“Yeah. Needed her okay on this. Some junior counselors are bunking together. You’re technically an adult, but since we’ve mixed your cabin with boys, we needed her consent.”
My stomach dropped.
“Your mom said it was all good. She approved it.”
I blinked. My brain did not compute. I was staying in the cabin with the boys. That meant…
“Hey, roomie!” Max’s voice cut through, his hands gripping my shoulders like I was his prize.
“Um… yeah.” My mind was screaming chaos.
Shit.
I wasn’t going to survive the summer.
4
MAX
She was acting off. Way off. I looked different, sure, but Mackenzie? She was the type who didn’t give a damn about appearances. Or so I thought.
The second our eyes met, she couldn’t hold my gaze. It was making me feel insecure. We’d never had problems communicating or hanging out together. I didn’t know why that had suddenly changed. It was like she was nervous about being around me, or something.
We hit the cabin. The air was thick between us. Bunk beds lined the walls, each tagged with names. When we reached the back, I saw it before she did. A private alcove: one bunk bed in the middle corner of the room, a window on the far left, and a tiny bathroom off to the side.
My brain spun, trying to make sense of what I was seeing.
We had our own room for the entire summer.
Private.Reallyprivate.
Of fucking course.
We had a bedroom door. We could close it if we wanted to. I started to panic a bit. She was already acting weird around me, and this was going to set her over the edge.
I nervously watched her as she slung her bag onto the bottom bunk, walked in behind me, and put her hands on her hips, observing our new sleeping quarters.
“I can’t believe my mom agreed to this,” she muttered under her breath.
I felt her stiffen as she gazed at the beds. We both knew what this meant. They’d put us together on purpose. Nearly nineteen, we were the oldest counselors here. But still, we werebarelyadults. Mackenzie and I were close, but notthatclose.
Orwerewe? Did they think we were?
I tossed my bag onto the top bunk without hesitation, breaking the ice.
“I call the top bunk.”
She smiled, that spark lighting her eyes like a dare. “We should flip for it. Don’t want you breaking through the mattress and crushing me.”
“Checking me out already, Trouble? That’s two comments about my new body in a span of one hour.”
Shit.
Was I… flirting? Did she think I was flirting? Did she like it? I had never flirted with her before, but now I couldn’t stop myself. Her cheeks flamed scarlet, and she snapped her head away as if she had just been caught stealing.
“No!” she squeaked, but the flush said otherwise.
I swallowed the sudden rush inside me, that electric flare that always came with her. She played untouchable, but I’d just cracked that armor with a look. And she definitely liked it.
