Page 72 of Hot Summer

As they continued walking, Ada took a step closer and, with a quick press up onto her toes, captured Cas’s lips in a kiss. It might have been short, a peck, but Cas’s free hand immediately came up to Ada’s cheek and held her there.

And if Cas stumbled in a dip in the grass, it was worth it for the feeling of Ada’s mouth against hers. For the smell of Ada’s perfume that close.

They’d been walking for a few minutes when the camerapeople turned down a row in the orchard, and Cas spotted the picnic set up in between the trees. There was a perfect white blanket draped across the grass, a number of orange, pink, and yellow pillows dotted around for them to lean on. There was a pair of empty baskets sitting on top of what looked like an ice chest and, beside the baskets, an empty pitcher.

Perched on one of the pillows, in a spot where they couldn’t possibly miss it, was a white envelope with their names scrawled on the front in calligraphy.

Cas scooped the note off the blanket and handed it to Ada. “I’ll let you do the honors.”

Ada tore open the envelope and slid out a peachy pink note card.

“ ‘Cas and Ada,’ ” Ada read, apparently doing her best imitation of Mila Sexton. “ ‘Today you’re going to enjoy a picnic in this beautiful orchard. There are a number of peach recipes for you to enjoy... but you’ll have to pick your own fruit so you can finish assembling them. Take your baskets and get picking!’ ”

“Love a bit of manual labor on a date,” Cas said, starting to roll up her sleeves. She grabbed the baskets and handed one to Ada before dropping hers onto her arm.

“How many peaches do we need?” Ada asked. She shifted the pitcher aside, looking for recipes, and opened the ice chest when she came up empty. “Oh, okay.”

She lifted out a large bowl with smaller containers inside and a label—Summer Peach Spinach Salad: 2 peaches needed—stuck on top, as well as a bag with small bottles and chopped strawberries, labeled, Peach and Strawberry Sangria: 2 peaches, raspberry lemonade, and wine needed.

“So only four peaches, then,” Cas said, watching as Ada put everything carefully back into the ice chest. “I think we can manage that.”

“Oh no, we’re not just getting four,” Ada said, chuckling. “If we’re picking peaches, we’re picking peaches.”

It was one of those moments that Cas knew would be gilded in her memory. The sun shining through the trees, the feeling of the breeze on her skin, the way Ada laughed as Cas stretched and stretched, trying to get a peach that was just out of her reach. Even if Cas caught herself sometimes paying attention to the cameras, it was easy for Ada to bring her back. For Ada to take her hand, kiss her cheek, whisper in her ear, and every time, the entirety of Cas’s focus was on this incredible woman in front of her.

No amount of cameras could have distracted her.

It was a line of thought that, a few weeks ago, would have scared the shit out of Cas. Would have made her turn and run, never to look back, but maybe here, trapped in the villa, unable to leave without losing everything, maybe this was the perfect place for Cas to work on letting herself be vulnerable. Especially because Ada made it so easy to forget all the reasons she shouldn’t let herself get tied down in the first place.

“What do you want your life to be like after Hot Summer?” Ada asked a bit later.

They were sitting on the blanket, Cas assembling the sangria while Ada carefully chopped up peaches to add to the enormous bowl of salad ingredients.

“Do you mean, like, romantically or...?”

It was evasive, a question designed to buy her a few seconds, but Cas didn’t miss the way Ada’s right eye squinted just a little bit at the suggestion.

“Anything.” Ada’s voice was a little too breezy, and Cas quickly swept in to correct the misconception.

“Well, obviously, I’m hoping that we get to continue exploring this. I know that it’s probably too early to put any labels on it, but...” She trailed off, unsure where to go from there. It was early, this thing between them, technically not even a few days old, but it felt like their relationship had been building for weeks. “I guess, professionally, I’m just going to be curious what’s out there when we leave. I’ve been in the same job for four years and I only got into it in the first place because I needed something to distract me from everything with my ex.”

“Really?”

Cas nodded. “I couldn’t face those long lonely nights sobbing into my pillow. I was still violently depressed, but I was at least out and having fun and spending time with people.”

Ada laughed. “That’s one way to distract yourself, I guess.”

“It worked at the time. But I don’t know, lately...” She didn’t want to say unfulfilled, even if it was true. Robert probably wasn’t watching, but someone surely was, and would no doubt pass the message along if she started slagging off Friday on national television. So she decided for the most neutral option she could think of. “I feel like I’m ready for the next step in my career.”

Ada grabbed the tongs and started turning the salad around in the bowl. “And what does that next step look like?”

“I don’t know.” And it was true. She didn’t have a complete sketch of what her responsibilities would be like in this new role, but she knew what she was hoping for. “I want something a bit more steady. With regular hours and a desk, and I want to be home for dinner every night, even if the workday is busy.” Cas handed Ada a glass of sangria. “That probably sounds phenomenally boring.”

“I don’t think so. It sounds like you’re just craving stability.” Ada took a sip of the sangria, her eyes going wide at the flavor. “Wait, this is actually really good!”

“I just followed the recipe,” Cas said. She started picking up the bottles strewn across the blanket, and Ada hummed happily through another sip.

“Well, you did an excellent job following the recipe.”

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