Olivia
Chapter seventeen
Iam now in a situationship of sorts with Gage Carter, the boy—now man—I’ve been on-again, off-again in love with since I was thirteen.
In a way, this plan is brilliant. I have lots of experience with situationships and brief flings that don’t go beyond a few dates. I’ve been the queen of “date ‘em and dump ‘em” for years, but using that same strategy with the one man I actually want is a dangerous game.
One thing I know for sure is that I don’t want Annie to find out. Based on that phone conversation when I first got to camp, if she thought there was even a smidgen of a chance that Gage and I could be something serious long-term, she’d be over the moon. I don’t want to get her hopes up.
Lying in my bunk, I gasp and pull out my phone to text Gage.
Olivia:
you haven’t said anything to Annie about us, have you?
He replies right away.
Gage:
Not yet
I breathe a sigh of relief.
Olivia:
let’s not
The dots indicating Gage is typing appear and disappear several times before his reply comes in.
Gage:
Annie is my best friend
Olivia:
excuse me?
Gage:
[eye roll emoji] Let me rephrase. Annie is my best friend, but I’m not her best friend. That honor goes to you, of course
Olivia:
damn straight
Gage:
Not telling her will be hard. I tell her everything
Olivia:
I get that. I do too. but you know how she is. She’ll want this to be something it’s not
Olivia:
she’s not here. We won’t see her. She doesn’t have to know
The dots appear and disappear again.
Gage:
I guess so
Olivia:
it’s probably best if no one knows
Gage:
No one? Like sneak around?
I bite my lip, considering.
Olivia:
how about no one from back home?
Gage:
If that’s what you want
One week goes by, then two, then three, all following the same routine but with different groups of kids.
Nina is a decent roommate when she’s here, but usually she’s out somewhere with Rocky.
Because neither of them are cabin counselors, they have some free time in the evenings, like me.
But she keeps her things neat and is quiet when she sneaks in after I’m asleep.
On Friday nights, she and Rocky head home as soon as they can and don’t return until Sunday morning.
In my position, I interact with pretty much everyone every day.
The counselors bring their kids to the lake for free swim and water sports time.
I check in with the activity counselors and coordinate with Linda and Troy.
I even usually see Hannah, the camp nurse, when I pick up the bottle of swimmer’s ear solution from her each morning.
All of that means that if something happens at Camp Prairie Star, I usually know about it. I hear—and unintentionally see—all the best gossip, and I know that Gage and I are a hot topic among the other counselors.
Even so, during the week while Gage is busy with his campers, our fling is more like longing looks across the crowded mess hall.
A few times a week, he comes to find me in the boathouse while his kids are crafting with Nina or hiking with Jake.
He pulls me into the corner and kisses me senseless and then takes off again, leaving me spinning.
But from Friday night after the campers leave until Sunday when the new group arrives, we spend every waking minute together. Canoeing or swimming or driving into town or hanging out in one of the cabins.
And we kiss. Long, slow kisses and frenzied, desperate ones. I've never before been kissed like Gage Carter kisses me. It’s like I’m his sole focus, and his only mission is to make me forget anything but him.
Now, we’re halfway through June and finishing up the fifth week with campers, and my sixth week here total. It’s a scorcher of a week, too. A heat wave has been lingering in the area, with temperatures reaching one hundred degrees some days.
My phone rings when I’m almost to the mess hall for dinner after another Friday Skit Night. Actually rings. Like, with a phone call. I check the screen. It’s my sister Molly.
I answer, and since it’s a video call, her face appears on the screen.
“I’m bored!” she whines.
I chuckle. “So have your husband entertain you. I’m about to eat dinner.”
“I can’t. He’s in Alaska on a work trip.”
“Ah. Sorry.” I sit down in one of the rocking chairs outside the mess hall.
Molly’s eyebrows pinch together. “Seriously, I don’t know how I did this every day.”
“Did what? Came home to an empty apartment?”
“Yes! It’s so lonely.” She pouts her lips.
I lean back in the chair and push off the ground with my toe to start rocking back and forth. “Didn’t you basically work, like, all the time to escape that exact thing?”
“Ugh, yes.”
I squint. “You need a hobby.”
“I could start one, but then I’d abandon it when Jonathan gets back.” She smirks. “My hobby with him is—”
I make a face. “Eww, Molly. I don’t need the details.”
