Falling In Hard: Book Four in The Bridgeport Lake Summer Series

by Danielle Arie

  “That was the plan.” I grunted.

  “Was?”

  “I can’t anymore.”

  “Why not?”

  “Don’t have a reason to now. Not with Mom in Tennessee. Not with Dad the way he is.”

  “Your dad’s a jerk. I get it. But why the Navy? You have a million other options.”

  “He’ll ruin ’em all.”

  She scoffed. “He’s not that powerful.”

  “Maybe not to you.” She had no idea what kind of evil he was holding over my head.

  She turned to face me, eyes glistening, bottom lip quivering. “Is it like, a done deal already?”

  “Will be tomorrow.”

  “That’s why you wanted to talk? So you could drop the ‘I’m leaving’ bomb on me, too?” She grunted and huffed a breath. “Wow, Cory.”

  “Lea, you’re the only one I’ve told.”

  “Awesome. Thanks so much for the special honor.” She grunted again. “You should’ve just stayed cold if this was your big plan the whole time.”

  “I’ll leave for training at the end of August if they accept me.”

  “If they accept you? Of course, they’ll accept you!” She threw her hands up, then gripped the rail again, leaning forward over the edge. “You’re freaking perfect for the military.”

  “We’ll see.”

  She sighed and turned toward me, gnawing that bottom lip. “We’ll see? We won’t do anything. Not when you’re ghosting me again.”

  “I’m not ghosting you––”

  “No?” She barked a laugh. “What else do you call disappearing for months, maybe years, maybe forever?”

  Dang, my throat was so dry. I cleared it and took a deep breath. This was the part I’d been thinking the most about since I saw that guy practically proposing to her earlier. “That’s the exact opposite of what I’m trying to do.”

  “Meaning what?” She lifted an impatient brow, setting a hand on her jutted hip.

  If I didn’t get it out soon, I’d lose her. Maybe for good. As awkward as this next part was gonna be, I couldn’t take that kind of risk. Not with Blondie knocking at her door. “Wait for me?”

  She frowned.

  “Lea.” I swallowed. “Will you wait for me?”

  A long sigh escaped her mouth, and her brows drew together in confusion. “Wait for you?”

  I nodded, every nerve in my body buzzing with anticipation as a glimmer of intrigue flickered across her face. “Wait for you . . . like, as a friend?”

  “You’re making me spell it out.”

  She bit her lip.

  “Seeing you with that guy earlier . . .” I clamped my jaw. How was I supposed to explain that feeling? The blatant urge to make her mine, and now?

  She nodded, motioning for me to continue.

  “It did something to me. Made me . . . jealous.”

  “You were jealous?”

  The surprise in her tone was a surprise to me. Could she really not know how much I cared about her? I’d told her point-blank last night in the cabin. “Stupid jealous.”

  “Over me?”

  That rowdy curl was dancing around her face again. I tucked it behind her ear. “Over you.”

  “I’ve never owed Kyle so much in my life.” She took a sharp breath, and her hand slid over mine. She closed her eyes.

  An idiotic fire ignited in my chest. I trailed my thumb along her delicate jawline, slipping my fingers behind her ear, my breaths thickening, my thoughts thickening along with ’em. “Wait for me while I’m gone. I’ll come back for you. Somehow.” It wasn’t part of my original plan, but I’d find a way. I had to.

  “Okay.” She wrapped her arms around my neck, and I dipped my forehead to hers, my lips begging to feel hers. I pressed them to her forehead instead. Whatever this was, it wasn’t clear yet, and I wasn’t about to make her doubt me again.

  “Does this mean we’re . . . together?”

  Nolan’s warning rolled through my mind again, bursting that specific bubble. “I’d say yes, but Nolan . . .”

  Her breath warmed my neck. “Just talk to him.”

  “Easy enough for you to say.”

  She rubbed circles into my back and chuckled. “I can talk to him.”

  “No.”

  Her hands froze. “No?”

  “I should be the one.”

