We kept sneaking looks at each other, passing shy smiles, as we rumbled along the rough roads to the tiny town of Silver Fir. The bus pulled into the city park area, which was attractive in a small-town way. A fountain honoring a local author, clumps of maple trees, a gazebo, and a long main street with snapping American flags. There were barrels with purple petunias, one government office, and a post office that sent mail to the lodge on a weekly basis, or you could take the shuttle bus in to pick it up. Why the bus didn’t take the mail to the lodge was a mystery. Maybe it was a postal regulation that only postal workers could touch the mail. Mom always warned Dad he was breaking the law if he opened the junk mail that came in her name.

  “What do you want to do first?” Khalid grabbed my hand and led me into the shade of the gazebo. “We have an hour until the movie. Want to check out all the shite tourist shops or eat? I packed us some nibbles and such.”

  “Can we sit by the fountain and talk until the movie?”

  He bobbed his head and we left the coolness of the gazebo for the shifting shade of a massive red oak. The statue at the center of the tinkling jets of water was of a rabbit which, according to a plaque fastened to a fence around the fountain, was the famous Jenny Boodles who was the creation of Silver Fir resident Cliff Dunn.

  “Have you ever heard of Jenny Boodles the Bunny?” I asked when I sat down beside him on a bench that rested about five feet from the stone rabbit.

  “Can’t say I have but then again, I grew up in the UK, and I wager our children’s books might be different than yours.” He unzipped his bag and took out some sunglasses. When he slid them on, I stared openly and for a long time. “Look pretty damn fab, don’t I?”

  “Yeah, you really do.”

  “Pfft. You’re smitten is all. Once the glamour of my foreign appeal wears off you’ll see my huge nose and receding hairline and make a mad dash. Someday I’m going to fix this honker of mine. Make it smaller, less like my grandfather’s.” He zipped his bag. I yanked the backpack from him, his head spinning toward me in surprise.

  “Don’t touch your nose. It’s beautiful and sensually unique. Promise me that if we should drift apart one day you’ll remember me asking you to not alter your face because it’s perfect as it is.”

  His jaw worked for a moment and then, slicker than slick and so fast I had no chance to pull back or move my head, he kissed me hard.

  “You’re too much,” he told me then leaned back, crossing his sandaled feet at the ankle and resting his head into his clasped hands.

  “I know.” I wiggled a little close, wishing I had some sunglasses so I didn’t have to squint. “Tell me about you. You said that was for another day a couple of weeks ago. Today is another day. I want to know your plans and dreams.”

  He exhaled then wet his lips. “That it is. Okay, well, I’m going into my junior year at Penn State Hazelton where I’m majoring in business with a minor in hotel management. When I graduate, I’ll be working up here hopefully as guest liaison with a fast-track into management. The lodge needs to leave the sixties behind. I have ideas to bring her around. Update the guest lodges, get reliable internet access throughout the grounds.”

  A sharp wind whipped in, lifting a mist of water from the fountain and blowing it over my thighs and calves. It felt refreshing. Perhaps we should have stayed in the gazebo. July was ready to roll in tomorrow, and the sun was making sure those below knew that summer was truly upon us.

  “Are your parents going to stay here in the states?” I shifted on the bench, bending my leg and draping my arm on the back of the bench, my eyes hungry to touch on him.

  “I think so. They’ve got dual citizenship as well. Dad loves it here in the US and would live here forever. My mum, on the other hand, rather hates everything to do with America. She’s only here because my dad is here but even that’s strained. We both know she’s not happy. Their marriage has turned a bit cold.”

  “You know your campus and mine aren’t all that far apart.” I chanced to speak what I’d secretly investigated during lunch yesterday. “Philly to Hazelton is about two hours, that’s all. We could still…be friends and see each other on the weekends and stuff.”

  He gave me a quick look, smiled, and grabbed my thigh right below where my shorts stopped. His hand was hot on my skin. I wiggled my leg like a wanton, and he rubbed it, the tips of his fingers sliding under the ragged denim. My dick jumped and plumped up instantly.

  “You think we’re just friends?”

  “I…hope not.”

