I look at him, confused. “Why would I ever mention something like that?”
He shrugs, jumping back off my bed. “Just saying.” He leaves my cabin and grabs the rest of my bags. “Come on. It’s time for you to get settled.”
I walk the opposite way and take up the spot on my bed. I want nothing to do with unpacking.
He knows me well enough that he doesn’t even question it. Mase unpacks all my bags and then lines up my luggage under my bed.
At times, he could be the most annoying older brother in the world, but one thing is for sure: he’ll always take care of me.
“Hi.” One of the girls I saw in the parking lot walks in with three other girls trailing behind her.
I sit up and smile. “Hi. I’m Maddie Grace. Are y’all?—”
“Oh, Mase.” I’m cut off by Tweedle Dee, bouncing in excitement. “I’m so glad you’re back this summer. Come by my bunk later. It’s the same as last year. Number One.”
He doesn’t answer, only smirks. He knows how uncomfortable this is for me.
“I’ll leave now,” he whispers and kisses my cheek. “Come find me if you need me. I’ll see you at dinner. I love you.”
“Love you too.”
The second he’s gone…
“I can’t believe Mason Cunningham is your brother.”
And here we go.
3
Nate
“Holy shit, I’m fucked.”I throw myself on Leo’s couch. “Lock your cabin door before Cunningham comes back and beats the shit out of me.”
“Nathaniel Davenport,” Mom snaps with a bite that would scare a wild animal.
I sit up, wide-eyed. “I’m sorry. I thought you left.”
She stomps her way over to me and grabs me by the ear, pulling me off the couch. “Ouch.”
“Yeah. Ouch, that’s what my poor head is saying from those filthy words coming out of you.” I rub my ear once she lets go. “And how could you think I’d leave without saying goodbye?”
She takes me in her arms and kisses my cheek before calling Leo over, and then pulls us both back into a hug.
“I’m going to miss you boys so much,” she mumbles through a crack in her voice.
“One second, you’re pulling Nate by the ear, and then the next, you’re cuddling us, crying,” Leo teases, and she pretends to smack him upside the head.
“Don’t tease me, León. Soon enough, the two of you will be leaving me for the West Coast. At least your brothers’ colleges were within driving distance, and your sister’s school is in the same city. I can’t stand the thought of you two being so far away.” She lets the tears fall freely. “Couldn’t you have skipped camp this year to stay home with me?”
“Rosa, honey.” Dad wraps his arms around her, pulling her into his chest. “Parents’ weekend is in three weeks, and they’ll be home most of August. Don’t forget we just built a new hotel thirty minutes from USC. We’ll visit whenever you want, you know that.”
“Once they’re gone, that’s it. All my babies are out of the house for good.”
He rubs her hair, soothing her. Their affection toward each other is normal, but how upset she is is not.
Mom is a rock, built like no other woman I know.
“Seb and Harrison graduated and are back living in the city,” I remind her. They may live downtown now, but I can bet on everything in the world that they will be at the Morales household every second they can. “You’ll probably get sick of them in no time, and you’ll be thanking everyone that we’re out of your hair.”
