Page 76 of Crew Girl

“That sucks. I’m sorry to hear that.”

So was she, but like Juliet had said, there wasn’t anything she could do about it. This was on Cam. “Why are you here?”

He flashed her a smile. “My night was also a bust.” He flexed his shoulders like he was debating whether or not to tell her why. “I broke up with Britney.”

“Oh, wow.” She hadn’t seen that coming. Not after seeing them waltz around the dance floor like Beauty and Beast. After the spell was broken and the Beast became the handsome prince, obviously. “Was that… You’re sure it was the right move?”

“It was.”

She could tell he’d done it for him. Not because of whatever it was that had been crackling between the two of them. So that was good. As far as bad situations went. “So.” She fell into their usual pattern, using humor to deflect the big feelings they were both clearly trying to figure out. Here. In the boathouse. Without anyone else around. “Does that mean she hates someone more than me now?”

Josh huffed a laugh. “I think you’re off the hook. Which makes me the most hated person on both of your lists.”

“Ha!” It wasn’t funny. She stopped laughing. “I don’t hate you, Josh.”

“I know.”

The energy in the room changed; his gaze softened.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

He didn’t answer.

It took her a moment to realize there was less space between them now than there had been a second ago. How had that happened? Had she moved closer to him or had it been the other way around? She had no idea.

It didn’t feel like they were up close and personal for another verbal shoot-out. Or to shake hands over a future in the friend zone…

When they’d first met, they’d been like magnets turned the wrong way around. Two strong forces that repelled each other when they got close. Pushed each other away.

But now? It was like the magnets had flipped. Her North aligning with his South to create something new. An attraction.

Josh had told her he wanted to be more than friends. When his lips touched hers, she knew he hadn’t been lying.

It was a perfect first kiss. Soft, inquisitive, short.

He pulled back, checking to see if he’d read her right. That kissing her was okay.

It was more than okay.

She gave him the next kiss. After that it was kind of a dreamy blur. One hungry kiss after the other, as if they’d been lying in wait. It was perfect. Disappearing into a dream meant she didn’t have to think about everything that had gone wrong. Only about the here and now. Like when she was out on the water, her true self, in the right place at the right time.

CAM

It was the morning of the Head of the Harbor regatta, and Cam was driving Walt the Pickup. He parked up next to Coach Hayden’s truck, which he and his daughter were unloading.

“Madison’s earning her keep today,” Coach called out to him, arms loaded with supplies for the race. “I’ve got a mountain of things to do before the visiting crews get here. Give her a hand?”

“You don’t have to,” Madison said. “I know you earn your keep at your house. You don’t have to earn it at mine as well.”

Cam held out his arms for her to load him up. “Helping a friend doesn’t count.”

She tugged a box out of the back of the truck and dumped it in his arms. It contained a Crock-Pot, soup cans, and individual snack packs of quick-energy foods. “Are you sure you trust me with the food?”

“Sure. Unless you can open those cans with your teeth?” Madison teased. She grabbed a couple of bags with blankets and other stuff and they headed toward the main staging site down by the water. “How’re you feeling about today?”

He was feeling lots of things about today, but since he’d decided to show up with his rower’s blinkers on, he could answer honestly. “I like our chances.”

“So…” Madison gave him a quick glance. “What happened with you and Teagan? I didn’t see you at the end of the dance. Did it go well?”