Somehow—and I truly believe that Xander is probably the one who started it—we’ve ended up involved in a staff basketball tournament this evening. Teams were picked at random using colored pieces of paper in a hat and, much to his absolute delight, Russ is on a team with Clay, while Emilia and I are with Xander and some of the lifeguards. Poor Maya has never played basketball in her life but says she doesn’t care because all the people on her team are tall and, in her book, that automatically makes them good.
“Russ told me you’d agreed to help them cheat.”
That little sneak. “Russ is just getting under your skin, buddy. That’s what you guys do when you play right? Shit talk each other. I haven’t even talked to him properly since this morning.”
My favorite thing is when Russ stops by my cabin on the way back from his morning run before people are up. I sit on his knee or beside him, depending on how sweaty and gross he is, and we watch the sun rise. I’m always half asleep, but I’d definitely remember making a diabolical plan to betray Xander.
“You know you could have just said don’t cheat, right?” Emilia says, looking at her watch. “Could have saved us so much time.”
“If there’s sexual wizardry on offer, I might cheat, Xander. I’m just being honest with you, it is very likely that I’ll be influenced. I don’t even know what it entails, but I know that I want to be a part of it. I’m sure you can respect the difficult position I’m in.”
“I can’t and won’t. I’m not losing to Clay because you’re horny, Aurora,” Xander says sternly.
“If we lose to Clay, it’s because I have to play basketball when I have no hand-eye coordination.” I’m super lazy when it’s on the Brown Bears’ schedule because I just let Xander or Clay take charge. “You need to relax. It’s not going to count against you next season, y’know.”
Xander and Clay both worked here last year, but in different groups, so they weren’t strangers when they were grouped together this year. But last month, on one of the rare occasions I checked my phone, I saw Ryan had text to tell me he signed with LA Rockets.
The guys overheard me tell Emilia and it started a conversation about the NBA. Which then started a further conversation about how Xander and Clay know Ryan because they’ve played against him and, just to add another level, the pair play against each other.
I’ve heard them make subtle digs at each other sometimes, but I’ve brushed it off as guy-nonsense. What I didn’t realize is Stanford and Berkeley are bitter athletic rivals and, apparently, that expands to informal-just-for-fun summer camp basketball.
Ridiculous.
“I’ve seen you play paint-dodgeball. I know there’s nothing wrong with your hand-eye coordination, you Judas.”
“Serious question,” Emilia says, picking up the water bottles we put down when Xander insisted we stopped for an important discussion. “Why are you the way you are?”
He doesn’t answer her, instead opting to explain all the rules of basketball to us while we journey to the water machines and back. By the time we make it back to our group, I’m surprised the kids haven’t passed out from dehydration.
I hand Russ’s bottle to him as his eyebrow quirks. “What took you so long?”
He puts the bottles to his lips, taking a big drink. When his mouth is full, I say my two new favorite words to him. “Sexual. Wizardry.” The water partially sprays out of his mouth, the rest causes him to choke. He bashes his palm against his chest, covering his mouth with his forearm until he eventually stops spluttering. “Need me to put you in the recovery position, Callaghan?”
His eyes are watering and his face is pink, but it doesn’t stop him from beginning to laugh. “I couldn’t help it.”
“I feel like you could definitely help it.”
“Sweetheart, you don’t understand,” he says quietly. “He was being so annoying. He asked me if I was excited to play a real sport. He’s normally so laid back, but competition makes him vicious and I have to live with him.”
“Oh, no.” I pout playfully. “Did the nasty man who chases men for a ball insult you? A man who also chases men for a ball, but on ice?”
“I know you’re just trying to mock me right now, but let me say, you’re really fucking cute when you pout at me like that. But I’m going to need you to confirm for me that you know that there isn’t a ball in hockey. I mean, I’m the goalie, so I don’t technically chase anyone, but if we could start with the ball thing first that’d be great.”