Chapter 5
Chapter Five
After archery, Slater wanted nothing more than to find an excuse to leave Evie so he could be alone.
But he couldn’t think of one.
So once they were done, he figured the safest thing to do was to either join another group activity or…
“Do you have bike trails?” Evie asked, interrupting his thoughts.
“What?”
“Bike trails. I know you have walking ones, but you didn’t mention biking. The road leading from the resort to the town would be too dangerous to bike on, but I thought maybe you might have something around here on the property. I’m kind of missing my spin classes.”
“We have a gym. You’re more than welcome to use it.”
“It’s not the same when you do it alone. It’s always more fun to do it with someone.”
He groaned. “Evie…”
She blushed, and he knew she understood why he had reacted the way he had.
“Oh, my goodness…do I do that all the time? Am I secretly a weirdo who just keeps throwing out sexual phrases without even realizing it?”
“I have to admit, I never noticed it before you came to the resort, but you do tend to do that.”
“Or maybe you have sex on the brain and that’s how you take everything I say,” she challenged.
“Well, yeah. Duh. I’m a guy. We’ve gone over this already.”
“Fine. Can we go back to talking about bikes?”
“We have a couple of bikes in storage, but we haven’t set up anything for actual trails.
I want to say it was because it could get dangerous to have pedestrians and bikers on the same path.
” He paused. “But…maybe you and I can take the bikes out and go down and check out how the construction of the amphitheater is coming along. Has Milo taken you to see it yet?”
“No. He’s been so hyper-focused on getting the office set up and trying to force a schedule that he’s barely mentioned it.” She shrugged. “I’ve seen the plans and drawings and heard him talk about it enough that I’m super curious to see how it’s coming along.”
“Then let’s go and check it out!” It was the perfect distraction.
Biking meant they were separated and couldn’t talk too much, and then touring the construction site would keep the conversation neutral.
And, with any luck, by the time they were done and brought the bikes back, it would be time for dinner, and he’d have an excuse by then to put an end to their day together.
They walked down to the supply shed, and it took a while to dig the bikes out because they were all the way in the back behind a bunch of other equipment.
They were in decent shape but definitely dirty, and once he got the first one out, Evie took it outside and hosed it down to clean it off.
Slater joined her a few minutes later and tried to take the hose from her, but she refused.
He propped the bike up near the side of the shed.
With a rag in one hand, he was mildly frustrated as he surveyed the mud splattered along the frame.
“I can’t believe they got put away like this,” he muttered. “We emptied that damn shed at least three times and put things back, and no one thought to clean these things off. Myself included.”
Evie stepped closer, hands tucked into the pockets of her hoodie. “It’s not even that bad. The first one was worse,” she said lightly. “I can clean it for you.”
He didn’t look up. “You don’t have to…”
“No, really.” She stepped closer, reaching out to brush a finger along the edge of the frame. “You just sit back and relax. You did the hard part. I’ll take care of your bike.”
Slater froze. Completely. Rag suspended mid-wipe.
Evie frowned at him. “What?”
He blinked once. Twice. Cleared his throat. “I…” He stopped and then started again. “You want to… take care of my…”
“Yes,” she said patiently. “I don’t mind getting a little dirty.”
He made a strangled sound that absolutely did not resemble a word.
Her eyes narrowed. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like I said something wrong again.”
He dragged a hand down his face. “Evie…”
“What?” she snapped.
The corner of his mouth twitched despite himself. “You cannot say things like that.”
“Like what?” she demanded, genuinely confused.
He stepped closer now, lowering his voice. “‘I’ll take care of your bike.’ ‘I don’t mind getting dirty.’”
He knew the instant her brain caught up.
Heat flooded her cheeks, and she stammered for a moment. “Well, when you talk like that, anything can sound sexual!” she argued. “That is not how I meant it.”
“I know,” he said quickly. Too quickly. “I know.” But his eyes had darkened just a little. And he was standing much closer than necessary.
She lifted her chin, trying to recover. “I was being helpful.”
“You were,” he agreed, voice low. “Very helpful.”
The air between them shifted, going from light and playful to charged and dangerous in the smallest way.
She swallowed. “So…do you want me to clean it or not?”
He held her gaze a beat too long.
“Evie,” he said carefully, “if you get anywhere near my bike right now, I’m not responsible for my thoughts.”