  My two-way crackled. “June to Cory. You have some campers asking about a night tour.” I sighed, resting my chin on her crown and tightening my grip on her. “Dang, I was hoping no one would want a night tour.”

  “Life’s a beast sometimes.”

  “I should answer her.” I grunted and pulled the receiver from my pocket. “Copy. I’ll be there in fifteen.”

  I slid the receiver back in my pocket and pressed my lips to Lea’s forehead. “The recruiter’s coming tomorrow. For my Navy interview.”

  “Ugh.” Her body tensed. “I forgot about the Navy. Come find me when it’s over?”

  I nodded into her hair and let out a heavy sigh.

  LEA

  “You look worried,” Tay said, as we dug into our burgers outside the Snack Shop during dinner the next day.

  Between a thousand band practices, camp worship services, and the youth activities we were forced to be a part of, I’d had the busiest-slash-slowest day of my life.

  “He’s out there with the recruiter right now.” I couldn’t take my eyes off the lake, or my mind off the fact that Cory was joining the Navy. That fact had been the biggest beast when I was trying to fall asleep last night, growling beside the memory of his arms around me. “I keep fighting the urge to go and stop him.”

  “Uh, please fight that urge.” Taylor set her burger down and went for some fries, shaking her head. “You could ruin a really good thing for him.”

  “Good thing?” I cringed. “How could you call him disappearing for four years a good thing? Those guys are never on land.”

  “Whoa. Cool your jets, girl. You guys had a moment. It’s not like you’re marrying him or anything.”

  “Maybe not today.”

  “Good gravy, lady!” She threw a fry at me, but I ducked out of the way.

  I sighed, flipping my hair as I glanced back to the lake. “Oh my gosh, he’s back.”

  Taylor turned to look with me. The recruiter stretched forward to tie off their boat, and they got out together, looking exactly like two peas in a pod with their fit physiques and no-nonsense posture. There was no way he wouldn’t get in.

  “Stop freaking, Lea. Either way, he’ll be fine. You both will.”

  I drew a deep breath and let it out super slow, reminiscing about everything magical from last night—the way he’d held me, the soft kisses he’d pressed to my brow, the confidence in his tone when he said he was jealous over me. Gah! I wanted to kiss-kiss him already!

  “You have it so bad,” Tay said.

  “The worst,” I echoed.

  “Yo, Lea!” I turned to see Kyle waving from the path behind the bank of pay phones.

  Everyone else eating beside us turned to look, too.

  “Your turn for the promo!”

  Oh, snap.

  “I totally forgot I’m supposed to do a promo thing for the competition,” I told Tay.

  Taylor went radio-silent, staring off behind me.

  “Tay?”

  She blinked and cleared her throat. “Sorry. Ryan was with him.”

  “You should talk to him if you’re missing him that bad.”

  “I know.”

  “Then why don’t you?”

  She lifted a shoulder. “Things got so complicated in the end. I don’t know how he’d take it.”

  “Only one way to find out, right?”

  “Anyway. What time do you need to get up there?”

  I pulled my phone out of my bag to check the time. “Gah. Like six minutes ago.”

  “Better run.” Her voice was so weak, and she was back to staring at the road.

  “Love you, girl.” I reached to
squeeze her hand, and she forced a smile.

  “Love you, too.”

  “See you after?”

  She nodded, but her eyes were misting. I wanted to stay and find a way to cheer her up, but I was beyond out of time.

  I shot a glance over to the fishing shed. Cory shook hands with the recruiter and turned back toward the shed. I waited for the recruiter to disappear and rushed over, giving the door a couple raps before I stepped inside with him.

  “Everything go okay?” I asked to his back.

  “I’m as good as in.” He turned around wearing the cutest half-grin I’d ever seen on his mouth. “Barring clearance.”

  All the air in my lungs fizzled out, but I forced a smile anyway, because this was obviously some kind of a dream for him, and this was the most emotion he’d ever shared with me. “Congrats, Cory. I want to hear all about it, but I actually have a thing for the competition right now.”

  His brows knit together, and his grin faded. “Find me after. I have a tour at six-thirty, but nothing after that.”

