“Waterfall swim,”Grady heard himself say. But inside his head, he was thinking,Are you all mine? Forhowlong?
“Yes!” Priya pumped her fist. “But no skinnydipping.”
“Suitson.”
“Deal.”
They joined the fray at the bar, then ducked out. Yoga had been bumpedto sunset to allow everyone to participate in Nature Olympics, which gave them two hours beforedinner.
Back at the cabin, Priya changed into a black one-piece swimsuit that made her look like a Hollywood starlet. Towels in hand, they set out for thewaterfall.
Luck was with them, and they had the swimming hole all to themselves. They swam from the rocks to the thundering falls andback again, then played in the calmer waters forabit.
“Areyouokay?”
He shrugged. He wasn’t going to lie. “Why did we do the Olympicsthing?”
“It was the only activity on offertoday.”
He tugged her close and kissed her wet skin. “Not theonlyone.”
“The only one that’s campsanctioned.”
“It’s an adult summer camp. They have lots of options for beingalone. I’m pretty sure this is sanctioned.” His next kiss to her neck was open-mouthed, a hot suck of herflesh.
“You’regrumpy.”
“I’m something.” Restless, frustrated, worried. He hadn’t put his finger on it yet. “The week isalmostover.”
“Right. Yeah, I guess we should talkaboutthat.”
“You guess?” He swam away from her, ducking under the water to keep himself fromsayinganythingelse.
When he surfaced, she was out of the water and wrapped in a towel. “Hey, come on, I’msorry.”
She shook her head. “No need to be sorry. But we shouldheadback.”
“Don’trunaway.”
She laughed out loud, and he realized too late where he’d gone wrong. “You’re tellingmenot to hide? What happened after you called me lastyear,huh?”
All week,he’d been watching her. Trying to figure her out. And he’d even told her he was an open book, all she had to dowasask.
She hadn’t. All week, she’d let him poke and prod at her instead, like she was theproblem.
But he was the one who’d disappearedbefore.
What happened after they talked? He went to hell. He’d been there before, but this time it had been different. Harder.The missions were more rushed, the orders less clear. And you couldn’t think about the chain of command. Couldn’t wonder if there’d been a breakdown somewhere, because if you let your mind go there, if you let doubt filter in, you wouldn’t be as sharp. Asfocused.
He’d needed to be sharpasshit.
He’d needed to come homeagain.
She was looking at him. Softly, not staring.Just…watching. And he still hadn’tansweredher.
He couldn’t. Something tight and hard bulged in his chest, right at the top. If he tried to bullshit her, it would lodge in his throat, he knew that. Hecouldn’tlie.
But that knot blocked the truth, too. It came from a different part of him. From his heart, maybe. He could admit it to himself, but he couldn’t find the words to shareitwithher.
