“Good. Now, for today, I want you to go on a date. I want you to plan it together and then see it through. It could be whatever you want. We have a booklet in the main building, where you can decide what that will be. But I want it to be fun. Think you can handle that?”
“I think we can,” Wilder says.
“Perfect.” Sanders stands, so we do as well. “I look forward to seeing what you picked. And remember, we’re moving forward, not backward.”
“Right,” I say. “Forward.”
Wilder takes my hand, and together, we walk out of the cabin and down the path toward the main building.
“I can’t believe you told him we had sex last night and this morning,” I say.
“Why? He’s our therapist. He needs to know that.”
“He’s our pretend therapist.”
“Feels pretty real to me. Also, just be happy I didn’t write on everyone’s cabin window this morning that we fucked, okay? Because if I had it my way, I’d let everyone know. I would have called in a marching band, some skywriters, maybe even amagician who would make me magically appear out of a box only so I could shout into a megaphone that we fucked.”
“That seems a bit over the top.”
“You’re right. Maybe a touch too much. How about this? Should I just say it in greeting to everything I see? ‘Good morning. How are you? Scottie rocked my world last night with her pussy. How was your night?’”
“Oh my God, stop it,” I say, pushing at him, causing him to laugh.
“It’s true.”
I stay silent, shaking my head, because I really don’t know what to say to that.
After a few seconds of silence, he says, “You don’t believe me, do you?”
“Yes, I do.”
He stops and turns me toward him. “Look me in the eyes, and say you believe me.”
I sigh heavily and look him in the eyes. “I’m…I’m trying to believe you. And it doesn’t have anything to do with you but instead everything to do with me. Just one of those roadblocks I have to get over.”
“I understand,” he says softly while tilting my chin up with his finger. “But just know, I’d never lie about that. You…Scottie…created a monster, because after last night, I’m addicted. And I’m counting down the fucking minutes until I can have more of you.”
I move into him and place my hand on his chest. “Me too.”
“Here’s an idea. Why don’t we plan our date in the cabin? We can just?—”
“You cannot plan your date in the cabin,” Sanders says, scaring the both of us.
“Jesus,” I say, gripping my chest. “Where did you come from?”
He eyes the both of us. “You’re to pick a date from the date book in the main building. Understood?”
“But don’t you always say you want your couples to be intimate?”
“I do,” Sanders says. “But the point of these dates is to build that anticipation, to learn to flirt with each other again. You can’t do that if you’re hiding out in your cabin, screwing each other.”
“I don’t know. I’m pretty good at flirting,” Wilder says while scratching his jaw. “I might not need to practice.”
Sanders points his finger at Wilder. “Stay out of your cabin until nighttime.”
“What if…we want to go in the lake and need our bathing suits?” Wilder asks, clearly trying to find a loophole.
Sanders thinks about it for a second and then says, “I’ll allow it. Just for swimsuits. I want you building that anticipation.”