  “You think this not friends thing is headed to something more?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then I best make sure I get your dorm room number before we leave in five weeks.”

  Before we lost control of the moment, I laid my hand on his and repaid him for the tenderness earlier by dropping a kiss to his wrist. Then, I stood up and pulled him to his feet as well.

  “Show me the town.”

  Hand in mine, Khalid and I ran across Main Street, a hot breeze carrying minute road dust rolled down the two-lane road, leaving grit lingering on my sweaty neck and the folds of my arm. We entered a small antique shop where we loitered over a small shelf of old books, many so well read the lettering was worn off the front and back covers. We left that shop and entered a small craft store that smelled of potpourri. The walls were covered with grapevine wreaths, handmade aprons on padded hangers, and hand-painted signs made from slats of weathered wood. Tourists roamed the aisles. I found a small table with cloth-lined baskets of soap. Lifting a few, I thought they were kind of heavy on the scent but maybe my mother would like one. A pack of women in their mid-forties swept down on me out of nowhere. I recognized a few from the bus ride in from the lodge.

  Khalid dawdled a few feet away, leaving me standing among several women who were explaining why I should buy the cracker-sized bar of goat’s milk soap that cost six bucks.

  “Your girlfriend will have such smooth skin.” I peeked to the left to see Khalid rubbing a finger over his cheek then grimacing as it scraped over his dark whiskers.

  “I was looking at this for my mother,” I explained, brick of lilac soap in hand, as I backed slowly away. A chorus of “How sweet!” and “What a good son!” followed me to the register, with Khalid standing at my side, humming and smirking. I gave him an elbow in the side as the girl rang up my purchase.

  No sooner did we step foot under the blistering sun did he throw an arm around my shoulders and try to get me to pat his face. I gave him a shove, both of us laughing. The next hour passed quickly moving from one tourist trap to the next. We passed an ice cream shop that was doing a brisk business.

  “We’ll do ice cream after we feast on what I brought,” he announced, grabbing the tips of my fingers to lead me down the street, flags rubbing over our heads as we raced under them. The theater sat at the end of the block. It was a grand old place, recently renovated by some arts grant the town had gotten. The marquee looked new as did the carpeting and paint. The smell of popcorn filled the air. We passed on food since Khalid had some awesome nibbles awaiting us and just bought icy cold water.

  “Is it always this slow?” I asked when we settled in our seats in the back row left.

  “Night picks up a bit but matinees tend to be.”

  I cracked my bottle of water open, sucked down half, and then twisted the plastic cap back on. The lights went down, the doors to our right shut, and the rattle of rings on a metal track filled the theater. The green velveteen curtains parted to reveal a big white screen with a small rip at the bottom.

  “Small town charm,” I whispered to the side. Khalid snorted and dropped his arm around my neck, his fingers climbing up my neck to turn my face to the right, so he could kiss me. I rolled my hips toward him, angling my body closer to his, and licked at the seam of his mouth. A muted groan was my reward, his fingers stalling by my ear to keep my head in place. I had no intention of leaving his lips. Ever. My lashes dropped, and I gave everything I could give to the man cradling my jawline so gently. His tongue slipped over mine, tip to tip. My moan was caught by his mouth. He tasted like ambrosia to me. Blood rushed to my cock. I grabbed his bare knee, craning my body in the rickety seat, so hot now that climbing over him to suckle on his tongue was my next move. He pressed a hand to my chest when I went to sling a leg over the cupholder. One hand on my pounding heart, the other lifting my jaw so he could go deeper.

  “Sit, no, sit,” he murmured into my open mouth, licking along my bottom lip seductively as he told me to behave. “Your lips are cool and hot all at once.”

  The complete darkness that we’d been submerged in ended as the movie started. He gave me a peck and then removed his hand from my chest. The one over my shoulders stayed there through the whole showing of Father of the Bride. His fingertips played with my ear or caressed my throat. I had no idea who Spencer Tracy was, but he was the star and for an old uptight guy he did an okay job. I couldn’t follow the plot because every time a night scene rolled around and the theater grew dark, I kissed Khalid.

  When the film was over, I was so hard I didn’t dare stand up until all the old folks who had clapped at the end left.

