Family Camp (Daddy Dearest, #1)(35)

“My dolls,” Lucy muttered. So Geo got them out of her backpack and handed them to her. Lucy promptly leaned against him, clutching her dolls, and closed her eyes.

Geo put his arm around her, more than willing to eat with one hand if that meant cuddling. Lucy had been more receptive of touching since getting hurt. And while Geo would never have chosen to see her scraped up and bleeding, he was grateful that something seemed to have shifted between them. It melted his heart that he was the one she turned to when she needed comfort.

He got her situated and reached for his coffee. Van and Bridget were watching him from across the table.

“What?” he said.

Bridget raised her coffee cup in both hands, elbows on the table. “It’s so sweet to see love blossom. I can’t even hate you, Geo.”

“So cute together,” Van agreed. “They should seriously make a reality show with you guys.”

“Right?” Bridget said. “This is pure romance gold. Too bad they already missed filming the first few tentative baby steps though.”

Van nodded. “Totally. Like that first day in the parking lot, that whole thing with Travis and Lucy? And the way Geo and Travis zoned in on each other.” She made a gesture with her two hands stabbing at each other. “Like you and I were standing there? But we did not, in fact, actually exist.”

“I had to check to make sure I wasn’t an astral projection,” Bridget agreed. “Yeah, that was adorable.”

“All right, all right. Stop,” Geo protested in a not-at-all-convincing tone. He looked around to make sure no one else was paying attention. But he could feel the goofy smile on his face. “So, um, what are you guys doing today? Lucy and I are in the cooking class.”

“You’re cooking all right,” Bridget muttered.

“I’m gonna watch the boys at the baseball clinic,” Van said. “Highlight of their week. They’re so excited.”

Geo glanced down the table where Stryker was explaining something to Jayden, hands waving energetically.

“I’m gonna go to my cabin and cry,” Bridget said.

Geo turned fast to look at her, worried.

She laughed. “Kidding! Actually, I’m gonna do the nature hike with Aimee. There’s a dad I’m kind-of-sort-of interested in who’s signed up for that.”

“Is Joe leading the nature hike?”

“Yeah, Joe.”

Geo glanced back at the counselor’s table. He remembered what Cindy had said about Joe. He looked older than Travis, a beefy guy with a bit of a gut and a receding hairline. He was cute in a teddy-bear way, his face kind and friendly, and Geo had noted on the canoe trip that he was great with kids.

“You know, Joe is single. And he’s a sweetheart. So I hear,” Geo said.

“Joe Mayhew?” Bridget turned in her seat to look back at Joe. She stared at him for a long moment. When she turned back around, her expression was thoughtful.

“Joe is great,” Van agreed. “Last year my car wouldn’t start on the last day and he helped me out. He’s a real gentleman. And I’m pretty sure he lives in the L.A. area, Bridge.”

Van said this casually, but he could tell she was all for the idea. And, hallelujah, Geo was no longer in the matchmaking hot seat. He’d take it.





Chapter 17




The baseball clinic was a hugely popular session at Family Camp. In fact, some families came just for that and signed up for it when they submitted their camp application and deposit. The class had been full before camp even began.

So Travis had to focus on making it a great experience, even if he’d woken up with his head in the clouds. I made out with Geo last night. Holy shit.

Travis ought to feel guilty about it. He ought to feel dread, if not outright terror. He’d never done anything with anyone at camp, not even when he was a teenager. Camp Evermore was Mayhew family territory, which meant they were too likely to find out about anything he did, no matter how sneaky.

But he didn’t regret it, that was the weird part. He was maybe a little bit crazy about Geo. And he was growing more insane by the minute. It had felt so good to kiss and grope and giggle and get all kinds of horny with him. It felt so natural too. Like best friends. Like they’d known each other for a long time instead of just a few days.

Travis’s sexual encounters were usually rushed and never emotional. During the baseball season he refrained, the physical work of baseball making him too tired for anything but jerking off in the shower. In his months off, he kept his trysts anonymous and brief. Maybe that had been unwise. Maybe he’d been secretly craving a real connection and so he’d been vulnerable when he met someone as cute and warm and substantial as Geo. Maybe that’s why this thing felt so…electrifying. If felt like…like there was potential there. Like there was more Travis wanted. So much more. Stray thoughts wafted through his brain like drifts of smoke —about Geo, about Geo and Jayden and Lucy, about doing things together, all of them. Family.

But they were impossible thoughts. Idle “what ifs,” and he had to keep them that way. Their lives would never fit together. And there was no point whining about it. That’s just how things were.

“Can I go first, Travis?” Stryker ran up to him on the baseball field, face aglow. Aiden followed, pouting a little.