Last Summer

03. Emi

Emi

I bolted out the door as soon as lunch was over.

How dare Myles bring a friend to Wilde Woode. Especially one that looked like that.

Why was I smiling?

Wipe the silly grin off your face, I told myself. I wasn't there to date. Even boys with bright blue eyes and dark brown hair. Boys who scratched their jaw nervously.

I knew nothing about him. He was probably just like Myles. After all, he was friends with him.

When I hopped off the last step from the dining hall, I veered off to the left in search of Maggie, the camp dog.

Thank god Myles and the mystery guy had gone back to their own little conversation while eating. I'd had a hard enough time looking away, but I tried my best to ignore them, and somehow, they'd slipped out the door before I realized it.

Crush and camp had never been uttered in the same sentence by me.

Outside of camp, sure. There had been guys. I wasn't a nun. I was just a non-committed non-nun. I didn't want to be tied down by a guy in high school. I cherished doing whatever I wanted when I wanted a little too much. And I was going to hold out for a guy who actually tried a little harder to get to know me and who was worth it. So many of them just weren't worth the effort.

I found Maggie exactly where I thought she would be—lying under the swing on the porch of the boat house.

I slipped off my sandals and sat back so I could sway and pet her light brown fur with my feet.

Myles adopted her when he was ten. Just a tiny golden retriever puppy back then. She loved jumping in the lake, biting at minnows she could see swimming by the shoreline. And she always took her afternoon naps in the shade under the swing.

Every lunch I would try to sneak her some food since our chef hated her lingering around the back door begging for scraps.

I'd rolled up some tater tots in a napkin and stuffed them into my pocket like I was Napoleon Dynamite, but she hadn't caught the scent of them yet.

"Such a good girl," I cooed.

"Aren't you going to buy me dinner before you talk dirty to me?"

I snapped my head up. Myles took the double steps up the center of the porch and leaned against the railing in front of me. Maggie's tail thumped against the floor until she picked herself up and sat by Myles' feet.

I flicked my eyes behind him, where the still mysterious guy was walking out to the dock to help two girls with their canoe.

"Myles," I said.

He reached a long leg out and pushed the edge of my seat with his foot. "Emi."

"What do you want?" I asked.

I thought he'd gone back to his house, but I should have guessed he'd be lingering, waiting for an opportunity to talk to his fan club.

"Maggie's allergic to tater tots."

I rolled my eyes. "Go away. I wasn't feeding her anyway."

He laughed with only one side of his lips. His eyes dropped to my hip where fried potatoes were bulging from my shorts.

"Sure. Or are you just happy to see me?"

Do not look at his crotch.

"What do you want? Didn't you call me a stuck up bitch about half an hour ago?"