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“Woah, man. It’s puff puff pass,” I tease, taking the joint away from his trembling fingers as his face turns red. “Take it easy.”
“S—Sorry,” he coughs, giggling at himself. “Got ahead of myself.”
We pass the joint around like that until it’s almost gone. He looks like he’s high as fuck, and I realize maybe I should have limited him to just a few puffs. “How you feeling?”
His eyes are glossy and red as he gives me a slurred smile. “Great.”
“You’re soaring, man,” I chuckle, feeling myself getting closer and closer to being slightly trashed as I down my drink.
“I’ve never done anything fun before,” he admits, jumping on the boulder beside me as he swings his legs, more at ease than I’ve ever seen him before.
I wrinkle my brows. “How old are you?”
“Twenty-one,” he says with a little laugh. “I’ve never gotten drunk, never smoked, never really done anything fun.” He sighs and drops his face into his hands. “I’m so lame.”
I give his shoulder a nudge. “Don’t say that.”
“What would you call it? I mean, look at you,” he says, waving wildly up and down my figure.
“What about me?”
“You’re so…I don’t know? Cool?”
“I’m not cool, man,” I scoff. “Trust me, you don’t want my life.”
I may seem down to earth up front, but Patrick has no idea how messed up my life actually is. Sure, I have it pretty sweet at UNC, but my parents are a nightmare.
I understand that I’m lucky enough to have parents who pay for my college, but that’s all they do. Growing up, they didn’t give one single shit about me if it didn’t involve going to church or getting perfect grades. The standards they set for me were too high to ever reach and, instead of loving me anyway, I didn’t exist if I didn’t act like they wanted me to.
I know people have it rough. I know my sob story is nothing to cry about. I know life is hard for everyone, but I can’t imagine Patrick having anything but loving parents—albeit maybe parents who sheltered him too much.
“Hey, Noah?”
I turn to Patrick who suddenly looks so serious. He’s worrying his bottom lip as he gently places the joint I just gave him on the boulder. “Yeah? What are you—”
And he surprises the shit out of me by launching himself at me and attacking my lips with his.
I’m in shock for a few seconds, feeling his chapped lips brush against mine and his sweaty palms cradle my cheeks, and I don’t have the chance to do anything before he rips himself away with a pained shout.
“Oh! Oh no!” he yells, standing up and running his fingers through his hair. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have done that.”
Now that I’ve sobered up a bit and gotten over my surprise, I shake my head. He looks absolutely mortified and he has no reason to be. I don’t really like him like that, and I never imagined he was into dudes, but I don’t want him to feel bad. “What? No, it’s fine.”
“It’s not fine.”
And my blood runs cold as Patrick’s face pales when we turn to the source of the new voice.
Jarred.
CHAPTER10
JARRED
I don’t think I’ve ever been this angry in my life.
I was livid when I realized that my counselors were throwing a party after curfew. It’s not even that they were out here in the first place—kids are going to be kids—but I grew furious when I noticed they were drinking, even though most of them are of age. What if the campers saw them? What kind of example would that send to impressionable children? Regardless, I was prepared to just walk away, call it a fluke, and readdress the rules with them tomorrow like a calm and rational adult.
I’m not calm and rational any more. Not after what I just witnessed.
