Page 42 of Meeting Me, Loving You (Hearts of Maple Lake #1)

JULIET

“ G ot everything packed in the back?”

“Yup!” I look over at Ty, who’s carrying out the rest of the food for our night on the water. It’s eight o’clock on a beautiful Friday morning, and we’re making good time to get down to the Kittappy River by nine.

We each have our own kayak, which are both strapped to the top of Ty’s Jeep, and we’ll be splitting all the equipment, food, and freshwater between us to transport it down the river.

Even so, we have to pack light. We have a cooler bag of food, two lightweight tents, our hammocks, and some equipment for cooking, as well as extra clothes.

It doesn’t look like a lot in the trunk of his jeep, but when you have to pack it all onto two little kayaks, it turns into more of a hassle than you’d think.

“Perfect,” says Ty. He places the cooler in his trunk. “I guess we’re all ready to go then.” He’s a little out of breath from carrying everything down from my apartment.

“Let me just run up and tell Ali we’re leaving.” Ali agreed to watch Dax this weekend. I wanted to take him with us, but there was just no way he would fit in a one-seater kayak .

I run through the lobby and up the stairs, taking them two at a time. After knocking on Ali’s door, I hear her footsteps and the door opens wide.

“We’re ready to go. Thanks for watching Dax for me.”

She reaches out and gives me a tight hug, her colorful, beaded bracelets jingling as her arms wrap around me. “No problem. Have all the fun you can. You deserve it.”

I let her go and sift my hands through my limp wavy hair. I haven’t had the energy to really style it, let alone wash it regularly. After everything that happened with Cam, I haven’t wanted to do much of anything. It was practically a fight for Ty to get me to go with him this weekend.

“Yeah, well,” I say, trying not to sound resigned. “At least Cam won’t be there.” I give her a weak smile and shrug a shoulder.

Ali knows everything that went down with Cam, and I even caved and told her everything that led up to it.

Like how Cam held me after the bike accident, and how he has a tattoo of my “thank you” note on his arm from when I was ten.

I told her about his confession that he made up the tourist list just to help me have fun outside of work and school, after he led me to believe it was for him because he missed Maple Lake.

And I told her about the gaping hole in my chest that appeared when he told me he couldn’t be with me.

“I’m glad you’re going with Tyler; it will be a great chance to just relax and enjoy the summer sun.

You’ll be too busy paddling and setting up camp to think of Cam.

” Her smile is warm and I’m so thankful to have a friend like Ali.

“Dax and I will have lots of fun here. Don’t worry about us.

Why don’t we go get him? I’ll bring him over here tonight. ”

When we’re in my apartment, I find Dax sitting by the couch, his tail wagging.

I bend down and give him a big hug, and he lifts his paws onto my lap, snuggling his face into the crook of my neck.

His wet nose is cold, but his cuddles are warm and soft.

I pet his fur and scratch under his chin before saying goodbye to him and Ali.

Ty and I will only be gone for tonight, and we plan to be home by dinner tomorrow, but I feel extra sad about leaving Dax behind.

He always knows when I’m feeling down, and I can tell he wants to be near me more than usual.

Ty is already in the Jeep, so I hop in, and we head to the river where we’ll park at a local beach and kayak ten miles.

After that, we’ll camp for the night. Tomorrow we’ll kayak another five miles where we’ll catch a shuttle back to Maple Lake.

There are shuttles going up and down the river all day, picking up tourists who raft and boat throughout the summer, so it doesn’t really matter what time we get to the end.

The drive to the river beach is only fifteen minutes from town, so we’re there in no time. While Ty unloads our kayaks and places them on the grass, I line up all our camping equipment and prepare to fit it into the storage hatches.

I notice Ty keeps checking his phone.

“Are you worried about not talking to Sandra while we’re gone?”

He lowers his eyebrows. “Nah, she’s okay with it.” He looks around the parking lot. “He’s late.”

“Who?”

Just as the word leaves my mouth, I see a big black truck turn into the parking lot.

“You invited Cam?” I ask quickly, my eyes wide with worry.

Ty looks confused at the sudden panic lacing my voice. “Yeah, I thought I told you that.”

I give him a hard look. “I would have remembered if you told me.” Cam parks his truck, and I grab Ty by the arm, leading him to the other side of the Jeep and out of Cam’s view. “Tyler, you didn’t tell me you invited him. There’s something I have to?—”

My words are cut off by the sound of footsteps coming around the vehicle.

