Love Fool (One Night Only Season 2: Hunter's Story)

Chapter Thirteen

"What?" Deni asks.

Whoops. I've been studying her for a beat too long, and I guess she noticed. Still, I can't tear my gaze away from her.

"I was just thinking that you're full of surprises today."

She turns to open a cupboard and breaks the slow-tempo tango our eyes are having when she pulls out two mugs and sets them on the counter. "The coffee is ready."

I should follow her lead, let the moment pass, and chill for a second. We have plans to watch shooting stars together already, after all. That should give me the perfect setting to figure out if I read her correctly just a moment ago. I have no chill, though, and so I reach for the mugs and intentionally brush my arm against hers.

"I can pour."

Curiosity about how she'll react motivates me to get into her personal space even more. Mugs in hand, I ease around her and brush up against her arm again. Her skin is like silk, every bit as soft as it felt when I had my hand on her shoulder during our tadpole-catching adventure. Does being this close have the same effect on her as it does on me? I keep an eye on her while I pour the coffee, watching for any sign that might give me a clue.

"Sugar?" I reach for a small bowl that's beside the coffee maker.

She blinks a couple of times, almost as though she's struggling to process the question. Interesting.

"Just oat milk," she replies after a few moments pass.

"Oat milk? That's a thing?"

"It's a thing." She opens the fridge and pulls out a rectangular carton. "There's normal milk, too, if you take that in your coffee."

"Nah, I'll try the oat milk. I'm up for an adventure."

"You, up for a food adventure?" She stirs the oat milk into her coffee. "I wouldn't have guessed, since you're so unadventurous with roasting marshmallows." If she was dazed at all before, she's back to her usual sassy and alert self now.

"There's a difference between adventurous and sacrilege," I tease.

"We'll agree to disagree."

She holds out the carton. It isn't by accident that my fingers slide over hers as I take it from her. Her breath catches when I touch her hand. The nearly imperceptible action makes me consider keeping my fingers where they are to find out if she'll leave her hand there or move it away, but I chicken out at the last second. Now it's my turn to stir oat milk into my coffee.

"Other than the meteor shower, what's going on today?" she asks.

Her question reminds me there's an entire afternoon ahead of us. It sounds like she's looking for something to do, and possibly with me. I seize on the first idea I have.

"I'm just hanging out and probably swimming in a bit. You should join me if you want to. It's supposed to hit thirty degrees later, so the lake will be warm."

"Thirty degrees?" She appears puzzled.

I almost forgot she's from a country that doesn't use Celsius for temperature. "It translates to 'still hot outside and you should come swimming' in Fahrenheit."

I expect a sarcastic reply, but she simply nods. "Noted, and I will."

Deni raises her mug to her lips. She casually sips her coffee and doesn't seem to notice the lock of hair that falls over one of her eyes. Should I go for the obvious, get into her personal space again, and tuck the oh-so-tempting strand behind her ear? Or should I be just as casual as she is and save more flirting and charm for later?

Crunching gravel from the driveway outside the camp provides me with an answer. It will be none of the above, since it sounds like her mom is home. I mirror Deni and also drink my coffee, even though there are honest-to-God fireworks going off in my mind at the thought of spending the rest of the day and tonight with her.

The oat milk in my coffee isn't bad. I consider mentioning this, since there are excellent odds it will elicit a wisecrack from Deni. My thought is derailed by footsteps on the stairs, and it isn't long before Lia opens the door. She's carrying a few grocery bags, so I put my mug on the counter and hurry over to her.

"Let me help with those." I take a couple of the bags from her and set them on the kitchen table. "Do you have others you need brought inside?"

"Thank you, Hunter," Lia says. "No, this is it. What are you two up to today?"

"Swimming later," I respond, before Deni has a chance to reveal our other plans to catch the meteor shower. Watching shooting stars in the dark at night, out in the middle of the woods, probably doesn't sound all that innocent. I don't want to make Lia suspicious that I'm attempting to put the moves on her daughter.

"How's the lake for that?"

"It's good between my camp and over here," I assure her. "There's sand covering most of the pebbles on the bottom and no leeches or anything. The lake seems pretty calm today, too. No undertow. But don't worry, I'll make sure Deni is safe. I used to swim competitively and I took a lifeguard course last summer."

"Well then, I'm confident she's in good hands. If you'll both excuse me for a minute, I need to make a quick phone call."

Lia looks like she's biting back a laugh as she exits the kitchen and heads for the hallway. My safety speech might have been a bit much in hindsight.

"Lifeguard, huh?" Deni pretends to swat at my shoulder. "And a competitive swimmer, and a Scout? Are you trying to impress my mom?"

Earning Lia's trust is more of what I'm aiming for, but Deni is spot on that I've rattled off my lifeguard and competitive swimmer resume on purpose.

I catch hold of her wrist. "I was a Scout. I stopped before high school."

"You know what I meant. Is there anything you don't do?"

"Sing. Or play the guitar, really. That's all you, and I look forward to being serenaded soon."

"In your dreams, Scout." Her tone is breezy, but she glances at her wrist, which I'm still holding. She doesn't try to move her arm away.

"Finally, a nickname. We're making progress, even if I can't convince you to write me a song."

"Write you a song?" she sputters. "Someone's becoming a diva. What happened to just being serenaded?"

"If you insist. Come by around one o'clock to serenade me, and then we'll go swimming. Until then, I should go help my dad stack some firewood. I said I'd do it before hitting the lake today."

It would be so easy to inch my hand down from her wrist and lace my fingers with hers. Every signal I think I'm getting tells me I should, and the temptation is real, but some inner force causes me to hold back. I let go of her wrist instead.

Why am I like this?

There's nothing left to do but see myself out and wait for another opportunity to flirt with her later. I give Deni a cheerful wave, then head for the door before she can zing me with a snappy comeback or change her mind about our afternoon plans.