Bookishly Ever After (Ever After #1)(71)

“I told you. Fictional romance. Too bad you didn’t figure it out when half the junior class told you he was a jerk.”

I couldn’t help but correct her. As much as I didn’t want to think about the whole conversation and kiss, I still couldn’t think of Kris as bad as Em and the others described. “He’s not a jerk. He’s just really, really focused on what he wants.”

A dismissive sound came over the phone. At least, I thought it was a dismissive sound and not Em choking on something.

“And doesn’t care about what anyone else wants unless it matches up with his plans.”

“It was awful, especially when Dev had to save me.” I played with the hem of my polo. Today, I had stylishly accessorized it with a red bandana belt. “Between that and the trust walk thing, I don’t think I can do this co-counseling thing anymore. Last night was torture.”

“It sounded pretty awesome to me. Dev swooped in and got you out of a bad situation. Then, you guys held hands and wandered through the woods in the moonlight.”

The force of my eye roll had to be heard over the phone. Leave it to Em to turn a trust exercise into something it wasn’t. “Blindfolded.”

“Whatever turns you on.”

“You’re not taking this seriously. It’s a lot easier to think of Dev as just a friend when I’m not with him practically twenty-four hours a day and when I don’t have to watch him make sparks in the dark.” I tugged at my bun, feeling a few of the looser pieces slip out. Hello, disheveled Phoebe.

I could hear her giggles over the line. “You know, it would be a little easier to take you seriously if you didn’t say stuff like that. It’s just too easy to tease you. At least you’re not here, feeling the wrath of Osoba.”

“I’ll take Osoba over suffocating under the weight of pretending this totally unrequited crush doesn’t exist. It’s so romantic in books, but in real life it totally sucks.”

“I knew it!” A high-pitched squeal erupted behind me and ice washed through me as I turned slowly to find Diana and Eliana standing on the edge of the closest parking space. “You do like him!” Diana grabbed my free hand and swung it happily.

I could barely keep my phone to my ear. “What the hell is going on?” Em asked with her special blend of pissy annoyance.

“This is awesome,” Eliana said, giving a little twirl. “Like Romeo and Juliet. But not.”

I tried to stare the two of them into silence. “Two of the girls from my cabin just found me.”

A groan came from the other side of the phone line. “That’s not good, is it?”

I shook my head out of habit. “Not particularly. Not if I don’t want Dev to find out.”

“Oh, we won’t tell him,” Diana looked up at me angelically, big eyes and all.

Apparently, my death glare was broken. “I gotta go. I’ll call you when I can.” I eyed the two campers and hoped they wouldn’t rush off before I could talk to them. “Text me about the interpreter audition? I want to know how it went.” She’d been preparing for days for the audition and it killed me that I wasn’t there to cheer her on this time.

“Spoiler alert: I got it. I’ll tell you all about ficus and corsets and people who were in the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society later, when you don’t have to deal with little monsters.”

“That’s awesome,” I said, cringing at how distracted I sounded.

“Yes, it is. But that’s nineteenth-century, and you have some twenty-first century eavesdroppers. Go. Good luck with that mess.”

“Thanks,” I said, clicked off my phone, and pocketed it before regarding the two campers. “Please just pretend you never heard this. Please?”

Eliana reached up and tugged a few more strands out of my bun so they brushed my cheek. “That’s a lot better. Dev looked like he liked it when your hair was down yesterday.”

“Huh?”

Diana answered that one. “At the walk. He played with your hair.”

I blinked at both of them, running through my memories of the night. “No, he pulled a pine needle out of it.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” Diana said. “You definitely need our help if you want to get him to ask you out.”

“I don’t want anything like that.” I dropped my hands from my hips and tried a calming breath. “I have to go set up for orienteering, Go back and eat some more scrambled eggs or something and don’t worry about this Dev thing.”

“But—” Eliana didn’t seem too happy.

I tried to look both of them in the eye and settled for ping-ponging between them with my best serious face. “Please? This is something personal that I need to deal with on my own.”

Diana crossed her arms and actually made a pouty face. That girl had conniving angel down pat. “Fine, but when you need help, we’ll be here.”

I put one hand on each girls’ shoulders and started guiding them back towards the mess hall.

“Thanks,” I said, trying my best to sound appreciative. “I’ll remember that.”

Dev was already preparing the stones and sticks for the fire pits when I arrived at our clearing. I dropped my bag of compasses on the table and tried to look nonchalant as I collapsed onto the bench and started shuffling through the packets we’d be handing the kids.