Page 26 of Secrets and S'mores
“I’m happy to show you anything you want,” I say, twisting and flexing as I reach for a shirt from my dresser.
“You’re delusional,” she says, the beautiful pink tint to her cheeks betraying her, “and messy.” She’s not wrong. There’s a visual divide between my space andCedar’s. Gingerly, Ember steps over some clothing strewn across the floor.
“I had a feeling you liked video games,” she mutters. While she examines my shelf of game discs, I tug my shirt over my head.
“Would you want to play some time?” I ask, coming up behind her to look over her shoulder.
She tugs a disc from the shelf. “What about this?” It’s a car racing game.
“Really?” I ask.
She tucks the game back with one finger. “Maybe.”
“What about this one?” I yank a zombie game from the shelf.
“No way,” she says, wrinkling her nose and shaking her head so emerald hair cascades over her shoulders.
“Okay, what about…” Holding out Minecraft, I raise an eyebrow.
She tilts her head and stares at it.
“It’s a building game. You really didn’t have much fun growing up, did you?”
Her shoulders slump the slightest amount, but I’m so attuned to her body language by now, it’s a meaningful change.
“I only got to play whatever games Jasper was given,” she says, sighing as she steps back from the shelf.
“We can fix that! We could play today. I have a pair of cat ear headphones that would look great on you.”
That earns a laugh. “Why do you have those?”
“I’ll have you know, I look great with cat ears,” I say with a grin. “With this game, you can make anything you want. There are different kinds of blocks and-”
“I think I’d rather play the racing game. Those were my favorites,” she says, cutting me off.
“Sure. I’ll get it set up,” I say, reaching for my controllers.
“How about after we do our gardening?” she says, though I see a flash of a smile as she turns away.
Her fingers trail along my shelves as I finally pull on a black hoodie. “Alright,” I say, “I’m all set. How do I look? Like the most handsome man you’ve ever seen?”
She exhales a laugh, shaking her head as she walks out of my room. I follow her back to the kitchen and we wash the breakfast dishes and wipe down the counter. It feels good to work side by side with her.
“Ready to garden?” I ask her.
“If you insist.”
We find Cedar in the center of his vegetable garden, where the long beds are covered in a tunnel of mesh to protect the most delicate of his produce.
“Mom wanted us to come help you.”
Cedar looks up from his work and scowls at us. “You can’t help with this.”
“What are you doing?”
With a dramatic sigh, he brushes the dirt off his hands and stands to face us. “I’m transferring seedlings into the garden. It’s tricky. Their root systems are delicate.”
“Fine, sorry we wanted to help.”
