Page 45 of Meeting Me, Loving You (Hearts of Maple Lake #1)

CAMERON

B irds chirp in the trees overhead, and the light of the sun shines through the large maple leaves above as I take in my surroundings with sleepy eyes. I didn’t mean to fall asleep in the hammock, but it was a welcome reprieve from the tossing and turning that has consumed most of my nights lately.

Lifting my head, I peer over the fabric of the hammock that’s blocking my view of our campsite, and I realize I’m alone. Jules and Ty are nowhere to be seen. Maybe they’re in their tents?

The sun’s angle tells me it’s mid-afternoon, maybe around three o’clock, and I peek into Juliet’s hammock before heading toward the tents.

There’s no rustling or movement that I can hear from outside of the tents, so maybe they’re napping too?

Just as I’m about to unzip Tyler’s tent and peek inside, I hear a scream coming from down by the riverbank, and then a laugh. Her laugh.

My heart flutters at the sound of Jules’ voice, and I follow it down the path toward the water.

As I get closer to where the trees thin out along the shallow beach, I catch a glimpse of Juliet swimming away from land.

My breath catches as her long brown hair floats around her, and sunbeams limn her figure in sparkling light that bounces off the water.

She’s beautiful. If it were possible, I would stay in this moment forever, memorizing everything about it—everything about her. I’m spellbound by how perfect she is.

She laughs again, and I notice Tyler for the first time, swimming alongside her as she splashes him with water.

Her smile is contagious, and I can’t help but smile too, my lips pulling up into a grin.

The happiness emanating from her laughter warms me to my core, and for once in three weeks, a spark ignites inside of me, reminding me of what it’s like to be on the receiving end of her smile and those deep brown eyes.

Tyler splashes Jules, pushing water around with his hands, and she shrieks with joy, playing along and grabbing onto his shoulders from behind.

As she attempts to dunk him, her upper body rises out of the water.

She’s wearing a blue bikini top that wraps around her neck and ties in the back.

My cheeks warm and I realize I’m staring, so I distract myself by heading down the bank and onto the sandy beach.

It’s not a large enough space to throw a football and not flat enough to lay out on a towel, but it’s been a good spot for landing the kayaks.

I make my way to the water’s edge and pull my shirt up over my head, wadding it into a ball and throwing it onto the ground where I see Jules’ flip-flops and Tyler’s T-shirt.

Tyler sees me first. He easily grabs Jules by the wrists and tugs her off his shoulders, catching her off balance. She falls into the water with a splash, and I grin at how brotherly and mischievous Tyler is. Just like the old days.

“You’re awake!” He yells to me across the water. “Did you enjoy your beauty sleep?”

This pulls a laugh from me. “Yeah, man. I didn’t mean to fall asleep, but I guess I needed it.” I make my way into the river, wading toward them until the water reaches my chest. The current isn’t strong here, and it’s especially easy to stay in place since my feet reach the riverbed.

Jules wipes water from her eyes, and she’s doing her best to stay afloat as the gentle current slowly pushes her. Her feet can’t reach the ground out here, and I have the urge to grab onto her so she won’t float away. But she’s a few feet from me and seems to be managing just fine.

“Hey, that’s what this trip is for: relaxing.

Out here, we don’t have any responsibilities, only swimming, eating, and sleeping.

” Tyler sounds absolutely in awe of this weekend, like it’s something he really needs.

And it probably is. I think we’re all in need of a weekend like this.

I only hope my presence isn’t ruining that for Jules.

“What about you,” I say to Jules, turning toward her as she swims closer to the two of us. “Did you nap?”

Our eyes catch, and there’s immediate electricity between us. “No, I couldn’t fall asleep,” she says. “I kinda wanted to; it’s so peaceful out here. But there was too much going on in my head.”

She smiles warmly, and I’m taken aback by her sudden change toward me. This morning, she wanted to keep her distance, and she was firm on her decision to ignore me. But right now, she’s… smiling at me. And I’m not sure what to do with it.

Her discussion with Tyler earlier seemed to really upset her, and it took everything in me to not march up to them and wrap my arms around her.

I wanted to protect her. But then I figured she was probably crying about me, angry about what I did to her.

But the smile she’s giving me is anything but angry.

