Lamar lifted his finger in the air. “Cleanest bunks?”
“We’re still a destination resort,” Hazel chimed in. “We will not be checking people’s living areas.”
“I vote we have a hot pepper challenge to see who can eat the spiciest one,” Azalea offered.
“Um, no thanks,” I blurted, and I was quickly backed up by other agreeing murmurs. That sounded painful.
Leo was barely containing his laughter, his shoulders shaking.
Autumn chuckled. “Fantastic. If there’s a tie, we’ll figure it out.”
“Though it shouldn’t need to be on your radar since I’ll be the one winning,” I interjected.
People turned on me, laughing like it was the funniest joke they’d ever heard, even though I’d definitely be a strong contender. They’d all lick their wounds when they lost.
Just then, the door burst open, demanding our attention with a large creak and the sun shining through everything but the silhouette of a woman.
“Oof, that door still does that, huh?” she said, stepping inside to reveal herself. Of course, she would make her entrance by pointing out one of the many things on my laundry list of tasks that I was behind on. What a surprise.
Nat Breckenridge’s caramel-brown hair couldn’t be confused with someone else’s. Her sun-kissed cheeks and deep brown eyes had mesmerized more than a few campers. Her voice was rushed, which paired nicely with the sheen of sweat on her brow. She was late after all.
Her arrival elicited excitement and several gasps as people waved at her. I wasn’t the only one who hadn’t known about her arrival. Visit? I didn’t know what she was doing here.
“Go back to what you were doing.” She waved us off with the grace of Marie Antoinette, and I wondered if the exasperation in her voice was directed at us or if it was because she’d just run here. Probably the former. The woman was entitled. That might sound judgmental, but still, who did she think she was?And what was she doing here?
Autumn chose that moment to explain what we were doing. “To catch you up, the shipping board’s canceled, and we’re doing Camp Wars.” She pointed to the list behind her. “All the counselors are going head-to-head. I’ll explain in detail later.”
“I think I got it. So what do I get when I win?” Her lips quirked up on one side.
Oh god, she was staying.
“That’s the spirit.” Autumn’s raised eyebrows made it seem as though she was just as surprised to see Nat as I was. She hurried the rest of her presentation along, nonetheless. “So, is everybody in?”
The room erupted in positive murmurs. I threw in my own, “Fuck yes,” which came off a little more cutthroat than my fellow staffers. There was no way I was going to lose this competition. I had more than one reason to take this seriously, and the woman who just walked through the door was one of them.
I may have been donewith the expansion, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t a ton of work to do.
Unfortunately, it was hard to focus on my task list when I ruminated on the fact that Nat was back. I couldn’t believe I was stuck with the princess of the West Coast, who people had swarmed the second our kickoff meeting ended. I’d been gone half an hour, and people were probably still fawning over her instead of doing something important like, I don’t know… their jobs.
Someone knocked at my door as I grabbed new drill batteries from the bedroom in my cabin that served as a garage of sorts.
“Hey, Jack? What do I do if my gutter looks like it’s about to fall off?” an apologetic Sawyer asked.
“You wait for me to reattach it.” People frequently tried to take stuff off my plate the closer we got to launch, but I wasalways happy to help. “How about you go take a break, and I’ll meet you over there after?” I had a door to fix.
Sawyer nodded gratefully. “I can do that.”
I walked over to the mess hall to take care of the issue. The offending door wasn’t properly aligned because the hinges were worn, which caused it to swing open with too much force. I had already bought replacement hinges, but no, we were focusing on what Ihadn’tdone.
I combed through my toolbox and realized I’d left the hinges in my truck. Why couldn’t things just be easy today? I did a one-eighty and headed toward the parking lot.
“Psst,” a conspicuous Leo whispered loudly from the side of the mess hall. “If you want to discuss the shipping board 2.0, we meet at dawn. Or tonight at nine thirty, whichever comes first.”
He was probably going to get some takers, but I wouldn’t be one of them. I used to have fun with the shipping board, but I wouldn’t be participating anymore, and it had nothing to do with losing the money.
“I don’t have time for that. I’m behind as is.” My words came out harsher than I’d meant them to, but the sentiment was correct.
“You’re telling me you aren’t interested?” Leo raised his eyebrows in astonishment. “Does nobody care about me being able to afford the new addition on my house?” he quipped.
