hair again. I realized it was his tell when he was nervous. “In case you’re wondering, that means that we have no money.” His mouth pulled down. “But he can help us out today.”
He started to turn the phone on again but I stopped him. “I feel like this is a thing for you. Does it bother you that your dad is a mechanic?” He’d grilled me about my parents and now, it was clicking into place. His insecurity about his fancy school, his need for assurances that I wasn’t one of the rich kids.
He shrugged before he answered. “No. I mean, maybe.” His hand ran through his hair, until the strands pointed every which way. “The kids at school would give me crap, you know. And I got pretty good at dealing with that. But a lot of the girls,” he stopped. “They would only hook up with me, they dated guys like…”
“Like what?” I asked.
He swallowed. “Like Alex.”
“Oh.” The air rushed from my lungs. The final piece clicked into place. “Drew. You thought I was another one of those girls who cared about his family’s money.”
He nodded. “I know that’s not true now. No one is more honest and forthright than you but I had a hard time believing it at first. It wasn’t you, though. It was me.”
I pulled out my ponytail, intent upon fixing my hair, because, honestly, I needed to do something else to occupy my hands while I talked. But the second my hair was down, his hands were in it. He gave me another quick kiss.
I kissed him back but I had something I needed to say to him. “I’m not sure why I thought I liked Alex so much. We’re alike and I think I thought that was important.”
He gave me a wide grin. “I disagree. I think somebody like me is much better for you.”
I grinned back. “I’ve come to see your point. But I swear to you. My crush on Alex had nothing to do with how you grew up or his money.”
“I get it,” he said softly. “That’s my hang-up. Not yours.”
I shrugged. This next part was going to be hard to say. “Me thinking our first kiss was a trick. That’s my hang-up. I’m an easy target and people tease me. I’m used to it and most of the time I don’t care but I’ve always kind of assumed it’s because I am super annoying.”
“They won’t tease you anymore.” He leaned his forehead against mine, his voice holding an intensity that made me gasp.
If we weren’t careful, we were going to start making out again. “Call your dad.”
“Right,” he let out a breath and then made the call.
“Hi Pops,” I heard him say. “It went good.” Another pause. “No, I have another problem. The car broke down in Northern Connecticut.”
I nibbled my lip as I listened. I could hear someone talking on the other end. “Outside of New London at a Day’s Inn.”
“My mom and dad could pick us up,” I whispered, not wanting to interrupt. Apparently I did anyway.
Drew bent his neck, running his hand through his hair. “That was Chloe, Pop.”
I hadn’t heard a lot of the words his dad had said but I did hear what he said next. “Is she your girlfriend?”
“Yeah, Pop,” Drew answered giving me a quick glance.
Heat spread through my cheeks as I reached for his hand. Was this it? Were we boyfriend and girlfriend?
They exchanged some more words and then I heard Drew say, “She hasn’t called her parents yet. I’ll call you back.”
Drew looked over at me. “My dad can come fix the car at like five tomorrow so that we still make it in time for roll call.” He took a breath. “The question is, do you want to sleep at the hotel or do you want to call your parents to come get us?”
A little noise, like a squeak, slipped out of my mouth.
He leaned over and kissed my cheek. “It’s totally fine if you want to stay at your parents. I can stay here and keep an eye on the car.”
“No,” the word was out before I could stop it. “I’ll stay with you but I just want to get a few things straight.”
His eyebrows rose. “Shoot.”
I reached my hand up to fiddle with my hair. “I heard you talking with your dad. Obviously, I’m in the car with you. Why wouldn’t I hear you?” I was rambling. �
�Well, are we… are we dating?”
“Are we?” he asked back but he had a smile that made me melt inside. “I’d like to be.”
“Me too,” I took a deep breath. “But tonight… I’m not ready for…”
“We’ll take it slow.” He squeezed my hand. “I’m done making mistakes. From here on out we’re going to do this relationship thing right.”
