10 Weeks Read Free Page A

side of the lake.
    Alex leaves me at the end of the walk , and I think he’s not even gonna say goodbye, but at the last second, he turns around and mumbles, “I’ll see you here tomorrow” and it’s so perfect that I can’t stop myself from blowing him an overdramatic kiss.
    “You like him,” Jo says when we’re walking back up to the dining hall on our way to breakfast.
    “He’s a good friend.”
    “No,” she says. “Last year he was a good friend. This year you’re different about him .”
    I shrug. “He’s too old for me.”
    “Yeah, he is. It’s not gonna stop you though, huh?”
    I shake my head and grin. “Probably not.”
    “This isn’t a daddy replacement, is it?” She cocks a brow, but the gesture doesn’t sit with her light red hair, round face and freckles. She’s like Holly Hobby in person—with bigger muscles because the girl can run.
    “Ew, no. Don’t be gross.”
    Jo flips her braid over her shoulder. “I’m just saying. Your dad marries a woman who basically ins ists he cut you and your sister off. Your mom starts dating her boss who is seventeen years older than her. Freud woul d have a field day with this whole situation .”
    “He doesn’t look like he’s forty.”
    Jo nods. “True. But it doesn’t change the fact that he is forty .”
    She’s right, of course. I know better, but it doesn’t stop me from accidentally on purpose following him when he buses his tray in the dining hall. Or asking him if he wants to give me a windsurfing lesson during our free hour instead of playing chess.
    Jo catches me again on the way back to my cabin. “Kay-Kay, watch yourself. This can only end in a big mess.”
    I nod and return with my campers to my cabin. I throw on my archery clothes over a bikini and as I head down to my first class, all I can hear is the beating of my heart in tandem with my steps. And a whisper in the back of my brain: Alex. Alex. Alex.

Chapter Four
    It takes four hundred years for my free hour to come. It’s possible I’ve let young girls shoot at small game for all that I can remember of my classes. I’m out of my clothes and knee deep in the water before Alex sees me.
    His eyes bug out and he quickly drops his sunglasses down from the top of his head, but it’s too late. I’ve seen him see me. Every arrow I’ve shot all year and every mile I’ve run is suddenly completely worth it. I undo my dark hair from its braid and shake it out. Now, I’m just fucking with him and he knows it.
    “Come on, beauty queen, let’s get you on this board,” he says.
    I dive under the water and come up next to him. He slides his hands around my hips and hoists me onto the board.
    “You need to work on your balance first,” he says from the water beside me.
    “I have excellent balance. I’m an archer. We’re all about balance.” Before I can say anything else, he jostles the board and I tumble off.
    “Asshole, what are you doing?”
    He laughs and my heart stutters. The frickin’ laugh. Jesus.
    “I’m testing your balance. Now get back up there.”
    I shimmy on to the board , but it’s much less graceful without his hands helping me up. I slowly stand and have to take a minute to adjust my bikini top. I smirk at him. “Quit checking me out. There are young children present.”
    He shakes his head. “Perhaps you should wear something more appropriate next time .”
    “Then what would you have to thi nk about when you went to bed at night?”
    “Kay-Kay.”
    I stick my tongue out. “You fucking love me. I’m charming. Now teach me how to surf already before my nipples start showing the change in temperature.”
    “You’re incorrigible.”
    He slides on the board behind me and slowly stands up. We adjust ourselves so we’re balanced and the board doesn’t wobble with our shifts.
    “Okay,” he says, leaning over to grab the sail rope, “slowly pull this up until you can grab hold of the sail.”
    I tug and four seconds later I’m back in the