We’d gone camping plenty of times with our moms, but I knew exactly what story he was about to tell. “Are you really telling that story again?”
“We were like ten years old, and River got this massive crush on another boy at the campsite, and of course he ran off and spent the day with his crush. Except he didn’t tell this boy that he was a twin.”
I leaned in to stir the rice again, then turned down the heat. “I was going through a phase where I occasionally like to pretend Kai didn’t exist.”
“I didn’t take it personally,” Kai said. “Except that my first kiss ended up being this total stranger who walked up to me and planted a big one on my lips, and right next to the outhouse.”
“Yikes,” Leo laughed, and I could tell he was slightly embarrassed. I guess I could understand how stories about boys kissing Kai instead of me might freak him out. “That’s like the time in college when my hookup ran into you in the middle of the night in the dark hallway and spanked your ass.”
“Yeah,” Kai agreed with a chuckle. “That’s what I get for having you two in my life. Crossfire from your relationships and sexcapades.”
I stepped back and leaned against the opposite counter. Kai and Leo kept chatting while Leo stirred the vegetables together with spices and a fancy oil from a tiny bottle. He turned a glance my way every now and then, and I was glad that he seemed to be having a little trouble keeping his eyes off of me, instead of just the other way around.
My heartbeat accelerated. Why did that make me so happy?
And why was I looking at him more often than I should? With Kai sitting right there, I shouldn’t have been noticing the way Leo’s trousers hugged his ass.
Or thinking about how nice it would be to camp out in nature with him.
I squeezed my hands into fists. What I said to Marie on the phone was true. Being with Leo didn’t feel anything like my other relationships. It felt just like I described it, like friendship and lust that were tangled up together.
But standing there in the kitchen, I couldn’t deny that friendship and lust were feeling just as good as any love I could remember.
Chapter Fifteen
Leo
The viewfrom our campsite stretched out into the distance, with rolling green hills and rocky cliffs hugging a wide river. We had to lug our tents and supplies for half an hour to get there, but the privacy and view were well worth the effort.
I took a deep breath of the fresh air and felt the sun on my face. Birds called to each other in the distance, and all of my office stresses disappeared, carried away on the wind.
“You want to find that river?” Cass asked as he appeared by my side. He was wearing an old pair of black boots, cargo shorts, and a worn T-shirt with the sleeves cut off.
“I’m up for a hike.” I turned to the rest of our crew. Kai and River were setting up the last tent, and my brother Shawn was gathering kindling for the fire. “Anyone else?”
“You go,” Kai said, a tent pole flopping in his hand. “We’ll have dinner started by the time you’re back.”
I caught Shawn’s eye, who nodded. “Enjoy the hike!”
I was glad to get a little time alone with Cass. He’d seen me through some of the hardest times in my life. He stood there by my side when I came out of the closet in high school and faced a lot of bullying, and even though he still thought he was straight at the time, he didn’t flinch when some of that bullying came his way, too. As we headed down the winding trail, he gulped from his battered water bottle, then handed it to me.
“How are things going with River?” he asked immediately. “You still crushing?”
I hesitated for just a moment. I’d intentionally kept my mouth shut about the latest developments, as though sharing it with anyone might risk blowing the secret altogether. It’s one thing to keep a secret from Kai, but it would make him much more upset if a bunch of people knew what he didn’t.
Still, I knew I could trust Cass, and unless the trees were listening, I couldn’t imagine a safer place to talk.
“Something like that. We maybe hooked up.”
Cass stopped walking. “You what? What’s maybe hooking up? Why didn’t you tell me, Leo?”
I grabbed his elbow to drag him forward. “Because I didn’t want to tell anyone. It happened last week. It’s not like I was expecting it or anything.” I thought a second, then clarified. “By maybe hooking up, I mean we had intense office sex.”
“Tell me you’re not avoiding him now.” Cass knew my patterns, so it only made sense his mind went straight there.
“Of course not,” I objected. “Well, not since I took a day to adjust.”
“Is he falling for you? I know that was Kai’s worry.”
