Daring the Bad Boy (Endless Summer)(38)

“Fitting, since he acts like a monkey most of the time,” Gwen said drolly, making me laugh.

The familiar whine of the megaphone flipping on sounded, and the loud talking settled into a dull roar.

“Okay campers, are we ready to rock this?” Fozzie Bear yelled.

A resounding yeah! filled the air, making Kelsey, Gwen, and me wince.

“All right then, get into your cabin pairings! We’re going to then divide into two large groups and be on our way!” Fozzie said.

“Hey, new girl,” a familiar voice said behind me. I turned to find Kyle standing there, a big smile on his cute face.

But I didn’t get those warm fuzzies like I used to when I heard him call me new girl. And there were no butterflies fluttering in my stomach when he smiled at me, either. “Hi, Kyle,” I said.

He flicked his chin at me, in that universal boy gesture-speak way they all did. “Ready for the hike?”

“Definitely.”

“Going to jump off the waterfall?”

“Maybe,” I hedged.

“You should. It’s such a rush, especially in the dark.”

“But is it safe?” Kelsey asked with a wince.

“Oh yeah,” Brian said as he approached our group. “Fozzie has us go check it out and make sure it’s deep enough, that the brush and debris have been cleared and that everyone can only jump from one preselected spot.”

“They’ve been doing this for years,” Hannah added. “And no one has ever hurt themselves during the jump.”

“Only everywhere else,” Brian said with a grin.

Their words really didn’t reassure me. Not that I needed reassuring. The jump was voluntary, and most everyone who jumped did it so they wouldn’t have to hike back down the mountain. Jumping from the waterfall was the shortcut.

I’d rather hike the mountain, thanks.

“I’ve been assigned to your group,” another familiar voice said from behind me. I glanced over my shoulder to find Jake standing there, looking beyond adorable in black swim trunks and a dark gray hoodie. “Hey, Annie.”

“Hi,” I said breathlessly, unable to look away from him. Okay, here came the butterflies. And that nervous, slightly scary feeling I always experienced with a crush.

As in, I was crushing on Jake. Hard.

“This looks familiar,” he said, his voice low as he took a step closer to me. He reached out and tugged on the string of his hoodie that I happened to be wearing.

That I never gave back to him after that one night. I’d never washed it, either, which could be considered gross, but I rarely wore it. Besides, the soft cotton still smelled like him.

And he smelled like heaven.

“You want it back?” I asked softly.

“Nah.” He shook his head, a little smile teasing the corners of his lips. “It looks better on you, anyway.”

My skin went warm at his compliment.

“Hey, Fazio, why you hogging the new girl?” Kyle asked, coming to stand right beside me. “Want to partner up?” he asked, his gaze meeting mine.

“Um, sure.” This was what I thought I wanted. Even better, now I seemed to have two boys fighting for my attention. My every summer camp dream come true.

But it was like the wrong boy was giving me attention, and I didn’t know what to do about it. I watched helplessly as Jake gave me a grim smile before he stalked off, going over to Brian and Hannah so he could chat with them.

I watched him go, my attention on him and no one else, and Kyle tapped me on the shoulder. “You’re not hot for Fazio, are you, new girl?” he asked.

“Her name is Annie,” Kelsey said, clearly irritated.

“I know that,” Kyle returned, equally irritated. He turned to me. “Annie.”

No butterflies. No nerves. No weak knees and hopeful thoughts. No…nothing, when I looked at Kyle.

I sneaked a glance in Jake’s direction to find him watching me, too. He looked away quickly, focusing all of his attention on whatever Brian was saying, and I tore my gaze from him, smiling at Kyle and Kelsey and Gwen, who all stood in front of me with expectant expressions on their faces.

“When are we leaving?” I said, bouncing on the balls of my feet. “I’m anxious to get this going.”

“Me, too,” Kelsey said, glancing around like she was looking for someone, too. Hmm, interesting. “They’re taking forever to do…what?”

“Who knows?” Gwen said, sounding bored. Her eyes lit up when Dane walked past. “Ah, my dream date. Think he’d jump off the waterfall with me?”

“You wish,” Kyle muttered.

Gwen shot him a dirty look. “I wasn’t asking you, Kyle. Besides, I’m just playing around.”

That’s what she always said, but we knew the truth.

I guess it was safer than pining over some boy who would hardly give you the time of day.

Or wouldn’t make a move for fear of breaking the rules.

Forty-five minutes later, we were on the crest of the mountain, the view below absolutely amazing. We all stood in clusters staring at the camp spread out before us.

“Our cabin’s right there,” Hailey pointed out.

“Forget camp, check out the sky,” Bobbee said, her head tilted back as she stared up at the stars.