  “I think I’m going to die from blue balls,” Khalid groaned, sat up, looked around at the empty theater, and then pulled my mouth to his, his grip on my neck aggressive. I responded with fire, now one step beyond mad with desire. My body thrummed with want. “You’re addictive,” he purred, his compliment making me woozy. “We should go.”

  The door opened and some skinny kid in a blue polo with a name tag pinned to his chest and a broom and dustpan ambled in.

  “If you’re staying for the next show you have to buy another ticket,” he told us then began sweeping the ratty carpet. There was no trash or popcorn, but he was sweeping anyway.

  “Come on.” I shot to my feet, boner be damned, and pulled Khalid up and out of the theater. Heat and humidity slapped us in the face. He whipped me around in a circle, laughing as we spun, until my shoulder slammed into someone. She yelped. I broke free of Khalid’s grip and turned to apologize. Bonnie was scowling at me as she held her boob protectively. Four other people were with her, two guys and two girls. I recognized them all from the lodge.

  “Why don’t you watch where you’re going?” Guy One who I think was wait staff barked at me.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t see you. Are you okay?” I asked Bonnie, ignoring the heated looks of dislike from the others at her back.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Just be careful dancing around on the sidewalk like some sort of wild animal.” She brushed past us, her friends at her heels.

  “Mussie,” Guy Two, who I had seen once outside the kitchen doors having a smoke, whispered as he walked by. Khalid never said a word about what I assumed as a slur was slung at him. The group went off, talking and laughing amongst themselves.

  “What did that mean?” I asked, my sight locked on the back of Guy Two. “What he said to us. Is that an insult?”

  “Come on.” Khalid stalked off in the opposite direction. I was tempted to go confront Guy Two but instead trailed after my date. I guess he was my date. This was a date, right?

  We walked in angry silence for about five minutes, taking a road left off Main Street that led us past rows of tidy homes with flowers and kids and dogs and lawnmowers running on the next block over. At the end of this little lane was a small clump of trees. He pushed into the shade, never looking back at me. I followed him along a well-worn trail made by lots of feet over the years. Within fifteen feet of the tree line, we came upon a cozy fishing hole, the water lazily twirling around then dribbling over a fallen log that was rotted and moss-covered. Tiny bugs hovered over the torpid water and the sun peeked through the leaves, placing tiny diamonds of brilliant light on the area.

  Khalid sat down after removing his backpack. I fell down beside him, with my legs folded under me, and stared at the water creeping past. I heard him unzip his bag. After some rustling sounds, he tapped my arm with a rather flat sandwich in a see-through sandwich bag.

  “Peanut butter and jelly,” he informed me while pulling out two snack-size bags of chips. He offered me one and I took it.

  “Thanks.” Khalid nodded, obviously into himself at the moment. “Was what he said a slur?”

  He took a bite of his sandwich, holding the bottom with his fingers resting on the bag just as I was. His head bobbed but he didn’t speak, only swallowed and then took another bite. I looked back at the water and the floating ball of gnats over the creek.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “You didn’t say it.” He tore open his bag of chips. “Have these gone off?” I glanced to the left to find him holding the green bag out for me. When I sat there looking dumb, he shook the bag. “Smell them. Tell me if they’ve gone off.”

  “Gone off where?” I took the bag, looked inside, saw potato chips and gave him a befuddled look.

  His terse expression faded a bit. “You Americans are so cute. Gone off. Did they go bad?”

  “Oh, okay.” I snickered a little and took the bag to smell the chips. The grease did smell rancid, so I wrinkled my nose. “Yeah, that smells gone off.”

  His laugh was short but sincere. “Right then, well, fish food. Pity because I was hungry for crisps.”

  We shared my chips and a few kisses, the nastiness that had been flung at my kissing friend/date/dream fading a little the longer we sat amid the bugs and empty cups of what once held angle worms. When we were done and had kissed again, we cleaned up our trash and the garbage left by others, shoved it all back into Khalid’s backpack, fed the fish crumpled chips, and then walked back to town for ice cream.

