Free Sun Kissed (Camp Boyfriend) by Joanne Rock Page A

cared about me and I cared about him. We were a couple.
    He stroked my hair and kissed the top of my head.
    I smiled as my heart beat in time with his.
    “So … would you like that dance now?” he asked.
    “Definitely.” I peered up at him and he kissed me, his lips warm and soft and perfect.
    “Let’s do this.” He linked my arm through his and we stole through the kitchen door back out into the noise and green lights of the Secret Garden.
    Pausing by the refreshment stand, he made a point of holding my hand. Then, together, we walked toward our friends in a statement they couldn’t miss.
    Siobhan was the first to notice. She grinned and grabbed Alex’s arm, pointing at us.
    Alex howled in approval so that everyone else turned to see what was going on. Trinity, Jackie, and Piper blew exaggerated kisses our way. Seth’s friend, Julian, hooted and clapped. Eli wrapped his arms around himself and turned, his hands sliding up and down his back like he was making out with someone. But what else would I expect from Eli?
    They were all glad for us. Maybe they’d guessed about us all along? Seen this coming? Regardless, I could have floated away like one of the helium balloons bumping along the ceiling.
    As Seth turned me in his arms to dance with me, I stared into his amber eyes and hoped I would never let him down.

 
    Chapter Six
    “Get a room!” Jackie heckled from behind when Seth pulled me off our hiking trail and snuck another kiss. I grinned at her over my boyfriend’s shoulder and a thrill shot me through me that yes , I could say that now. We’d been official for two weeks, but I still felt surprised every time he held my hand or kissed me before the counselors noticed.
    Seth squeezed my waist and we raced back in line as our camp director, Gollum, rounded the bend.
    “What’s the holdup, people?” His tomato of a face was pulpy red.
    “Just enjoying the view.” Seth shot me a meaningful look that made me giggle. Siobhan and Jackie doubled over and made exaggerated gagging sounds as they passed us.
    We scampered further up the trail, hoping for a dark nook or a wide balsam fir to sneak in another kiss. So far, we’d managed four and I hoped for number five before we reached Tennent Mountain’s summit. Seth’s lips made me feel as lightheaded as the elevation, but I couldn’t get enough.
    The smell of pitch permeated the crisp air, the cooler temperature a welcome escape from the July heat. Dark fir trees flanked the deep, rutted path like tall sentinels, silent witnesses to every snuggle Seth and I managed. Being near each other was irresistible. PDA was off limits. But we couldn’t stop touching as we trotted in and out of the sunshine leaking through the boughs, slowly putting more distance between us and the camp director bringing up the rear of the twenty-person hiking party.
    Birds called in the echoing wilderness and I wanted to sing with them, my heart soaring higher than my feet could carry me. I glanced at Seth’s profile, struck by the way his hair flopped across his forehead, the slanting of his eyebrows that were a shade darker than his sandy hair, and the golden gleam of his eyes when they flitted my way. I glanced over my shoulder, saw nothing of Gollum, and twined my fingers in his reaching hand. I was here to appreciate natural beauty, but Seth was all I could see, hear, or think about.
    “Having fun?” Seth helped me leap over a mud patch and onto a rock.
    My hiking shoes slipped a bit on the mossy stone and he snaked an arm around my waist. I looked up into his warm gaze. “Definitely.”
    We stood there, grinning like idiots, until a throat cleared loudly in the hush.
    “God. You two are sickening.” Alex’s gum snap rousted a bird from the ferns. It flew squawking into the gloomy thicket, its agitation matching Alex’s. She put her hands on her slim hips and tapped her foot. “Susannah sent me back to see what was keeping you and to check on Gollum.”
    “He’s a