“How do you like camp so far?”
It takes me a second to realize Vicky just asked me a question. I plaster on my best smile, mostly for Zach’s benefit if he’s listening in, and shrug. “What’s not to like? And you? How do you like working here?”
Vicky scrunches her face and shakes her head. “I’m a seasonal employee. I’ve been working summers here ever since I was eighteen.”
“And your role here is…?”
“Lifeguard.” She flutters her long lashes so quickly, I think they might fly away. “If you’re ever in need of rescuing, I’m your girl.”
I don’t know why I decide to look across the fire at that moment, but when I find Silver glancing between Vicky and me, my lips curl with satisfaction. I catch her next glance and hold it a second before winking. Silver’s eyes narrow in response, and she snaps her head back to her friend, ending our silent exchange.
Disappointed, I turn back to Vicky to continue our conversation, but my mind and focus are still on Silver. I’ve got her in my peripheral now, and the moment she gets up to leave, I know it’s my cue to leave too.
“I’m going to turn in,” I tell Vicky with mock sadness. “Will I see you around camp tomorrow?”
Her eyes light up. “Of course. And if there’s anything you need, you can reach me at my extension.” She hands me a card with her cabin number already written on it.
I chuckle at her obvious insinuation. “Thanks, sweetheart.” I stand and knock fists with Zach. “I’ll catch you on the field tomorrow morning, eight o’clock.”
Zach nods, drawing his fiancée into him closer. “See you, dude.”
Away from the campfire, it’s all dark, save for the well-lit paths on all the surrounding trails, and if I’ve learned anything about this place in my short time here, it’s that there are a lot of fucking trails.
I don’t want it to be completely obvious that I’m following Silver out of here, so I take a different route that eventually connects with the one she’s on and intersects her path. When I spot her, she’s standing still with her hands shoved in her pockets and her eyes aimed up at the moon. I watch her, my curiosity unspooling as I try to dissect her expression. At first glance, it appears blank, but then I see her mouth part as she takes in a long, deep breath. Her chest is rising, her lids are falling shut, and it’s almost like she’s asking for the sky to take her away. A chill sweeps over me. I take a step toward her and hear the snap of a stick beneath my shoe. I didn’t realize how quiet it had been out here before that moment.
Silver’s head snaps in my direction, her entire body jolts, she gasps, and her hand moves to her chest—all in one motion. “A little creepy, don’t you think?”
That’s all it takes for me to snap me out of whatever daze she had me under. I flash a smile. “I didn’t mean to freak you out. Figured you’d want some company.”
A small smile lifts her lips like she knows something that I don’t. “That’s really not necessary.”
“Well, you really shouldn’t be walking around here at night.”
“Why? Because creepy men will jump out and spook me?” She starts to walk again. “I’ve been doing this for eight years, Kingston. Thank you for your concern, but I’ll be okay.”
Stunned by the little fact about her she just tossed my way, I take a second to let it sink in, then I’m jogging after her until I’m pacing her steps. “Wait a second. You’ve lived here for eight years?”
She seems hesitant to respond but then throws me a look. “I have. Came here when I was seventeen.”
“But how? I don’t even know if I’ll survive a week here. How have you been doing this for that long?”
Silver shrugs. “It’s my home. Just like Seattle is your home.”
I don’t correct her to tell her that Seattle has never felt like home to me. Instead, I keep my focus on her. “So, what brought you here at seventeen?”
“Now that,” she says, “is a long story.”
“I’d like to hear it.”
Her face scrunches, and she shakes her head like she’s confused. “And you care, why?”
Geez, this woman is impenetrable and frustrating as all hell, but something in me wants nothing more than to strip her bare, and not in the physical sense. Okay, maybe in that sense too, but the mystery surrounding Silver is eating at me.
“You did a nice thing for me earlier. People don’t do nice shit like that for me.”
She shakes her head, her frustration at my mere existence evident on her face. “Maybe that’s because you’re kind of an ass.”
My chuckle comes straight from my gut and bursts out of my throat. It’s at that moment when I realize why Silver is my new addiction. She’s a breath of fresh air, and I love that her reactions to me are never what I expect.
“Maybe I am an ass, but that doesn’t mean I can’t care about things.”
She’s silent for a few beats before looking at me again. “And what do you care about, Kingston Scott?”
The sincerity of her question causes a strange swelling in my chest. “That’s easy. Football.”
“That’s all? Not your friends or your family?”
I debate my response, all while wondering how the conversation shifted so dramatically. “Well, I don’t have family, and my friends are the reason I ended up here, so…” I shrug. “I think I’ll stick to just caring about football.”
A flash of disappointment crosses her face before she tears her eyes from mine. “I’m sorry.”
My face twists with confusion. “Sorry? What for?”
“That you don’t have family or good friends you can care about. I’ve been there.”
Somehow, I doubt she’s ever been remotely close to the dark places I’ve been to in my life, but I give her the benefit of the doubt. Silver doesn’t seem to be someone who bullshits her way through life, so now I’m only more curious than before. “But now you’re good, right? You have all that now.”
She bites down on her bottom lip like she’s hesitant, then she nods. “I think so. The Bexleys are my family now, and my friends have come and gone over the years I’ve worked here, but Hope is a pretty good one to me now.”
“Hope? Is that the girl you were sitting next to back at the campfire?”
Silver nods. “That’s her.” She stops walking suddenly then nods to the cabin to the left of us. “And this is me. Thanks for the company.”
I glance between her cabin and my cabin, which sits just on the other side of the staff sign, and grin. “Wait a second.”
She pauses and turns back around.
“You’re my neighbor?”
Silver’s eyes grow wide, then she laughs. “Don’t get too excited about it, Kingston. I’m rarely here.”
I take a step toward her, my grin widening. “Still, it’s comforting to know where the nurse lives. You know, in case there are any after-hours emergencies?”
She laughs. “Why do I have a feeling I’ll need to define for you what consists of an after-hour emergency?”