Page 51 of Close Quarters

“Right, well, other than the availability of his sister…” I began, earning more laughter from the guys and a shake of the head from Reno. “Where would we get more? Do we have to go to the clinic or something?”

“For sunblock? Just go to the storage shed,” they said, waving in the general direction.

“Ugh. Seriously? Where’s Leon?”

“For what?”

“The key, duh.”

“Nah, man, the general use one. Ain’t nothing locked up in that thing.”

My mind blanked on what they were talking about, but Reno waved me on. “C’mon, I know where it is.”

“Glad you know what you’re doing,” I muttered as we began to walk. I followed his lead between some buildings and realized we were heading back toward the cabins. “Wait, there’s a general-use storage shed?”

“Yeah, where do you think people go to get, like, brooms and shit when they break?”

“I don’t know. I had to go to Mona for the chair.”

“Probably because she doesn’t trust you to sign shit out properly.”

“That’s so rude!”

“Is she wrong?”

“Shut up.”

His chuckle was smug, but it warmed me inside anyway. Reno still hadn’t taken to showing his nicer side to people, but he had loosened up a lot in the past month. It was nice to hear something as simple as a chuckle when, before, it had just been grunts, growls, and swear words.

“You’re already starting to get red,” he said, and I felt a rough finger trail over my arm. “Didn’t you put some on already?”

“Well, yeah, like everybody did earlier.”

“Wait…you haven’t put it on more than once?”

“Uh—”

“Jesus, Elliot. When you sweat, you get rid of the sunblock. You’re supposed to put some on every hour or two, especially if you’re sweating or going in water.”

“Man, I’d kill to go swimming right now,” I groaned, shielding my eyes.

“You’re gonna kill yourself,” he grumbled beside me as we reached what had to be the storage shed. There was a single door and one window at the front. It was positioned in the middle of four cabins. There was a small card table and a few fold-out chairs against one of the outer walls marked with stains and burn marks.

“I’ve never seen this before. What the hell?” I grumbled.

“Sit down,” he said, pushing me into a fold-out chair and opening the shed.

“Love how he thinks I like it when he’s bossy when we’re wearing clothes instead of just when we’re naked,” I said to a faded and scratched smiley face sticker stuck to the table's edge. “I do like it then, though, don’t get me wrong.”

He stepped out, and I had to squint up at him. “Who are you talking to?”

“Myself, because it’s the only way I’m going to get any decent conversation in this place,” I told him with a scowl.

“Are you pouting because you’re being made to sit down?” he asked.

“No, I’m grumpy because you’re mean.”

“You’ve known that about me for weeks.”

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