Page 63 of The Falcon and the Foe

He gave me a subtle wink that dared me to test the darkness of the water. The water from his wet hair seeped through his hat.

“What are you doing away from camp?” Russ asked them. He had his hands folded behind him and stood up straight. Those kids knew not to second guess him. So did I.

“We, uh, we were up,” Quentin said.

“You don’t even have flashlights with you. The sun is not fully up yet.”

The scouts looked around as if a flashlight were just going to suddenly appear.

“It’s a good thing you didn’t get lost in the woods.” Russ shook his head in a slick parenting move. “What are you doing here?”

“We couldn’t find you.”

“I was cleaning up and ensuring we were prepared to leave on time,” Russ said, which everyone believed because that was such a Russ thing to do. “Scout Leader Cal, on the other hand, decided to treat this morning like a day at the spa.” He crossed his arms and shook his head in disappointment; the scouts followed his lead. “There’s much to do this morning. Swimming is not on the list. When you’re finished here, please meet us back at the campsite.”

“Will do,” I said through gritted teeth. But Russ shot me a playful smile, making it damn near impossible to be mad at him.

* * *

When I returned backto the campsite, the troops were in the process of taking down tents. Russ was hunched over the coolers, packing up food from breakfast. A compelling urge to lean down and wrap my arms around him flooded my body like some kind of adrenaline. Instead, I stood back, imagining how his body would feel in my arms.

“Can you help them take down their tents?” Russ asked me.

My eyes drifted over his uniform. I couldn’t get enough of seeing him in it. His thick thighs bulged in his more-tailored-than-they-needed-to-be shorts.

“Is there any breakfast left?” I asked.

“Nutra Grain bars and a few bottles of apple juice.”

“There are parents that let their kids drink juice?” I put my hand over my chest. I was joking, but also not. Parents at the school had waged an unsuccessful campaign to eliminate non-organic juice from the cafeteria.

“It’s a special occasion.”

My first thought was that he meant us having sex until I realized he meant the camping trip.

“You know what happens when you let kids drink fruit juice? High fructose corn syrup is a gateway drug to Oxycontin.”

His eyes crinkled at the edges with his smile, which was mature and boyish at the same time. “Figured we could relax this morning.”

“I like the way you think.”

Russ tossed me a breakfast bar. I caught it with one hand and jogged over to the twins who needed help with their tents. To all of our surprise, I was actually able to help them. I slid the rods out carefully and assisted them in rolling up the tarp and shoving the whole thing into its duffel.

Theirs was the last tent to be loaded into the van, and it put a small pit of dread in my stomach, knowing that this weekend was drawing to a close and we’d be re-entering the real world in a few hours.

“You ready?” Russ clapped me on the shoulder in a professional, friendly way that still managed to send electricity to my core.

“I’m ready.”

I was not.

We piled into the van. The kids shoved into the back rows, and Russ hopped into the driver’s seat. I offered to drive, but he politely declined, and I had this feeling he felt safest being the one behind the wheel.

The familiar narrow path through the familiar woods lined our route out of the campsite. We’d spent less than two days there, but it felt like a new era. Everything had changed, at least for me. I snuck glances at Russ on the drive home, desperate to know what he was thinking.

It was a quiet ride back to Sourwood. None of us had the same energy as we did on the ride up. Before I knew it, we were pulling into town. The kids turned on their cell phones, and life went back to normal. But I didn’t feel normal. I’d been with a man for the first time in close to a decade. That wasn’t a switch that could be easily shut off.

The scouts barreled out of the van and ran to their parents, all with good smiles and spirits.

---