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Chapter One

Jai

“We’re going to have a great season.” Cody gave me a reassuring smile. The warmth was echoed in his stunning blue eyes, under a mop of perfectly tousled curly, light-brown hair. Add a gorgeous six-foot-plus body and perfect teeth, and Cody could’ve been a high-fashion model instead of the psychologist at a summer camp for LGBTQ teens.

When I interviewed him, I’d worried about the kids crushing on him, or feeling like they couldn’t measure up to his perfection. The camp therapist needed to be someone they could confide in, not someone they’d be desperate to impress.

Dr. Kennedy Dixon’s recommendation overrode any concerns I might have. As one of Mission City’s top psychologists, her word carried a lot of weight. She said Cody was perfect for the job, despite his young age. Or perhaps because of it.

“I wish I had your confidence,” I told him. Still, I gave him the bravest smile I could. Mission City Pride Camp had been two years in the making and, for this inaugural season, everyone had high hopes.

No pressure.

“Everything will be fine.” Cody was twenty-six, with his newly minted doctorate in clinical psychology earned at an almost unfathomably fast pace—much as Kennedy’s had been more than ten years ago. Also, as he had pointed out in his interview, he had once been her patient. He had no qualms talking about hisrough periodwhere he’d been struggling with both coming out as gay and severe parental disapproval.

Kennedy saw him through that.

In turn, he dedicated his life to helping other teens. Hence cramming undergrad, a Master’s degree, and his PhD into nine years of intense study.

He’d graduated three weeks ago.

I fretted. But then, as camp director, the man the founders hired to make their vision come true, I would always fret. “They’ll start arriving in about twenty minutes.”

“I’ll make sure Makenna and Grey have everything they need. No worries, Jai. Everything will be fine.” With a wave, he sauntered out of my office.

When Cody and I had met with Makenna and Grey—the two counselors—we’d had a discussion about titles.

Cody argued I should use my full name and expect to be Mr. Prasad.

Mr. Prasad was my father, and I hated to be reminded of him.Should’ve changed your last name years ago.Also, I was a mere three years older than Cody. Hard to believe since I felt a million years older.

Meanwhile, I’d mused whether Cody should use his PhD status since he’d graduated three weeks ago.

All three of the younger folks agreed that would put a barrier between Cody and the kids. Makenna and Grey, despite only being twenty-one, showed tremendous maturity.

Hence me hiring them.

I glanced out the window of my office in the administration cabin.

Pride Camp was made up of eight buildings—admin, cafeteria and main activities, female private cabin, male private cabin, nonbinary private cabin, two counselor cabins, psychologist cabin, and the camp director’s private cabin. The founders of the camp spent a lot of time debating sleeping arrangements. The sleepingcabinswere more like small dormitories—each camper got their own private bedroom and they shared the bathrooms.

The sound of a vehicle pulling up caught my attention.

I glanced at my watch.

Thirteen minutes early.

Sort of like something I would do. My first day, I’d been almost an hour early.

This camp was the brainchild of Smith and Alessandra MacLean. Alessandra had once been a social worker with community services and had witnessed firsthand elevated homelessness amongst the LGBTQ youth population.

She hadn’t married Smith for his vast wealth—a fact she’d told me with a huge grin on her face—but she was happy to put his money to good use.

And he was delighted to encourage her.

They made their home in Mission City, and when this parcel of land on Stave Lake had gone on the market, they’d known what they wanted to do.

Two years later, here we were.