  “I will.”

  The camera flashed, the photographer aiming her lens up at me. She had me sitting on the bow of the wrecked ship on stage in the chapel. I was supposed to be giving her a strong, bold, confident look. Kind of hard when you’re half-nerves, and half-terrified-of-heights. The makeup artist had given me smoky eyes that faded out into swirling, stormy waves on my temples. The stylist had me in a black pleated skirt, an old pink Bridgeport tee with a black leather jacket, and black fishnet stockings that dove into a pair of equally black combat boots. It had taken some work to get my swollen ankle inside. The laces weren’t even tied on the left boot, but the photographer was positive she could fix it in photoshop. The whole outfit had a girly-girl meets rocker-chick feel. I didn’t hate it.

  Halfway through the photo shoot, the camp director, Pastor Gregg, walked through the doors, sporting a complete touristy vibe. He whispered back and forth with Genevieve, nodding when they glanced at me.

  My heart pounded a little harder, the day my principal walked into my algebra class junior year coming back to haunt me—the day Dad slipped into the coma he never came out of. Was this about my ankle? Or was it about Cory?

  Did someone see us together?

  “Let’s pause there,” Genevieve said, walking toward us with her hands raised out to the sides.

  The photographer nodded. “I think we have enough to call it good.”

  “Perfect.” Genevieve turned to me. “Lea, Pastor Gregg’s made a suggestion I feel could work really well for both you and Kyle.”

  “Kyle?” What the heck did my photo shoot have to do with that guy?

  “Would you be open to singing a duet at the competition, to get the crowd warmed up and to show everyone that you guys are supportive of each other?”

  Pastor Gregg stood silent, but smiling, behind Genevieve. “I thought it’d be a good way to cut down on all those Kyle-Lea hate rumors that have been circulating around camp this year.”

  My eyes bulged. “You’ve heard those rumors?”

  He sighed. “Sadly. But I think this is the perfect solution to putting that line of thinking to rest, and I think it would be honorable to show a unified front. Don’t you?”

  I swallowed. “Um. I guess we could make it work, but I feel like we’re both really busy prepping for our own songs, you know? We’d only have tonight and tomorrow to work it out.”

  “True, but you could do a familiar song. Lead the audience in a little worship, even if you wanted to. It could be really wonderful, if you’re asking me. But I’ll leave it up to you––”

  “Oh, that could be really fabulous for both of you, actually,” Genevieve chimed in. “We’ve never had a competition duet before. We could keep it as a surprise.” Her face lit up. “I can hear the tagline for it now. Rivals restored. I love it. We keep it under wraps, and we’ll make it the first song. Besides, it’d be a good test to find out if you guys can handle a little extra pressure.”

  There was no way I was about to be as happy about this as they both looked, but if it meant getting on Genevieve’s good side, I had to do it. I’d probably score a few extra points with her, right? Which I could really use after my whole rocky start situation. “Um. Yeah? Okay? Is Kyle in, though? He’s been allergic to me since the fifth grade.”

  Pastor Gregg smiled. “It was his idea.”

  Warm wind blew my hair around my face, stirring through the tall sequoia limbs overhead, and whipping at my skin as I left the chapel. I rushed to the cafeteria, scanning the tables until I saw Kyle, hamming it up in his group of jock buddies, his elbow propped up on the back of the girl’s chair who was sitting beside him.

  I slapped my hand on the table in front of him, so mad I could feel my ears burning. “Undo it!”

  “What?” He furrowed his brows and scratched his chin in mock confusion. “Not following.”

  “You know what.”

  He stood and nodded toward the door. “Let’s take this outside.”

  “I’ll tell you where I’ll take this, Keller,” I pushed my finger into his chest, “and I promise you won’t like it.”

  He brushed my finger away gently and nodded toward the door again. “Give me five minutes. If you still hate it, we’ll undo it.”

  “Gah! Fine!”

  I followed him outside, worse than fuming. How dare he go to the director of the camp with this pea-brained idea without talking to me first! Who did he think he was?!

  “Okay. So, you’re mad.”

