Maddie laughs. “I bet you five dollars that you’re too wimpy to go in.”
Blake laughs. “Oh, I’m not, but unfortunately, I haven’t packed my swim trunks.”
Are they really talking about going in? In this weather? The water must be freezing.
“Excuses, excuses,” Maddie taunts. “You’re just a wimp, uncle Blake. Admit it.” Maddie knows her uncle well, and probably knows that he never walks away from a dare or a challenge.
“Okay, Maddie. I’m game,” he says, “but let’s walk closer to camp.”
“You’re not really thinking about doing this?” I ask as we set out back to our site. He’s walking briskly now, and I hop and skip to keep in step with his long strides. The kids run ahead of us, full of energy.
In no time, we find ourselves where we started.
“I can’t wait to see this,” Maddie cheers.
I smile – the sight of her and Jake so excited is sweet. I honestly don’t know much about Blake anymore, but one thing I know for sure is that the kids love their uncle. And he loves them. They’re much closer to him than they are to me, but that’s to be expected. They see him almost every day, and they only get to see me a few times a year, for two or three days at the most. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little jealous.
Blake strips off his Birkenstocks and jeans. He’s wearing black boxers, and I have to force myself to look away. He peels off his sweater, and… my, oh my. Those arenotthe same abs I remember. They’re new and improved. I bite my lip.
Look away, I tell myself.Look away.
I finally venture another peek – I can’t help myself. He’s stifling a mischievous smile and I just want to throttle him. “See what you’re teaching them, Blake,” I scold. “Did you know that Marilyn insisted that I tag along because she doesn’t trust you because you can be so irresponsible sometimes. Some of us like to act like the responsible adults we are, not silly teenagers.”
“Is auntie Maeve going in too?” Jake asks.
Blake laughs, a loud obnoxious chuckle. “Hell, no. Auntie Maeve would never go in. She’s a good girl. She never does anything wrong or wild. She never drives over the speed limit, always waits for the little blinking man to cross the road, recycles, wears little frilly sweaters and cute sensible shoes with buttons and flowers on them, and gets engaged to some boring guy who doesn’t even appreciate her for who she is.”
I scowl, at a complete loss for words. Sometimes he makes me so angry, I can’t even…
“And she still sleeps with a teddy bear,” he adds with a smirk.
“Leave Buttons out of this,” I scoff. “You’ve gone too far.”
“I thought we were supposed to wait for the little man when you cross the road,” Jake chimes in. “That’s the rule. Mommy said.”
“That’s right, Jake. Uncle Blake doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Don’t listen to him.”
Who does he think he is? He doesn’t know me. Maybe I’m secretly a wild bank-robbing, gambling, drug-addict. I’m not, but I could be. Maybe I’m secretly a stripper at some smutty dive. How would he know? I’m going to show him.
“I’m in,” I announce. I take off my Keds and peel off my capris. I’m wearing comfy pink Fruit of the Loom undies and a sports bra – not very sexy, but I don’t care. I undress swiftly because I know that if I don’t do this quickly, I’ll lose my nerve.
Blake and the kids are wide-eyed, jaws hanging. They watch me intently as I peel off my watch and socks.
“Let’s do this,” I say to Blake. He’s still in his boxers, frozen by shock. I swoop right past him and dash toward the water. I dive right in before I can even think about it – a loud yelp escapes me. The water is so freezing, it physically hurts. I worry my heart may have stopped.
Blake is all smiles when he follows me in. “You surprise me sometimes, Freckles.”
He shrieks as he dives in too. When he resurfaces, he looks like he’s in pain, because he is – it’s that cold.
The kids bounce up and down, enjoying the show. “What a great example we’re setting,” I say to Blake as I quickly escape the frigid water. Blake follows me closely.
It’s still cold when we step out of the lake. I hug myself to conserve heat, and also because I don’t want Blake to see my hard nipples. We’re too wet and cold to attempt to slip our clothes back on, so we quickly grab our stuff, and run back to camp instead, in our underwear. On the way there, we run into a few people who shoot us funny looks. The kids are still smiling, probably thinking that their Uncle Blake and auntie Maeve are kind of cool.
Marilyn would not be impressed.
What can I say? That’s the effect Blake has on me. He makes me want to be wild. Always has. He makes my heart race. He reminds me that I’m alive. He makes me want to scream at the sky. I’d forgotten that feeling. It’s been so long since I felt this alive. And I hate to say it, but I love it.
And I miss it.
