I’m pretty sure my eyes try to fall out at her suggestion. “Share?”
“Yeah, why don’t we just share the shower?” Her cheeks are turning a nice shade of pink, but her voice doesn’t waver.
“There’s not a problem with that, is there?” Mom asks.
“No, no problem,” I answer roughly.
Mom walks away to check on something cooking on the grill, giving us a moment to whisper back and forth.
“We’re both muddy,” she says, then drops her volume another notch. “We have to share a tent again tonight, and it wouldn’t make sense for one of us to get clean but not the other.”
“Are you sure?” I say.
Lucy nods quickly. “We’re both adults. It’s no big deal. At least we’ll be warm and clean.”
I nod, because my brain is not thinking about warm and clean. My brain is on the track of naked and in the shower with a beautiful woman.
THIRTY-SEVEN
Lucy
We step into the bathhouse, and that’s when I have sincere doubts about Ainsley.
No more quarters? Nobody in this camp had any extra quarters? Not even the camp host? That seems strange.
If I didn’t know better, I would think Miles’s mom knows the truth. I saw Felix laughing as we walked away.
Miles follows me to the line of showers, and we stare at the small cubby. It will take all eight quarters to even turn the shower on. This has got to be highway robbery for a six-minute shower.
I step into the actual shower part and pull the curtain closed while I start stripping out of my muddy clothes. How very rude of Alexander to get us both filthy. I’ll have to have a chat with him later.
Miles is just on the other side of the curtain. I can hear him shuffling around, getting out of his clothes.
Why, oh why did I suggest this? Was it practical? It seemed like the practical solution at the time.Share the hot water. With the man I just kissed.Yeah, this small space will have us sharing more than just hot water.
“Are you almost ready?” I ask him. I do my best to keep my tone light. Unaffected. Like he didn’t just apologize for kissing my socks off. I didn’t want an apology for the kiss—I wanted more.
“Yep! All ready.” He practically grunts the words.
“Okay, I’m going to put the coins in and get the water warm.”
“Sounds good.” His voice sounds strained, but maybe it’s the echo in the building.
The coins clink as they rattle down the slots. I pull the shower knob, and the water kicks on, immediately warm.
“Ahhhh,” I groan as I step under the hot stream of water. “It’s so warm. It feels so good.”
I immediately start scrubbing away at the mud on my arms.
“Okay to come in?”
I barely hear his asked question because I’m melting into a puddle of warm cleanness. “Sure! Bring the soap.”
The curtain parts, and I glance over my shoulder at Miles.
I’ve seen Miles without a shirt several times now. I thought by now I’d be immune to drooling.
I’m not.
