Till Summer Do Us Part(106)

“I’m going to take that as a maybe.”

“What you need to do is keep your voice down, because you and I both know if Sanders gets wind of the fact that we”—I look around and whisper—“fornicated, then he very well might separate us for the rest of the camp.”

“First of all, way to use the word ‘fornicate.’ I approve. Second, he can try to keep me away, but I’d sniff you out so fast, I’d undo you from whatever chains he has you tied up in.” He pauses for a moment and then says, “And then maybe take the chains back to our sex cabin so I could use them on you properly.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

He grins. “You like it.”

“I kind of do.” I wince. “What does that say about me?”

“It’s all right. You can have mixed feelings about it. It takes a second to get used to the idea that you could possibly like someone like me after being with such a bore for several years.”

“He was a bore, that’s for sure.”

“Sad, especially when he had someone like you he could play with.” I roll my eyes, but he places his hand on my thigh and says, “I’m not just speaking sex. I mean in general. One of the reasons you’re in a marriage is to have a partner in life that you can do things with, that you can experience things with, you know? And if you don’t take the time to have those experiences, then what’s the goddamn point?”

I nod, thinking back to all the things that I wish Matt had done with me.

“I can see you thinking of those things. You know what? We should make a bucket list of things you want to do now that you’re no longer with an actual ball and chain.” He reaches into the bag of activities that we were given for our picnic, and he pulls out a pad of paper and a pen.

“Was that really in there?”

“Yup,” he says and then flips open to a blank page and writes Scottie’s Ball and Chain–Free Bucket List at the top.

“Quite the title,” I say.

“A necessary one.” He poises the pen. “Okay, what are we putting on here?”

I glance at his hand, the bracelet I made him still fastened around his wrist. “Um, I mean, I don’t know.”

“Yes, you do,” he encourages. “Don’t be shy about it. Tell me what’s on that list.”

I lean back on my hand and look up toward the sky. “Umm, well, he never wanted to do anything outside the house, said it was a waste of money. There was a cooking class I wanted to go to, and he would never go.”

“Great. Cooking class.” He writes it on the paper.

“And he never took me to the movies because he said we should just wait until it was on a streaming service, but I always thought that seeing a movie in the theaters was so much better.”

“I could not agree more. See a movie in the theaters.” He jots it down.

“With popcorn and the movie theater candy. Like go all out. No sneaking anything in.”

“Spend fifty dollars at concessions, noted.”

I think about it some more. “You know, we were once on a kiss cam, and he drank his beer rather than kiss me. So I want to be on a kiss cam and kiss someone, even if it’s myself.”

“He drank his beer?” Wilder shakes his head. “What a douche.”

“Yes, that would be an accurate description.”

Wilder jots down the note, but I can see the irritation in his expression.

“Go skinny-dipping,” I say, thinking about the time we were at his parents’ house, alone with a pool, and he didn’t want to go skinny-dipping with me. “I’ve always wanted to do that.”

“Easy. Okay, keep going.”

A smirk crosses over my lips. “Watch porn.”

Wilder’s lips turn up as he directs his attention at me. “That’s an easy one, Pips. We can hammer that out tonight.”

“He always made it like…a bad thing.”

“He only said that because he was watching it like crazy, probably.”

“You think?”

Wilder nods his head. “Oh yeah, babe. There is not a guy on this earth who’s not watching. And if they’re telling you they’re not, they’re liars. Probably had a ton of subscriptions.”

“Well then, I want to watch. I want to see what all the fuss is about.”

“You got it, babe. It’s on the list. Anything else?”

“Hmmm.” I tap my chin.

“There has to be more. From what you’ve told me, Matt is a wet blanket. Were there things you wanted to do that he thought were stupid? Was he ever romantic with you?”

That makes me snort. “Never. Well, I mean, maybe when we first started dating, but that romance quickly wore off, especially after we got married. He didn’t know romance.”

“So then maybe there’s something romantic you want to do that he never did with you.”

I give it some thought, and then when it hits me, I slowly start to smile. “Okay, this is going to sound maybe a touch childish and possibly cheesy, but there is this thing I always wanted to do when living in New York, something I know Matt would never do.”

“What is it?”

“He would totally scoff at this, but I think it would be fun to take a paddleboat through Central Park.”