#righty

“You excited for summer camp?” 

She doesn’t say much, her big brown eyes, meeting his blue ones, “I don’t know.” aloof as always, though she used to be different.

When he was still living with Ruby, she was a little girl who giggled a lot, loved riding horses with her dad and waiting up for him every night to put her to bed. But time passed, Ruby and Righty became two ghosts of who they used to be and more distance growing between them. One day Righty walked in on Ruby on top of Robbie, yet he didn’t do anything. He didn’t scream, or get angry, he was absolutely heartbroken but he had this look on his face, like he knew this would happen. Ruby was in love with someone else and he had nothing to show for it. 

He knew that the two of them were in different cabins, he doesn’t remember the name of counselor but he knows his cabin is just caddy corner from Lefty’s. So when they finally arrived, he hauled both of their duffle bags on his shoulder while she walked with her phone in her hand. But the game starts glitching, “Not sure if that’ll work out here.” Righty comments to be offered a glare from his daughter. 

He walks up to her assigned cabin, knocking on the door, to be met with you. Opening the door, with a wide smile on your face, sparkling eyes and your hair high up in a pony. “Hiya!” you greet, looking to Righty down to Lefty. 

“Uh, hey.” Righty replies, staring at you for a second too long before clearing his throat, “I’m Righty, this my daughter, Lefty, she’s in this cabin, I think.”

“Oh yeah! I heard about you two, you’re here early.” you start, “I’m Y/n, I’ll be Lefty’s counselor, come on in.” you wave your hand and Righty rubs the back of Lefty’s back to guide her into the room. 

That’s when he comes face to face with a little boy, who looked a whole lot like you, sitting down on one of the unmade beds. 

“So, I heard you're a camp counselor too?” you question, standing across from him, looking over you with curious wandering eyes, a little overwhelmed, you were beautiful. 

“I am.” he concurs, swallowing deeply, trying to be nonchalant, to not stare, “This your son?”

“Yeah, Conor.” you smile, his eyes on yours, stuck on the tilt of your smile, it was the contagious type, that made his chest feel warm. Then he glances over to  the little boy who doesn’t look at Righty, only over to Lefty before casting his eyes down. “He’s a little shy.” 

“So is, Lefty.” he points at his daughter, who watches the conversation silently, watching his father swoon over her new counselor. “What cabin is he in?”

“12.” Conor murmurs, as he gives the boy a crooked smile, nodding his head.

“That’s my cabin.” Righty replies, stepping closer and shoving his hands into his pockets.

You weren’t nervous to send Conor off with him for some reason, given your past, you shouldn’t. But you knew that the camp counselors had a background check done on them, fingerprints scanned to make sure they were on any lists. Even if you didn’t feel especially at ease in his presence, heated under his gaze, you had to give some faith to other humans. 

“Con, what do you think about going over to your cabin with Righty?” you ask, rubbing at his back as he looks from him to Lefty.

“Yeah, that’s alright.” he sighs, going to grab his stuff. 

You step in closer to Righty, keeping your voice down, “He’s really shy, just look out for him, please…” 

Righty searches your eyes, taken in by the way you look at him, to the softness of your lips, to the way your perfume makes his senses fuzzy. “Yeah,” he nods, blue eyes glimmering, “I can do that.”

Lefty looks up between the two of you, before staring at her father. He turns to her, “Hey, if you need anything, I’m just a cabin over, okay?”

“Okay.” Lefty sighs, looking away from him. 

Your cabins are number 12 and 13, so you were blocked together during activities. It had been your idea to put Conor in the cabin next to you due to his anxiety and history of nightmares. This was supposed to be a fun surprise, the last two years he had really wanted to go to camp, he’d just been too young for you. But he’s turning nine in the fall, along with starting therapy and a new school. Moving back to your hometown to live close to your family and get help with Conor when you were working. You were also starting at a new school as a teacher, along with signing up to be a girl scout teacher, and summer camp. Doing anything you could to make some extra money. Conor has been through a lot in the last couple years, and now he no longer has his father. You felt guilt gnaw at you, wanting to make it right even with the fact that you have, you got out. That was the hardest part. 

Righty didn’t talk too much, trying to make small talk but he stood with rounded shoulders, he was stiff, awkward. But you were distracted by him, he had a rounded nose with big blue eyes, even with a thin smile, it all just came together to warm your heart. Though you weren’t here for him, you were here to work, to make sure Conor has fun. 

