Frankie coasts by, slowing just enough to tap her stick against mine. The contact jolts something warm and twitchy through my chest. My cheeks burn, but I’m sure it’s just from the heat.
She meets my gaze. “You want me to slow down for you?”
I bump her stick aside with mine, not hard, but enough to push back. “You gonna keep running your mouth, or are you gonna skate?”
She flashes a grin and bumps her shoulder into mine. “I can do both.”
I swallow hard, the way she says that makes my stomach flip.
At the next faceoff, I’m supposed to watch the lane and be ready for the puck. But all I see is her. I block her from getting around me.
The final whistle blows, and time is called. She didn’t score again, not that it would’ve changed anything.The game ends with her team on top, and no one questions how it happened.
It sucks to have lost to her, but damn, was she hot doing it. I pull back and offer my hand to her, letting her know I’m not mad. She takes it with a smile and my gaze falls to her lips.
Ford and Wes have gotten to kiss her. I won’t lie, I’ve been thinking of how I can do it, too, but I haven’t come up with something fun yet.
The counselor blows the whistle again and cups his hands around his mouth. “That’s the last game for today. Tomorrow, Groups C and D will play. Take off your gear and put it into the bins so it can be put away!” He points to where they go.
“Then it’s movie time for those who want to head to left field for the movie. You can either have dinner in the hall or take it to the movie.”
We all take off our gear and Frankie takes Logan’s water bottle, taking a drink from it without a care in the world. She feels so easygoing with us. I’m glad we make her comfortable.
Blankets are scattered across the grass in a loose, tangled patchwork. The projector hums low behind us, aimed at the sheet strung between two poles.
A couple dozen campers are spread out across the field, some already digging into pudding cups, others argue about which chips they got stuck with. We claim the corner closest to the trees.
I drop to the ground and stretch my legs out beside Frankie. She’s already into her Hot Cheetos. She freaking loves them. I prefer the jalapeno ones.
Ford passes me a sandwich from the stack, and Logan tosses a Coke bottle into my lap without looking. Wes sits cross-legged with a bag of sour gummies in his lap from my other side.
The last rays of the sunset illuminate the sky, but it’s dark enough to start the movie. We’ll be allowed to stay out until 9:30 because of the movie, so no early curfew tonight. The screen flickers to life.
It runs through the opener and it’s not even thirty seconds in when the title comes on screen,The Iron Giant.
Shit. Of all the movies that could’ve been picked, it had to be this one?
They always make the movies family friendly and a surprise, so I had no idea this was coming, or I could’ve prepared myself for it.
I sit for a minute, pretending I’m fine. But it gets harder as the memories come flooding back. My dad loved animation, andThe Iron Giantwas one of his favorites.
It is the first movie I remember watching with him. It was a bit of a tradition for us to watch it every year and make an event out of it. Like how some families treatCharlie and the Chocolate Factorywith an all-you-can-eat candy buffet.
My dad did that with this movie. He would get us twinkies and canned whipped cream. He’d make homemade burgers and fries and we’d watch it together. My parents divorced by the time I was three, so it made those times with him even more special.
I can quote this film from front to back.
A lump forms in my throat. I haven’t been able to watch it since the last time with him He had been too weak to make the burgers, so I cooked them, burnt the shit out of the patties. But he said they were the best burgers he’d ever had.
The tears sting my eyes. I’m not going to be able to keep it together if I stay here. I need to get away before the others see. They have no idea he died. I don’t want to bring them down.
I lay my snacks by Frankie’s knee and stand.
Ford nudges me from my other side. “Where are you going?”
Keeping my gaze on the ground, I step off the blanket. “Bathroom.”
Once I’m away from the field and the sound of the movie, I hurry past the sign and down the trail to our spot by the oak tree. Even in the dark, I can make it to this place. I can’t hear the movie from here and the serene water always calms me.
