Page 62 of My Star-Crossed Summer

I smile at that, because she’s not wrong. “I know. It’s wild. And of course, I had no idea he’d be here. I was just as shocked as he was. And, I imagine, as you are.” I take a deep breath, feeling better about telling her at least part of this. I don’t like hiding things from Roxy, and I know I should come clean about the feelings. But I don’t know what all of these feelings mean yet, and I don’t want to make this situation worse than it already is.Mountains out of molehills and all of that. “We haven’t seen each other in years,” I tell her. “And I guess we just got a little carried away. I’m sorry if it looked inappropriate, or if it put you in an awkward position. We’re just really close friends.”

She lets out a huge breath. “Thank goodness,” she says, “I was afraid I was going to have to explain this to the director and start hiring replacements.”

My heart squeezes in my chest, because there it is—the worst case scenario. The one that would blow everything apart.

“I took these photos off the site, and it’s not any kind of blatant display,” she says. “Probably most people wouldn’t even notice, but of course I did, because it’s you.”

“So you’re not in trouble?” I ask.

She snorts, and now she sounds like Roxy my friend again. “Oh, please. I’ve had to deal with way worse staff problems than this. But just keep in mind that the parents looking at the photo site don’t know your history, okay? It sucks, but sometimes we have to hold ourselves back a bit because the context is missing. Even innocent gestures can be misinterpreted, and before you know it, you’re in an HR firestorm.”

I sigh. So much missing context. Can a picture capture everything that’s happening between me and Noah? Then another thought occurs to me, and it’s like being punched in the gut.

“Is this why the admins are coming tomorrow?” I ask, horrified by the thought of my every move being analyzed. If I obsess over every word and every move I make, I’m just going to seem more awkward and suspicious.

“No,” she says. “It’s purely coincidental. I’ll be driving up with Julie, who’s the assistant to the director. We’re just coming to check in and show one of our donors what the more remote camps are like. People make big donations when they see the camps in action, and this donor is a big fan of astronomy.”

“Oh,” I breathe. “Okay.” I feel a little of the tension ease, because I don’t think Roxy would be untruthful about this—which makes me feel even worse for not being a hundred percent honest with her.

“It’ll be fine,” she says. “And you get to hang out with me for a day.”

“Sweet. Girl time with my bestie.”

She laughs at that, and I decide right then that whatever is happening with Noah has to stop completely—at least until the camp is over. I don’t know what happens next, but it can’t happen here. I won’t jeopardize Noah’s job, ruin a chance I have at a full-time position here, or create a difficult situation for Roxy.

“I’ve got to run,” she says. “We’ve got a stomach flu situation at the home campus, and I might need my hazmat suit.”

“Ugh, Roxy.”

“I know. See you tomorrow, babe.”

When I hang up, my whole body feels wound tight, ready to explode. I curse myself for nearly wrecking everything.

And this lie? It feels like a boulder sitting on my chest. But it’s not as heavy as the other lie—the one I’ve been telling myself for six years.

That I was over Noah Valentine.

Chapter Nineteen

NOAH

I’m adding a mile to my jog this morning, hoping that it will take my mind off of Victoria. Ever since the tent incident, it’s been impossible to think of anything else. And now that the admins are coming for a visit, I need to be focused on the kids. The activities. The site tour.

Anything but Vic and the way she’s turned my heart inside out. The way her hands feel on my chest, the way her full bottom lip feels caught in my teeth? Yeah, I’m not even going to go there. Better add another mile. Because she’s right: we never should have let that happen here. I have to shift my focus back to camp, where it belongs.

Whatever’s happening with Victoria will have to wait.

Three more days.

Easy-peasy.

I turn up the volume on my earphones, concentrate on the rhythmic slap of my sneakers against the pavement. No more thoughts of Vic and what comes after. No more thoughts of how perfect her body felt curled against mine. My job is this camp, and these kids—and they deserve my full attention.

But the minute we’re off this mountain, Victoria will have every scrap of my attention.

I swear I hear her calling my name, even over the pounding of the music. My brain pops back into overdrive, planning the most creative ways I can show her what she means to me the second we’re alone for real. I frown, legs pumping harder, as if I could ever outrun all these thoughts of her.

“Noah!” I hear again, this time louder, and my stupid brain needs to get the memo already.No more fantasizing about Victoria.Period.

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