“And I didn’t want to miss my chance to apologize.”
“Oh,” I said again. A peace offering. I was the one who had stalked off and given him the cold shoulder, and he was still the one to say sorry first. I should be the one lamenting missed chances, not him. He truly was perfect. And maybe it was all for show or to practice being a decent boyfriend, but warmth spread across my chest nonetheless. “You don’t have to apologize.”
“Yeah, I think I do.” His mouth twisted as he exhaled hard. “I let Calder and the match get in my head, and sucked all the fun out of playing for you.”
“It’s okay. It’s just a game.” I could say that now, even though it wasn’t. It was never simply a game with this family, and that was most of my issue. I stepped away from the table to avoid the kids zooming around.
“Yeah, but that’s what I forgot.” Derrick followed me into the shadows. A short distance in front of us, the fire glowed bright, and one of my uncles strummed a guitar. Derrick pitched his voice low, giving us the illusion of privacy even surrounded by others. “I’m so used to Calder taking every bet so seriously that I forgot that there are plenty of other ways to have fun.”
“Not everything has to be a competition.” I might as well tattoo that on my chest for all the good it seemed to do around here, but Derrick nodded sympathetically.
“I know.” Moving slowly, he put an arm around my shoulders. I had plenty of time to move away, but I didn’t. His warmth and nearness felt almost as good as his understanding. “I’m sorry.”
“Me too. I’m sorry I ignored you. I’m not even sure why I got so miffed.” I leaned into his embrace, feeling my tension drain away by the second. Ingrid was right. Fighting was dumb. And she didn’t even know the half of it like how little time we had left together. Derrick didn’t want to miss his chance and neither did I. “You’re a good coach. The kids loved you. It’s more that I hate letting my brothers pull me back into old patterns where winning is the only thing that matters.”
“You matter.” Tone solemn, he tipped my face toward his with gentle fingers.
“Thanks.” My voice was all husky now, anticipation gathering low in my belly. Forget winning. What mattered was maximizing my time with Derrick, cramming as much kissing and good feelings in as I could. His words, though, did underscore how good he was at saying exactly what I needed to hear at the perfect moment. Not for the first time, I worried that perhaps he was ruining me for all other guys.
“You have some chocolate on your cheek...” He swiped at my cheek with his broad thumb. “Right here.”
“Thanks.” I shivered way more from his touch than from the rapidly cooling night air. I wanted to kiss him in the worst way, but there were a few too many people close by for more than a quick peck. “You want to see something cool I found?”
“Absolutely.”
“Grab a flashlight.” I gestured at the box full of assorted lights on the picnic table. We each scooped up one and crept away from the fire circle, the strains of an old folk ballad following us into the shadows of the forest. Rather than heading toward our cabin, I ventured the opposite direction, toward the lakeshore, bypassing the rocky beach near the main camp in favor of taking Derrick to a narrow inlet.
We weren’t that far from camp, but it felt like our own private cove, and above us the moon hung low, casting a magical glow over the spot.
“See how pretty this is in the moonlight?” I’d discovered it earlier, wandering around aimlessly after dinner, and sharing it with him made me bouncy, all my earlier weighty thoughts gone.
“Yeah. It really is,” Derrick agreed, but he was looking right at me, not the water. The back of my neck prickled.
“And it’s private.” I looped my arms around him, trying to anchor the buoyant feeling inside me to something concrete and real. Being around him made me New Year’s champagne levels of giddy, but he was also so grounding that I wanted to squeeze him tight and never let go.
“Private enough for this at least.” Kissing me softly, he took all the magic of this spot and magnified it, made me more than a little tipsy on him and the moment.
“Private enough we could skinny-dip,” I teased as we broke apart before I kicked my hiking sandals off.
“Hell no.” Derrick shook his head as I dipped a toe in the water. “I’m all about letting you have fun, but that lake is cold!”
“Says the sailor.”
“We’re generally warm and dry, thank you very much.” His laugh was far warmer than either the water or the night air, so I flicked some water his direction simply to make him laugh more. “I did so well in basic training that I had a chance to try for SEAL training or sub school after that, but the SEALs had way too much frigid swimming for my tastes.”