Olivia
Chapter fourteen
Nicole:
Finally home from the honeymoon and back to our regular schedules
Molly:
Aww, I hope you had fun!
Nicole:
We had so much fun! I can’t believe I’m MARRIED!
Molly:
[gif of excited girl]
Nicole:
How’s camp going Liv?
Molly:
Yeah, any updates on the Gage situation?
Nicole:
There’s a situation??
Molly:
Well just that he’s there working with her
Nicole:
You know, she totally had a thing for him back in high school
Molly:
Really? Oooh
Molly:
If you need any help navigating the whole falling for your coworker thing, let us know. Nicole and I are experts [wink emoji]
Olivia:
I hate you both so much
Nicole:
No you don’t
Molly:
You love us
After the near-constant activity and noise around camp all week—and I hear everything that’s going on with the other staff as they rotate in and out of the lake area each day—the quiet on Friday night after the campers leave is palpable.
Other than cleaning up our areas and making sure we’re ready for the next group of kids, the counselors are all off now until Sunday morning.
Many of the counselors, including the juniors, waste no time getting out of Dodge for a few days. The staff parking lot is conspicuously emptier by eight that night.
The camp cooks—a super sweet couple named Rob and Stephanie who are around the same age as my parents—will set out grab-and-go type foods at mealtimes through the weekend for staff who choose to stay on property.
While I might head to Austin on a Saturday later this summer to hang out with Annie, I don’t see any real reason not to stick around at camp.
I can hike and relax without burning through gas in my car, and because Nina has already warned me that she won’t be around on weekends, I know I’ll have the cabin to myself.
Of course, I wonder whether Gage is staying at camp this weekend, though I’m not quite brave enough—or foolish enough—to seek him out at his cabin to ask. I may go check the parking lot for his Jeep, though.
When I get back to my cabin after straightening up the boathouse, the man himself is sitting on the stoop.
I stop in my tracks, my heart slamming rhythmically against my rib cage. “Hi.”
It’s like I summoned him magically through my wishful thinking.
Gage stands and dusts off the seat of his shorts. “Hey.” He smiles crookedly. “I feel like I haven’t seen you all week.”
I grin. “The campers kept you pretty busy, huh?”
“Yeah, definitely. So, when I noticed your car in the staff parking lot, I thought I’d check in with you about your plans for the weekend.”
“Oh.” I shrug. “Don’t really have any. I’m going to hang around the camp and relax. What about you?”
He runs his tongue over his lips, my eyes following the movement. “Well, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out a little. There’s a short hike Jake told me about that sounds fun. And you know you should always hike with a buddy for safety reasons, so.”
His bumbling invitation makes my stomach swoop. “You planning to get injured on this little hike?” I tease.
“Olivia,” he says with the perfect solemn intonation, “hiking injuries are never planned and rarely expected."
“In that case, how could I risk you dying alone in the Texas wilderness?”
“Annie would be pretty mad at you,” he says, straight-faced.
I shake my head, a small smile creeping across my lips. “Can’t have that.”
“Nope,” he says, popping the P at the end of the word.
“I’m in.”
His face lights up. “Cool. I’ll meet you at the mess hall at eight tomorrow morning? We can grab some breakfast and then go.”
“Yeah,” I agree. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go in my cabin to shower and collapse in my bunk to try to recover from this week.”
He chuckles. “Same, honestly.”
I poke his arm, widening my eyes comically. “You’re also going to come into my cabin to shower and collapse in my bunk?”
Gage clicks his tongue. “If wishing made it so.”
His lips curve up into a deliciously wicked smile that makes my face heat, and my legs go a little wobbly.
How easily he can still make me swoon is worrisome, but my heart hasn’t felt so alive in years.
“Good night, Gage,” I say pointedly.
“Night, Olivia.”
After breakfast Saturday morning, Gage leads me to a little trailhead off to the right of the lake. It’s a flat four-mile loop that follows the path of a small creek near the camp.
Gage looks all kinds of attractive. His navy-blue walking shorts hit him at mid-thigh, exposing the way his quads flex and stretch with each step.
He’s wearing a beige cotton T-shirt that stretches across his chest and clings to the curves of his biceps.
His signature black baseball hat sits backward on top of his head, like normal.
The only complaint I have is that his dark, sporty sunglasses cover up his brilliant blue eyes.
Like me, he carries a water bottle, though his hangs from a strap he throws over his shoulder like a purse, and I have mine tucked away in a backpack big enough to hold a few essentials.
