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“Fine.”
Marissa wasn’t the only one surprised by my reply. Maybe it was the sense of achievement I felt from surviving the day—and the fact I’d let her support my body weighttwice—that had me feeling determined to not only survive the summer but to also make the most of it.
“Really?” A smile broke over her face, and I found myself grinning right back.
“Yes, really.” I rolled my eyes. “Now, come on, before I change my mind.”
* * *
Everyone gathered around the campfire. Troy and a couple of the other guys—Malakai and Sam—grilled burgers and hot dogs on a smaller fire contained within a huge steel drum. Tina seemed more relaxed than she had been last night and made sure to go around to all of the new staff to see how we were doing. And, of course, Blake was there.
I felt him before I saw him. One brief look and now I forced myself to look anywhere but in his direction. It was harder than I thought it would be. Apparently, what the head let itself forget, the heart did not, and every time I heard his voice, my heart flipped violently in my chest.
As the night wore on, I became less and less at ease. Everyone seemed more than at home making new friends and reacquainting with old ones, but I sat on the periphery, unsure of how to edge my way in. Marissa tried her best to include me, but people gravitated toward her.
She pulled them in without even realizing it. Me, not so much, and eventually, I slipped away and wandered down to the lake. It was close enough to still see the campfire but far away enough that I wouldn’t be disturbed.
The water rippled gently, the moonlight shimmering on the surface. It was so beautiful. Calm and tranquil. A little piece of heaven in the middle of nowhere.
I sat down at the water’s edge, searching the ground for a flat stone. When I found one suitable, I rolled it in the palm of my hand over and over, tracing its smooth surface.
It was perfect.
Drawing my hand up, I tilted it slightly, gripping it between my thumb and forefinger. With a snap of the wrist, I sent the pebble flying across the lake. It landed on the water’s surface and skimmed across. One… Two… Three… Before disappearing with a small splash.
“Nice,” a voice called from somewhere behind me, and a resigned sigh escaped me.
I’d known this moment would come.
I just wasn’t sure I would ever be ready for it.
“Do you mind?” Blake dropped down next to me, his shoulder almost touching mine.
The proximity should have bothered me, but I couldn’t breathe, let alone move. His voice had me paralyzed, rooted to the very spot in which I sat.
“It’s really you, Penny. Fuck,” he breathed. “I can’t believe this is real.”
I heard his words, but I didn’t dare look at him, focusing on the lake glistening before us as I discreetly snapped the hair elastic on my wrist. Willing the bite of pain to divert my thoughts.
To calm my racing heart.
“Say something,” he whispered. “Anything.”
“It’s beautiful out here.”
Those words were safe. Detached. If I said any of the things I really wanted to say, I risked falling apart, splintering at the seams.
Neither of us spoke again, and the silence hung between us, thick and heavy. I was sure it was going to suffocate me.
But finally, after what felt like an eternity, Blake said, “There’s so much I want to say. Things I want to explain, but I… this is, fuck.” Frustration clung to his words. “I’m messing all of this up. I didn’t expect this, Penny. I didn’t expect to see you here.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as he swept a hand through his hair and ran it down the back of his neck.
Blake was different. Older. Grown in that way teenage boys became men.
Yet, there was something so unnervingly the same about him.
“I’ve missed you so damn much,” he said. “It’s really you, Penny. My lucky Penny.”
