‘And whatever you read,’ Alice continued doggedly, ‘probably wasn’t even true. I was really emotional when I was younger.’
‘I disagree. Emotions were never your thing, even when we were younger,’ Briar said archly. ‘What are emotions to heavy doses of logic and denial?’
‘I wasn’t in denial,’ Alice argued.
‘Oh yeah?’ Briar said. When Alice uncrossed her arms, Briar took in her light blue bralette for the first time. It looked like the one she’d worn the night they’d kissed. She remembered running her fingers along the lace of the cups, touching Alice there, and her cheeks burned. ‘You wanna try that again, but more convincing this time?’
Alice took a step forward, a coy smile playing at her lips. This was the Alice that Briar had been missing all summer, the one that only came out at camp, playful and a little dangerous. Her eyes traced a droplet as it ran down Alice’s cheek, along her throat, and then disappeared between her breasts. ‘I wasneverin denial.’
Briar took half a step back, her thighs hitting the low dresser behind her. She had nowhere else to go; Alice had cornered her. ‘So you’re not running away this time?’ Briar asked, barely above a whisper.
Alice’s hands came to rest on the dresser on either side of Briar’s hips. She was so close Briar could feel the heat radiating off her. When Briar tried to breathe in, the lace of Alice’s bra dragged against her chest, drawing a gasp from her instead.
‘I’m not,’ Alice said, the words a burst of air against Briar’s already hot face. It was hot in the room. It was so always so fucking hot when they were together. She met Alice’s stare, mesmerized by the blue of her eyes, and leaned in.
There was a loud knock on the front door, and they sprang apart.
‘Briar?’ came a familiar voice. ‘You there?’
‘Noah?’ Briar called back. Her brain was short-circuiting, the split second when her lips had grazed Alice’s repeating over and over. Had they even touched, or had she just imagined it?
‘Noah?!’ Alice echoed in a panicked whisper.
Briar ignored her, pulling a shirt on and stumbling out of the cabin to see Noah standing on the porch, a large box at his feet and a sheepish expression on his face.
‘Why are you here?’ she asked, hovering in front of the door to discourage Noah from going inside and finding his ex-girlfriend half-naked in Briar’s bedroom. ‘Howare you here?’
‘You said your AC was out.’ He kicked the box towards her. ‘So I hopped on a bus and Sierra picked me up from town.’
Briar stared down at the AC unit before leaping into his arms. As Noah squeezed her against him, Briar pushed away every feeling that didn’t have to do with her best friend showing up and saving the day.
‘Why are you all wet?’ Noah asked.
Briar ignored him. ‘Thank you.’
‘Oh hey, Alice,’ he said over her shoulder, and Briar released him.
‘Hi, Noah,’ Alice said, shifting awkwardly. Her face was flushed, but whether from embarrassment or annoyance, Briar wasn’t sure. ‘I’m needed in the mess hall. I think you guys can handle the installation alone.’
‘Oh yeah,’ Noah cut in, when Briar didn’t respond. ‘We’ve got it.’
Alice nodded, heading towards the mess hall, and Briar watched her go.
‘Wow,’ Noah said, disbelief evident in his voice.
‘What?’ Briar said, too quickly, nervous that her emotions were playing out on her face.
‘Just a fairly icy atmosphere here,’ he joked. ‘You sure you even need this thing?’
Briar’s wildly beating heart seemed to only now be calming, the flush of her skin returning to normal. ‘Oh, trust me, it gets hot.’
Chapter 13
Alice
If Alice had thought that speaking in front of Briar and Noah at a funeral had been bad, it was nothing compared to sitting in Briar’s car as they crawled through Fourth of July weekend traffic into DC. The holiday marked the break between sessions. Initially, Alice’s plan had been to ruminate on what had happened between her and Briar for the entirety of the long weekend, maybe checking in on how Sierra and Freddie were handling the British campers staying over until the second session as a convenient excuse for staying at camp. But Noah had insisted that she get a lift back to DC with him and Briar for a real break, and Alice had never been able to say no to him. Some things, it turned out, hadn’t changed since high school.
The road trip was different, though, like a twisted version of how it had been. Before, Alice would have been in the front seat playing sad indie music that Briar begrudgingly tolerated and Noah would’ve been stretching from the backseat to hold her hand on the console, a comfortable third wheel to her and Briar’s friendship.
