“No problem. I’ll think of things we can do inside. As long as I get to spend time with you, that’s all I ask. After all, I only get the weekends as it is. I’m not giving up any of my Saturdays with you.”
I can think of plenty of things we can do inside tomorrow. Things that involve a lot of kissing. But I’m also not going to complain about quiet time with him spent talking or playing games. I think about my conversation with Molly. I know that Gage and I are blurring the lines between “fling” and “real relationship,” but I’m going to maintain my delusion that as long as there’s an end date established on this … whatever it is we’re doing, none of it is real, and he won’t get attached.
Chapter eighteen
Olivia
Ifeelbetterafteracool shower and a good night’s sleep in the air conditioning. I hope Gage does, too.
He’s already at the mess hall when I arrive to grab some breakfast and coffee. It’s still hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk outside. The brief walk from my cabin has me sweating.
“Good morning.” Gage greets me with a kiss on the forehead.
As usual on Saturdays, there are a handful of other camp staff hanging around, but everyone mostly keeps to themselves.
“Morning,” I respond. “Are you feeling less grumpy today?”
“I am. It’s amazing how tired chasing a group of ten-year-old boys around all week can make a person.”
“Yeah, I bet.”
“What about you? Ready to spend the day in the AC with me?”
I’m always ready and eager to spend any day with Gage, but I exaggerate a groan. “If I have to.” I grin while I tease him.
He nods seriously. “You do. It’s a contractual obligation.”
I laugh. “What contract? I didn’t sign any contract.”
“Well, we’ll have to fix that. I’ll have my lawyer draw something up.”
I roll my eyes.His lawyer. I pat his chest, noting, as always, how firm it is under my hand. “You do that, champ.”
Gage grins. “I have a surprise for you.”
“Ooh, what is it?”
“Eat your breakfast.” He chuckles. “And then you’ll see.”
After breakfast, Gage walks me toward his cabin. At the doorway, he covers my eyes with his hand. “Keep ‘em closed until I sayopen,” he tells me.
I keep my eyes open and try to see through the cracks in his fingers as he opens the cabin door and leads me inside. Even still, I can’t see much.
“Okay, open!” I quickly close my eyes while Gage moves his hand. I make a show of opening my eyes and blinking.
On one side of the aisle between the bunk beds, Gage has hung up a white sheet. It’s stretched taut and tied off at the corners like a movie screen.
Across from the sheet, a small projector sits on the bare mattress of the bottom bunk of one of the beds. The top bunk of that same bed is decked out with pillows propped against the wall and blankets lining the mattress.
I clap my hands. “Movie day?” I ask eagerly.
“Yep!” He gestures to a tray of goodies sitting on one of the other bunks. “With snacks, of course. I even have some Dr Pepper, though it’s not cold.”
I eye the tray and see that it’s stocked with my favorites, along with some fruity gummy candies for him. He has chocolate–peanut butter pretzels, cheddar–sour cream potato chips, Milk Duds, honey-roasted peanuts, and a bag of caramel popcorn.
“This is so fun!” I exclaim. “Where did you get the projector?”
“Linda had it in one of the storage closets. They pull it out to play movies in the mess hall when the weather’s too bad for the kids to be outside. But it only takes DVDs, and the selection was not the best.”
