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But because I’m a fucking teenaged jackass with whiskey running through his veins and fucking with his brain cells, I throw out a surly, “Well, guess we don’t really know each other at all, do we? This is probably too intense to go any further,” I grumble, keeping my regret out of my voice.
“Is that what you want?” she asks quietly, and my stubborn ass won’t let myself rush to her when that tear finally falls.
“I’m just saying, camp is over,” I drone on, talking out my ass at this point, “and look at us…” I wave my hand that clutches my beer between us. “It’s already getting ugly. Maybe we weren’t meant to be more than… whatever the hell this has been,” I wave my arm around. I need to check out of this conversation soon before I make a bigger ass of myself, if that’s even possible.
Luna doesn’t even respond, instead moving to grab up her jeans, slipping a leg in each as she refuses to look my way.
“Where you going?” I demand, as she stuffs her feet into her sneakers.
“To my cabin,” she answers, barely audible as she starts taking strides to the trailhead.
“Why?” I call after her, holding my hands out.
“Because you called it.” She doesn’t look back, but I can hear the tears making her voice thick. “And I can’t believe I ever loved such a fucking asshole.”
Even though I’ve got Jack Daniels whispering in my ear to keep right on up with the dickhead act, those last words she said broke through every wall I’ve put up tonight. And it fucking hurts like a bitch.
“Come on, you can’t walk back alone,” I grunt as I stumble around in a circle, wondering where in the fuck I left my shoes.
“I’ll take my chances with a bear rather than spend another second with your pitiful ass!”
“There are no bears out here, you moron!” I bellow back.
“You’re the fucking moron,” she yells, storming back all of a sudden, and I actually feel a traitorous hopeful flutter. “And by the way, I would actually love to have a beer with you. The reason I don’t is because there’s more than a fifty percent chance addiction has been passed down to me, so I don’t take the risk!”
“Good for you, you’re such a good girl,” the venomous words slither out of me like the snake I am right now. And the look on Luna’s face looks as if she’s just seen a person she thought she knew morph into just that.
But she squares her shoulders and toughens her veneer before speaking one last time. “Just so you know… the only person feeling sorry for you is you!” She turns back around, her beautiful brown hair swinging behind her as she goes. But unlike that first summer at camp, this time she’s taking my whole heart with her.
I turn back towards the fire, trying to fight off the pain that is effectively breaking through the forcefield of intoxication that had been protecting me from vulnerability. The pain is so potent, I lash out against it, drawing my arm back and pitching my beer bottle into the fire, watching the exploding sparks rise into the night.
7
LUNA
Iwatch as Kaleb preps his bike, checking gears and oil and all sorts of things I don’t have the first clue about. After making sure his saddle bags have everything, he straightens up and turns to me while pulling his jacket on.
I blow out a breath as I relax back against my black Mazda, both wanting to get this moment over with and draw it out at the same time.
“Good luck at training,” I murmur somberly as he comes to stand only a few inches in front of me. “Don’t let them cut your hair too short.” I quirk an eyebrow, trying to lighten the moment.
“You like this?” He tips his head forward and tugs at one of the longer strands of hair he has up front. Now waiting for an answer, he stares down at me, much like the way he did when he arrived at the beginning of the summer. Finally, he brings a hand up to cup the side of my face, his thumb brushing over my cheek bone. “Truth or dare?”
“Hmmph,” I can’t help a small snort at the idea I would possibly choose dare at this moment. He’d probably dare me to go up on the ropes course naked. “Truth.”
“One day you’re going to pick dare,” he says gruffly down at me.
“That will be the day you pick truth.”
“Fair enough. Alright, truth. Do you swear nothing’s changed between us?”
I take a moment to think about my answer, because I want to it be one hundred percent whole-hearted. A few things did change between us. There was a definite shift in our dynamic bond, but that’s to be expected as you grow and get older. The important thing is I’m unequivocally certain Kaleb is going to stay in my heart, the way he always has been.
“Nothing’s changed, K. And it never will.”
His barely-there smile and the slight shift of his shoulders as he lets out a breath are a balm to my heart; a sign that he feels the same.
“Your turn,” I tell him.
