“Here.” She squats next to me. “Hold the flint horizontally and place a little kindling on top.” Moving her hands around mine, she positions the rock in my palm. “Then strike down with the steel perpendicular to the flint, like this.” She guides my hand, imitating a strike against the flint. I shiver as her warm breath dances across my arm.
Kayla sits back, seemingly realizing the intimacy in her proximity. I clear my throat, trying to break up some of the tension.Trying again, her way this time, I get one good hit on the rock and the dry leaf lights up in a flash. “Yeah! Good! Now add that leaf to the rest and blow lightly, like you’re whistling.” She stands, hands on her hips again, with the biggest grin shining down on me. The kindling isn’t the only thing sparking on fire.
Tipping her head to the side, brows creased, she asks, “Have you ever made a fire before?”
“Not without a lighter.”
“Then why did you accept the challenge like you knew what you were doing?”
“You were talking to me again.” I shrug.
“I—what? When was I not talking to you?”
“You’ve been avoiding me ever since we got down from the climbing wall, and finally you weren’t. So…”
“I wasn’t avoiding you, Chase. I just…” She exhales loudly. “On the wall, when I had to, you know?—”
“Sit on my lap?” I offer, shooting her a sly grin.
“Yeah. That. It just made everything awkward.”
“Would it help if I said I enjoyed it?” I bite my lip in mock embarrassment.
“Oh, I felt how much you enjoyed it.” She laughs and hides her face in her hands. “Ugh, Chase. This is the problem! You say things likethat, you force me into your sweater and look at me with those eyes, and then you make me laugh. And don’t get me started on the winking…”
“These arebadthings? I’m confused…”
“It’s not bad. It’s…you’re cute, and funny, and…”
“And…?” I prompt her.
“And charming.”
“Charming is a bad thing?” I say slowly, trying to understand the path of her logic.
“Believe it or not, yeah.” She puffs out her bottom lip and a shadow flickers in her eyes. “Andyou’re leaving at the end of the summer. We both are.” She shrugs, as if to convince herself as much as me.
“So…I’m cute?” I ask, amused at how open she’s being with me right now.
“Youwouldlatch onto that one thing…” She shakes her head, laughing.
“Hey, those wereyourwords, not mine.” I grin as she bumps my shoulder playfully.
I bringKayla her second s’more of the evening while everyone chats around the fire. The sun dried out the ground enough that our last night of camp training will be spent around the flames. Tomorrow, we clean up and head home for the weekend before coming back Monday morning to meet the first group of campers.
“Thanks,” she says, making cute little grabbing motions with her hands as I walk toward her.
“A deal’s a deal.” I hand over the s’more, and the smallest drop of melted chocolate drips onto her pinkie. My eyes follow her hand as she licks it off, my heart racing the longer I stare at her lips.Do they feel as soft as they look?Noticing my gaze, Kayla clears her throat, snapping me back to the present as she looks down toward the flames. I drop my eyes and sit down on the log next to her, shoving my hands into the pocket of my hoodie.Damn it.
Kyle tunes his guitar across the pit and strums slowly, deciding which notes to play. He plucks a couple of songs, which gets the group swaying as we talk to each other. After a while, I recognize the simple chorded tune from a ’90s Britpop group my dad used to play frequently. Claire sings along, and Samson’s humming buzzes next to me while he taps his foot on the ground. Sami and Kayla’s voices join in, creating the kind of harmony that makes campfires magical. I don’t sing, but I appreciate the atmosphere. Hearing Kayla’s honeyed voice sends a frisson up my spine and goosebumps down my arms. I watch her as she sings,the smile growing wider on her face, and I’m thankful for the sheet of darkness that hides the color heating my cheeks. I’m realizing how multi-dimensional this girl is. If I thought I couldn’t be more captivated by her, I was dead wrong.
The song ends, and Kyle strums another, this one more upbeat. “Your voice is beautiful,” I whisper. “Which makes sense, considering…”
She giggles and turns to me, rolling her eyes. “Thanks, Sir Flirts-a-lot. I think it’s time for another s’more.”
“You got it.”
I glance back and see Kayla watching me across the pit as I toast a new marshmallow, unsure if the fire in her eyes is from the literal flames between us or something else. I feel it, but the jury is still out on whether she feels it too. The progress we’ve made today could all be in my mind, changing in the morning as quickly as the fickle Fort Bender weather.
