I bite on my lip. “Why not?”
“I don’t want to make it easy for you to win this bet.”
“Just so you know, I’m very competitive. So you’d have to win at the games to make my mood sour.”
“I’d love to see that, it’s hard to imagine.” There’s a glint in his eyes now. He likes to challenge me. It was the same with the bet.
I grab my enormous beach towel, the one that can fit four people in, and set it up next to the tent.
“You think I have nothing better to do?”
“If you did, you wouldn’t be here, would you?”
He sighs, knowing full well he’s been defeated. My mouth can’t help but curve up at the sight of his resignation.
I set up the easiest game I own, hoping he’ll enjoy it. It’s still so warm this afternoon that when I finish setting up thegame, the towel is already glued to my thighs. I shift slightly just to position myself better and when I finish, Marcus is looking toward my legs. He looks a bit disgusted. A blush creeps up on me, hating the fact I brought a short, impractical dress. To be fair, I didn’t expect I’d be camping when I started my morning.
I don’t need him to find me attractive. All I want is to get access to the lake. Finding him attractive is normal. Heisattractive. He doesn’t have that conventional attractiveness though, it’s more of the magnetic variety. If I saw his picture, maybe he’d look like a normal guy but around him, I’m electric. I want to touch him, I want to check for myself if those muscles seem as taut as they look, I want to trace each leaf tattooed on his back and chest. But yeah, by the looks of it, it’s not happening. That’s okay, I didn’t come to Pepys Island to find myself a partner. I came here to teach and make a difference for these kids. Kids are society’s future after all and they deserve that I put in the effort.
I explain the rules, interrupting myself over and over again, swatting the air instead of the mosquitos that linger around me. So many bugs. There are also insects on the towel now. They’re tiny, but still.So many. At least the shadow of the trees surrounding us doesn’t let me get sunburnt.
Marcus gets up suddenly, right before we start playing and my heart sinks a little. Okay. So he really doesn’t want to play with me. Why did he let me explain the rules of the game?
He returns with something in his hand and tosses it to me.
“Put on this bug spray, it’ll help with the mosquitos.”
I try my best to catch it. I look at it in my hands. “Thank you. You didn’t have to.”
“You must have sweet blood, the mosquitoes love you.”
“They always have. But is that a thing? The sweet blood thing?”
“I have no idea. But they rarely bite me. So perhaps. My grandpa used to say that I was lucky I didn’t have sweet blood like him. He always had quite a few mosquito bites on him during the summer.”
“That’s cute. Were you two close?”
“Yeah. I spent most of my summers here with him. It was fun. When he passed, I decided to keep his place and live here. This,” he circles with his index finger, pointing at the mountains, “is my home.”
“That sounds fun.”
“It was.” And that’s when he shows me his smile, it makes my stomach flop on itself. Him looking at the mountains with so much love, so much nostalgia. He’s just awkward, that’s all. It’s clear he’s used to–and enjoys–being alone. I don’t think a lot of people get to see that side of him. I’m glad I did. Maybe we could be friends.
He seems to remember he’s with someone else, not just with his memories and quickly goes back to his usual stance. I laugh like crazy but he just mutters a quiet ‘what’ before signaling me to get started on our game.
We’ve been playing for a bit when I lose, again. This time I decide to say something. I warned him I didn’t like losing.
“You’re cheating!”
“How?”
“I don’t know! But I can’t believe you won three times in a row!” I lean in toward him conspiratorially. “Are you secretly a big board game fan?”
He smiles again, it’s a small upward curve on the right side of his mouth but it’s a smile. I’ve been counting the times I’ve seen him smile since I’ve met him. Three so far.
“No. But some of us that live around here get together for dinner once a month and, occasionally, someone brings a game.”
“So you do socialize.” I wiggle my eyebrows.
