I grin. “Admit it—youlikeit!”
He takes another long, deliberate sip. His eye contact feels like a challenge. “It’s passable.”
His voice carries, loud enough that Trey overhears. “Passable?” he says, and I don’t think it’s just mock offense in his voice. “That’s a single origin sourced directly from El Salvador! Gesha wash and everything. It’s top-tier, bro!”
Thorn smiles sheepishly. “It’s really good,” he admits. “I was just downplaying it because, uh…”
There’s no end to that sentence, probably becauseI was just trying to get a rise out of Sadie—while accurate—is even harder for him to admit than the fact that he really does like the fancy coffee.
Trey looks from Thorn to me, then back to Thorn. A slow smile spreads over his face.
“Isee,” Trey says with a very bro-like sparkle in his eye. “I get it. Okay. I’m gonna just—”
He points his thumb over his shoulder, then heads to the campfire where Hunter and Silas are packing up their gear.
“We should—” Thorn and I blurt out at the exact same time when it’s just us again.
“Probably get ready for the day,” I finish, and he nods, like that’s exactly what he was thinking.
“Let me know when you’ve got everything out of your tent and I’ll help you fold it up,” he adds, suddenly all business.
“Thanks,” I call after him—
But he’s already on his way to check on someone else.
An hour later, when everyone’s packed and ready to go, Matteo gathers us into a circle.
“Okay, people, listen up!” he says with special attention toward the tennis girls, who are whispering with each other, totally oblivious.
Matteo clears his throat.
Emma elbows Brittany in the ribs, and they all fall silent.
“For today,” Matteo goes on, “I want you to pick one person you didn’t know before you got here, and spend all of this morning’s hike getting to know them.”
“Like some cheesy icebreaker?” Hunter calls out as Emma asks, “Will there be a test?”
“Yes to cheesy, no to a test,” Matteo replies, pointing at each of them as he answers. “Embrace the cheese, people! If you don’t, we’ll do evenmoreicebreakers!”
A couple of people groan, but Matteo just grins.
“All jokes and threats aside, you came here to get outside your comfort zones, right? So let’s take that first step.”
Secretly, Iadorea good icebreaker.
Give me all the scavenger hunts and forced-proximity get-to-know-you prompts: people tend to stay in their own lanes these days unless they’re shoved out of them, so as someone who actually enjoys making new friends, I’m all in favor of it; I find icebreakersfun, not torturous.
It should be noted that I am not, and have never been mistaken for, an introvert.
I’m scanning the group, torn between approaching Trey—he’s nice, and as a fellow coffee snob, I’d actually enjoy hearing all about their company—and one of the tennis girls.
But then I notice Zoe, looking around for her fiancé on instinct; I follow her gaze and see him chatting with Thorn and Trey. Parker and Emma have already paired up with Hunter and Silas, and Brittany is looking at Matteo like she would happily spendeveryday chatting with him.
“Looks like it’s me and you,” I say to Zoe. “Want to team up?”
Matteo joins us at the front of the group, Brittany at his side, while Thorn takes up the rear again. I’m hit with a surprising wave of disappointment at the realization that I won’t get to talk to him—or evenseehim, really—until we stop for a break at some point.
On the bright side, maybe I’ll be able to film some vlog footage in peace today. Zoe certainly won’t care.