Her breath hitched, and her eyes went wide. “Good to know,” she said, clearly aiming for breezy and missing by a mile.
He handed her the rag anyway, but he didn’t step back.
They were playing a dangerous game, but he had no idea who was in control or if anyone was at this point. All he knew was they were both playing with fire and seemed more than okay with it.
When she accidentally bumped him with her hip, he finally moved. And he knew he needed to end the day without being too obvious. Pulling out his phone, his first thought was to find out when everyone was coming back.
Slater: Hey! Hope you guys are having a blast in Manhattan. Will you be back for dinner? Should Evie and I wait?
Please be on your way back…please be on your way back…
Milo: Hey! Don’t wait on us for dinner. We decided to stay another night and just head back in the morning. Maisie got us tickets to a Broadway show.
Nora: I’m so excited about it! I’ve never seen one before! It’s going to be so much fun!
“Great,” he mumbled. “They’re all having a great time and I’m in hell.”
“All finished!” Evie said, wiping her hands on her jeans. “Are you ready?”
Sliding his phone back into his pocket, he nodded.
“Yup.” He walked over and picked up the helmets he had found that were new in their boxes and opened them, handing one to Evie.
Silently, they geared up and climbed onto their bikes.
“I’ll lead. The path is paved the entire way, so it will be easy to maneuver. ”
“Sounds good! Lead the way!”
He took off quickly, and the distance was short enough that they could have walked it, but this felt better. Plus, he was burning off some of his restless energy.
The amphitheater came into view just past the tree line, and the path turned to gravel and widened as the land dipped gently toward the lake.
Slater coasted to a stop first, bracing one foot on the ground as Evie rolled up beside him. “There it is,” he said, aiming for casual. “Milo’s latest obsession.” He unlocked the chain that kept the construction area blocked off from resort guests and motioned for her to go ahead of him.
Evie didn’t answer. She’d already swung off her bike and started walking, helmet still on, staring in wonder.
The amphitheater rose from the hillside like it had been carved straight into it—wide, curved rows of pale concrete sweeping down toward a broad wooden stage.
The stage deck was in place, but unfinished, raw wood catching the late-afternoon light.
The metal framework climbed behind it, where lighting rigs would eventually hang.
Scaffolding hugged one side. Stacks of lumber and pallets of stone sat neatly off to the perimeter, waiting their turn.
It wasn’t polished. Rebar still jutted up in sections where railings would go. Extension cords snaked across the gravel. Mud clung stubbornly to the edges from the early spring thaw.
But it was undeniably impressive.
Beside him, Evie slowly removed her helmet. “Oh my God,” she breathed.
Slater swallowed hard at her awed tone. He expected polite interest or a supportive assistant’s nod, but not this.
She stepped forward without hesitation, walking down one of the unfinished concrete tiers as if she’d been here a hundred times before. Her fingers skimmed lightly along the curve of the seating, like she was feeling the scale of it.
“He said it would hold about three hundred,” she murmured. “But I didn’t…” She laughed softly. “I didn’t understand what that meant.” Her voice echoed faintly in the open bowl.
Slater watched her take it in—the way her eyes tracked the arc of the rows, the way she tipped her head back to study the metal framing above the stage.
“It’s going to be incredible at sunset,” she said. “The sound will bounce perfectly off the seating.”
He blinked. “That’s… actually the idea.”
She shot him a look. “I listen when Milo talks.”
“I know you do,” he said automatically.
That wasn’t what surprised him. It was the way she wasn’t just seeing a construction site. She was seeing the finished version. The potential. The future.
She climbed down toward the stage, sneakers crunching over gravel and sawdust. “He was worried about drainage along the back wall,” she added, gesturing toward the slope. “But if they extend the trench another foot and redirect the runoff…”
“They already did,” Slater said, stunned. “Last week.”
She stopped mid-sentence. “Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
She grinned like she’d just won something. “See? I’m good at this.”
God.
He shouldn’t find that attractive. He definitely shouldn’t find the way her hair caught the light attractive. Or the way she moved—confident, purposeful, with no trace of the hesitation she sometimes carried socially.
She stepped onto the unfinished stage without asking permission.
“Evie,” he called, half warning, half exasperated.
“What?” she asked, turning, arms spread slightly for balance. “It’s stable.”
He followed her up despite himself.