Copyright © 2013 Ryan Ringbloom
All rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without the prior written permission of the author, with the exception of short quotes for purposes of review.
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, or actual events is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Cover Design Image Copyright Deklofenak, 2013
Used under license from Shutterstock.com
Edited by Ebook Editing Pro.
ISBN: 9781483510972
Acknowledgements
Thank you to my wonderful husband for the all the amazing love you give that helps me write Romance.
And to all the horrible DB’s of my past, thank you for all the traumatizing memories that help me write the angst.
Special thanks to my fellow writer’s Lori Marie LaSpada, Shealy James, Jennifer Weiser and Sussu Leclerc. You guys have made this experience so much FUN and helped me out in so many ways. No one “gets it” like your writer friends and I’m thankful for each one of you.
To my favorite brother who probably won’t even read this, but whatever, you’re still my fav! Thanks for always listening whether I’m riding high or completely bitching.
And to my amazing little boy who is so patient when Mommy needs “five more minutes”. I love you so much it hurts my guts!
Part One
CHAPTER ONE
Tessa
We were a rebound romance. Actually, using the word “romance” is a stretch.
I was getting over someone. He was getting over someone. In reality I was getting over someone. Kent never did.
“Good bye.”
“Have a great time.” Kent’s lips land directly on my cheek.
How very friendly. It’s kind of silly to have expected anything more. We’re just friends. I know it and he knows it.
We went on a few dates, kissed, went to our prom together and had an awkward encounter afterwards that was entirely my fault. EW. Embarrassing memory, get out of my head.
“I guess I’d better go finish packing.” I clasp my hands together drawing in a deep breath twisting my bracelet nervously around my wrist.
“Alright then, have a great summer. Don’t forget to call and text.” He sticks two thumbs up in the air as he begins walking backwards to his car. Only a rebound guy would say goodbye with two thumbs up.
I laugh and give him two thumbs up right back. “Goodbye band loser,” I yell after him.
“Goodbye b…” He stops and I roll my eyes waiting for it. I know he’s going to say bitch, it’s become a big joke between us. His dark hair falls in front of his eyes. “Beautiful,” he says instead and winks at me.
Aw, what a really sweet note to end on. I give him one last wave and blow him a kiss. Kent coming into my life was quick and unexpected and I’ll definitely miss him this summer. But at least he’s not leaving me heartbroken. Once he drives away it’s back up to my dreaded room to finish packing.
Piles and piles surround me, piles to pack for camp, piles to pack for school and piles to donate to Goodwill. Two months’ worth of packing alone is needed for the camp I’ll be working at. The job my mother was able to pull a few strings to get me as a counselor this summer. A camp where rich parents send spoiled kids for a week to partake in all the usual “summer camp” activities - hikes, kickball, crafts and so on.
As soon as camp ends I’ll be home for three days before leaving for college. I’m more than a little overwhelmed looking at the piles in front of me. Where do I even start? Hmm. I decide on none of them, opening up my laptop and going online instead.
A few messages from friends saying goodbye, I reply to all of them and let everyone know I’ll miss them and do my best to keep in touch. Although it will probably be tough. The camp I’m leaving for is rumored to have no internet and phone service. It’s in the middle of nowhere, which is why I begged my mom to get me the job. I wanted to get away this summer. Try some place new. Meet new people. Forget about some old ones.
My phone buzzes, interrupting the depressing thoughts. “Hello.”
“Hey, camper, you all set?” Ashley, my one time enemy and now best friend, says into the phone.
“No, I’m still packing.”
“Don’t forget to pack extra of all your products, you don’t want to run out in the middle of Bumbletown. God knows what kind of shampoo and stuff you’d get out there. Your blonde curls are used to the good stuff,” she laughs. Ashley is as product obsessed as I am. In a sniff and a glance we have the ability to tell if someone is using a top brand or a bargain brand. We are quite gifted.
“Trust me, I won’t run out.” My trunk probably won’t be able to hold everything I plan on packing. I give the large ignored piles a quick glance. “So, Kent came to say goodbye before. He gave me a kiss on the cheek and two thumbs up.”
“That’s it?” Ashley sounds disappointed. She’s the one who set us up.
“Yeah, I keep telling you we’re just friends. One day I’ll find that perfect guy who wants to be with a big prude. The chances are slim, but I’m always hopeful.”
“Tessa, alright so you and Kent are just friends, but you’ll find someone, not every guy is an asshole like you know who. I mean look at Patrick,” she says referring to her very perfect boyfriend, who just happens to be Kent’s brother. “You’ll probably meet someone when you start school, or maybe even this summer. Just … ya know.”
“‘Ya know’ what?” I ask.
“Two things you need to be careful of Tessa. Make sure you don’t fall for another guy like Josh and don’t be such a big bitch to the other girls.”
“Well you know what Josh always said, I was only a bitch because I needed to get laid.” Yup, that’s the terrific guy I fell for in high school. Fun times.
“You don’t need to get laid. I think it’s so awesome that you’re waiting for the right guy and you won’t just give it up to anyone. That makes you so much cooler than everyone.”