  Scoop-N-Time was packed. The AC was set at about forty, and it felt amazing. I smiled widely seeing Evonne, Drew’s girl, was waiting tables. She pointed to a recently emptied seat by the counter. We hurried to grab it then sat there reading the menu, trying to decide on what flavor cone to get.

  “Hey, you guys look all sweaty,” Evonne said with a smile while she cleared the dirty dishes from our table. “How’s the date going?”

  “Never said it was an official date,” Khalid mumbled behind the cone-shaped menu.

  “Uh, yes you did. Drew told me you were all excited to be taking Dane on a date. That was the word used. Date. D.A.T.E. which spells date.” She playfully bumped my arm with her hip. I liked her a lot. She was funny and cute, outgoing and smart. She was a perfect match for Drew, who was pretty much the same person Evonne was but taller and without breasts.

  “Thanks for the spelling lesson,” Khalid grumbled. Evonne rolled her eyes then carried off her armful of dishes. His dark eyes found me over the top of the menu. “Are you mad I used the word date?”

  “Nope. I’m really happy you did. I wasn’t sure what this day was, but I was praying it would be a date.”

  He lowered the menu. “I would really like to lean over this table and kiss you right now.” I gave the packed ice cream shop a fast look. Several people from the lodge were here enjoying a cold treat in the cool shop, including the women who had told me to buy soap for my girl.

  “Okay, make some room. I swear you two are always sliding closer to each other like a magnet to a fridge.” She wiped off the table, threw some silverware down, and exhaled loudly. “I’m beat. This weekend is crazy but next will be worse.”

  “Fourth of July,” Khalid explained. “Lodge is packed full for the long weekend, and everyone comes into town to shop and take pictures.”

  “Ah.” I smiled up at Evonne, who had pulled her hair back, the springy curls tightly contained in a bun with a pink ribbon to match her pink uniform. “Sorry for us tourists.”

  “You’re not a tourist, you’re Khalid’s crush.” She giggled wickedly as Khalid turned a deep shade of red that I had only ever seen before on a pomegranate.

  “He’s my crush too.”

  Evonne bent down to kiss me loudly on the cheek and then pressed a smooch to Khalid’s cheek as well.

  “I love you two together. So, give me your order and then get out.” We both blinked at her curtness. “Drew is coming in on the last shuttle as soon as the pool closes, and he is not leaving until tomorrow when he has to relieve you.” She pointed her pen at Khalid. “So, you two will have the room all to yourselves.”

  I had suspected that Khalid and Drew shared a room in the staff lodge from the way they talked. The mere thought of spreading myself over a bed and being able to have Khalid moving on top of me, pressing me down into the mattress while he removed my clothes bit by bit made me shift in my seat.

  We both coughed out an order for ice cream in a cup to go. Evonne roared at us, hustled off to scoop up a cup of vanilla with sprinkles and a cup of double chocolate. We paid, thanked her as we ran out the door, and thundered across the street to catch the bright blue shuttle that was waiting by the park.

  The ride was a whirling mess of conflicting sensations. Cold vanilla bean on my tongue, Khalid’s hot leg resting next to mine. Cool wind blowing over my brow, heated blood thumping through me fueling images of his body writhing against mine.

  “Pool closes at six today. Drew should be coming on as we’re leaving,” Khalid whispered beside my ear. I nodded, too aroused to speak, then spooned up some melted ice cream and rainbow sprinkles.

  The lodge rolled into view, the forest splitting to reveal the grand lodge sitting atop a knoll, looking down on us like a dowager duchess. He slipped out of our seat, offering me his hand, which I took and let him tug me upward. We smiled and let the older riders exit, grinning like goofs when Drew—and his knapsack—climbed onto the shuttle.

  “Dudes, enjoy.” Drew slapped his palm soundly across Khalid’s as we passed. The driver told us to move along. Drew gave me a slap on the back then jogged to the rear of the bus. Once outside, we raced from the parking lot past the badminton nets and around the main lodge, which was tinted a deep russet from the sun setting slowly. Running and giggling, we circled each other, our feet pounding on the grass then gravel, breathlessly running toward our first taste of intimacy when we skidded to a halt at the bridge.