repeated in a barely-there whisper.
She reached over and hooked her pinky around mine, giving it a jiggle. It made me smile, despite my emotions having just gone through the ringer. I wasn’t sure what, exactly, we were promising, but the vow felt solemn, nonetheless.
“Okay,” True said, releasing me and jumping to her feet, “let’s go eat breakfast. I’m starved, and neither one of us wants me to turn hangry.”
A laugh erupted from me, the tension draining from my body as I wiped the last of my tears from my eyes and stood next to her. She told me she’d meet me on the porch before walking out, giving me privacy to finish pulling myself together, get dressed, and wrestle my messy hair up into a ponytail. I needed to shower, but it could wait until after breakfast. I was starving, too.
We were quiet as we walked to the mess hall, but it was a comfortable silence that only two people who truly understood each other could share. As we climbed the weathered wooden steps, True bumped her shoulder against mine with a grin. I bumped her back, and we both chuckled. For that brief moment, I felt like everything really was going to be okay.
Then we stepped inside.
My eyes immediately zoned in on the table where the other counselors already sat, plates of eggs, sausage, and toast spread out before them. My gaze landed on Sarah, her resting bitch face firmly in place as she glared at me through lashes coated with thick black mascara.
My good mood diminished a little as I realized True and I would not be welcome at the table this morning. We were back to being the odd girls out. I followed True to the cafeteria line, the pep in her step not wavering as she filled her plate with food. I grabbed some sausage and eggs, along with a few strawberries and a carton of chocolate milk.
When I turned, True was already sitting at an empty table, humming happily as she squirted ketchup all over her scrambled eggs and sausage links. I slid onto the bench beside her and picked up my fork, but a prickly feeling on my scalp froze me mid-motion.
My eyes darted around, searching for any reason I might feel such unease. Spotting nothing at the windows or in dark corners, my gaze slid back to the other occupied table. Gray-green eyes narrowed beneath heavy dark brows. They bore through me, making my heart jump in my chest.
Levi was there, sitting with the others as they picked at their food. Micah sat next to him, leaning into his personal space as she spoke with fluttering eyelashes that he didn’t seem to notice.
Because he wasn’t looking at her.
He was glaring at me.
Chapter Ten
As I stared into the foggy, full-length mirror, I tugged on my one-piece bathing suit, willing it to cover more area. “Why do we have to do this water safety training again?”
True stepped up behind me, looking amazing in a bright yellow swimsuit. “Duh. Because we’ll be spending half our day in the water with kids who may or may not know how to swim. I can’t tell you how many children I had to rescue last year.” I popped my eyes wide, but she waved a dismissive hand. “It’s fine. They all wear life jackets. You just have to swim in and pull their soggy asses out of the water.”
“How often am I going to have to do that?” I asked, tugging my shorts and T-shirt over my suit.
“Just once or twice a day.” When I shot her my look of terror, she laughed. “Kidding, kidding. I just love seeing that look on your face. Now, let’s get a move on and see that man of yours in all his glory.” She pulled her towel back and let it gently slap against my leg.
I wagged a finger in her direction. “Let me remind you for the hundredth time, he is not my man.”
But, wasn’t that why I was so self-conscious in a bathing suit? If Levi wasn’t going to be there, would I care this much? I was in decent shape, and, despite being pale, I didn’t look half bad, though I’d never been one of those uber-confident girls like True.
Still, I’d not been this nervous since Patricia Barker got breasts in the seventh grade before everyone else.
“Move it, lady.” True hooked her arm through mine and led me toward the cabin door.
The moment we stepped outside, I realized just