Family Camp (Daddy Dearest, #1)(44)

Jayden pushed away from Geo, settling back into his seat. He wiped his eyes. And when he looked at Geo, his expression was open and raw, his lower lip trembling. He nodded. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

Jayden nodded again and smiled. It was a shaky smile but a hopeful one, and it went right to Geo’s heart.

He held out a fist and Jayden bumped it.

“Cool. You realize this means you’ll one day be stuck visiting me in a nursing home and changing my diaper,” Geo joked to lighten the mood.

Jayden made a face. “Ew, that is gross!”

“It’s totally gross. But families do that sort of thing for each other. Like, when you’re sick and puking your guts out, I’ll hold your hand. And when I’m old and falling apart, you’ll hold mine.”

Jayden tilted his head as if considering it. “Okay. Only I’m gonna make, like, a bazillion dollars, so I can just pay someone to change your diaper.”

Geo laughed. “That works for me, kid. Now what do you say we go back and get some sleep?”





Chapter 22




Stryker ran up to Travis, waving a blue ribbon in the air like the world’s smallest kite. “Look, Travis! Look what I won!”

“Look what we won,” Jayden corrected, running up behind him.

Travis took the blue ribbon and tried to look impressed. “You guys won the boy’s flagpole race?”

“Yeah!” Stryker said, puffing out his chest. “And we weren’t even, like, the oldest team. One team had a fifteen-year-old.”

“But we were the fastest.” Jayden made a wave motion with his hand, bobbing his head, “Runnin’ like the wind, brah.”

Travis chuckled. “Good job. Who else was on your team?”

“Me!” said Aiden, hopping up and down. “I ran fastest.”

“You did not!” Stryker rolled his eyes.

“You did good though,” Jayden told Aiden, sounding very mature.

Travis held up his palm. “Way to go, guys.” He high-fived them all. Jayden was grinning, his face glowing. He seemed different today, lighter. Which was a surprise given the drama of his disappearance the night before. Travis hadn’t had a chance to talk to Geo about it. But whatever had happened, it appeared to be all right now.

Thursday mornings at Family Camp were the Camp Evermore Olympics. There were relay games and contests, ribbons and prizes, balloon hats, a fair-style concession booth, and busloads of silliness.

Nearly every camper participated, so Travis, Cindy, Joe, and the other counselors, along with Travis’s mom and dad, were all on hand. It was a low-pressure event for Travis, and one of his favorite activities of the summer.

Back in the day, the Mayhews had formed a team of their own. Travis remembered those years fondly, remembered potato-sack and wheelbarrow races with the entire huge Mayhew clan, remembered Ben’s joking around and Cindy’s huge competitive streak. But now there were only four of the siblings at camp, and they were all counselors, so they ran the games, urged the teams on, and watched out for injuries or arguments. Usually.

“What’s next? Is it time for the family relay yet?” Stryker asked, tugging on Travis’s shirt.

“Yup. We’re just getting set up for it.” Travis picked up a wire basket full of large, plastic balls. “So go find your mom and get lined up.”

“Hey, Jayden!” Stryker said. “Wanna be on our team? You, me, Aiden, and my mom? You can have four on a team. Right, Travis?”

Travis was about to suggest that Jayden participate with Geo and Lucy, since that was the point of the family relay. But, to his surprise, Jayden spoke up first.

“Nah. I wanna play with my dad and Lucy.”

Travis blinked. My dad? That was a first. He’d have to tell Geo about that. He’d be thrilled.

“Hey, Travis, wanna be on our team? You’d make four. And we need you!” Jayden gave Travis a pleading, cheesy smile that Travis thought was at least a little bit manipulative. It still got to him.

“Um. I have to help run things so—”

“Sure, Travis can be on your team,” Cindy said, coming up beside him.

She tried to take the basket of balls from him. Travis hung on, giving her a dirty look. Cindy stepped on his foot and then yanked the basket away when he gasped in pain. Fucking big sisters.

She gave him a cheerful smile. “Go ahead, Travis. Joe and I have this. And Trish is hanging around. She’ll help.”

“But I—”

“Yay!” Jayden cheered. “Come on, Travis!” He took Travis’s hand and tugged.

Travis went.

Honestly, he felt a bit awkward. He couldn’t stop thinking about what they’d done in the woods last night—Geo on his knees giving him the best damn head of his life. He felt out of sorts, like his skin was too tight. The desire lingered, as if that had been only a taste of a meal he was starving for. But there was also unease. There was nowhere for this thing with Geo to go. And that bothered him. A lot. The desire-anxiety was a clashing mixture that didn’t sit well in his gut.

As he’d worked with Cindy and Joe to run the festivities that morning, he’d found his gaze returning to Geo again and again. He and Lucy had done the Mini-Mites Horse Course together, a contest involving little tykes riding on a parent’s shoulders around a horse-themed obstacle course, the kids acting like jockeys and the parents like horses. It was fucking hilarious, seeing the dads and moms trying to step over hurdles, prance around the weave poles, and over ramps.