Page 37

“Well, I’m pretty sure we could find a nice man to set you up with as well—our bad for assuming.”

I shrugged, swallowed, and grinned. “I’m actually pan. Not a ton of dating experience, though. First helping my sisters, then Erlene, now, the kids…”

“Well, neither of us are matchmakers.” Aaron grinned. “Oh, if you go to the library, be careful about sharing your single-and-available status with the librarian.”

Noel chuckled. “Loriana has been trying to set people up forever. She’s, uh, really bad at it.”

“Long red hair, lovely dark-brown eyes, married to a computer technician named Mitch who is just the sweetest guy.” Aaron smiled. “He’s a good guy who I’ve been happy to get to know. He’s like me—not from around these parts.”

“Yes, but once you move here, it’s really hard to move away.” Noel offered me a sheepish shrug. “Small-town living. You either find itintrusive and annoying or you love it.” He squeezed Aaron’s hand. “We love it.”

Their happiness carried me all the way back to the hotel. I wanted to call Jai to see if he got my gifts, but I wouldn’t. I still had almost two weeks.

Plenty of time to figure out how I felt about him.

And how he might feel about me.

Chapter Eleven

Jai

“Are you excited about family day?” Grey offered his signature boyish grin.

“I am.” Long debate had gone into whether we’d do this—for two reasons. First, if campers were here to get away from their parents, bringing those parents in might be painful. Secondly, not all parents could attend. We worried that might make campers feel excluded.

Gavin wasn’t the least bit fazed that his parents were taking a long-planned trip to Italy—he’d been glad not to be dragged along.

Chris adored their parents, but was relieved they were visiting family in Yellowknife. Family who weren’t always accepting of thenonbinarychild.

Luli was a little sad about her mother not being able to make the day, but understood work had to be her mother’s priority as she’d taken a lot of time off to deal with her daughter’s issues.

As I surveyed the excited campers, Keegan stood out. He’d tried to play it off as cool, but he was clearly excited to see his father.

Parvan was grateful we limited guests to five. We were willing to make exceptions if the family had more siblings. Like, for instance, Arnav’s family, where there were seven children. Parvan only had a brother and a sister. His extended family was massive, and all wanted to come and support.

I loved that, but limits made sense.

Grey nodded, then headed down to the group.

The debate had been whether or not Cody should make an appearance. Everyone knew he was the psychologist.

What had become apparent very quickly was how easily he fit into the group. Campers would look for him and wanted him to be included.Is it because he’s gay and they don’t want anyone to be excluded, or does he provide a level of comfort and security?I didn’t know.

No one had asked about me when I wasn’t around.

Which I was fine with.

Demetrius was the first to arrive—twelve minutes early.

Keegan was over to the minivan at a run, and the big man was barely out of the vehicle before he caught his son in his arms.

I hadn’t perceived Keegan’s distress as that high.

Cody caught my gaze and gave me a subtle nod. Ah, so this wasn’t unexpected to him.

Parvan’s family was next to arrive. Each member hugged him, and then they made it clear they wanted to meet everyone. Parvan might’ve rolled his eyes, but he was also clearly pleased at the interest his family showed in his new friends.

“How are things going?” Demetrius offered me a grin.