Family Camp (Daddy Dearest, #1)(26)

“I’m kidding! I kid. I teach seventh-grade history. It’s a great age. Old enough to grasp sophisticated concepts but young enough not to sneer at you while they’re doing it.”

Travis wanted to ask more questions. He felt itchy inside, like he wanted to know everything about Geo. And he was fun to talk to. Hell, Geo could probably recite the phone book and be entertaining. Not to mention the way the filtered light through the trees made Geo’s sandy-brown hair turn a bit golden, or how the warm look in his eyes went right to Travis’s belly, or the way the slight sheen of sweat on his skin made him look…lickable.

But Travis sensed there were people right behind them. He looked over his shoulder. It was a young couple. The guy had a Padres baseball cap on.

“Hey, Travis.” The guy sounded nervous. He held out his hand. “I’m Jimbo. And this is my wife, Heidi.”

Travis shook his hand. “Hi, guys. Nice to meet you.”

“Hey, um, how do you think the season’s going? I saw the last game with San Francisco. You guys were tight.”

Travis started talking baseball with the guy and Geo fell back. After a few minutes, when Travis glanced around, he saw Geo talking to a good-looking guy with a baby in a carrier on his chest.

It was for the best. Travis couldn’t spend all his time with Geo. It wouldn’t be fair to the other campers. So Travis gave Jimbo and Heidi his full attention as they continued up the trail.

At Goat Rocks, Joe handed out granola bars and waters, and Travis helped the kids scramble up on the rocks and get down without scraping knees and elbows. Campers started wandering close, shyly, wanting a selfie with him. Travis complied, smiling for the camera and putting his arm around person after person he didn’t know.

It always made him feel weird. His celebrity was like a relative he didn’t like very much. Part of him needed it, drank it in. He was proud to think he was important, that he had achieved a real place in the world. And part of him felt like a total imposter and was uneasy with needing to be nice to so many strangers. But he was damned lucky to be in the position he was in, and he knew it. And he’d do anything to leave a positive impression of Camp Evermore. Selfies included.

Geo sat over on the huge, flat rock that overlooked the view, looking relaxed with his bottle of water. He glanced at Travis a few times, but not as many times as Travis watched him.

Not that Travis was counting.

He was taking a photo with the dad with the baby when he noticed Geo call Jayden over. He held out an apple and motioned for Jayden to sit with him. But Jayden slouched up his shoulders and did his feet-scuffling thing. He shook his head and wandered off again.

The crushed look on Geo’s face lasted only a moment, but Travis saw it. And it made his heart hurt.

Don’t stop trying, Travis wanted to tell him. He’ll come around for you. He will.

Because it was nearly impossible not to like Geo. And Travis ought to know.





Chapter 12




That evening, Travis was at the campfire again. And again, Geo and Lucy weren’t there. They must have opted for the movie. Jayden, Stryker, and Aiden sat by Travis, with Jayden and Stryker on either side of him and Aiden next to Stryker. A few of the single moms eyed them with resentment as everyone filled up the log seats.

Yeah, Travis was more than happy to have the kids as his flanking guard. Campfires were romantic, and Travis had fended off wandering hands in the past. So awkward. The darkness and the firelight tended to make women bold. Once, a woman had stuck her hand down the back of his shorts, causing him to spit his hot cocoa all over himself. He would just as soon not deal with it.

Unless those wandering hands were Geo’s.

No. He wasn’t gonna go there, not even in his head.

They made s’mores and told ghost stories. His brother Joe’s rendition of Hook Hand was a perennial favorite. Joe was thirty-six, single, and starting to bald. He was a Mayhew foster too, a guy with a round face, squat shape, and huge heart. Jayden snuggled closer to Travis, a little bit scared. Travis wanted to put his arm around the kid. He knew Jayden would lap up the affection. But then he remembered the way Jayden had iced out Geo on the hike.

Travis had to be careful. The point was for Jayden to bond with Geo this week, not him. So he didn’t push Jayden away, but he didn’t initiate anything either.

At the end, they stood up and sang the Camp Evermore song, everybody laughing as the song got faster and faster and the hand motions became frantic. Jayden had gotten the moves down cold and was now improvising on them, adding a beatbox flavor, which made Travis laugh. He wished Geo were there to see it.

And then they said goodnight and folks headed back to their cabins.

Travis stayed behind to make sure the fire was out and no personal belongings had been left behind. Then he trudged up the path from the firepit to the main camp.

He had to pass through the cabin area.

He told himself he wouldn’t stop. Fuck, he wouldn’t even look. Yet when he saw a shape sitting on the step of cabin number 10, he swerved that way, his feet acting with a will of their own.

He’d just say good night. It was no big deal.

“Hey,” Travis said, stopping in front of Geo.

“Hey,” Geo replied softly. He nodded his head at the cabin and put his finger to his lips. There was a soft night-light glow coming from the windows, but it was quiet inside. The kids must already be asleep.