Page 1 of Puppy Pride (Pride Camp 2025)

Chapter One

Jai

“ W e’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 his rough period where 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 sleeping cabins were 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.

I stepped onto the porch and gazed over the parking lot.

A young man was getting out of an older-model minivan.

Keegan Mulroney. Probably the most tragic backstory of all our kids—and that was saying something.

His father died in an industrial accident when he was still a toddler and his sister had been a newborn.

Then, a few years ago, their mother died of cancer.

Fortunately, Keegan’s stepfather was, by all accounts, a great guy.

Since I was working on the assumption the man getting out of the driver’s side was the stepfather, I was a little surprised.

Families come in all shapes and sizes.

Perhaps. But seeing a huge Black man placing a clearly comforting hand on Keegan’s shoulder was unexpected. The thirteen-year-old was blond with crystal-blue eyes. Also, short and slender. At least a foot shorter than his stepfather.

If this is his stepfather.

I strode over to the two, arriving just as Cody did.

“Keegan? I’m so glad you’re here.” Our psychologist grinned.

“Yeah.” The young man tried to hide behind his stepfather.

My heart sank.

“I’m Cody and I can help you get settled. Your counselor is Grey, who will be along in a moment.”

“Counselor?” Keegan appeared to shrink in upon himself even further.

The large man beside him bent and met Keegan’s gaze. “You remember the photos we looked at? Cody is the psychologist, and you talk to him about how you’re feeling. He’s your safe space.”

“I don’t know.” Keegan broke eye contact and kicked at a pebble on the gravel driveway.

Cody held my gaze for a moment .

Before I could speak up, though, Keegan’s stepfather continued. “And Grey is like a camp counselor. He’s here to lead you through all the fun stuff you’re going to do.”

Keegan glanced up. “This is lame.” His voice didn’t hold defiance, though. More like painful resignation.

“I know you think that. But I know this is going to be good for you.” The man smiled.

“And they’ll have your phone. If you need to talk to me, you ask nicely and they’ll let you call me, any time.

I’m staying in Mission City for the two weeks, okay?

You need me, and I can be here in fifteen minutes. ”

“Why aren’t you staying near Alaina?”

Alaina? Oh, the younger sister.

“Because she’s on a trekking adventure through the forests on Vancouver Island. She’s got, like, five adults with her.”

“You mean she doesn’t need you and I do.”

Grey approached, but slowed when he caught my gaze.

I held up a hand to have him stay back for a bit. Keegan and his stepfather needed a bit of privacy—even though Cody and I were within hearing distance. This parting was tearing me up. And he wasn’t my kid.

But I knew that kind of pain. From all indications, the stepfather was encouraging. Should’ve double-checked the parents’ names before coming out here.

The kids I knew well, at least on paper. The parents? Not so much.

“There’s nothing wrong with you needing me. And I can get to Alaina in a couple of hours, Keegan. You two are the most important people in my life. Don’t ever—and I mean ever—doubt that.”

Keegan met his stepfather’s gaze. “Okay.”

His stepfather glanced over at Cody and held out his hand. “Demetrius. This wonderful kid is my son.” He beamed with pride .

“We’ll take very good care of him, I promise.” Cody beckoned Grey over. “This is Grey, and he’ll be your counselor. He’s around to make sure you have everything you need.”

Grey stuck out his hand. “I was a camper a few years ago, so I know what it’s like. Only I had to go to Ontario to find a camp for kids like myself. It’s great we now have one so close to home. Where is your home? Do you want to follow me?”

“Vancouver.” Keegan hesitated. “Uh, can I say goodbye to my dad?”

“Of course. We’ll be over here. Oh, someone else is arriving.” Grey waved to the incoming Mazda in need of a new muffler.

So I didn’t hear whatever Keegan’s stepfather said to him, but I did witness a hug so fierce that I had to blink back tears.

Pride Camp was meant to be a place of acceptance and, hopefully, healing.

Keegan was clearly in need of both. His dad had signed him up, alluding to ongoing bullying and other issues at school.

I’d sought elaboration from the school, but had hit a brick wall.

Even with the stepfather’s permission, the school stuck to the privacy policy.

