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I’d spotted him greeting Parvan’s family, but I hadn’t noticed him peeling off from the group.

“I’m fine.” I cleared my throat. “Keegan’s doing well.”

“I appreciate that…but your regular updates assure me of that. I’m asking how you’re holding up—there’s got to be a lot of pressure on you.”

His intuitive understanding of my situation touched me in ways I didn’t expect.

Alessandra and Smith checked in regularly—always assuring me I was doing a great job.

Cody kept an eye on me. He couldn’t help himself.

I believed I was holding up fine. “We’re planning for the next session.”

Demetrius chuckled. “Keegan’s annoyed you’re limiting it to teens between fifteen and seventeen.”

“Ah. I was under that impression. We’re trying to keep the cohorts arranged by ages. I wasn’t certain we could get twenty campers that age, but we did.”

“And you’d better be operating next summer. Keegan’s letter said he wanted to be a camper until he was allowed to be a counselor.”

“That’s great.”It means Demetrius will be here every summer. But will I?

The toy and treats flashed in my mind.

“So...” Demetrius rubbed his chin.

His clean-shaven chin that appeared so smooth and that I totally wanted to caress with my fingers. “So,” I prompted.

“I’d like to ask you out. You get nights off, right?”

This was an easy one. Disappointing, but an easy one. “I do have most nights off, but I’m not allowed to date parents of campers. Hard-and-fast rule.”

He blinked. “That simple?”

I nodded. “I mean, I’m flattered…”And hadn’t even been certain you were gay, but now I know and doesn’t that hurt.

“Uh…no exceptions?”

“Nope.”

“How about meeting a camper’s father for a nice dinner—as a friend?”

“Appearance of impropriety. Of favoritism.”

“I kind of want to call bullshit on that.”

I might’ve bristled at the cuss word, but Isla and Francis’s families had both arrived and the enthusiastic chatter even reached us where we stood, off to the side.

“Perhaps. But I don’t make the rules.”

“I’d like to see these rules.”

I winced. “Uh, it’s not written down.”

“So there’s nothing in writing that says you can’t have a personal life?”

“That’s a bit of an exaggeration. I enjoyed my time at the gathering the other night.”

“Ah. So if I invite Arnav and Foster and we got together as a foursome…”