Page 23 of His For the Summer

He grinned.“Not Slater?”

“You never know.He could be nicer than he seems.”We both looked at Slater, who was throwing a rock at a chipmunk.All right, maybe not.

“How do you know?”he asked.

“Know what?”

“If the guys want to kiss you back.How do you know which guys are gay too?Or bi or whatever?”

“Honestly?I don’t know.”

“With Slater, I wonder if he’s doing what I’m doing, putting on a front.Or maybe he really hates gay kids.”

“Or maybe he doesn’t know yet, either.”I wished I had a better answer for him, but my social awkwardness failed me here.“Aiden is kind of the first guy I’ve ever seriously dated.”Beckett glanced at me, his eyes wide with surprise.

“You?But you’re so gorgeous.”His cheeks flushed bright red.“I mean, not that I have a crush on you or anything, but if I was your age, I might be into you.You’re hot.”

I was probably blushing as badly as he was.“I may be hot now.Although I think that’s a little questionable.But I was such a geek in high school, and I’m also super awkward, if you haven’t noticed.”

He grinned up at me.“No, awkward?You?”

“Shut up,” I said, laughing along with him.“I’m sorry.I don’t know how to tell if a guy is crushing on you.So much for my great advice — it was good until that point, though, right?”

“I don’t know,” Beckett said.“You’re a little corny.Don’t you have gaydar?”

I snorted.“Apparently not.”I never would’ve known Aiden was interested in kissing me until the whole tent situation.I wasn’t exactly going to tell Beckett what had started the whole thing with him.

Beckett raised an eyebrow.“So your advice is to wait, and the hottest guy at camp will come to me.Sounds like a plan.”

“Aiden isn’t the hottest guy at camp.”I glanced his way, and, as if sensing my attention, Aiden looked over his shoulder and winked.

“Oh, my God,” Beckett said.“I get that you’re self-conscious about your looks, but you can’t possibly be in denial about that.Aiden is so beautiful that he could be a model, or like a Hollywood star.Or gay porn.”

“Please don’t tell me you watch gay porn.You’re only thirteen.”

“Fourteen,” he said, grinning.“I snuck it on the Internet.I’m not supposed to, but how else was I supposed to know?But if my mom found out, she’d flip.So only until, you know.I understood.”

“Understood.No need to elaborate.”

“Yep.It was all pretty clear to me at that point.I mean, I’ve had crushes on actors and stuff before.But I didn’t know that it was different from when my friends like movie stars, you know?”

“Yeah, I feel you.It may be a little confusing for a few years as you sort out what you want and what you like.But, by college, if you have a good group of friends, I think you’ll be just fine.You’re certainly being more proactive about it than I was.”

Beckett nodded and walked away, going over to walk again next to his Slater, joking with the kid.I remembered my first crush.Colton Lewis.He hadn’t been gay either, and now I was having my first real feelings for a guy and I was in the same situation.Aiden Yamada wasn’t gay, he was just having some fun, because he was horny.If the girls’ camp had been open this year, he probably wouldn’t have given me a second look.

Though he kept calling me his boyfriend.

We took a break at a little lake and while the kids splashed in the water; I checked the perimeter for signs of bear.I now knew exactly what bear scat looked like.That memory was seared into my consciousness.After a few minutes, Aiden wandered up beside me, keeping one eye on the kids.

“That one’s cougar poop,” he said, pointing to a little pile by a bush.My eyes widened.

“I hadn’t even considered cougars!”I exclaimed.

Aiden snorted, his eyes sparkling with laughter.“I’m just teasing you.Stop looking so panicked.It’s just coyote poop.See how it looks a little like dog poop?”

“Oh,” I said, frowning down at the poop.“Wait, coyotes?Do they eat people?”

“They’re more afraid of us than we are of them.”He winked.“But I know you hate that line, so I’ll also add that they’re too small to attack people.Their prey, small like bunnies and mice.”

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