I laid my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. I felt the same. From here on out we were doing this right. “I love you,” I said, letting the words slip out before I could hold them in. So much for doing things right. The second the words left my lips I knew I had just made a colossal mistake.
* * *
Drew
Had Chloe just said what I think she said? My heart was pounding in my chest as she lifted her head and started scooting back across the seat.
“I didn’t mean to say that,” she began. “There’s no pressure and I am so sorry. We only just started and here I am--”
I hooked my hand behind her knee to stop her from scooting away. Then I slowly started pulling her back toward me. “I love you too,” I said. Then I kissed her again. Because she was my girlfriend. And we loved each other.
Ten minutes later, we headed into the hotel. We had no bags, no toothbrushes even. But as I explained that we needed a room because our car broke down, they were actually really cool. The manager came out and gave us a discounted rate. And while they didn’t have clothes for us, they did give us deodorant and toothbrushes. Which was awesome considering this was kind of our first date. Best not to smell.
“This has been the strangest day,” Chloe giggled next to me.
I had to laugh at that. “It has.”
“Not bad,” she added as the elevator slid open.
“Nope,” my hand came to the small of her back. “Just different.”
Our room had two beds separated by a small end table and as we each collapsed onto one, we reached across the space and held hands.
My phone rang. Picking it up, I sat up on the bed. “Hey,” I said to Derek.
“Hey, just wanted to let you know that we loved your audition. If you need time to decide that’s cool. Bet we’d love to have you in the band.”
I looked over at Chloe. She gave me a thumbs up as she stood to do a silent happy dance. It was everything I could do not to laugh. “That’s awesome.” I replied. “But I don’t need time to think. I’d love to join.”
“Nice,” Derek said before I heard him call to some people in the background. “He’s in!”
I heard the other guys give a cheer and I blinked my eyes. Just like that, my life had gone from a fight, where I was struggling to make it through to everything just going right.
I looked up to see Chloe still dancing around and I shook my head. I had a new band, a music school I’d be attending, and an amazing new girlfriend that I never wanted to let go.
And Camp Winni? I couldn’t wait to get back to that place.
As I hung up the phone, I asked Chloe for the car keys.
“Sure,” she handed them over.
“I’ll be right back,” I said. “I need my guitar.”
She pretended to hold a mic up to her mouth. “Practicing your new band songs?”
“Nope,” I gave her a wink “We need to sing a round of ‘Camp Winni.’”
Her mouth hung open before she pumped her fist in the air. “You are so right, that is exactly what this moment needs.”
We sang all the best camp songs that night and a few love songs too. I don’t know how I had never realized that my perfect girlfriend would sing along while I played but now that I had someone like that… I was never giving her up.
“Chlo,” I sat down next to her as I set my guitar to the side. “You really are like the sun shining down on my life. I love you.”
She kissed me, her smile saying it all. “I love you too.”
We lay awake talking for longest time, each on a bed, and when we fell asleep, our hands were still linked across the space between us.
Epilogue
One year later…
Drew
I looked over at Chloe dancing in her seat as we drove down the highway and gave her a lazy grin. It was the type of smile that came from being really happy.
The last year had been the best of my life. The band was amazing, and Chloe had been there every step of the way.
Not as a singer, though the guys kept trying to convince her. But she had told me multiple times that she just liked singing with me. It was our thing we did together. The stage, that was my thing and she liked to be down in the audience watching.
I liked the stage too but not as much as I thought I might. I was incredibly happy to be in a band that took music as seriously as me but all of us had other future plans that didn’t include being famous.
As we drove to Camp Winni, I wanted to tell Chloe about mine.
She noticed me looking at her and crinkled her nose as she leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “What’s going on in there?” She gave my temple a tiny tap. “Are you sad you won’t be with the band this summer?”
“Nope,” I winked at her. “You know Derek is joining the Camp Winni staff. And Doug is going to visit on some of our days off. We’re practically recreating the band at camp.”
