Page 11 of Run to Me
“Literally no one has ever called you that.”
“Alright, you two goofballs look this way and smile.” Terry lifts his phone while Nate is adjusting the hat on his head. He smells like peppermint and honey when he presses his cheek to mine, my arm wrapping around his shoulder as we “cheese” big for our parents.
“This one’s definitely going on the main living-room wall,” Terry says, showing my mom. She beams, holding a hand to her chest.
“You sure you both wouldn’t rather come to dinner with me and Dad instead of meeting your friends to go camping?”
Nate rolls his eyes. “We’ve had dinner with you guys every day for like the last hundred years.”
“I think your brother is definitely right to call himself the smarter one based on your counting skills,” Terry jokes.
We all erupt into laughter before hugging our parents goodbye, promising my mom we’ll take her to a fancy restaurant and buy her the most expensive meal on the menu when we get back home.
“You both be careful. Call us if you need anything.” My mom waves our way and we slip into Nate’s car.
“Bye. Stay out of trouble while we’re gone,” Nate shouts, sliding into the driver side.
“I hope you packed lots of sunscreen,” I say, glancing over at Nate’s pale skin. The guy turns red after standing in the sun for five minutes, never failing to come home with sunburn after our days spent at the pool during summer.
“And I hope your ass gets in the water with me.”
Tugging on my seat belt, I buckle in as he pulls out of the packed parking lot, people rushing between cars to meet up with friends and family.
“I’ll think about it.”
“You always say that. We’ve been to the pool together how many times? And you’ve yet to dip more than a toe in.”
I snort, searching through the playlist on his phone. “Then I promise to at least dip a whole foot in this time if it’ll make you happy.”
“Pretty sure you owe me a whole two legs at this point.”
“Sounds like you’re placing a KFC order.”
Shaking his head, he side-eyes me as I hit play on one of his many summer mixes. “Cool for the Summer” by Demi Lovato plays and he turns up the volume, drowning out my singing.
“On second thought, I think I’ll just drown your ass when we get there.”
I laugh and he shouts the lyrics at the top of his lungs, not taking more than a few seconds between songs to rest his vocal cords the whole way there. Several of Nate’s friends already have their tents set up by the time we park and get out. Hot dogs and hamburgers are on the grill, music playing while two cheerleaders dance on one of the picnic tables.
Inching closer to Nate, I whisper in his ear, “Why did I agree to come again?”
“Because you love me and you’ve never been to a lake before.”
He got me on both counts for sure. I’ve dreamed about the beaches I’ve seen on TV so many times, and this is probably as close as I’ll ever come to one. I’m still having too much troubleadapting to the world around me to travel anywhere too far from home, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready. Being out here in a new place only an hour away is terrifying enough. “Maybe,” I say, smirking.
“I think you’ll be much happier once we get our tent set up and we’re roasting s’mores on the fire.”
I’ll be better once it’s only us. Sure, I’ll get to see a lake in person for the first time, but I’ll also be sharing a small tent with Nate, sleeping right next to him. We’ve fallen asleep on the couch next to each other before but this feels different somehow. I’ll get to wake up, turn around, and see his face. How does he sleep when he’s under the covers now that he’s older? Does he still wear cute pajamas with fireflies on them, or does he wear less clothes?
Heat spreads in my groin, and this has been something that only started happening after I noticed how good his lips felt on my skin. Fuck. He’s my stepbrother—well, my adopted brother now—but shit, I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t wanted his lips to move a little to the left earlier. It’s not like we’re blood related, and we didn’t exactly grow up together.
“Want to eat before I put you to work?” His words pull me away from my conflicted thoughts.
“Put me to work, huh? This means I’m putting that tent together all by myself, doesn’t it?”
He purses his lips, batting his lashes. “You know how uncoordinated I am. I’ll just get in the way. You’ll be more productive without me.”
I roll my eyes. “And what will you be doing? Sitting pretty in a chair, watching me do all the hard work?”