The morning air is cool and dry, and sunshine filters through the leaves around us as we walk. I close my eyes to bask in the warmth on my face and the satisfying burning sensation in my leg muscles.
We don’t talk, but it’s an amicable silence as we trek down the path, the trickle of water running over rocks in the creek the loudest sound.
At the halfway point, we stop for a brief rest.
“This is nice,” Gage says, breaking the quiet.
“Yeah.” I smile at him. “I’ll be honest, I didn’t know you were capable of going that long without talking.”
“Oh, ha ha,” he mutters. “I can be quiet when I want to be.”
“I’m sure you can, but I’ve never witnessed it for myself.” I smirk. “It was impressive.”
He raises his eyebrows, a smile playing at the corners of his lips. “Is that how you want to be?”
“What if it is?” I challenge, propping my hand on my hip and lifting my chin.
This banter, the friendly debate and competition between Gage and me feels so familiar and natural. It’s easy to sink into the moment and leave my brain on autopilot.
“Well, then,” he starts, stepping close to me, “I think…” He wraps his arm around my waist and effortlessly lifts me. I squeal and kick my feet to try to force him to put me down.
“...we need to cool you off,” he finishes as he gently drops me into the creek. It’s only ankle high, but I end up sitting in the shallow water with my hands braced behind me and my knees folded up near my chest.
The water is cold, and it’s seeping through my thin running shorts, chilling the skin underneath.
I glare up at Gage. “You’re in big trouble now.”
He pouts his lips. “I’m sorry, Olivia. I shouldn’t have dumped you in the creek, no matter how funny it was.”
He sticks out his hand in an offer to help me up. I take it, immediately yanking him toward me with as much force as I can. I don’t know how he’s not expecting it, but he’s not, so he topples forward and lands in the water next to me.
His mouth hangs open, but if he’s surprised, it’s his own fault.
“I can’t believe you fell for that! It’s literally the oldest trick in the book. Super cliché.”
He laughs, and the sound echoes through the trees around us, floating up into the Texas summer sky.
We finish our hike in damp clothes, which actually feels nice once the sun starts beating down on us.
Back at camp, we each break off to our own cabins to shower and change into dry clothes. We meet up again at the mess hall for lunch. A few of the other counselors—including Brynn and Matt, and some others I haven’t spent much time with yet—have also stayed at camp this weekend.
We all eat together, and then Brynn suggests playing a game. We find a deck of giant Uno cards and play game after game until the other counselors all step away one by one. By the last game, it’s Gage and me in a bitter fight to the death, neither of us holding back on the action cards.
Finally, I’m down to one card, a red five. Gage plays a wild card, and I hold my breath waiting for him to decide which color to call. I have a one in four chance here; either I’ll win with my next turn, or I’ll have to take my chances with the draw pile.
After what feels like forever, Gage says, “The new color is … red.”
“Ha!” I shout, slapping my card onto the discard pile.
Gage hangs his head and groans. “I had to pick red.” He lifts his head. “Do you want to play again?”
“Nah, I’d rather make sure I go out on top,” I tell him with a grin.
Still, neither of us make a move to leave. I don’t want to play another game of Uno, but I also don’t want to stop being with Gage.
So, I ask him a question about his experiences in college and playing baseball, and we sit at the table in the mess hall talking for at least another hour.
Before we know it, Rob and Stephanie are setting food out for dinner, and a few of the counselors we were playing with earlier wander back in.
“Have you two been in here the whole time?” asks a confused Brynn.
Gage and I exchange a look and shrug. “I guess so,” I say.
Brynn tilts her head, staring at me. Most likely she’s trying to reconcile what I’ve told her about not being interested in Gage and all the time we’re spending together today.
I’m not sure I can explain it either.
I should stay away from Gage and continue to fight this desire for him that has lain dormant in my heart for so long now. But it’s reawakening, as dangerous as it was in high school.
Other than us both being five years older, nothing else has changed.
He’s still a brainy go-getter on his way to amazing achievements, and I’m still me, struggling to find anything I’m good at off the soccer field.
If anything, the imbalance between us is even more stark now, and I’m still nowhere near good enough to date Gage Carter.
Maybe it’s selfishness that keeps me hanging around. Maybe it’s that when I’m with him, I remember all the best parts of myself. Maybe it’s him, his magnetic charisma that pulls me in and holds me in place.
Whatever the reason, instead of doing the right thing and retreating to my cabin alone after dinner, I ask Gage if he’d like to canoe with me at the lake.
He agrees with no hesitation.