She giggled. “Yeah, I am psyched about that. It’s going to be awesome to hang out with them all summer.”
A year ago that comment might have sparked jealousy but I was completely over it. The truth was, Chloe was so open and honest; I had stopped worrying. Not only did I trust her not to hurt me but I trusted her feelings for me. This wasn’t a fling or a crush. She wasn’t going to dump me when it became inconvenient. This was real. “I’m psyched Derek is coming down too. But we’re going to have to find a sixth member for our crew. We can’t have him feeling like the fifth wheel.”
Chloe tapped her chin. “Maybe we could set him up with someone. Wouldn’t that be fun!”
I gave a little groan. I was super happy in a relationship and so was Chloe but not everyone at our age felt the same. “Chlo,” I started, giving her a sidelong glance.
She huffed a little. “Fine, I’ll leave it alone… maybe.”
I laced my fingers with hers, our arms stretched across the seat of her Lincoln. “Leave poor Derek be.”
She pulled down her sunglasses as she lifted her brows. Her lips puckered a little and I knew I had not won this argument. She wasn’t saying it, but she was planning. God, I loved her.
“So,” she turned toward me in the seat. “You said you had a big announcement. What is it?”
“Hang on,” I said as we pulled off the highway and directly into Connecticut beach traffic. Chloe started to undo the top. My dad had finished fixing my car but we never drove in Boston, except to go home, so we ended up leaving my car in Connecticut and using hers most of the time. Thankfully, it hadn’t broken down on us again.
With the top down, we crept along route 84 still holding hands. I took a deep breath. “Are you still thinking you’re going to do the five year master’s program at Simmons?”
She nodded. “Mmhmm,” she nodded. “Why?”
It had been a topic of a lot of discussion between us. Her doing the five year program meant that she would finish her masters the same year I finished my bachelors because I had transferred. “Well, I talked with my counselor and it turns out, a lot more credits than I expected carried over into my degree program.”
She stilled but I heard her suck in a breath. “So you’re going to finish a year before me?”
One corner of my lips tipped up. It was so nice to know she didn’t want to be without me. “Actually, I was thinking of doing the one year master’s program with you. I think I want to teach music when I graduate. I know we won’t be rich but I think both of being teachers could be really great.”
She didn’t say anything for a few seconds. We were stopped at a light so I glanced over at her to see her staring at me, her sunglasses
marring her eyes so I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. But then, she unbuckled her seat belt and hopped across the seat throwing her arms around my neck. “That is the most incredible idea I’ve ever heard.” Then she was off. “You’re experience at Camp Winni is going to help so much with that. I could set you up with an internship. Do you think you’ll take some education classes at the Conservatory School? What do you think about…” she kept going and I just grinned.
I loved that girl.
Summer Sizzle
Accidental Kisses Book 2
Millie
I hung up my phone, staring at the screen.
Oh. My. God. My best friend Chloe had just started dating a super hot guitar player.
I flopped back on my bed, still staring at my phone in disbelief. I would not cry. Swallowing down my tears, I set the phone to the side. Don’t get me wrong, I was so happy for her, I really was. Drew, her dreamy new boyfriend, was perfect for Chloe.
But sometimes it felt like my job as friend was to be happy for everyone else while they rode off into the sunset with their perfect guy while I played the part of sendoff committee.
It was never going to be my turn. I was eighteen and I’d never had a boyfriend. I’d never even been kissed.
I snuggled down into my bed, burying my face in my pillow. The sounds of Camp Winnipeg were only slightly muffled by its synthetic fluffiness. I could still hear the crickets and the distant sound of the ocean waves normally lulled me to sleep.
I loved this place. I’d been coming here since I was twelve and this year, I’d become a counselor. I actually got paid to be here which was kind of amazing. Except for right now. I’d like to be anywhere else but here.
Camp Crush: Accidental Kisses Page 11