Never Too Hot by Bella Andre Page A

slide the marshmallow on to it.”
    She picked up a stick. “What about this one?”
    He looked at it and grinned. “Talk about beginner’s luck. It’s perfect.”
    She blushed at his compliment. “Thanks. Now what?”
    “Now we start a fire.”
    He’d been building campfires his whole life and liked the pyramid technique best. Minutes later, the fire was blazing. He quickly grabbed a stick of his own.
    “Pretty much the most important part of a s’more is how you cook the marshmallow. It should be crispy and golden brown on the outside, but completely gooey and melted on the inside. That way the chocolate melts on contact. The worst thing is to accidentally light your marshmallow on fire because it only chars the outside, but the rest is still raw.” He made a face. “Little kids tend to do it like that a lot.”
    “Wow,” she said, “this sounds sort of complicated. Maybe you should just make me one.”
    “Nah,” he said with a shrug, “it’s pretty easy. Once you get a feel for the fire, you’ll be a total pro.”
    Popping a marshmallow on the end of each of their sticks, he squatted down on the outside of the large bonfire. “It’s best to slow roast it by the coals. Takes a little longer, but it’s worth it.”
    As Hannah knelt down beside him, he felt his stomach unclench. They roasted in silence until their marshmallows had hit that perfect brown, bubbly look on the outside.
    “I think we’re good to go,” he said. They walked back over to the tray of graham crackers and chocolate. Breaking a cracker in half, he put a block of chocolate on it and said, “Here’s how you put it all together. Hold out your stick.”
    Using the graham cracker halves, he slowly pulled her marshmallow off her stick, being careful not to drop the chocolate. “Go ahead, try it.”
    He watched carefully as she took a bite. Her eyes closed and she had a look of complete ecstasy on her face. He’d never felt this way about a girl before. Never wanted to see the pleasure on her face as she did something totally boring like eat a s’more. But he could have sat there and watched Hannah forever.
    “How is it?” he asked, his words coming out a little scratchy.
    She opened her eyes and smiled at him. “Totally amazing.”
    And then, just as he was trying to figure out if he should try to kiss her, she said, “I can’t believe you’ve always grown up here. You’re so lucky. And it’s great that your mom owns the diner. You must know everyone.”
    “Ugh. That’s what I like about the city. Total anonymity. Not like here, when every time I go to the post office Mrs. Hendricks asks me if I’ve grown some more.”
    Hannah giggled. “Have you?”
    “A couple of inches maybe.” She laughed again. “But seriously, it’s so boring here.”
    She stopped laughing and he quickly said, “I mean, not with you or anything. It’s just I’ve done the lake thing for so long. And my mom is constantly on me.”
    “Me and my parents ate at the diner when we were looking at buying a camp here and your mom came out and talked to us for a while about what it’s like to live here. She was really cool. Really nice to us.”
    He shrugged. “Yeah, she’s all right, I guess.”
    “Does she have a boyfriend?”
    “No.”
    “Really? But she’s really pretty. Does she date at least?”
    He thought about it, tried to see his mom in any other light than as his mother. “Nope. She doesn’t date.”
    Maybe that was the problem. His mom had no life of her own. No wonder she had to get all up in his business and was always asking him to go out in the rowboat or for a hike.
    The fire was starting to go out when Hannah’s mom called to her from their porch. “I’ve got to go,” she said. “Thanks for the s’mores lesson.”
    As he walked down the beach back to where he’d left his bike that afternoon, he walked past a couple of shady looking guys. “Got fireworks?”
    He almost kept walking and ignored them, but then he