“I’d like to hear about it.”
He didn’t demand. He didn’t judge. He simply asked nicely, and that was one of things I liked about him. He respected me, and he showed it. I angled my head so I could look at him, but he was staring across the lake. His face was lit by the moon, so his skin was a bluish, grayish, glowing color. “Why do you want to know?”
“Because.”
Because he liked me and wanted to know whether Rand was out of the picture? I could only hope. On the chance my wish might come true, it was worth it to tell Tad what had happened. “He wanted to kiss me, and I didn’t want to.”
His neck tensed, but he still didn’t look at me. “Why not?”
“Um ...” I chewed my lower lip while I tried to figure out how to explain something I wasn’t sure I even understood.
“I thought you liked him.” Tad still didn’t look at me.
“I did. Or I thought I did.” I’d been wrong.
“What changed?” He stole a sideways glance at me, then focused on the horizon again.
I rubbed my chin. “I’m not sure. I guess... well... I’m tired of people ditching me.”
“What makes you think he would have ditched you?”
I rolled my eyes. “Give me a break. I’m the queen of short relationships. I look for that kind of guy, and Rand is the perfect specimen. No attention span, which is exactly what I wanted.”
Tad finally gave up the pretense of not listening and turned to look at me. “So, if he’s perfect, why’d you dunk him? Playing hard to get?”
“No.” I pursed my lips. “I’m just sick of being ditched. I don’t want to play that game anymore.” There. I’d said it. I’d put the truth out there. And you know what? It wasn’t so hard, and it didn’t feel so scary.
We were quiet for a moment, letting my confession linger in the night.
“Who ditched you?” Tad finally asked.
I hugged my knees to my chest. “My dad.”
He made a noise of sympathy. “What happened? Divorce?”
“Well, yeah, but that’s not the problem. He took off for California, and I haven’t spent very much time with him in six years. I was supposed to go out and stay with him for the summer and get to know the woman he’s going to marry, but then he called the night before I was supposed to leave and disinvited me.” I bit my lip. Jerk.
Tad sighed. “That sucks.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at his emphatic tone. “I know.” Then I sobered. “Most people think it’s cool that I have no parental supervision. My friends tell me all the time how lucky I am that my mom is never home and no one cares if I stay out all night.”
“It has its advantages,” Tad said. “But it sucks to be ditched by your parents.” He paused, then gently elbowed me. “You want parental supervision? Then come hang at my house.” He grinned.. “My family loves you.”
Warmth settled in my belly. “Really?” I mean, that made me feel great that his family loved me, because they were amazing… but what about him? How did he feel about me?
“Yep. You heard them. My mom already has you on her list of potential superstars that she has to mold into greatness.”
Greatness? There was the possibility of greatness in my future? I remembered how excited Tad’s mom had been about my voice, and how awesome that had felt. “Maybe I will come over to your place.”
He nodded… and then I wasn’t sure what to say next. It was just him, just me, sitting side by side on a towel in our bathing suits. Moonlight on the lake, a warm breeze, wet hair. It was completely romantic, and I suddenly wanted him to kiss me. Not some older guy. Not some college kid. I wanted Tad, so much it actually kind of hurt. So... what now?
Tad cleared his throat. “Ready to head up to camp?”
Oh… disappointment surged through me. I’d been thinking about kissing him, and he’d been thinking that it was time to go back? “Sure.” I tried not to sound bummed.
Tad hopped down and took my hand to help me jump off, but then he let go once I was on the ground. He walked me to my tent, then sort of stood there for a minute. “So, um, tomorrow we head back.”
Yeah… to the farm. “Back to real life.”
He nodded. “Back to carrots and tomatoes.”
My stomach turned to sludge at the thought. What if he returned to the old Tad? “Tad?”
He was watching me closely. “What?”
“Are you going to be mean again on Monday?”
He lifted a brow. “What are you talking about?”
“Well, you were pretty impatient with me when we were at work. Nothing like how you’ve been up here.” Gah. How pathetic did I sound? I was a major loser. As if whether Tad was nice or not could affect me. But it did. I wanted him to keep being like this.