We both turn around and I lock eyes with Cam. He stops abruptly, looking like he’s seen a ghost. It’s clear he’s as surprised to see me as I am to see him. I can’t seem to break eye contact, and my breaths have become shallow when Ty breaks the silence between us.

“Hey man, you finally made it!” Ty smiles wide and gives him a friendly pat on the back like guys do.

Cam is dressed in grey swim trunks and a white cutoff Tee that reveals the side of his muscular pecs and a hint of firm abs.

His wavy brown hair hangs over his forehead, and he rubs the back of his neck, doing that nervous thing I’ve come to realize is his tell.

At least I’m not the only one feeling completely out of place here.

“Yeah, sorry for running late,” he says, turning his body toward Ty. “I came across some tourists who got their little car stuck on the side of the road, so I offered to pull them out with my truck.”

“No worries, I’m glad you could help them. Do you keep a chain in your truck or something?”

“Yeah, for emergencies. You’d be surprised how many times I’ve had to help someone around here, especially in the winter.”

Ty laughs and agrees that not everyone was made for mountain living.

Cam hasn’t spared me a glance since he first arrived, so I decide to busy myself with prepping my kayak, rather than stand awkwardly listening to their conversation.

The boys talk for another minute and then pack up their own kayaks.

Once I finish, I grab a bottle of sunscreen from my backpack and squirt out a handful.

I’d rather not burn on this trip and come out looking like a lobster, so I packed more than I knew I’d need.

If the guys didn’t bring sunscreen—which I’m sure they didn’t—I’ll have plenty for all three of us, not that they’ll bother to use it.

I lather the lotion all over my arms and shoulders, then onto my face and neck, making sure to cover my scar with a generous amount. From the corner of my eye, I think Cam might be looking at me, and it makes me nervous.

I’m wearing blue fitness shorts and a white tank top, with a matching blue bikini underneath.

I make sure to spread the sunblock under the shoulder straps and on my chest. It would be easy to end the day with a big sunburn and not have fun because of it.

So I work thoroughly to cover any skin not covered by clothing.

When I’m done with my upper body, I set my foot on the side of my kayak and lather up my legs.

My heart lurches in my chest, and suddenly I’m hyper aware of someone next to me. I don’t have to look up to know that it’s Cam. His cologne wafts on the warm summer air, reminding me of what it felt like to have his hands in my hair and his kisses on my neck.

I take a quiet, steadying breath and attempt to ignore him.

“I didn’t know you’d be coming,” Cam says. His voice is quiet enough that Ty won’t overhear him.

Would he not have come if he knew I was going to be on the trip? Heck, if Ty told me Cam would be here, would I have wanted to come?

I settle for telling him the truth, but I can’t make eye contact.

Those green eyes have pulled me in before, and I don’t think I’ll be able to climb out of the hole a second time if I look at him.

“Ty didn’t tell me you were coming either.

” I shrug, looking at the ground. “But it’s his birthday weekend and I’m his sister, so of course I’m here. ”

Sliding past him, I toss the sunscreen bottle back into my waterproof bag and close it up.

Ty has already carried his kayak down to the water’s edge and is tying the last of his gear onto the back of it, while Cam and I stand near the cars in the parking lot.

Now that I think about it, I should have gotten my kayak down to the water too before filling it with all my stuff.

It’ll be heavier now, and I’ll have to be extra careful dragging it across any rocks.

Cam sighs. “I didn’t mean you shouldn’t be here. I just meant Tyler made it sound like he was going solo and decided to invite me. Jules…” He runs his hands through his wavy hair, and I have to fight to keep my eyes off his biceps. “I’ve missed you.”

My eyes shoot to him and a wave of defensiveness washes through me. How could he say that to me? Does he understand I’ll be thinking about those words the whole trip? That he’s hurting me by saying this after he’s already made it clear that he doesn’t want anything more with me?

I stand tall, my hands on my hips. “Ty doesn’t know about anything that happened between us, and I want to keep it that way. So let’s just pretend we’re still okay, and try to have a good time. For Ty’s sake.”

An expression of hurt flashes across his face and then disappears as he sets his jaw. “If that’s what you want.”

“You already know what I want.” I can’t help the tears that warm my eyes, and I turn my face away so he won’t see.

I hear the sound of Cam taking a step toward me on the gravel, and I dare to hope once again that maybe he’s changed his mind. My heart somersaults behind my ribs and reaches for the sky at the possibility.

But without another word, Cam stoops down and lifts my kayak. I turn around, watching as he carries it down to the water like it doesn’t weigh a thing.