Chapter Fifteen #2
Whatever promise this summer holds, it ends when the leaves start to change and a crisp coolness infiltrates the breezes.
It ends when the docks get pulled, the boats get put back in storage, and the chilled lake no longer takes the edge off muggy days.
It ends, and I’d be a fool not to try to protect my heart by falling for the neediness in his tone.
The meaningless things Evan said were only the product of being in the throes of passion at the time.
Just like everything else in my life, the seasons will change, and I will become a distant memory.
We spend some time getting the evidence of our sexual chemistry cleaned up, the sleeping bags rolled out, and changed into our sweats.
When I climb back into the tent from dipping my hands in the stream and wiping a layer of sweat off my face, I find Evan, to my surprise, zipping our two bags together, making a double-bag.
“Is this okay?” he asks me. “I should have asked first…”
I nod, my bobble-head betraying my rational thought process. After anything with Kai, if I even stayed the night, we’d turn our separate ways and fall asleep on opposite sides of the bed. This feels… intimate. Intimacy will breed false hope.
For one night, I’ll allow myself to be reckless and sleep tucked in with him though, because the last thing I want to do is redact my promise to let Evan experiment with me.
When I slip into the sleeping bag next to him, he hauls me into him by my waist, as if the thought of sleeping without me in his arms would be a travesty.
The wall of pillows he built before is nothing but a distant memory now.
And it’s in his big, secure arms, that I let myself sink into the rise and fall of his broad chest behind me.
His arms slowly lose their possessive hold on me, finally morphing into just a need for contact.
I revel in the feeling of being held by the last person I would expect to be a post-mind-blowing-orgasm cuddler.
I’m lulled to sleep only after I realized that, oddly enough, he wasn’t just coming up with excuses about the snoring thing… he snorts and sputters like an angry bull. Did he not sleep at all that first night?
The air is damp and cool when I awake to the steady sound of the water trickling over the small waterfall outside the tent.
I press myself backwards into Evan’s warmth, his arms having never left me all night.
He shifts, stretching in his sleep, pressing his hips into me.
Pressing his bulge into the small of my back.
Puffs of breath send goosebumps to the surface of the skin on the nape of my neck and shivers down my spine.
“Are you cold?” Evan murmurs, pulling my entire body flush against him now, holding me tightly.
“Yes,” I lie, not wanting him to know that I’m freshly awake and already craving more of what we did last night instead.
I know I joked about being in my thirties and not having that quick of a turn around time, but that was total bull-honky.
I just worried about him moving too quickly.
He should be worried about moving too quickly.
Discovering pieces of yourself that you’ve spent forever hiding—that’s no small feat, especially at his age.
He’s got more than just coming out to himself to think about.
I feel like he’d be best suited to pacing this out a little.
Which is why I shouldn’t be in this tent right now, basking in the feeling of being in his arms. Waking up next to him, as if this were something I planned to be doing for the rest of my life.
Though, I could get very, very used to waking up with the way Evan’s arms feel around me and the way he peppers small kisses on my shoulder and neck, like he’s trying to kiss all of my freckles.
As if a neon-sign flashing ‘You shouldn’t be doing this!’ suddenly flickered to life, confirming my suspicions, I hear voices from outside the tent.
“I think this is where our dads let him go before,” I hear Morgan pondering, then, “Oh! Dad’s actually here! That’s his tent.”
“What if he’s asleep in there? Shouldn’t we not, like, wake him up?”
Evan tenses up behind me, with a slight gasp. “Fuck!” he whispers. “Colton…”
I bolt upright, holding a shh! finger to my lips. I got this, I mouth to him, motioning for him to hide under the sleeping bag. “Morgs? Colton? What are you guys doing out here?”
Morgan giggles. “Noodles decided to raid cabin four again this morning while everyone was asleep. We watched him on the game cameras Evan installed. Avery and Riley caught him, so Colty and I are gently encouraging him to stay wild. What are you doing out here?”
I throw on a hoodie and crawl out of the tent, being sure to zip it back up behind me. I yawn and stretch, making a show of looking the picture of being relaxed—totally the opposite of how I’m feeling.
I feel like a kid getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
Except the cookie jar in this scenario is the father of the teenager currently gawking at me, out of my element.
“Hadn’t gone camping in a while, figured since I had some time to myself, I’d take a solo trip,” I explain to Morgan—trying not to put suspicious emphasis on the solo part.
