“I don’t mind,” I say. Just the two of us in the car. Nothing weird about that. We’re friends. Meaninglessly flirty friends. “And six of us are staying there? How many rooms does he have? Do we have to double up?” I don’t really know Allie. I am not sure I want to share a room with a virtual stranger. Although as soon as I say the words, I worry he thinks I mean doubling up with him.
He laughs. “You have obviously never seen his cottage. There are a million rooms.”
“A million?”
“Probably. It has wings.”
I smile. “It’s a flying cottage?”
He blushes. “No, I mean—never mind. You’ll see.” Gavin types the address into his phone.
“So tell me who the other people are who are coming tonight,” I say.
“Allie and Lawrence were together last year. Brody is kind of a loner. He’s the Arts and Crafts specialist.”
“Oh, yeah.”
“I heard he’s doing the nasty with the archery specialist.”
Doing the nasty? Emily would make fun of that, too. “How do you know that?”
“People like to gossip on sailboats,” he says. “Allie’s the biggest gossip, by the way.”
“Oh. Okay.” And why is he telling me this?
“She’s friendly with Kat. They went to the same preschool or something in New York.”
Ah. “Small world,” I say. Is he trying to tell me that he’s not going to flirt with me in front of Allie? That I shouldn’t flirt with him?
Whatever.
After about twenty minutes, I pull onto a dirt road that leads us to a massive house.
“This is a cottage?” I say. “More like a village.”
“A small village,” he says.
It’s seriously about the size of my dorm building at NYU. It looks like a wood cabin, but a massive one. To the left is the lakefront. Instead of a sandy beach, there is a perfectly manicured green lawn leading to a white dock. Docked in the water are a rowboat, a motorboat, and a canoe. The water is bright blue. “This is all his?”
“His family’s,” Gavin says quickly. “They’re in Europe.”
“Who isn’t?”
“Us. We are not in Europe.”
“With this house, maybe I don’t mind,” I say.
I turn the ignition off. I sneak a peek at my phone to see if there’s service. There is!
I have ten new texts. Seven are from Fancy’s Annoying Mom. One from my mom. One from my dad. One from Eli.
Eli: Call me! I miss you!
I should call him before he goes to sleep, but I really want to settle in. I drop my phone in my backpack and head for the house.
It’s strange toggling between real life and camp. As soon as I get to the house, I take a steaming hot shower, without flip-flops, in my own private bathroom, in my own private guest room. It’s a beautiful lilac-wallpapered room, with a crisply made double bed and painting of a lakeside sunset on the wall. After getting out of the shower, I climb into the freshly made sheets and finally text Eli.
Hi! On day off! I have Wi-Fi though! I just got here but call me tomorrow!
I play on Instagram for a few minutes, scrolling through his and everyone else’s pictures.
Finally I get dressed in leggings, a tank top, and a zip-up sweatshirt. By the time I get outside, Gavin and Botts are already cooking, so I set the outdoor table.
Lawrence is just sitting there drinking. He’s hot in an I go to the gym too often kind of way. He’s the type of guy who stares at your boobs while you talk.
Allie is sitting beside him. I notice she has full lips, and a small gap between her two front teeth.
The whole house is gorgeous—there really are wings—but the outside is my favorite. There’s a hot tub, and a perfect pool, and a dock swaying slightly over the water. The sun sets while I place the napkins around and snack on chunks of Brie and Botts’s parents’ wine.
He took out a white and a red from his parents’ wine cellar.
“They won’t mind?” I ask.
“Nah,” he says. “They’re Canadian. They think the drinking age should be eighteen.”
I set the table using what Botts told us were the pool dishes, which just means not glass.
Botts stopped on the way and picked up burgers, steaks, beef salami, cheese, and stuff for breakfast. “I got some veggie burgers too,” he tells me. “I didn’t think you were a vegetarian, but I wasn’t a hundred percent sure.”
“You could have texted me,” I say.
“I don’t have your number!”
“Right.” Another way camp is not the real world. We all talk to each other all the time, but never on the phone.
Gavin grills some salami to start and by the time the burgers are cooked, the stars are out in full force. Dance music is playing from the outdoor speakers. It’s perfect.
“Who wants cheese on theirs?” Gavin asks.
“Me!” I call out.
“None for me,” Botts says.
“I know, I know,” Gavin says. “Botts keeps kosher.”
“Really?” I ask.
“I try,” he says with a shrug.
“Gavin, you make a great burger,” Allie says, taking a bite. I’ll have to tell Kat what a great cook you are.”
“Oh, she knows,” he says. “She especially loves my salami.”
“I’m sure she does,” Botts says dryly, and we all laugh.
The six of us are sitting at the table between the lake and the pool. It’s so pretty under the stars! And we’re drinking wine! A lot of wine!
And the more wine we drink, the louder the six of us get. Somehow Botts, Gavin, Brody, and Lawrence end up doing handstands on the dock.
“Behold the North American male and his unique mating ritual,” Allie narrates in an overly formal tone.
“What?” I nearly snort wine out of my nose.
“They’re showing off for us,” she explains.
I pretend like I don’t agree, but I kind of do. And I kind of love it.
After we finish our meals, and clean up the plates, and pour more wine, Lawrence suggests we make our way to the hot tub.
“I’ll change into my suit,” I say.
“Fuck it,” Brody says. “I’m going in my boxers.”
He strips off his clothes and goes in.
“In,” Allie says.
“Um . . .” I should change into my bathing suit.
Botts takes off his clothes too. He’s wearing Star Wars boxers. They are adorable. He goes in.
Lawrence goes in next.
I look at Gavin. He looks at me.
Am I going to do this? Going in a hot tub in my bra and panties isn’t cheating, is it? I wouldn’t tell Eli, obviously. But it’s not cheating.
Gavin takes off his top.
Oh, those abs.
Okay, I’m going in. I unzip my jeans. I am wearing a good blue lace thong. The bra is beige and doesn’t match, but it’s not horrible.
I sink into the steaming water between Botts and Allie. Ahhh. Perfect.
Botts smiles when I sit down.
Everyone but Gavin—me, Botts, Lawrence, Allie, and Brody—is already in. I see that under the water, Lawrence has his hand on Allie’s thigh.
“Nice out here, huh?” Botts says to me. “We’re glad you made it to Camp Blue Springs this summer, Rosenspan.”