Drew

She had to ask that. Part of me wanted to tell her. My band dumped me. Well, I’d already told her that. I hadn’t told her that my girlfriend dumped me too. My piece of lonely humble pie had me reevaluate a lot. But I wasn’t ready for another heart to heart when I was going to have to watch her go on a date with another dude. I had to keep some of the walls up. “I grew up.”

“Wow, do you think I will come back next summer with a whole new personality?” She gave me a teasing grin. “Maybe you could teach me the art of sarcasm. I could really use a little more edge.”

“No, I can’t teach you and I hope you stay exactly the same,” I said before I really thought about it. I saw her physically start. I had clearly surprised her.

“You can’t mean that,” she muttered.

“I do mean it, Chlo. I really like you the way you are. You’re so pretty, warm and sweet and--” I stopped because I sounded like a guy in love. And then it hit me. My jealousy, the fact that I wanted to touch her, and how protective I was. I liked Chloe. It had been so obvious, of course. I’d clearly been in denial.

I glanced over at her in her little pink t-shirt and jean shorts. Her smile was so cute as she looked up at me. I wanted to kiss her. Pull her in my arms, hold her tight against me and kiss her till neither of could see straight.

“Thank you,” she replied quietly.

I cleared my throat. I needed to steer this conversation back to safer territory before I did something completely dumb like blurt out my feelings. “Are you around tonight? I could use help with a few more songs.”

“Sure,” she chirped next to me.

“I’m sorry to ask again, I know it’s not your responsibility to help me be music director.”

“Stop.” She gave an exaggerated eye roll and then a wink. “First of all, that is what friends are for. Second, I had fun.”

Friends. Yep, we were friends. Just friends. “Thanks.”

We were almost at the cafeteria when my phone buzzed. Since this was off time, I pulled it out to pick it up. “Hello,” I said.

“Is this Drew McCabe?” Some guy asked on the other line. He sounded young.

“Yeah,” I answered stopping. Chloe stopped too, her eyebrows going up.

“Hey man, my name’s Derek. I’m from Echo Stream. I go to Boston Conservatory. You sent me a clip of you jammin’ on your strings. Are you still looking to join a band this fall?”

My heart stopped in my chest. A band at Boston Conservatory? I’d tried to join a few at UConn but none of the ones I tried out for were very serious. They all wanted to use a band as a guise for hard core partying or to pick up chicks and that was not what I was about. I loved the music. But a band at a music school? That could be awesome. “Yeah, totally, I’m interested.”

I looked at Chloe and she was looking back at me, with a giant smile on her face. I knew she could hear everything. I reached for her hand and she grabbed mine with both of hers, bouncing a little. Her energy and enthusiasm had me grinning.

“You couldn’t try out this weekend, could you?” he asked quickly. “I’m gonna be honest, we totally dug your video but we do have a couple other guys we’re checking out too. If you’re a fit, we’d love to send you off with some of our music so we could start up playing some of the clubs in the fall. When the college kids come back from summer break, that’s when the gigs really pick up.”

I closed my eyes. A band that didn’t care about playing in the summer sounded too good to be true. I did have Sunday off but Boston was two and a half hours away and I had no way to get there. Alex had driven me to camp, because my dad was fixing my car. Which basically meant he was building me a car from a few scrap ones he had on the lot so I could get back and forth to Boston for school this coming year. Alex would have driven me in a heartbeat but his day off would be Saturday.

“You should go!” Chloe whispered excitedly still bouncing.

“Hang on one sec,” I said to Derek. Then I covered the phone. “I don’t have any wheels.”

She blinked twice but gave me a giant grin. I loved that grin. Then she whispered, “I’ll drive you.”

My mouth hung open. Of course. Chloe had Sunday off too, we were on the same schedule. And she had her pink convertible, which despite having teased her, was an awesome road trip car. “Are you sure?”

“Totally,” she said as her smile grew bigger, and she bounced faster. “I’d love to tour around Boston a little. It will be fun.”

I gave her a quick nod, which was a crap way to say thank you but I didn’t want to keep Derek waiting any longer. I pulled the phone back to my ear. “Sunday works for me if that’s cool for you,” I said to him.

“Yeah man, that’s awesome.” Then he rattled off an address. “Can you be there by eleven?”

Chloe was nodding with all the enthusiasm she had so I quickly agreed and then hung up the phone. Letting go of my hand, she did a happy dance, circling around me. It felt so good to have someone excited for me. It was even more amazing to have another friend who had my back. No wonder I liked her so much. Without thinking, I wrapped my arms around her and hauled her up against me, lifting her feet of the ground and spinning her around in a circle. I heard her shriek of laughter and it only egged me on. I had the urge to kiss her again but I restrained myself.

This was the most perfect moment I’d had in forever, I didn’t want to mess it up by making it awkward. “Thank you, Chlo.” Her face was so close to mine but I dropped my head into the crook of her neck. She smelled like summer, sun and surf along with sunblock, but also a floral sweetness that I loved. I buried my nose deeper.

“Anytime.” Her voice was breathless as she answered. I realized her heart was pounding against my chest, her arms wrapped tightly about me. I gave her a squeeze, wanting to hold her close for just a second more before I gently set her down on the ground again, slowly releasing her. I took a half step back to put some distance between us. Her big eyes looked up at me as she nibbled at her lip in confusion.

That’s when I knew. She was feeling some of what I was feeling. And Alex? Me and him were going to have a talk. “Let’s get you to lunch.” I tucked a loose curl that had fallen out of her ponytail behind her ear. The silky tress slipping between my fingers. Everything about her was so soft.

