Page 119 of Till Summer Do Us Part
“What is this?” Scottie asks. “Musical chairs?”
“Imagine that,” I say just as Chad and his wife walk up.
“Heard you got the tent,” he says through clenched teeth.
This guy. Jesus.
“Yeah, we did,” I say with a smile. “And fuck, was it amazing. Shame you didn’t get to experience it.”
He rolls his eyes. “Well, I’m not here putting on a show like you.” Then he directs his wife to the other side of the building, far away from us.
When I feel Scottie grow tense next to me, I say, “Don’t worry about him.”
“He knows,” she whispers. “He has to.”
“He doesn’t. He probably has erectile dysfunction and is taking it out on us.”
But she doesn’t laugh, instead she worries her lip.
“I don’t know,” Scottie says. “He’s the one who initially tried to catch me in a lie, and I think he might have gotten in trouble with HR from it. I feel like he’s trying to sniff something out because I know he’s not a fan of mine, and I’m not a fan of his.”
“I can see why.” And then I whisper, “Seriously, just keep cool, we have nothing to worry about.”
Now Brad walks by us, looking semi-guilty. “Umm, thanks for the handcuffs,” he mutters. “I, uh, I was the one who got tied up.”
“And…?” I ask.
He just nods, a light smirk playing on his lips as he heads toward Chad.
Ah, I see that he’s pledging his allegiance, but there was a slight desperation behind his eyes that made me think he wants to switch teams. I’ll just have to let him know that we’ll welcome him and his wife with open arms.
Next, Duncan and his husband walk by. Duncan stops in front of us and places his hand on my shoulder. He gives it a few pats but then keeps walking. He doesn’t need to say much more than that. I get it.
Everyone besides Chad seems well rested, happy…like they’re ready to move on to the newest task and forget about the night around the fire.
The newest task seems like it’s about to start as Sanders shows up still wearing that godforsaken turkey hat; how the man is not roasting under it, I will never understand.
“Welcome, everyone. We’re starting a new practice that we haven’t done here yet at Camp Haven. This is a play on musical chairs.”
“Ha, you called it,” I whisper to Scottie.
“But instead of musical chairs, this is called sensual chairs.”
Uh-oh.
That doesn’t sound like a game for two people pretending to be married.
“I’m going to start you off by having everyone pick a chair. Any open chair.” When no one moves, he says, “Go ahead. Pick one.”
I lead Scottie to a chair far off in the corner where no one else is so we can discuss whatever this activity is going to be.
“I’ll be playing music in one-minute increments. There will be a card on the bottom of your chair. You are to read the card and complete the task on the card. I’ll have staff roaming around, making sure everyone is participating and participating correctly. When the music stops, you move to a different chairto take care of another task. The game will be over once every couple checks off every chair and task. Understood?”
Everyone seems to nod their head, and then Brad raises his hand. “Question about the chair. Is this something we’re both supposed to sit on?”
“Yes,” Sanders answers. “Both of you, at the same time. You position how you feel necessary, but you need to be facing each other.”
Which means Scottie is straddling my lap again. Just what I fucking need after the groping from this morning.
