“You’ve just described Rutherford family reunions, but without the horrors of cafeteria food, and I honestly don’t want to know which of my relatives are engaging in grown-up time.”
“Did you go to summer camp as a kid? The traditional kind where you sleep away from your parents for a week or more at a time?”
I offer her a bite of brie brushed with honey. “Every summer from six to sixteen, but it was crew—rowing—camp, or lacrosse camp, or math camp, or college application prep camp.”
“Did you shoot bows and arrows?”
“No.”
“Paddleboard on the lake?”
“No.”
“Eat s’mores around the campfire?”
“We had crème br?lée and chocolate lava cakes catered by Michelin-level chefs while we sat around getting lectures about how to apply for college.”
She gasps. “Had you never had a s’more before our campfire picnic in Maine?”
I crack a grin. Can’t help it. “How many Razzle Dazzle films have you seen, bluebell?”
“At least four hundred thirty-seven. I was watching them before Jonas started getting starring roles. I miss the days when Hank Houseman was your main lead. He was too old for me to be attracted to, but I couldn’t help myself. Just shew.”
I roll and pin her beneath me. “How many of those four hundred thirty-seven Razzle Dazzle films had campfire scenes?”
She purses her lips, and it’s nearly impossible to not kiss them.
But I want the reward.
I want to watch the light dawn.
It is never disappointing.
And when her eyes go round and her lips part, and then she throws her head back and laughs—that is everything.
“Are you telling me lies?” she asks. “College application prep camp? You are! You’re making that up, and you’ve had s’mores, and you did go to traditional summer sleepaway camp.”
“I believe it’s called teasing when done in the midst of flirting.”
“You are the most adorable flirter ever.”
“Adorable?”
She nods solemnly. “So adorable.”
I grunt.
Her eyes twinkle and that smile flashes over her face, and she’s done it again.
One more point to Begonia for bringing a ray of sunshine into the darkness.
Many more, and I will not recover when she leaves.
“Maybe I should show you adorable.” I tilt my lips to her neck, and her squeal turns into a soft sigh.
“More,” she whispers.
More.
I’ve always wanted more too, but my more was always solitude, a good biography, an afternoon to work on calculus problems for fun, sometimes cheesecake, sometimes a game of chess with Uncle Antonio or my father.
Now, I want more Begonia.
And I intend to have her as often as I can until this summer is over.
27
Begonia
There’s nothing quite like waking up buck naked in the morning light with your fake boyfriend-slash-lover’s cousin standing over you. “Did you save some charcuterie for the squirrels and the birds, or did you do something super kinky with it?” Keisha asks.
Hayes grunts, rolls, and throws the picnic blanket over both of our bare bodies. “Go away.”
“Your mother’s looking for you. Something about the dog and a movie script she was supposed to be evaluating.”
I freeze.
“Ignore her,” Hayes tells me. “My mother doesn’t evaluate movie scripts. Not to say your dog didn’t attempt to help her with her perfume, but Marshmallow would not be stealing important paperwork.”
Keisha grins. “Nice tattoo, B.”
I freeze harder.
Hayes twists a look at me and frowns, and it doesn’t take a genius to read his expression. You have a tattoo?
“Go away, Keisha, or I’ll tell Millie what you do with your drummer when you’re on tour,” he says, still looking at me like he’s silently demanding to know where I have a tattoo and why he hasn’t seen it yet.
She gasps. “You wouldn’t.”
“Oh my god, are you cheating?” I cringe and close my eyes. “I don’t want to know. No. I don’t. Don’t ruin this.”
“Yes, she’s cheating. And her version of cheating is three am runs to Baskin-Robbins,” Hayes murmurs to me. “She’s diabetic, and Millie worries.”
“Shut up,” Keisha squeals.
“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about, dear cousin,” Hayes says.
“I’m not embarrassed. I don’t want to have a fight with Millie if she hears you talking smack and spilling my secrets. And I can have ice cream. I can. She overreacts to everything because she loves me so much.”