“Okay,” she whispered as her lips parted. My fingers skimmed the sensitive skin behind her ear and ran down her neck. She shivered in the most satisfying way. We were drifting closer again. I wanted to reach my other hand up and hold her face. I wanted to kiss her so bad, and I wondered for a second if she’d taste as sweet as she smelled.

But the slamming of the cafeteria screen jolted me out of my trance. Not yet, I told myself. First I needed to get things straight with Alex. I had a few good friends and I was done messing that stuff up.

* * *

Chloe

I blinked several times as Drew grabbed my hand and started to pull me toward the cafeteria again. I swear, I thought he was going to kiss me. Even weirder, I was pretty sure I wanted him to. All right, I was more than pretty sure. I definitely wanted him to.

But tomorrow night, I was going on a date with another guy. His best friend. I could not do that to either of them.

I was so confused that I forgot to be nervous as we entered the lunch line. Luckily I didn’t see Alex, but unfortunately, I didn’t see Millie either and I was desperate to have a one and one with her. They must have already headed back to their posts.

Eating quickly, we sprinted back down for our next lessons. I was so relieved to just teach all afternoon. My head was buzzing with thoughts of Drew and Alex, what I thought I wanted versus what I was feeling. You would think all that thinking would have provided a resolution but my brain just spun in circles.

I almost skipped dinner but the sun had worn me out and I needed the food. I was the first one to finish, only eating half my plate and then I got the campers back to the bunks. By the time I got back to my own cabin, Millie was just leaving.

“Are you all right?” she asked as she came out the door meeting me on the porch.

“Have you got a year?” I said giving her a little hug.

She gave me a squeeze back. “Are you going out again tonight?”

I groaned. Yes, I was supposed to meet Drew. But I wasn’t sure it was a good idea. “I don’t--”

“Hey,” Drew called as if he knew I’d been thinking about him. “Ready to go?”

I gave Millie that panicked look. In return she made that oh crap face where she pulled her lips down and showed her bottom teeth.

“Um, yeah, sure, maybe.” I fumbled searching for something to say. Part of me wanted to go with him but I was so confused. “I am super tired.” I had always been terrible at just saying no.

He walked up to us, giving me the eye in the porch light. The sun had just set and the only sound was the mosquitos buzzing about as he studied me. He was silent for so long that I started to squirm. “Are you upset with me? Are you regretting offering me a ride?”

“No, of course not.” I stepped closer. I did not regret that even a little bit and I didn’t want there to be any confusion on that front. “I am so excited that you have this audition with a new band and I don’t mind helping at all.”

“Then what’s wrong?” He looked me up and down as if that would help him figure it out.

When had Drew gotten to know me so well? “Nothing, let’s go practice a couple of songs. I just, I’ll make sure to come back early. That’s all.”

Then he really killed me. “I don’t want to wear you out,” he said as he brushed a stray curl back from my face. “If you need to go to bed, of course I understand. We’ll do this some other time.”

I heard Millie suck in her breath. My own breath was coming out in short gasps. Because his tenderness confused me. And it made me ache. Like, not hurt but I longed for something. “No, let’s go for an hour.”

I didn’t want to. I desperately wanted to.

He stared into my eyes again and I wanted to squirm under his assessment or throw myself into his arms. Perhaps run away? “If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure,” I said as I grabbed his free hand, pulling him down the path. My hand tingled where it touched his. I heard his guitar thumping against his outer thigh as we walked. “I was thinking,” I turned my head back toward him so he could hear me. “Maybe I just won’t go out tomorrow night. Stay in and get some rest you know? We have to work on Saturday and then we’ll be gone all day on Sunday. Big day, right? And I--” I stopped abruptly. Because I was rambling. I did that when I got nervous.

But what was I actually nervous about? I was here alone with Drew and talking about cancelling my date with Alex.

But rather than looking annoyed, Drew was quirking an eyebrow at me, with a half-smile pulling up one side of his lips. “You don’t want to do the campfire tomorrow?”

What did I say? “It’s late and it’s been a busy week and—“ I was rambling again.

He stopped on the trail and I stopped too. Our hands were still connected and he pulled me closer. “This is your big date. If you’re having second thoughts about going out with Alex maybe you should tell him.”

“No, I’m not,” I started. But I think it was because Drew was so close. He was messing with my head. “Okay, maybe I am.”

His lips dipped down close to my ear. “Just be honest with him. Alex is a pretty resilient guy, he’ll be fine.”

I found myself nodding. “Do you think so?”

“Totally. And, if it will help, I’ll talk to him.” He loosened his fingers from my grasp but only to slip them around the small of my back. I was tucked into his side, my body fitting with his like two pieces of a puzzle.

“That would be awesome,” I said as I rush of air left my lungs, relief making me limp against him.

His arm squeezed me a little close. “Come on, we’ll practice another night. Let’s take you back to your cabin. You get some rest and I’ll catch Alex when he’s off patrol duty.”

Knowing he would talk to Alex, I was no longer tired, I was invigorated. In fact, I had never felt more alive than I did right here, pressed against him. But if he were going to smooth things over with Alex, he should do it tonight and so I nodded against his chest. But then another doubt crept into my thoughts. “Do you think it would be better if I did it myself?” I was notoriously bad at this stuff, but still.

He gave a chuckle. “You can talk to him too if you think’s its better. But I am just going make sure tomorrow night goes smoothly. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

I blinked. When had he started paving the road for me, so to speak? It was so nice. “Thanks?”

He laughed again. “You’re welcome.” Then he stepped back and grabbed my hand. “Come on.” This time he was pulling me toward my cabin.

When had Drew become my protector? I had to confess that I really liked it. But we were only friends. The question was, did I want more?