Unknown (The Secret Life of Cassie Martin #1)(22)

Fallon knocks her shoulder into mine. “That’s my brother you’re talking about.” She tries to sound stern, but she giggles as I hit the mattress.

I try to defend myself. “Oh, I know. I would say the same to his face. Don’t worry.”

“Hey! What did I miss? No fair telling jokes without me.” Lily pouts as she rejoins us.

“You didn’t miss anything. We’re just laughing at the boys.” I notice she changed into a shorter skirt.

Changing sounds like a good idea, but I’ll go for shorts and a tank.

“Hurry up so we can get a good spot,” Fallon yells as I walk over to my bunk to change.

I decide not to tell her I’m not going to need a spot. The boys probably staked out the best places to sit, observe, and talk. They’re the total opposite of the way Lara’s team sounds.

After I finish dressing, we inspect our clothing choices one more time and make our way to the fire pit. By the time we arrive, the unlit logs lay ready for the final spark to get them ignited. Tables with all sorts of fruits and chocolate dipping sauces stand off to the right side. A pile of graham crackers next to marshmallows and chocolate waits to be made into s’mores. In the back, a small stage set up with a big monitor behind it rounds out the section opposite the fire pit. Kids play putt-putt while the camp coordinators finalize their setup. Anticipation over what I’ll enjoy tonight makes me fidgety because I’ve never been to anything like this before.

“Cassie, you weren’t going to start the party without us, were you?” Lucca’s Italian accent makes his wistful comment come across as sultry.

When I turn around, Lucca’s hands rest on his hips, and his lip sticks out in a pout. I bite my cheeks to stop from laughing at his posture.

“Lucca, we all know the party couldn’t truly start until you arrive.” I wink at him as the other guys walk up.

“Hi, Lucca!” Lily steps up to him and puts her hand on his chest.

Lucca takes a slight step back so that Lily’s hand drops back to her side as he quickly glances my way. “Buonasera, Lily.”

Lily misses the hint as she places her hand on his arm. I should have warned her I asked both Jay and Noah out for her at the same time. Lucca knows he must be next on her list.

“I love it when you speak Italian. It’s sexy,” she purrs at him.

“I'm going to switch to Portuguese then.” Lucca’s flat tone switches to Portuguese.

I giggle from behind Lily.

She glances at me. “Don’t you think his Italian is hot?”

“I don’t think it would matter what language he’s speaking.” He’ll sound hot to you. I finish in my head.

She shakes her head at me and gives up on Lucca by dragging me across the site. I twist to see what the others are doing and notice them following us.

“Did you put in a good word for me with Lucca?” she whispers to me.

“No, you only asked about Jay and Noah. I didn’t think to go through all of them. Sorry,” I whisper back.

“Not a big deal, I can take it from here.” She leaves me to find Lucca, but he’s on the opposite side of me, a few paces back. When he sees Lily looking around, he ducks behind a tree to the right of the clearing.

I work to distract Lily in order to protect the boys. “What’s with the stage and the screen? Are they going to show a movie?”

“No. It’s for karaoke.” She skips as she answers.

“I’ve never sung in front of an audience before. Don’t you get nervous?” Since I was little, music teachers have told me I have perfect pitch, so I wouldn’t be afraid to sing. But I’ve never tried because I shy away from the spotlight.

Lily shakes her head, her blond hair swishing around her shoulders. “No way! People are supposed to sound awful when they sing karaoke.”

Maybe, I shouldn’t sing then. Singing badly on purpose doesn’t sound fun.

“Come on, girls!” Lily bounces away from me to link arms with Fallon and Lara. Their eyes plead with me to help, but I shrug at them. The girls are safer than the boys.

I walk behind them, slowing my pace so they pull ahead, and Lucca and Parker saunter up on either side of me.

“See Lucca, you aren’t alone, either.” I smile over at him. “I protected you that time.”

“Well, you’re our mistress, so that’s in your job description.” Parker throws in his two cents.

“Parker! I can’t believe you would say that to me. I’m throwing Lily at you next. If you can’t be nice after that, I’ll go find Jenny.” I wrinkle my nose at him to remind him that’s not something he wants.

“Yes, ma’am.” He blows me a kiss.

I nudge him in the side. “Are you guys going to sing? I think you should sing an oldie, something with harmony.” Nothing beats a guy that sings to you.

“We’ll think about it if we can find a good song,” Jay says as he joins us.

Wow. He’s the last one I expected to volunteer to sing. I give a little clap to let them know how excited this turn of events makes me.

Our venture across the party area leads us to where the karaoke is set up. When we arrive, the girls already dance on stage. Lily waves me up as the music begins to play without me. I climb up quickly and stand off to the side. Fallon pushes me in the middle, so the mic is positioned in front of me. About to turn to her to ask what we’re singing, the music starts, and I recognize the song. It’s one of my favorites.