Chapter 22 Happy
His text was straightforward yesterday. Wear a swimsuit, be ready by bedtime. I can only assume he wants to go swimming at night. I can’t help but get a slight sense of deja vu, considering I did the same thing with Kai. But I already know this will be off the charts compared to Kai. It won’t even compare. Because anytime with Alec is already off the charts.
I get the text while lying in bed listening to my music, while everyone else sleeps or at least tries to. The phone was vibrating in my hands. I pause my music and read the text telling me to come outside.
I don’t waste a second getting up from my bed, shoving the phone back in my underwear drawer, and leaving my mp3 player on the dresser. I go through the front door even though I know it might have been heard. It isn’t a secret in the cabin that I have a boyfriend off camp that I sneak out to see.
Lexie and Kiersten have let it go, opting to ignore me rather than fight with me.
He’s standing at the front of the cabin waiting for me. He has basketball shorts and another cut-off tank top. His arms are such a weakness for me, and I know he’s taken note of it. That’s why almost every time we’re together, they’re on full display for me to see. We greet each other with a hug, and I savor the feeling of him hugging me tightly.
“Where are we swimming?” I ask impatiently.
“At the pond, but my family's side of it.”
I give a confused look on the way there. “Your family's side of it?”
He nods. “Technically over half of it is my families but we allow the camp to use it too, as long as kids don’t wander onto our land.”
“Wow, I had no idea.” It’s a comfortable silence as we continue walking to it.
“I know this might sound crazy, but considering you and your family live out here, you might believe me. Have you ever seen a wolf as big as a bear here?”
He scuffs his shoe on a rock, making him stumble forward slightly. Almost tripping completely.
“You okay?” I ask with laughter evident in my tone.
“The rock just came out of nowhere.” He grumbles look back at what could have tripped him.
“But yeah, I guess we have seen that before. Yeah, I think we’ve talked about it. Why have you seen it?”
“Oh my gosh, finally everyone looks at me like I’m crazy, but I know what I saw. Yes, I’ve seen it multiple times. It almost looks like a bear; it’s even brown, but the tail and ears give it away.”
He nods along, listening to every word I say.
“That does sound unbelievable, but anything is possible in this world. Who knows, maybe it’s a werewolf or something.” He nudges me with his elbow, a smirk on his face.
“Ha, Ha, Ha. If it were a werewolf, I think there would be more signs. But that would actually be so cool, at least cooler than a wolf on steroids.” He laughs at that one.
“That’s the best you guys could come up with?”
“Hey, I never said it was a great idea, but a werewolf is more reasonable at this point. Are there werewolves here?”
The question is so sudden, he looks like I’ve smacked the air right out of him.
“Um, not that I know of.” His voice heightens, making it sound like he’s lying, but I just assume he’s playing into the bit.
I know werewolves are not real not matter how cool that would be. We reach the pond, making me stop to take a lot at it again.
“It’s so pretty at night.”
He nods, gesturing me forward. “We’re not getting in on this side, though. You get the special treatment on my side of the pond.”
“Ooo, I like the sound of that.” I wiggle my brows at him as he walks in front of me, leading me around the side of the pond to the other side. It reminds me of the man I saw here the first time I swam. The man who watched me so intently the whole time we swam. I feel comfortable with him being the only reason I don’t hesitate to ask him now, knowing it’s his family’s land.
“Do you have people standing over here sometimes? One time I swam here, a guy was sitting here watching me the whole time, it was creepy as hell.” It’s silent, no response coming from him. I worry I might’ve offended him if it were someone he knew there.
“Uh, I don’t know how to say this without sounding weird.”
I’m caught off guard by his response. “What do you mean?”
We reach the other end of the pond, the ground being a plush mowed grass instead of the sand on the camp’s side. He stops turning to look at me.
“That was me. I didn’t mean to stare at you that time, I mean, I didn’t even know it was you, obviously you just looked like someone I knew, and I was trying to see if you were here from here, which, as you can tell, is kind of hard.”
I look over to the other side of the pond, and it is hard to see much from this distance. But I’m going to just ignore his statement. Not that it sounds like a complete lie, but it is also a bit weird that he saw me before we met in the first place. But it isn’t unreasonable, I’m thinking too much into this.
“I understand, then that makes it a little less weird. I was swimming, thinking you were a stalker or something.”
He chuckles, putting two towels on the ground for us. I can tell he’s not telling me the full truth, but I’m not going to push him.
I’m happy where we are now.