Chapter3
Tegan was nowhereto be found. Priya left Grady sitting at their table for two—because seriously, could her best friend be more obvious?—and went in search of the traitorous cupid disguised as the camp’s recreationdirector.
“I think she may have headed into Briarsted?”the camp director, Heather Tully, said at the front desk. “But I can leave a note for her ifyouwant.”
No, what Priya had to say to her bestie was best left for a face-to-face confrontation. “It’sfine.”
“Okay. See you in the morning for theDawnHike?”
“Yep,” Priya said only the tiniest of winces. “Bright andearly.”
“If you have trouble falling asleep tonight, youmight want one of these.” Heather handed over a brown paper bag with Back to Nature stamped on the front in what looked like natural purple dye. Beets or something like that, probably. “Lavender satchel to hang up or put under your pillow, and an essential oil blend that’s perfect for rubbing on the soles ofyourfeet.”
“Thanks. Hey, uh…speaking of sleep. Could we have some extra bedding?Our beds were made up as one big king bed, and we’d rather them separated into twotwins.”
Heather didn’t blink. “Sure, hang on.” She disappeared around the corner and returned a moment later with a cotton bag. “Extra sheets, pillowcase, and a cottonblanket,too.”
Back at their table, she found Grady still perusing the food options. She stuffed her bags under her chair and pickedup her own menu. One of the other reasons she’d picked this week was that the entire week was vegetarian, which meant there would be more options for her to eat. She might drink alcohol and it had been three years since she last stepped foot in a gurdwara, but her parents—secular and modern in most ways—had raised her to respect the dietary rules followed in the langar. No meat, no fish,noeggs.
Which left a lot of amazing food, so she never felt deprived, but often in a meat-centric dining experience, she’d have one or two options. Today, she had more than half the menu that was easily egg free. It wasfantastic.
Across the table, Grady shifted uncomfortably, and she smotheredagrin.
Fantasticforher.
Mr. Show-Up-And-Horn-In was probably missing steak rightaboutnow.
“Are you hungry?” she askedinnocently.
“Starving.”
She shouldn’t like the growl in his voice. It shouldn’t make her shiver. She knew better than that. “I’m thinking of the cauliflower bites and the beetsalad.”
“Mmm.”
“Are you having trouble deciding whatyouwant?”
He chuckled under his breath. “Is that what youthink?”
Despite herbest intentions to not give him any direct attention, his laughter dragged her gaze back to his face. “I remember you loving a good steaklastyear.”
He nodded as the corners of his eyes crinkled. “I have no doubt your memory of…everything…from last year is picture perfect. But I don’t need a steak to enjoy mydinner.”
The waitress appeared a moment later, and Priya repeated herorder.
Grady gave one last look at the menu. “Okay. I’ll have a bowl of the onion and barley soup, the garlic mushrooms, and the asparagusravioli.”
Onion, garlic, asparagus. Grady picked the three foods on the menu that practically waved a white-flag on late nightkissing.
Message received, loud andclear.
Two could play that game. “I got new sheets for your bed,” shesaid as she lifted her waterglass.
He gave her a bland look that she didn’t buy for a second. “Great.”
“Great.”
Cold-war style antagonismwas not Grady’s strong suit. His dinner was excellent, but he’d dug himself a no-kissing-zone hole, and Priya seemed more amused than disappointed. That had not beenhisplan.
