"Yeah." His eyes met hers and for the first time in days he didn't instantly look away. They were having one of those moments that she'd missed. She gently ran her finger over the Band-Aid. "I'm sorry."
"For what? You didn't do anything."
"Did it hurt?" she asked.
"No." He continued to gaze down at her and it felt like there was no one else in the world but them. She saw the gold flecks sparkle and darn if she didn't want to lean even closer.
"Derek!" a very hyper voice cal ed out. "I got your name!"
Suddenly, Derek was yanked away. Kylie looked up and focused on the yanker-Mandy, a cute brunette fairy. Kylie watched the girl wrap her arms around Derek's neck and pul him down for a fast kiss. At first, Kylie waited for Derek to look shocked at the girl's show of affection. Instead, he glanced at Kylie for a mere second and then refocused on Mandy, who then stepped up on her tiptoes and kissed the boy again.
And Derek didn't look surprised at al . He looked ... he looked happy. Then he smiled at Mandy-the same "special" smile he shared with Kylie.
"Great. Are you ready?" Derek asked the too perky brunette.
"Tel me again where this spot is?" Mandy asked.
"How about I just show you instead," Derek answered.
Was he taking her to the creek? Kylie's chest grew heavy. At first, she didn't recognize the emotion and then she remembered feeling it when she saw Trey with his girlfriend at the party. Thankful y, she managed to stomp it down before Derek turned back around. His soft green eyes met hers. "See you later. Okay?"
"Yeah." She forced a smile on her face that felt about as real as a smiley face. She and Derek were just friends; she had no right to be jealous. And yet ... why did it hurt so much?
She bit down on her lip. See, this was why she didn't want to start having those feelings for Derek. Because it hurt. Then as if she wanted to punish herself even more, she turned and saw the two of them holding hands and walking away.
"Oh, crappers," Miranda snapped. Kylie turned to look at her, realizing she'd almost forgotten her roommates were even there. Wel , Miranda was stil there. Del a had already left.
"What?" Kylie asked. "Who got your name?"
Miranda made a face. "Not me. You. " She gave Kylie an elbow in her ribs. "Or are you tel ing me you didn't hear who just got your name?"
Chapter Twenty-nine
Kylie swung around and touched her temple, thinking she might as wel start faking the headache right now. "Who?"
"Me," came a familiar male voice beside her.
Kylie turned around and faced Perry and then removed her finger. Perry was not worth faking it.
"Promise you won't touch my ears," he said, but in his eyes she saw his apology.
"Fine, but don't go turning yourself into anything. It freaks me out."
"You're no fun," he answered, but Kylie noticed he stared mostly at Miranda.
"Yes," muttered Miranda, glancing back at Kylie. "Chris got my name. Wish me luck," she said, and then reached up and let her hair down.
"Good luck," Kylie said, and noticed the frown on Perry's face.
"So where do you want to go to talk?" Perry asked, his gaze latched on Miranda and Chris as they walked away. Kylie had never seen such a sad-eyed shape-shifter.
"I don't care where we..." The idea hit with the subtleness of a dump truck. It was wrong. Oh, so wrong, but she couldn't help herself. "I know just the place by a creek bed."
* * *
The next day Kylie stood in the dining room at ten o'clock sharp, waiting on her dad. She had her spiel practiced, knew exactly how she was going to approach the subject of her moving in with him. And it was so much easier that she'd thought it would be. Last night, her mom had announced that she'd been given a promotion, but it would require some travel. Hence, it simply made sense that Kylie would stay with her dad. Not that she'd told her mom. Nope, that could wait until later.
Derek walked through the dining hal doors. When he spotted her, he came over. Kylie felt her face flush remembering how she'd taken Perry to the rock expecting to find Derek and Mandy there, doing God only knew what. But nope, Derek hadn't been there. So Kylie had simply walked past the big rock and taken Perry into the woods another half mile before they stopped to visit. Plain and simple, she hadn't wanted to taint the memories of where Derek and she had real y gotten to know each other. And while she'd felt loads better knowing he hadn't taken Mandy to their special place, Kylie wasn't stupid enough to think that it didn't mean he'd taken Mandy somewhere else to do ... God only knew what. Nor was she stupid enough to blame him for it. How could she when Kylie herself had been the one who'd asked to be just friends? And yet ...
"You're here early." Derek offered her a friendly smile.
Kylie couldn't help but wonder what kind of a smile he'd offered Mandy when they'd been alone. Had he kissed her? Had he ever taken her to the rock? "Dad said he'd be here ten o'clock sharp."
"So is your mom going to come later?" he asked.
"No," Kylie said. "Mom doesn't want to chance running into him. The world would end if they had to see each other."
"Sorry about that. That has to be tough." He said it with such concern that her heart dipped a bit. Al last night she'd watched him and Mandy laughing, sitting shoulder to shoulder. She ached to go back in time and stop herself from tel ing him she just wanted to be friends. Then again, considering she was probably going home soon, maybe it was best.
"Is your mom coming?" Kylie asked, liking that he'd trusted her enough to tel her his past. Had he told Mandy anything?
"Afraid so," he said. "She's a tad overprotective. Has been since..."
"Your dad left?" Kylie asked, and lowered her voice.
He nodded and right then, the front doors opened and in came several sets of parents, along with some more campers.
"There she is," Derek said. "I'd better go."
"Good luck," Kylie said, and unable to stop herself she reached over and gave his hand a squeeze. Touching him felt right and ... wrong. The tingles traveling up her arm were not those that should come from a friend. He stopped moving away and stared at her. His smile seemed extra warm. "You, too."
Kylie watched him go and admitted that she was going to miss him. Heck, she was going to miss Miranda and Del a, too. She wouldn't miss their bickering, but she'd miss them.
Shaking herself out of the melancholy, she tried to find her dad in another group of parents as they flooded in. Kylie didn't see him, but she did see a set of parents that had to be Del a's. A Euro-American woman stood with an Asian American man, scanning the crowd. Knowing that Del a hadn't expected them for another hour and had stayed at the cabin, Kylie walked up to the couple.