It’s warm and sweet, and I just want to lean into it and hold it against my heart.

“Well,” Tyler says in his chipper voice. “I’ve been having too much fun to nap! I was thinking we could grill dinner in a couple hours. I brought hot dogs, and later we can roast marshmallows and play cards. Unless you guys had something else in mind?”

“Nope,” Jules and I say in unison. She chuckles and looks at her brother.

“That sounds great, Ty. What should we do until dinner?” She runs her hands over her head, pushing the water out of her hair, and I can’t help but notice how the sun shines on her eyes and highlights the redness in her cheeks.

I blink and look away from her to find Tyler looking at me inquisitively.

If he suspects me of even liking Jules just a little, he’s going to start acting strange, I just know it.

That’s the kind of big brother he is. He’s always kept his eye on Jules around guys from school, whether they were her age or ours, and I’m no exception.

Only, until now, I don’t think he ever thought he’d actually have to protect her from me.

I send him an innocent, close-lipped grin. Ty frowns slightly but then looks at Jules. “We can go for a hike if you’re both feeling up to it.”

“Sure,” I say at the same time Jules says, “Sounds good.” Our eyes meet, and before I know it, Jules is jumping on her brother again, forcing his shoulders under the water.

“Hey!” Ty shouts through his laughter. “Not fair, I wasn’t prepared!”

He turns around and, with his body facing hers, he grabs her by the waist and picks her up from the water, throwing her backward into the river.

She screams as she’s tossed through the air, her lean body an easy throw for Tyler.

My mind flashes back to how it felt to have her amazing little body in my arms.

Jules’ laughter carries me back to the present, and I shake my head to clear the images.

I have the urge to join them in the fun, but I hold myself back.

I don’t want to interrupt what’s clearly a sibling bonding moment.

Jules misses having Tyler around, and I want her to relish these moments she has with him.

I also don’t know where I fit into this trip at all.

I hurt Jules, and she’s done her best to ignore me for the majority of the day.

As deserving as I am of her negativity toward me, there’s still something in the pit of my stomach that pushes me toward her.

That smile, her laugh, the love I see in her eyes as she looks at her brother.

And the look she had—no, has —when she still looks at me. Is it possible she could still have those feelings for me after what I’ve put her through? Could she forgive me?

My mind flashes back to Mrs. Simons’ words at the grocery store only this morning.

When you find someone who accepts you for who you are, you grab hold of them and don’t let go.

You let them love you, and you keep them in your circle, no matter what.

I’d be a fool if I didn’t try to fix this, because there’s no one else for me.

There’s no other person in my life who’s ever treated me with the same patience and kindness as Juliet.

She’s not just my friend—she’s become my best friend.

This beautiful woman who saves lives at the hospital every day, who goes out of her way to encourage the people of this town, who works hard, and cares enough about me to see past my flaws. She’s become everything to me.

I just hope it isn’t too late for me to make my way back into her heart.

Jules pops her head back up out of the water, splashing Tyler and me in the face since I’m close enough to get caught in the crossfire. She realizes she got me and looks apologetic. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to?—”

“You asked for it.” I say with a shrug.

Her look of shock turns to laughter again as she scrambles away from both of us. “No, no, no, no! ”

But she’s not fast enough to escape us. After exchanging a devious look of understanding, Tyler and I use our open hands to push a wave of water across the surface of the river, drenching Jules in a tsunami-like splash.

She squeals again, laughing and spitting out river water as she wipes it from her eyes and mouth.

“That’s not fair!” Her smile only widens as she looks between the two of us.

“I don’t know who told you that, Little Sis,” says Tyler, “but all’s fair in love and war. This ,” he motions in a circle between the three of us, “is war.”

My eyes dart to Jules at the word love, and my stomach flips at the sight of her brown eyes on mine. It’s like our first day all over again, her beautiful eyes enrapturing me from the moment I saw her on that snowy sidewalk. My heart stutters and I lose all thoughts and words.

She breaks eye contact first, and I’m grateful for it.

I have to get my head on straight. But being this near to her, seeing her in the dimming afternoon light as the sun sinks behind the trees, is making me realize just how wrong I was to run from her.

To run from this. The energy between us is undeniable, and I finally breathe again once she looks away.