Page 24 of Campfires & Canines
"I bet Onyx feels resentful," I observe.
Marigold rests her head in her hand. "You're probably right. And he's too immature to deal with it."
I continue, "I wonder if Slate feels like his best friend doesn't support his new choices either..."
Marigold blinks. "Yeah, that would fit. You’re insightful!"
"Too bad they can't just talk about it." I sigh.
"Boys,” Marigold huffs, lightening the mood.
"Who needs them?" I grin, eyeing her. "But Cedar's pretty great. Smart."
Marigold blushes. "Yeah, he's brilliant. He grows all of the veggies we eat here. And he's been planting more fruit trees. So far,he's gotten peaches and plums to grow. And more apples. He's also working on more berries too.
"That's super impressive."
"I like to call him plant daddy." Marigold giggles, her nose and ears turning pink too.
"You call him daddy?" I raise one eyebrow.
Marigold bursts out laughing so hard she starts coughing. "Okay, what about you? You're going to tease me about Cedar. Wanna share about hanging out with a topless Slate in the woods?" she bites out between gasps for air.
I cringe. "You caught that?"
She finally calms down and levels me with a stare. “Yup. So, how was it?”
"He's pretty cool." I shrug, trying to play it off.
"And hot," she adds. I gape at her. She throws her hands up. "If he wasn't like a brother to me."
I narrow my eyes at her. "You know, if he is your brother, then Cedar is your cousin. Right? Isn't that what Onyx was going on about?"
Gasping, she throws a hand over her mouth. "Oh, no way. I take it back.” She pretends to gag.
"Sorry." My smug grin tells her I'm not at all sorry.
"I saw how cozy you and Slate were last night when he walked you home." She takes a big bite of pizza.
"He's clearly not interested. In fact, I'd describe him as wildly repressed."
"He's too serious for his own good," she agrees.
"Major R.B.F.," I add, making Marigold snort.
"I don’t know, he seemed keen on you from where I stood."
I wave it off. "It’s because he's worried about me. Pretty sure he thinks I'm a hazard."
She holds up a hand. "You did manage to fall into the creek on your first day."
My cheeks burn. "He told you about that?"
"Yeah, I needed the whole story on the back-tattoo-hiking situation." Her eyes sparkle.
"What did he say?" I ask too fast.
"Not much, but he did seem kind of, I don't know, flustered?"
