Page 50 of The Risks of Reuniting

He's smiling when he looks over his shoulder at me. "Yeah?"

I open my mouth to reconfirm as Cesar appears out of nowhere. "Get food and take it to the medical clinic," he instructs.

I'm not sure what he has up his sleeve, and I'm a little sad about missing out on Holt's invite to eat together, but we fall in line to do as he asks.

Holt locks up the shed behind us and we don't talk while we wash up outside of the canteen and get in line with a tray. The food smells amazing tonight. Breaded pork, large chunks of potato, a pink something that looks like it's made of beets and some kind of dressing. I load up and fall into step once again with Holt as we make our way over to the medical clinic. The silence is comfortable between us. Maybe it's because we're so tired, or maybe we've worked out some kinks, but whatever it is, I'm happy.

Cesar is waiting at the clinic and we follow him past the door and around the corner into a small, fenced-in yard that I didn't know existed. In the center of the yard are two big tubs, rectangle-shaped and filled with water. Behind them are clotheslines, and I realize that I'm looking at the actual laundry facility for Lifting Hope. I'd often wondered how they managed everything with one washing machine, and now I'm realizing those machines were for the volunteers. I smile at my naivety.

Rachelle is already there, looking at the tubs like an oasis in the desert – which, truly, this is.

"You're a genius," Holt laughs, smiling at Cesar.

"I put in clean water. It will be cold. Two can fit in each," Cesar says, still smiling, pleased with his offering. "You have to look at each other."

He's right. It will be tight, and cold, and the way he said we'd have to look at each other cracks me up, but as I glance at Rachelle it's clear we're on the same page. We don't care one bit.

"Let's eat and then go grab our swimsuits," Rachelle says, placing her dinner tray on a folding station nearby, and climbing up on it to sit next to her food.

I nod and put my tray near hers, climbing up myself. "Dinner and a cold tub. I've died and gone to heaven," I laugh as I dig in to my food.

We're all so hungry that we wolf down the food without much conversation, anxious to relax in the tubs and wash off the sweat of the day. Do I care that I'll essentially be sitting in a tub of Rachelle's sweat combined with mine? I do not.

With our bellies full, Rachelle and I chatter like two tweens as we hustle to our bunk room and grab our suits. I offer to change in the bathroom and we meet back up, towels in hand, to zip back to our secret spa. Holt and Cesar are already there, both of them in swim trunks, with no shirts on. I do my best, I really do, to not ogle Holt, but my eyes haven't forgotten his build and they zero in before I have anything to say about it. I scan his chest and shoulders before making my way up to his face. He's not a bodybuilder, but he has the type of definition that comes with a life or working hard at both construction and the gym. I catch him giving me the same once-over and it makes my cheeks heat.

"You and Cesar ready for your romantic plunge?" I tease him light-heartedly.

His smile tugs up one side and his smirk tells me he knows exactly what I was just doing with my eyes a minute ago. "Are you trying to say there's something strange about me and Cesar sharing a tub? Because I couldtrade with Rachelle and plunge with you." He drops his voice. "All you have to do is ask."

I blush harder and shake my head. "Everyone knows boys have cooties."

He laughs and gingerly steps into the cold water. I hear him suck in a breath before a full smile breaks out across his handsome face and he sits down with a sigh.

"Cesar, I am your servant from this day forth," he pledges, putting his hand over his heart.

Cesar laughs as the rest of us settle into the tubs. Rachelle and I face each other, each sitting cross-legged, with our backs against the cold, metal sides of the tub. The water comes to just above our chests and it's chilly against my heated skin. I can feel the sweat and grime slipping away. It's heaven.

We don't talk much aswe lean our heads back to rest against the sides, and when Cesar starts softly singing a song I close my eyes.

This is paradise.

Chapter 19

Both

HOLT

Chloe has fallen asleep and it gives me the freedom to stare at her like a love-sick fool. Darkness has fallen completely, the water is cool, and I can't remember the last time I've felt this content. Cesar's soft singing has cast a spell over this dirt yard, so fully that the neighboring dogs are actually quiet for the first time I can remember. Rachelle's eyes are closed as well, but I can tell she's not sleeping because her fingertips drag lightly through the water and she has a smile on her face.

Chloe's stitched-up arm dangles out of the tub in her effort to keep it from soaking in what's become dirty water, and it doesn't take much to remember how panicked I felt seeing that knife flash, and watching her blood drip down her arm. I'm so grateful she's okay.

Her face is perfect in her sleep. Relaxed. The lines of her face have always fascinated me. She has small features. Thin eyebrows, tear-drop shaped eyes, a small nose, and honestly the smallest earlobes I've ever seen. But her personality makes her feel larger than life. Her fire is something you want to warm yourself by.

I watch her chest rise and fall and think about the fact that I only have a week left with her in these close quarters. Once she gets home she'll be harder to spend time with. In fact, she may choose to avoid me altogether. I need to make something happen before we leave. I need herto understand I'm not toying with her, that my heart is on the line too. I think about Rachelle telling me Chloe might be less attached to Salt Lake than she was, and wonder what that means for us. I need to talk to Chloe, though, before I let those thoughts go too far and hurt us both again.

The water in their tub shifts and I look over to see Rachelle smiling knowingly at me. I smile back, busted but not caring that much.

"I can see why you love her," Rachelle whispers. "You two suit."

---