Page 19 of Puppy Pride (Pride Camp 2025)

Chapter Nineteen

Jai

S tanding in the deserted campground, my sadness warred with excitement.

The campers had gone home four days ago.

Grey and Makenna had left soon after the debrief with Cody, Alessandra, Smith, and me.

Cody had accepted Kennedy’s offer of employment as a psychologist at her therapy ranch and was arranging his schedule.

I’d spent the past three days preparing everything for the session starting in just over a week for the older campers.

Makenna and Grey would be back then as well.

Tonight, though, I was alone. In fact, I was going to be alone up here most of the time.

Alessandra had fretted over that—until I pointed out having someone on site, especially during the summer, made sense.

We had a gate I locked at night, so theoretically no one should be on the property.

Still, people might wander in, even though we had about a dozen Private Property and Keep Out and Video Surveillance signs posted at every possible point of ingress.

I promised to keep my phone on me at all times.

Truthfully, I wasn’t a guy who took a whole ton of risks.

I wasn’t going to go into the woods without someone with me.

I wasn’t going to take a canoe to paddle.

I did swim, but only when the lake was calm.

I liked my job and wasn’t going to do anything to fuck with that—like dying in some stupid way.

And plenty of people lived alone in these mountains, even though the hills north of Mission City were a bit of wilderness close to civilization.

Plus, I might be alone, but I certainly wasn’t living rough. I had electricity, stellar internet, cable, and a gas fireplace should the power go out and I needed a source of heat.

Finn had dropped by to ensure I was aware of the campfire ban.

The super sexy firefighter had dropped a couple of broad hints along the way.

Okay, he’d come right out and said he was gay and might I be interested in drinks at the Brew Pub? If not as a date, then as friends.

That was yesterday. Had I not already made plans with Demetrius, I might’ve seriously considered the offer.

Not as a date, of course, but another friend?

I’d taken his personal number and put it in my phone.

At the very least, as an out man in Mission City, he could give me a proper lay of the land.

Demetrius’s minivan came into view, and my heart leapt.

Alessandra had texted twenty-three minutes ago to let me know Keegan and Alaina were settling in with Kyle and Paisley.

My boss also sent a picture with Alaina holding Wesley and Keegan sitting next to his sister, clearly enamored with the toddler who apparently was not wanting to run around at that moment.

He was evidently fascinated with the company. My boss had also wished me luck .

Luck?

She had no idea, of course. She just thought Demetrius was here as a potential suitor—her word, not mine. Telling my boss that I liked to dress up like a puppy and get belly scritches hadn’t seemed like the best idea.

He exited his minivan, then opened the door to the back seat.

Be patient. He was never going to run into your arms and profess his undying love for you. And you wouldn’t want him to.

Well, mostly.

He had given me back the books I’d bought for Wesley. I had yet to find a good time to give them to Alessandra. I wanted it to be a quiet moment where she might be honest about whether or not I’d made good choices. Dickens said he’d exchange them if I’d missed the mark.

Demetrius backed out of the minivan carrying…

A plant?

And a cooler bag.

He grinned.

I strode over to meet him.

“Oh great. You can take the plant.”

I obeyed.

He continued to smile. “Are you okay if I grab my overnight bag?”

I nodded.

“Perfect.” He opened the hatch, grabbed a gym bag, and shut the door. Then he locked the minivan “Probably not needed. That being said, did you see the video of the bear opening a car door? I mean, I don’t keep food in there, but I still don’t want a bear hunkering down in my baby.”

“Uh…” I frowned. “I don’t think I’ve seen th at video.”

“Oh? I think there are a couple. Alaina insisted on showing them to Keegan before he came to camp. Her way of ensuring he took food-storage safety seriously.”

At that, I chuckled. “She sounds like quite the sister.”

“She takes good care of us. Keegan’s willing to let her lead a lot of the time. I wouldn’t say he’s a follower…”

“But he’s happier when someone else makes the tough decisions.” I opened the front door to my cabin and held it for Demetrius.

He stepped into the main room. “Well, sort of. He’s decided he’s not going back to his old school. He and Alaina have been at me pretty continuously about moving to Mission City.”

Cody had mentioned Keegan’s near-obsession about moving.

Knowing all about fresh starts, I couldn’t blame the young man for wanting to make one. But he wasn’t the only person in the family.

“I understand Alaina’s best friend lives in Abbotsford?”

“Yep. Where should I put this?” He held up his gym bag.