“Cooler?” I laugh at the outrageous untruth of her words. “I’m a freak because I want to wait. Last year I made up all that crap about the stuff I did just to fit in and I know I sounded so stupid. I didn’t even know what I was talking about. I’m sure you guys were all laughing at me. The whole school was laughing at me.” Rumors of my prude-like behavior flew around school making life a living hell.
“Really? ’Cause I felt like the whole school was too busy laughing at me for being such a whore.”
There’s an awkward moment of silent reflection. In high school it doesn’t matter if you’re trying to be good or bad, sometimes you just can’t win. Ashley and I are proof of that.
“Well, you don’t have to worry about me falling for another guy like Josh. I learned my lesson and I know to watch out for the warning signs. As far as being a bitch to the other girls, I will only be a bitch if I have to. Which I’m sure I won’t.”
“I’m sure you won’t either. High school is over, we’re adults now. All that drama is behind us.”
“I hope you’re right.” I really do. I cannot be dealing with the same crap I went through in high school anymore. The whole Josh saga nearly killed me. And the sad truth is I was a total bitch.
“Listen, have a great time, I’ll miss you and call me when you can.”
“I will. I’ll miss you, too.”
“Tessa, I know you laughed when I said it, but I mean it, I think it’s very cool that you want to wait for love and the right guy. I wish I had.”
This time I don’t laugh, I know she means it. Talking with Ashley has made me feel better. It usu
ally does.
I hang up and it’s back to work. Time to just do this, finish up all this nightmare packing and get some sleep. First thing in the morning I have to make the long drive across the state to the middle of nowhere by myself. At least I don’t have to leave Pennsylvania. My stomach twists in knots.
I’m leaving home, going out on my own. Am I ready for this?
Cassie
Mark just tried to kiss me.
I duck my head backing safely out of the kissing zone before his lips have a chance to land on mine. “What are you doing?”
Mark turns his head away from me and looks out over the pond. “I don’t know, I felt like I had to try at least once.”
We went on our first date over a year ago. A year ago! Why is he doing this now?
“We’re friends,” I remind him, recovering from the awkwardness.
“I know. It’s just everything with us is so great. I wondered what would happen if we took it to the next level.” He gives a weird shrug. “Sometimes I’m not sure why we never did.”
I understand what he’s saying. The same thought consumes me most days. He’s smart and funny. He’s good looking and we have a ton in common. That’s why last year when he asked me out I jumped at the chance.
For our first date he took me fishing, it was perfect, one of those many things we have in common. Casual and relaxed, we sat in the grassy clearing at the pond spending all afternoon getting to know each other. It couldn’t have gone any better.
All the potential for a great match was there between us. However, date one ended with no kiss, so did date two. After a third kiss-less date, I had to stop thinking of it as dates and begin thinking of it as hanging out. And for the last year we had been doing just that - hanging out…as friends.
“Mark, we leave for camp in two days. Then once we get home you’re leaving for school. I think us going down this road now is a bad idea.”
“I guess you’re right,” he sighs, nodding. He picks up his fishing pole launching it across the water, watching it land with a large splash sending ripples into the water. “I wish you would change your mind and come away with me. It’s a good school. You don’t have to work.”
“I know I don’t have to work. I want to. Besides I’m still going to school. Just not away.” Working full-time at my dad’s bakery and attending the community college is my choice. My whole life I couldn’t wait until I was able to work side by side with my dad. His chestnut hair and matching brown eyes weren’t the only thing I inherited. I have his passion and talent for making sweet tasting cakes. Creating sugary works of art, it’s always come naturally to me. Mom always says she thinks we have sugar in our blood.
After a few quiet minutes, Mark scrunches his nose and scratches his chin. “So then…when we get to camp this summer, we’re just going to do our own thing?”
I’m not following what he’s saying. “What do you mean?”
Mark looks uncomfortable, tugging on his fishing line, reeling it back absently. Nervous fidgets. “Do you plan on hooking up with anyone this summer?”
“Oh,” I say kind of relieved he’s bringing it up. Because the truth is I absolutely plan on hooking up this summer. I want to have a summer fling. With my impending plans being different than pretty much everyone else I know, this summer it’s crucial to experience as much wild crazy fun as I can. In the next two months I need to experience the equivalent of the four years’ worth of all the fun I’ll be missing out on not going away to school. “Yeah. I mean I guess so. Do you?”
“Do you think it will be weird with us?” His bright blue eyes peek in my direction.
The conversation of hooking up with other people has never come up before. Even though we’re not together, in a weird way it always kind of felt that way.
“No it won’t be weird,” I say without a lot of conviction. Our relationship has blocked us from others since we met. This summer there’s easily a good chance we might fling-block each other.
My jean shorts ride up and I yank them back into place, but not before Mark has a chance to glance over and steal a look. I’m used to it. I know they mean nothing, just curious looks. I let out a sigh and throw him a dirty look. Between our close friendship, cheap thrill glances and now a kiss attempt, any flings this summer might be a little tough. “Mark, do you know what we should do?” I chew the inside of my lower lip nervously. What I’m about to suggest is borderline insane. “We should tell everyone you’re my brother at camp. I mean no one knows us, it would be so funny. Maybe we can say we’re twins. No one will know.”