  “Worse.”

  “Okay, upset—”

  “Try freaking furious, Keller! Do you know how much work I need to put into my own song? I don’t have time to do another one, let alone work out all the details with you. Call it off.”

  “No way.” He folded his arms across his chest and stared down at me like I was some kind of a cute pet mouse he’d just brought home or something. “I’m not dumb, okay? Your talent’s unreal. I already know you’re about to win—

  “Then why a duet?”

  “Shh.” He cleared his throat, eyes bulging. “It’s a surprise. Besides, everyone has their money on you winning, and I need this contract.”

  I closed my eyes, pressing my fingers to my temples. “Why not just accept defeat and get over yourself?”

  “Because, playing this angle’s the only way I’ll get a shot at winning, and if we both come out at the same level, maybe we’ll both get lucky.”

  “Angle. What angle?”

  He shot me a sneaky grin and ducked his head. “The couple angle.”

  “The what?” Oh my word, how ridiculous was this going to get?

  “Think back to Christmas choir, sophomore year.”

  “The year you convinced Mrs. Nickles to give you the Joseph part?”

  “And you were Mary. And we sang that song together––”

  “What the heck does this have to do with anything? I don’t have time for this!”

  He nodded, stepping closer. “Think of how great we were, how perfect our tones blended.”

  “So, we blend well and?”

  “That song went down as a legend.”

  I rubbed my brow bone and closed my eyes again. This could not be happening. I’d avoided Kyle Keller for the past two years so perfectly. Why did he have to be messing with me again? Like this? Here? “You said you were over your antics.”

  “And you said you’re my date to the reveal dinner, which is one more step in the fake relationship plan.”

  “Fake relationship?”

  “Think about it. It’s genius, right? Pretend to date, get everyone liking us both, then whoever wins can bow out instead, and they’ll offer it to both of us.”

  “I have a boyfriend, Kyle!” Whoa. Where in the world did that come from? I mean, I wasn’t exactly taken, but I wasn’t single-single, either. At least, I didn’t think I was after last night. Was I? Dang it. I should’ve thought about this more before I just blurted out something I couldn’t
prove.

  “What?” He blinked a couple times, searching the space around me. “I’ve never seen you with anyone. Where is he?”

  “Right here.” A deep voice came from behind Kyle, and he turned around. Cory stepped closer, in his fishing waders and black baseball hat, looking a million times more manly than Kyle, and he wasn’t even trying.

  Whew, I didn’t normally get giddy around guys, but he was a definite looker. And he just said he was my boyfriend. Oh man. He just said he was my boyfriend!

  Kyle frowned, running his hand through his undercut. “What?”

  “Is there a problem?” Cory came to stand by me and slid his hand across my waist. Even though Kyle was a head taller than him, Cory’s wide frame made Kyle look like a string bean.

  “No . . . just . . .” Kyle grunted and threw his hands up in defeat. “Never mind, Lea.”

  I didn’t answer. For the first time since he’d started hounding me in the fifth grade, I didn’t have to.

  “You okay?” Cory asked, low and gruff, as Kyle skulked off toward the cafeteria.

  “I don’t even know what just happened with him.” I bit my bottom lip, trying not to stress, but how far was Kyle going to take his schemes this year? “Can we go somewhere?”

  Nine

  CORY

  No! We absolutely could not go somewhere. If meeting her at the old bridge last night was risky, putting my arm around her in clear view of the cafeteria was a death wish.

  But one glimpse of the dread in Lea’s eyes had me pulling her closer. “Take a night tour,” I whispered in her ear. I released her and headed toward the lake.

  If there was one thing at all I knew about the campers out here this week, it was that that kid had better thank his lucky stars I didn’t stick my fist through his face back there. If it wasn’t for the background check the recruiter mentioned during my interview, I wouldn’t sweat it. But, an intense background check was standard before I could sign on the Navy’s dotted line, and I was positive getting fired for punching a camper was one offense they wouldn’t overlook.

  I blew out a deep sigh and readied the boat again to pass the time, until my two-way buzzed.