Oh. “You?—”
“Fucked up. So bad I don’t know how to fix it. I should be the one apologizing. And I am sorry. So sorry for the way I treated you. I should have talked to you. Or acted like an adult and dealt with my feelings.”
I swallowed slowly, the shame leaving just as quickly as it’d come. The sincerity on his face was foreign. I’d grown up in a household where I was always wrong. I’d had confrontations before, ones where I gave in and apologized for things I shouldn’t have budged on. I’d never had someone take accountability for what they’d done, and never had they apologized tome. The one time I’d held my ground with my family had gone awfully. But this deserved a response. He deserved something for taking ownership of his treatment of me.
“I accept your apology.” The words left my lips, and it sounded like someone else was saying them, but I meant it. He’d caused stress and aggravation, but he hadn’t been harmful, not really. The time he’d gone too far, he’d apologized then, too.
“You… do?”
I smiled softly. “Yeah, Jack.” I hugged him gently, and he responded with his whole body, as if he were desperate for this interaction.
“But I’ve been awful. The entire time you’ve been here. This whole contest?—”
“Has been contentious, in part because of what you’ve done, yes. But the competitiveness between us would have come out regardless. Mine’s just been directed at you. Now I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
Jack let out a burst of laughter. “You can still be competitive with me. In fact, I hope you will be. Because I have no intention of stopping or going easy on you.”
It was good to hear him laugh. The air felt lighter. Tinged with sexual tension, yes, but lighter.
“But is it going to hit right?”
Jack licked his lips and smiled. “I’m sure you’ll hate losing just as much, princess.”
TWENTY-THREE
Nat
After Jack left,I pushed hair off my sweat-slicked skin and double-checked that my shorts were buttoned before I finished cleaning the craft cabin.
I debated going back home and taking a shower, but Jack would be there, along with those fingers I couldn’t resist. I’d want to kiss him, and then I’d want more. Did I want more? Yes, but that was beside the point.
I hadn’t even gotten to see him or touch him intimately during our tryst. I recalled the feeling of his hard length, and just the memory had me salivating. It was going to be so weird between us now. Would he expect this to turn into an enemies-with-benefits situation, or was it just a one-time thing?
Nothing about this situation was clear, except that it was awkward.
So once I was done, I bee-lined it to Hazel’s duplex. She would know what I should do about Jack.
I planned to leave scandalous details unsaid, but I finally made up my mind to tell her something. She would be able to help me.
I took in the cute shared yard of Hazel and Leo’s duplex, with their matching lawn chairs and a cooler nestled between them.
The screen door was the only thing blocking my view into Hazel’s side, and I announced myself and opened it to find Hazel doing something I’ve never seen before: going through her trash can.
This was not just a dainty look at the top couple of items in case that was where the missing leftovers lid went. No, this was a spread-out, digging like a varmint in your garbage out back kind of search.
“What’s going on here?” I used a tender voice as I peered at the raccoon version of my best friend. Luckily, she didn’t startle. Instead, she glanced at her surroundings.
“This isn’t what it looks like. I’m just looking for something.” Hazel seemed embarrassed all of a sudden.
I sat down next to her and the spread-out pile of trash. “I see. And what do you think it looks like? Because I wouldn’t exactly call this a healthy way to find materials for your next craft project, if that’s what you’re doing.”
Hazel cracked a watery grin. “I wish.”
“What happened?”
Hazel was rarely emotional, but she seemed overwhelmed. I immediately thought of the problems at Camp Sunlight, then worried it was something more serious.
“My friend Holli called. She saw my dad and gave me the heads up that he didn’t look good. Apparently, she encouraged him to reach out. Then she gave me his new phone number. I wrote it down, but now I can’t find it.”