“Twins? Tell everyone we’re brother and sister?” Mark lifts an eyebrow confused. “I don’t understand why we would do that? Is that the way you see me?”
No, it’s not, but it kind of seems like the best option for us right now. “If we tell everyone we’re related, it might not be so hard to…” I bite down on my lip so hard I taste blood. “Block each other’s fun.”
The timing of this suggestion is bad and it sucks watching his face as what I’m saying sinks in. I know it’s crazy. But it’s also kind of necessary. Besides he’s the one who brought up the whole subject of hooking up with other people. I’m just trying to make it easier for us.
“Okay.” Mark looks back out over the water. “Whatever you want.”
Mark’s pole wriggles and he wrestles a big fish out of the water, the biggest so far this summer. He holds it up admiring it for a few seconds. “Just for the record,” he says unsnagging the hook from the fish’s mouth, “that was my one and only attempt. I will never try to kiss you again. Even if you beg me.” He throws the thrashing fish back into the water.
I don’t know if he’s kidding around with me or he’s actually annoyed. But his one and only attempt should have been a year ago, not now. Not when in two months he’ll be gone. Gone. I feel my eyes fill and quickly blink them dry. I can’t think about him leaving.
Mark cast his reel back into the water. He sits down resting his elbows on bent knees. I inch over next to him and nudge him softly with my elbow. “I’m sorry,” I say resting my head on top of my own bent knees. “Me and you, we’re just not, ya know.”
Mark’s blue eyes twinkle as he looks down at me and grins. “Trust me I know.”
“Good, so we’re okay?”
“We’re okay.” The muscles in his tan arms strain as another fish tugs at the line. He pulls up but the fish slips away stealing his bait.
I grab a worm, waiting for him to swing his hook over to me.
“What do you say we just pretend the kiss thing, never happened?” He gives me a half smile taking the baited hook and casting it far out in the water. “And I meant what I said before. Not even if you beg me,” he laughs shaking his head.
Not a problem. We’re just friends. At this point we have to be. Begging Mark for a kiss is never going to happen.
CHAPTER TWO
Tessa
If I had to describe this place in colors it would be green and blue. Tall green trees surround me opening up to the bluest sky. This is exactly what I wanted, an opportunity to rough it and embrace all of this magnificent nature. Shoulders up and a deep breath in, I step forward right into a swarm of little gnats breathing in at least one, possibly more, right up my nose. No flipping way. Yuck, I think I even taste one. My bags drop down to my feet and my arms swing flailing away the horrid little bugs. Coughs, gags and more coughs. Nature? Really? What was I thinking? I don’t do nature. I certainly don’t do roughing it.
Instead of picking the suitcase up, I park my butt down on top of it, needing a moment to sulk. The suitcase I’m sitting on and the small duffel bag next to it are only two of ten bags I have to bring up to my cabin. It’s easier if I bring these two bags back to my car and go home. Eyes focused on the ground I need to make a decision.
“Are you lost?” A deep voice asks.
I look up to see one more bright color before me. Orange. The face is hard to make out with the sun shining behind him.
> “No. I just have a lot of bags and I swallowed a bug. I just need a minute.”
“Was it a big bug?” I still can’t make out his face, but I heard the chuckle when he said it and I know he’s making fun of me.
“I’m fine.”
“How ’bout I help you carry your bags?” His voice has the sexiest accent and I have no idea where he is from, but I’m guessing it isn’t Pennsylvania. I know it’s somewhere much cooler.
“Really, I’m fine,” I say picking up the duffel bag tossing it over my shoulder. “But thank you.” I lift the handle on my suitcase and begin rolling it away from the sexy talking guy in the bright orange shirt. The wheel gets caught on a rock, twisting my wrist and sending the bag thumping back down to the ground. Me, my fancy rolling suitcase, and nature – this is not a good mix. I’m not going to make it.
My heavy suitcase is snatched up like it’s weightless. “I got these.” He slides the duffel bag from my shoulder and tosses it over his own. “Lead the way.”
I’m not a hundred percent sure where I’m even going. “The guy in the front office just told me it’s on top of the hill.” I walk next to him feeling bad I’m not carrying anything, especially knowing how many more bags I have waiting in my car.
“So you’re new here, what’s your name?”
“Tessa.” I use the sweet voice I always do when I meet new people. “And you are?”
“Tucker.”
Cool name, cool accent, I’m dying to know. “Where are you from, Tucker?”
“Jersey.”
I knew it was somewhere good. Jersey. I love it. “By the shore?”
“Yeah, I live close to the water,” he replies.
Walking up the big hill has me quickly winded and gasping for air. I’m too winded to even talk. This is embarrassing. The more I think about it, the harder it is to catch my breath. I’m horribly out of shape. Surely he’s waiting for me to say something else, but if I do I’m going to sound pathetic like I’m hyperventilating or something.
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