“That’s awesome!” Morgan cheers. “I assumed you went to Portland Pride with Uncle Kai, since he wanted help.”
“I told him I’d go down tomorrow,” I explain. “I’m probably going to head downtown today and help your grandmother with her table.”
The Alder Notch Pride celebration is held every last weekend in June.
It isn’t nearly as large as Portland, but it is both my mothers’ baby, so I figured I’d hang out here this year, as opposed to being at Kai’s beck and call for once.
He and one of his other boy toys, Brody, have been working this event for years.
I usually go help set it up and tear it down again, at the end of the festival weekend.
An effort that is largely taken for granted, I know, but I don’t get out much, and hitting up the big Pride festival in the lower section of the State, is one of the only allowances I give myself away from camp—even though I hate leaving others with the burden of the camp while I’m away.
“Besides, the campers’ art showcase lines up with this weekend as well,” I remind her. “You know I never miss that!”
Morgan grins, peering over at Colton. “Someone’s going to be selling some of his art at Gran’s booth.” She nudges him in the ribs.
He bites his lip ring and toes at a pebble in front of him. “It’s nothing...”
“It’s awesome,” she corrects him. “Simple, yet meaningful. You’ve got some major talent, Colty-doodle!” She giggles.
He chuckles at her. “You’re the weirdest.”
She nods. “That’s why you love me! Come on, let’s go let poor Noodles out, he’s probably desperate to get out of Snarf’s carrier.”
I snort, looking at the lump on the ground. “He’s asleep,” I note.
“Aww. He’s a good boy, just a little misunderstood. Not unlike someone else I know,” Morgan coos, fixing Colton with a look.
“Ha ha,” he deadpans.
Then she picks up the bag and starts to wade across the stream. When she slips a little, Colton is by her side in a flash, propping her back up and guiding her the rest of the way.
Helpful and supportive. Like father, like son.
Like father… Oh, shoot! While their backs are turned, I make sure to hide the extra set of shoes sitting outside the tent. I peer around for anything else that might give away the man I’ve got hiding inside. I think we’re good.
Looking back across the stream, I swear Noodles looks particularly displeased about being awoken and finding he’s being deposited away from his grub hub again.
If raccoons could glower, I’d swear that’s the look he’s currently giving Colton and Morgan, as they try to shoo him off into the forest. When they stumble back over and find me again, I’m pulling my mini camp stove and kettle out of my bag, ready to make some coffee.
“Do you think you could take Colton’s print to Gran for him?” Morgan asks me, hiking a thumb at him. “We’re on Baywatch duty today, before we get the night off.”
I nod. “Sure can. You have a game tonight in Bethel too, don’t you?”
“Yep!”
“Alright, I’ll be sure to be back in time to come take you to that.”
“Orrr, you could just stay out with Evan on his bike, and let me just borrow the car, so Colton, Petro, and Aspyn can come with me instead… It's game one of the playoffs! I know you support me, but you don’t have to attend all of my games though, you know. Besides, half the time you don’t even get to watch; you get roped into Snack Shack duty. ”
“If I stay out, won’t that leave supervision of the campers a little understaffed?”
“Pfft!” She waves me off. “Kids, schmids. JK! It’s movie night tonight.
We’re going to set the projector out and get it ready.
I already schmoozed Sherri into just keeping an eye on them with the rest of the crew.
Sully said he’d stick around too and arrange an epic trail mix bar and popcorn for the movie. ”
“They agreed to all that on their night off?”
“Uh, duh,” Morgan huffs, rolling her eyes. “They both said they were more than happy to. All I had to do was ask. Did I ever tell you I think they’re secretly dating? Super cute, by the way. I feel like I've been shipping Sherri and Sully for years.”
I snort. I believe it. That would explain why they both choose to reside in the staff cabin over the summer, while most of the rest of the workers choose to commute from their nearby homes. Good for them. They’re both in their fifties and single; they deserve happiness.
“Well, we gotta get back! Remember, you can take the night off too, Dad! Go have fun! Love you!” Morgan trills, pulling me in for a hug. When I hug her back, she whispers in my ear, “Aren’t you wearing Evan’s Carhartt hoodie?”
I freeze with her in my arms, feeling a flush creeping up my neck. She just giggles, hauling Colton back down the trail with her.