I swallowed. “Bedroom is fine.” He was the guest and would have the bedroom. Whether I stayed in there with him or slept on my pullout couch was a discussion for later.

“Cheers.” He laid the cooler bag on the kitchen table and headed toward the bedroom.

I put the plant on the center of the table. “Uh, a plant?”

He was grinning when he returned from the bedroom. “Alessandra’s recommendation. I thought flowers were classic, but they die. Allie, as she likes me to call her, suggested this.” He gestured with a flourish.

“It kind of looks like a flower.” All purple blooms and green leaves.

“It’s an African Violet. Now, it’s not a real violet, but we won’t tell her that.”

“Her? ”

“Work with me.”

“Right.” I attempted a serious expression. “An African violet that isn’t a violet. Got it.”

He placed a pretty pamphlet on the table. The Care and Feeding of Your African Violet .

“Oh.”

“In case you didn’t know. I’ll be honest—I loved Erlene, but she killed everything except her kids. After she passed, I never got around to adding plants. But I feel like you need some pretty in this place. Alessandra agreed.”

Despite myself, I smiled. “You like the pretty?”

“I like you.” Then he rolled his eyes. “Too cheesy. I wanted to bring buttercups, but the florist didn’t sell them. In fact, she gave me a funny look when I asked.”

Words escaped me. Of course he honored my pup name.

He was Big D. Daddy D. I never paid enough attention to him.

I just assumed he’d always be there. And I’d been in a committed relationship—as had he.

Now wasn’t the time for regrets. “African violets are perfect. I think there might be buttercups in the wild around here, but they mainly flower in the spring.”

“We’ll have to go hunting.” He grinned.

Which implies you’ll be around next spring, which is a hell of an assumption on your part and one that doesn’t necessarily panic me .

“What would you like for dinner?” The family had hit the road early afternoon to escape the worst of the Friday traffic bailing out of Vancouver. At least it hadn’t been a long weekend.

He grinned as he moved to the cooler bag. “I hope you didn’t cook.”

“I didn’t.” I didn’t want to seem presumptuous…like assuming you were staying when we hadn’t even discussed that .

“Great. Smith baked us a lasagna. Now, Alessandra said two things. One, that lasagna is a little heavy for a summer’s evening—”

“I don’t mind.”

He chuckled. “Neither do I.”

“And the other?”

“That she taste-tested it and, to her husband’s credit, this was one of the best he’s made. He made two trays, so they’re having lasagna as well. Which is awesome because both Alaina and Keegan love the stuff.” He pulled tinfoil-wrapped food from the cooler first. “Garlic bread.”

“Yummy.”

“Right? They didn’t send salad but figured we could sort that out.”

“I have fresh vegetables.” Probably even the fixings for a green salad.

“So if you sort that, I’ll put the lasagna in the oven to heat. Or should I put slices in the microwave? That way the place won’t get too hot.”

“Good thinking. I’ll admit I microwave more than I cook.”

“You must miss having Chef around.”

I chuckled. “Having someone else do the cooking was lovely. The new campers will be here in just over a week.”

“You must be so stoked.” He grabbed two plates as I organized lettuce, tomatoes, green peppers, and carrots.

“I am. They look like a great group of kids. We’ve got a couple of trans teenagers, one enby, and seven others who identify as queer.

I was worried about Makenna and Grey—since they’re only a couple of years older than the oldest camper—but they’ve proven themselves.

I mean, I want the campers to have fun. That said, I was grateful we didn’t have any pranks with the last group. ”

“That’s not really why the campers are here. At least I know hijinks wasn’t on Keegan’s list. ”

I rinsed the lettuce. “Cody gave me the same take. That might change from group to group—mostly depending on personalities. But this first group took their roles seriously.”

“In what way?” Demetrius used a spatula to scoop the heavenly smelling lasagna onto plates.

“I guess…as the inaugural group, they wanted to set a good example. To enjoy their time, certainly, but to be good kids. To, I don’t know…assure Smith and Alessandra that they did the right thing in opening the camp. Does that make sense?”

Slowly, he nodded. “That about fits with what Keegan said. He wanted to spend as much time as he could around people like himself. So he could learn what they were doing that worked. He also said your staff was amazing—which I’d already pretty much figured out.”

I tore the lettuce into pieces. “The anonymous surveys from both parents and campers came back with encouraging words. A few really good suggestions as well. Stuff we can implement before the next camp.”