I grin. “I’d love to see photographic evidence of this,” I tease.
“You won’t find any here,” he rebuts, swiping at his eyes.
“And if I ask Lizzy?”
He rears back and blinks at me, before playfully smacking me in the chest. “She totally would show you them. Why is it sad that I can practically see you and her conspiring against me, for more than just my buck teeth, too?” he huffs.
“Oh, come on, I bet you were adorable,” I say, pulling him forward to kiss his temple. “You still are, you pink cheeked cutie,” I murmur against his skin, with a chuckle.
He shoves me off him playfully, but I don’t let him go. We roll around on the blanket, laughing and wrestling with each other. Finally, we untangle and flop back on the blanket, panting from our efforts. I can’t remember the last time I fuckinggiggledlike that.
When I finally catch my breath from laughing, I sit up and fix him with a look that has him tensing up.
“What? I didn’t knee you in the balls, did I?” he says, self-conscious notes in his voice.
I shake my head.
“Well then, what? Catch a whiff of my morning breath?”
“I love you,” I blurt out.
“Oh…” he relaxes, then realization hits, and he looks shocked all over again. “Wait,what?!”
“It’s ok if you don’t feel the same,” I explain, “but Brooks, I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you.”
If I thought his cheeks were pink before, they now look like they're burnt from sitting directly on the sun’s surface.
“You’re just saying that because—”
“BecauseI love you,” I cut him off pointedly. “Again, I’m a grown-ass man, and I know how I feel. You don’t need to try to rationalize or downplay it, because ‘it’s too soon’ and ‘how could I possibly know that?’ or some shit. I know how I feel, and I know I. Love. You.”
He bites his lip for a second and then clears his throat, looking as if he has just mustered up the courage needed to punch a bear in the snout. “I love you too,” he finally croaks.
“You don’t have to say it just because—”
“Evan,”hecutsmeoff this time, grinning. “Respectfully, shut thefuckup. You literally just told me to stop rationalizing it; now it’s your turn to stop being a hypocrite. Honestly, I realized that I loved you when you came in all ruffled from battling bees just to go get me flowers from one of my favorite spots. I just didn’t want to tell you then and spook you. Once again, you caught me off guard by telling me now. I love you too,” he explains.
I don a smile so big it could split my face in half, and lean in for a kiss when screams—not the good kind—echo across the lake. Brooks shoots up off the blanket and tears off down the trail that leads back to camp. I hastily toss an armful of sand over what’s left of the coals, scoop up the blanket, and sprint off after him.
“Mr. G! Dad!” Colton rushes to meet us as Brooks and I emerge from the treeline and dart across the lawn to the crowd.
“What’s going on?” Brooks pants, his eyes frantically scanning the surroundings.
“It’s Morg—” Colt is cut off when the sight of Kai hefting Morgan up, carrying her bridal-style, comes into view.
Kai barks angrily at the kids to get out of the way. “Move! Everyone, get out of my way!”
Morgan whimpers in his arms, burying her face in his chest.
“She slipped off the dock,” Colton tells us frantically. “Her ankle looks real bad. I tried to call you, but my signal keeps dropping. I was just coming to find you guys.”
“Thank you, Colton,” Brooks huffs, before brushing past him and jogging after Kai, over to Sherri’s medical cabin.
“What happened?” I question Colt.
“Morgan and Kai were playing King of the Dock, and he tried pushing her into the water. She slipped, and her foot twisted.” He winces. “I think I saw her bone.”
“Aren’t you guys supposed to not rough-house on the docks?” I ask.
