Daring the Bad Boy (Endless Summer)(20)

Hmm. Kelsey was sort of dramatic.

My gaze slid to Annie, who was staring blatantly at Kyle as he wolfed down his breakfast. “What about you?” I asked her, but she wasn’t listening.

She started when Kelsey poked her in the shoulder. “What?” she asked her friend.

Kelsey pointed at me, and Annie’s gaze met mine. “Um, did you ask me something?” She sounded nervous.

“Yeah. I wanted to know if you have a crush on Dane, too? Like your friend.”

Kelsey laughed. “I don’t have a crush on him.”

“Oh! No.” Annie shook her head, her cheeks going beet red. She blushed a lot. It was kind of cute. “I mean, he’s hot and all but…” Her gaze slid to Kyle again, like she couldn’t help herself. Kyle didn’t even notice. He just kept chewing with his mouth open, then burped. Annie didn’t even flinch. “He’s not really my type.”

Bells started dinging in my head. I think I might’ve figured out who her type was.

Interesting.

And just the slightest bit…disappointing?

“Oh, like you’d have a chance with him, even if he was your type,” Kelsey said, laughing. “He has too many to choose from, considering every girl here talks about him like he’s the hottest guy at camp.”

“That’s because he is the hottest guy at camp,” Kyle said, suddenly finding his voice. The girls both turned their rapt attention to him, their eyes wide, and he leaned back, making a face. “What? It’s true.”

“Seriously, dude?” That’s all I bothered to say.

“You think Dane is hot?” Kelsey asked, trying her best to keep a straight face. “Are you president of his fan club?”

“No, dummy. Dane doesn’t have a fan club. At least, if he does, I’ve never heard about it.” Holy shit, sometimes Kyle was as dumb as a box of rocks. “We just know all the girls lose their shit every time he so much as walks by, let alone when he talks to one of them. It’s pretty damn obvious. No one bothers to hide it.” His response was greeted with dead silence. Even I’m surprised he’d have so much to say about Dane the lifeguard stud.

When no one said anything, Kyle rolled his eyes and started peeling back the wrapper on his blueberry muffin. “I’m going to quit talking now.”

“You do that,” I said, clapping him on the back, smiling at both Kelsey and Annie. But they weren’t even looking in my direction. They were too busy whispering to each other behind their cupped hands.

I hated when girls did that. Made me nervous, like they were talking about me, which they probably were. Kyle was oblivious, too busy stuffing his face, and I tried to follow his lead, concentrating on shoving as much food in my stomach before I was out for the long haul at the lake. I rarely got a break until lunch, and usually by then I was starving.

We made small talk for the next few minutes. And when I refer to “we” I should clarify that it was Kelsey who did all the talking. Kyle and I ate. Annie watched Kyle eat as discreetly as possible.

Meaning, she wasn’t very discreet at all. What with the wide eyes and the rosy cheeks, it was fairly obvious that she was crushing on Kyle hard. Though he was the only one who didn’t seem to notice.

“Gotta go hit the showers,” Kyle announced as he sprang up from the bench and grabbed his now-empty tray. “See you at the lake,” he told me before he walked away.

He didn’t even acknowledge the girls’ existence with a good-bye.

“So tell me the truth,” I said the moment Kyle was out of earshot. “You have a thing for Kyle.”

“Oh, I don’t like him at all.” Kelsey rested her hand on her chest like she was shocked by what I said. “That would be An—”

Annie clamped her hand over her friend’s mouth, muffling whatever else she was about to say. “Don’t listen to her. She has no idea what she’s talking about.” The glare Annie sent her friend was murderous.

“It’s okay if you like the guy.” I leaned across the table, my smile easy, my mind trying to come up with something that I could blackmail her with right back. I think I just found it. “I’m sure he’d love to know all the juicy details.”

She turned her murderous glare on me. Was it okay to admit that I thought she was kind of hot with the furious expression, lack of makeup, and messy blond bun on top of her head? Upon first glance she looked as harmless as a fluffy kitten.

But those eyes…yeah. They were seriously pissed.

Seriously pretty.

And I had no business thinking like that. Campers were off-limits.

“Hey Kels, would you be a dear and leave Jacob and me alone for a few minutes?” Annie asked sweetly, all fluffy kitten-like.

“Um. Sure.” Kelsey made her escape in seconds. I think angry Annie scared the crap out of her.

The moment we were alone, Annie’s smile faded and she parted her lips, ready to attack, but I spoke first.

“You don’t have to call me Jacob.”

Her lips snapped back together. “Huh?”

“You called me Jacob. You keep calling me Jacob.”

“Isn’t that your name?”

“Well, yeah.” I shrugged. “But everyone calls me Jake.”

“Oookay.” She dragged the word out, then shook her head, making a little face. “That’s not the point. The point is I need you to never, ever repeat anything about me having a crush on Kyle to anyone.” She paused. “Especially Kyle.”