Molly laughs. “I was going to say Scrabble. But hey, we’re newlyweds—what do you expect?”
“Newlyweds. You’ve been married for six months. How long does that distinction last anyway?”
Her expression turns dreamy. “Hopefully forever.” She sighs.
Aww. I really hope so too. I love seeing Molly like this.
“So, anyway. Hobbies,” I say. “Oh! Do you remember that one summer when I was, like, five and you decided to take up juggling?”
“Yes!” Molly squeals. “I thought it looked fun, so I spent my entire saved allowance on a juggling kit. Six balls, four pins, and a how-to DVD.”
“How long did that last?”
“Oh, I gave it my all for about a week, and then I moved on … to unicycle riding, I think?”
“Apparently you were in your clown era,” I deadpan.
We’re both still laughing when I see Gage come up behind me through the phone. Before I can say anything, he smacks a kiss on my forehead.
“Gage,” I say meaningfully. “I’m on a video call with my sister.”
He looks at the screen, then looks at me, smirking. “Oops,” he says. “Hey!” He waves toward the phone.
“I’ll meet you inside okay?” I nudge him away, and he heads into the mess hall.
When I look back at the phone, Molly’s eyes are wide, a knowing smile on her face. “Was that Gage? Annie's brother Gage?”
I nod reluctantly.
“Wow, I haven’t seen him since he was, like, fourteen. He sure has grown up.” She pumps her eyebrows.
“Molly! Oh eww!” Though she’s not wrong.
“I’m just saying,” she laughs. “Are you guys together?”
“Oh, um, not really. It’s a summer fling.”
Molly clucks her tongue. “I didn’t know that summer flings”—she holds her fingers up in quotation marks as she says the phrase—“include forehead kisses. Seems a little tender for a no-strings-attached situation.”
“No,” I protest. “Forehead kisses can totally be part of a fling. The main thing is that there’s an expiration date. This thing is done when camp’s done.”
Molly’s brow furrows. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? He’s your best friend’s brother. What if you get attached?”
Little does she know I’ve been attached, and no, I’m not sure this is a good idea. “It’ll be fine, Mol.”
“Okay. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
I appreciate Molly’s concern, and I don’t want her to worry, but I already know for certain I’m going to get hurt. I’ve accepted it. Because being with Gage now, however temporary, is well worth it.
“Hey, by the way,” she adds, “did you finish that audiobook? The one I recommended?”
She’s talking about the book I finished about the history and ecology of the Great Lakes. “Yeah, it was really good. Got any other recommendations?”
“Sure. I’ll text them to you.”
“Cool. I’ve got to listen to the one about the history of the Chicago World's Fair next before my loan is up in Libby, but I could do with some more science this summer.”
“Sounds good.” She smiles. “Thanks for providing some entertainment. I’ll let you go eat dinner now.” She winks. “And see your man.”
I shake my head. “Bye, Molly.”
We hang up, and I march into the mess hall. I walk right up to Gage, who’s sitting in our usual spot at the end of the table on the far end of the room.
“What the heck, Gage?” I hiss at him. “You outed us to my sister.”
He grimaces. “Sorry. I think the heat is getting to me.”
I relax my shoulders. “Same, honestly.” I take a seat next to him and reach for the other half of his sandwich. “It’s fine. It’s not like Molly talks to Annie.”
She’ll definitely tell Nicole, though, and they’ll both tell their husbands. I make a mental note to text Molly later to make sure she doesn’t say anything to our parents. I don’t think she would, but she’s bored, so who knows?
“What a relief,” Gage says in a sarcastic tone.
I ignore his jab and change the subject. “Is it supposed to cool off anytime soon?”
“Maybe next week.” He shrugs. “But I’m not holding my breath.”
“Ugh, this is crazy!” I whine, fanning myself with my hand even though the mess hall is air conditioned. “It’s only June. It’s not supposed to be this hot, yet.”
“That’s a Texas summer for ya.”
I’m feeling unreasonably cranky all of a sudden. I know Gage is counting on spending time together tonight, but I’m hot and tired. “Hey, I’m going to take a cool shower and go to bed early tonight. Is that okay?”
“You’re bailing on me?” he teases, then runs a hand through his hair. “It’s probably for the best. The heat is making me kind of grumpy, and I don’t want to take it out on you. We’re still hanging out tomorrow, though, right?”
“Yes. Inside preferably.” I fan myself with my hand again.
“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.