Daring the Bad Boy (Endless Summer)(58)

My heart felt like it just fell into my toes.

…

JAKE

It was so damn hot out, I felt like I was sweating out every single drop I drank. There weren’t even many kids in the water, the sun and the heat were so intense. Couple that with the humidity and it was like no one even wanted to move.

Including me.

I’d found one of those spray bottles with a fan attached a few days ago in Uncle Bob’s office so I was spritzing myself constantly. Thank God for the umbrella shade that kept me mostly covered. I’d melt away if I didn’t have that thing.

Not only did the heat make me miserable, but also my recent conversation with Annie left me down, too. I didn’t know what to do about her—more like, I didn’t know what to do about Uncle Bob. If he hadn’t laid down the law so firmly, I’d be strutting around this place with my arm around Annie. I wouldn’t care who knew we were together.

We only had a few days left, and then camp was done for the summer. I probably shouldn’t care if he caught us together. But I didn’t want to disappoint him. I didn’t want to upset my dad, either, because even if Uncle Bob found out this last week, I’d bet money he’d ship me back home. Or call my dad and demand he come pick me up.

I didn’t want to deal. I didn’t want them mad at me. For once, I wanted to prove to them I was a good guy. That I could clean up my act and do the right thing. I didn’t want this summer to be wasted.

But to not acknowledge that Annie and I were together would be a wasted summer, too. If she could just be patient, we could declare to anyone and everyone that we were a couple once camp was finished. Then it wouldn’t matter anymore.

Right now, though, it still mattered. A lot.

I glanced to my left to see someone running toward the lake. Squinting, I brought up my binoculars to see it was my uncle’s secretary.

My stomach churned and I dropped my binoculars. This didn’t look good.

“Jake!” she screamed once she got close enough. “Your uncle needs to talk to you. It’s urgent!”

The churning turned into full-blown nausea. “Is everything okay?” What if something was wrong with my dad?

She waved an impatient hand. “Hurry!”

“What about the tower?”

“I already told Dane. He’ll cover for you. Come on!”

I scrambled down the tower and chased after her, passing her with ease and I was only jogging. My heart raced triple time as I contemplated the many reasons why Uncle Bob would need to see me so urgently.

And it all came to a skidding stop when I entered his office to see Annie sitting in one of the chairs, softly crying.

She glanced up at me, tears streaming down her cheeks as she kept whispering, “I’m sorry,” over and over again.

Turning my head, I saw Uncle Bob sitting behind his desk, his beefy arms crossed in front of his beefy—fine, pudgy—stomach. “You have something to say for yourself?”

I felt like I was eight and had just got caught busting out that dining hall window with a baseball—true story. I had to work kitchen duty for a week when I was here that one glorious summer. I hadn’t minded a bit.

This was much worse.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, refusing to let myself look at Annie. All I really wanted to do was go to her and wrap her up in a hug. I hated to see her cry.

“Well, your father is on his way. I’m sure you can explain it to him then.”

“You called my dad? Why?” It felt like my heart was in my throat. I could hear Annie behind me, the soft crying, the sniffles. The anger that blazed in Uncle Bob’s eyes, his gaze going to the side as his mouth drew into a thin line. It dawned on me that he was gesturing toward Annie, and I knew right then what happened.

He knew. He knew about the two of us.

But how?

“It’s not what you think—” I started to say, but he shook his head, cutting me off with a look.

“It’s exactly what I think, because Annie told me everything.” He dropped his arms and they landed on the edge of his desk. “Why, Jake? I told you that was the one rule you couldn’t break, and you did it anyway? I thought you were better than that.”

“It’s not what you think because this is more than me breaking your rule,” I explained, needing him to actually listen to me for once. “Annie is more than just a—”

“She’s more than what? Another one of your conquests? I wouldn’t be so sure about that. You don’t think I don’t know what goes on around here? I have eyes, son. I know about you and Lacey.”

Shock rendered me speechless.

“And I know you ended it with her before you two got out of control. Trust me, she came right to me and ratted you out,” Uncle Bob said. “But when I realized you weren’t spending any, ahem, quality time with her, I let it go. You seemed to be on the right track. Now there’s this.” He shook his head, his disappointment with me radiating from him in big, giant waves.

I felt like one of those waves just plowed into me and stole my breath.

Whirling around, I stared at Annie’s bent head, anger making me want to lash out. I pressed my lips together, exhaled shakily, and just let it all out. “You actually told him?”

She lifted her tearstained face, our gazes meeting. Her eyes were filled with even more tears, and I refused to let them hurt my heart. I was too pissed to want to offer comfort. “I thought I could convince him that what we had was real. That we both wanted it.”