“No, I told him I was too tired. But maybe when you’re on your day off . . . we’ll see.”
When we wake up the next morning, neither Botts nor Lawrence nor Gavin has come. I wasn’t really expecting Gavin. But Lis is heartbroken.
“Why didn’t he come?” Lis asks as she nibbles on her fingers.
“Maybe because he’s not skeezy?” I ask. “Showing up in someone’s bunk in the middle of the night is skeezy!”
“Or I’m a bad kisser,” she says. “Either or.”
I spot Botts at the picnic tables on the way back from lunch and sit beside him. “Hello there, stranger,” I say. “So what happened? We were kind of expecting a late visit.”
“Were you all waiting up with flashlights?” he asks.
“No,” I say. “But Lis may have been.”
“I don’t know,” he says. “I thought about it. But . . . she’s staff! I shouldn’t be hooking up with staff.”
I laugh and let the sun warm my face. “What are you talking about? You should be hooking up with campers?”
“No, I just mean . . . I’m kind of like her boss.”
“You are not her boss. And Priya is hooking up with Smokin’ Hot Benji! He’s not head staff either. Lis is eighteen. She’s only a year younger than you. Do you like her?”
“I do. But . . . I don’t know. I’m not in love with her or anything.”
“It’s a summer fling!”
“But I don’t want a summer fling! I want the real thing.”
“But you barely know her! You can’t be in love with her already!” I sigh. “Does this mean you’re not inviting her on our day off tomorrow?”
“I don’t know,” he says. “Maybe I should invite her? See what happens? You think I should invite her?”
“Yes,” I say sternly. “I do.”
Gavin and I make out in the gym that night after Milk and Cookies.
“So, tomorrow . . .” he says. His voice trails off.
I am lying on a foam mat. “Yeah?”
“Should we . . . stop at a drugstore?”
“Why? Are you out of conditioner?” I ask. “I am almost out of conditioner.”
I think of when I met Eli. But then shake it off.
“No, I am not. I meant . . . maybe we wanted to get other stuff.”
It takes me a second, but I realize he means condoms. “No! That’s too far! We talked about this. No sex. Remember?”
“I remember,” he says. “I was just hoping that maybe we’re over that.”
“We are not over that.”
“Okay,” he says quickly.
“That’s the line.”
He nods. “Got it. Still the line.”
“You’re okay with that being the line, right?” I ask.
“Of course I’m okay with it. I would just rather be having sex than not having sex. And since we have another day off tomorrow . . . I just thought I would bring it up. In case you really wanted to have sex but you just didn’t want to borrow one from Janelle.”
“Borrow?”
“You know what I mean.”
“I do. But see, if I asked to borrow a condom, then she would know I was having sex with someone. Someone who is not my boyfriend. And we haven’t decided that we want anyone to know yet. And I kind of think that if we did want anyone to know, we should tell our significant others first. Not that we’ve decided that.”
“All good points. Although, if you did want to borrow a condom, you could say that you were making water balloons. It’s been done.”
“Why not just use a regular balloon?” I wonder.
“Condoms are more accessible?”
“Not to us.”
“Got it. No condoms.”
“No sex. That’s our rule. Sex is bad.”
“Sex with you would not be bad,” he says.
I kiss his lips. He tastes like oatmeal cookie. “You’re right. Not physically speaking, of course.”
Botts invites Lis to come on our day off after all. At Rest Hour, she flutters around the counselors’ room debating what to pack. Which swimsuit? Which jeans? Which underwear?
I am debating the same thing. I really wish I had thought to bring at least one sexy outfit to camp. Like the black lace nightie I bought at Victoria’s Secret. But why would I have? I had not expected to dress sexy. At all.
He will probably spend most of the night in my bed. He’ll have to sneak back to his own room at some point. But still. It’s going to be the first time we spend most of the night in a bed together. We can fall asleep together. How nice will that be?
At flagpole, the two of us hike to the office. Lis is coming with me in my car. Gavin, Smokin’ Hot Benji, and Priya are going with Botts. It’s just the six of us. Couple central.
“I might throw up,” Lis tells me as she climbs into the front.
“Do you get carsick?”
“No! I’m just nervous. Do you think he’s expecting something to happen?”
“Probably,” I say. “But don’t feel pressure or anything. He won’t kick you out of the canoe.”
“Huh?”
“Never mind,” I say.
“I’m a virgin,” she says.
“Oh. Okay. I didn’t know that.”
“I’m not sure I want to have sex with him.”
“Then don’t! You barely know him. You don’t have to do anything with him. Just get to know him.”
“You don’t think he’s expecting me to have sex with him, do you?”
“No, I definitely don’t,” I say. “Botts is a good guy. And if you do decide to hook up or whatever, it’s totally fine to say that you’re not going all the way. I’ve done that.” I just did it, in fact. “Maybe don’t have too much to drink or smoke tonight if you’re nervous. And remember, I am just down the hall if you feel uncomfortable at any point.” Not that I want her interrupting me. But there’s a lock on my door. I can always make Gavin hide in the closet.
She talks and talks until we pull up outside his massive house. “Omigod, this is his cottage? Never mind sleeping with him, now I want to marry him.”
Everyone but Lis drinks at dinner. We barbecue and they make the same amazing burgers.
Gavin and I get a little tipsy.
Gavin and I get handsy when we get tipsy.
We try really hard to keep our hands off each other, but it’s hard.
His fingers trail down my back at dinner.
I rub my leg against his in the hot tub. I guess we’re legsy as well as handsy?
At midnight, when we are walking back to my room together and we are in the hallway, Gavin stops and pushes me against the wall, and we are kissing and it is so good and I’m giggling and then I hear Botts say, “Hey, Rosenspan, do you want to try watching Star—” and then his voice stops.
We look up.
Botts is staring at us.
Gavin takes a step back.
“Oh,” Botts says.
“Um,” I say.
“Well,” Gavin says.
“Okay then,” Botts says, trying to look anywhere but at us. “I was not expecting that. I’m going back to my room now.”