Page 50 of Hot Summer

They walked with slow steps toward the daybed tucked away in the far corner. The idea of sleeping outside together had seemed simple enough. Casual enough. Friendly enough. But now, every step Cas took felt like one more nail in her own coffin. Her heart was in her throat, stuttering as they approached. The pillows were scattered all over the bed from earlier that afternoon, and Ada swept them up to the head of the bed with one swift motion of her arm.

“What side do you fancy?” Ada asked.

“I—uh— Any. Whatever one you don’t want is fine.”

Outside of the villa, she tended to gravitate more toward the side of the bed her phone was charging on, but she had a three-meter charging cord, so she didn’t even need to be that wedded to it if she didn’t want to be.

“Really,” Cas said in response to Ada’s arched eyebrow. “I’m not picky.”

Ada tugged down the right side of the duvet before climbing into bed. “You know. I don’t think I really thanked you for this afternoon.”

Cas couldn’t meet Ada’s gaze as she slid into the left side of the bed. “Why would you need to thank me?”

“You looked like you were about to tear Brad apart before the Voice of God got to him.”

“It’s what anyone would have done—”

“Cas.” Ada brought her hand down onto Cas’s thigh under the duvet. The small motion felt like a cannonball through Cas’s ribs. “Let me thank you.”

“You don’t—” Ada raised a stern eyebrow and Cas changed course. “You’re welcome.”

Ada patted Cas’s thigh gently, clearly glad she’d gotten Cas to bend.

“Seriously,” Ada said. “I don’t think I would have made it through today without you.”

“You would’ve,” Cas said. Ada clicked her tongue at her, but Cas was quick to clarify. “No, you would’ve. Sienna’s a great friend, she would have happily coached you through.”

Ada laughed softly. “That’s true.” She was quiet for a beat, the silence thick, as if there was something hovering just between them. Finally, Ada drew in a gentle breath. “I was especially grateful for you, though.”

Their eyes met and Cas felt it pin her to the spot.

As thrilled as the sentiment made her feel, it was uncomfortable, the faith Ada so obviously had in her. Did Cas deserve it? Had she earned it?

“You still would’ve survived it,” Cas said. She slid a little farther under the duvet. Her voice was thick, not at all casual like she’d been trying for. She swallowed. Tried again. “It just would’ve been less fun.”

Ada rolled her eyes, but the smile tugging at the corner of her lips was everything. She shifted until she was lying down, her red hair splaying out across the pillow.

It was a visual that immediately conjured another context, made Cas think of things she definitely shouldn’t be. She couldn’t give Ada what she wanted—she repeated it in her head like a mantra.

Ada was quiet for a long moment, only the sound of the breeze in the tree above them breaking the silence.

“You know, I should have known it was going to be bad when Brad picked me,” Ada said finally, her fingers playing absently with her microphone wire. “Who the fuck saunters over like that, like he thought he was walking a runway or something?”

“Arseholes,” Cas said, her tone matter-of-fact. She hadn’t meant it to be a joke, but it drew another laugh out of Ada, and Cas warmed.

Cas had noticed Ada sneaking glances at her, but now her gaze was trained on the sky. The fairy lights above cast dots of light across her freckled skin, and she finally looked at peace for the first time in days. She was the most beautiful person Cas had ever seen.

This, this was the sort of thing Brad should have been talking about in his stupid re-partnering speech. Not just that Ada was attractive, but the impossible softness of her skin. How the smattering of freckles across her chest looked like constellations, the way her copper hair skimmed across her shoulders. Just a few of the thousands of things someone could love about Ada.

Like.

Like about Ada.

“Tell me something I don’t know about you.”

Ada turned her head on her pillow, her shoulders shifting slightly as if she was about to roll over but decided against it. “Like what?” Ada’s eyes were impossibly beautiful in the dark. “My favorite color?”

Cas snorted, a valiant but failed attempt to stop her heart racing.

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