Deep in my gut, I believed they were protecting the privacy of the bullies.

Quite often, that happened. Certainly more often than I’d like. More than was safe for the LGBTQ kids.

Keegan finally let go, grabbed his knapsack and suitcase, and followed Grey toward the boys’ cabin.

Makenna was there to greet Luli, a petite Asian girl who was struggling as well. She also came from Vancouver. That said, we had several kids local to Mission City and Abbotsford who were slated to attend.

Cody hung back, clearly waiting for Makenna to make the introductions.

I’d planned to get into the mix, but I didn’t want to overwhelm the kids. Better that I be off to the side, but available if needed .

Keegan’s stepfather finally pulled his gaze from his retreating son’s figure and pivoted his attention to me.

He blinked.

So did I. I’d glimpsed him upon their arrival, but had been more focused on Keegan.

Now, though? I took a moment to catalogue the man.

Tall. Well over my own five-eight. Broad.

Barrel chested. Defined biceps under his T-shirt.

Lean waist and thick thighs in straining khaki.

His black hair curled, although it wasn’t as long as my own.

His dark skin glinted in the bright sunshine, and his dark-brown eyes mesmerized me. He was…stunning.

He cocked his head.

I stepped forward, extending my hand. “Jai Prasad. I’m the camp director.”

“Demetrius Fulton.” He grinned. “Your picture wasn’t on the website.”

“Oh.” Of course, Alessandra's and Smith’s photos weren’t on the site either, and they were far more important.

As I thought about it, though, mine probably should’ve been.

We had a chef and an assistant in the kitchen.

We also had a jack-of-all-trades guy who did the maintenance, as well as any cleaning that might be necessary.

Everyone here had passed background checks.

I’d hired each person myself, making sure we were all on the same page—which I believed we were. Their photos were all up.

“Uh, no picture. I’m not important around here. I’m very much in the background.” And I don’t want it easy for my family to know I’m here.

He frowned, even as he shook my hand. “That’s absolutely not true. Alessandra sang your praises.”

I cocked my head, weirdly disconcerted by how his grip was firm, but didn’t overwhelm .

Finally, he released my hand. Then he smiled a little ruefully.

“It’s a very long story, but Alessandra runs an employee-assistance company.

I called looking for counseling for both Keegan and myself after…

” His voice trailed off. “I spoke to Hamish, a psychologist at the company. He mentioned this place was opening up and had Alessandra call me to see if Keegan might be a good fit.”

Don’t feel left out. You don’t need to be consulted on everything.

Or so I told myself. I thought I’d been brought up to speed on everything that had happened before I arrived, but clearly I’d missed something.

Might not be important, but I filed it away as something to remember should the topic come up again. “Alessandra is amazing. She hired me.”

“She said, when I spoke to her, that she had found just the right person. I’d say she found that person with you.”

You don’t even know me… “Thank you. I hope so. I do much of the administrative work, but I’m obviously here for the kids, should they need something. I’m also responsible for conveying any progress reports. Given the camp is only two weeks, I don’t foresee there being many.”

“Ah, sure.” Demetrius glanced over his shoulder. “My kid’s got…issues. I’m hoping Grey and Cody can cope—but I’m relieved to know you’ll be here as well.” He held my gaze.

“We’re here to help kids with issues. Or without.

I can’t give private information, but I can say we have a wide and diverse group of campers.

We’re keeping it small this year as we find our footing, and we wanted a low camper-to-counselor ratio.

” Which is way more than he needs to know and is all on the website.

The website he clearly read. “Well, you have my number. If you want to check in, don’t hesitate to use it. ”

He grinned. “I won’t. I look forward to seeing you again, Jai. ”

“That’s great.” Something about his smile sank deep inside me. I felt warm and fuzzy—and that never happened. I’d done romance once. Just once. Complete disaster. Never going there again.

And certainly not with the father of a camper.

What the hell are you thinking? Just because you find him attractive and he clearly loves his son… So much more than I ever got from my parents.

“Thank you.” He offered possibly the widest smile I’d ever seen. Then he sauntered away.

As he drove away, two more cars pulled up.

Showtime.