The place where you both really came together was during music class, both of you had a history with it. He found his gaze lingering on you, when you spoke to the kids so softly, the way you give Conor space but keep a close eye on him. You were able to sing and play a little piano, he could play a bit of guitar and drums. But you were teaching them some silly songs, but the kids favorite thing to do was just make a bunch of noise. Using tambrines, shakers, boom wackers, bells, and sticks to click together or clank. They loved making unnecessary noise, you walk over to Righty’s side to still smell a hint of whatever fabric softer he used. 

“I regret this.” you speak loudly, his eyes darting over to yours unsteady, he chuckles hands behind his back as he gives you a crooked smile. 

“So we can push this off until next week?” 

“Hopefully they’ll wait that long.” you grin, more doing a pause sign, it took a minute for the kids to stop but eventually they did, “Okay go put your instruments away.”

“Noo!” a girl argues, the rest of the kids echoing the same sentiment. 

“We’ll get them out on Friday.” Several groans are heard, “or freetime.” you add, as the kids reluctantly agree before putting away the instruments. Conor and Lefty are silent leaders, always doing the right thing before good examples, most of the time. 

You went out on a hike with the group the next day, separating for lunch but coming back together afterwards. It was good to bond as a group, trying to let them find some sisterhood during the solo time. With some extra time, you let them choose the games, the frog game, where you sit in a circle, and one or two people are chosen to be the frogs. Then people pretend to not while sneakily, sticking their tongue out and getting one of their teammates, who subsequently have to lay down to be out of the game. Then the werewolf game where you tell a story, giving kids roles and getting all riled up. 

You come back together, Righty was nervous to be in front, but he had to show he could be a leader to the kids. Once they started to chat with him, he began to relax, their intentions usually innocently funny or weird. The girls in front went, “Are you dating anyone?” and “Yeah? Who’s Lefty’s mom?”

“I’m not dating anyone and her mom’s name is Ruby…” he trails, turning around to count the sixteen kids in the group, making sure he didn’t lose track of anyone. Briefly looking at you before turning around and trekking back towards camp. You notice Righty’s clumsiness but they relax around him and it was really easy to like him. To the side Conor is chatting up Lefty with a calm look, the point in all of this was for Conor making friends. 

Everyone gathers for supper, the room was loud but you finally got a break. Counselor’s splitting lunch period, free time in two, so both groups could get a break, somehow you ended in the same group as Righty. You sit in the lounge with Righty, talking a little about the kids, your lunches looked similar. Not everyone wanted to sit in here so you found yourselves alone.

“So you were married before?” you ask, as he lifts his head, doe eyes wide as they meet yours. 

Mouth full of food, he shakes his head, swallowing deeply, “We, uh never got married, she never said anything about wanting that.”

“So you aren’t together?”

“No, we separated when Lefty was four, she uh met someone else.” Righty elaborates. 

“While you were together?” you press, as he slightly gnaws on his bottom lip.

“Yeah but it’s my fault, never gave her enough attention, so she found it with someone else.” he sighs, not meeting your eyes, “Can’t blame her.” You don’t say anything in reply, because you felt that you were never enough, you didn’t know how to be enough for your ex, “Are you married?”

“No, never been. My parents never approved,” You answer, “he wasn’t a good guy, I was never enough for him and he never let me forget it.”

Righty frowns watching the way you slowly shut down, “He cheated?”

You let out a somber laugh, “He cheated, he drank, he yelled, he-.” you don’t meet his eyes, “He was a piece of shit and I should’ve left sooner.” 

He read between the lines, “Is he in contact?”

“No, he’s not allowed, plus his ankle monitor so he wouldn't get him far if he tried.” you assure, picking at the orange slice. 

He wanted to ask more questions but he wasn’t going to take anything that you didn’t want to give. “Well, you don’t deserve that, I know I said-.”

“You didn’t either, there’s never a good reason to cheat.” you state, his jaw working while he searches your gaze. 

Righty couldn’t imagine why someone would cheat on you, or why you would up someone who didn’t care for you. But there seemed to be something under the surface, you weren’t hiding it, he could see it in Conor. He didn’t enjoy speaking ill of the dead but he knew what it was like to a father who didn’t treat him like a son. His brothers acted like abuse was a birth given right, that being on the other side of their father’s hand was normal. As he got older, as he became a grandfather, things changed, though he was never the grandpa Lefty deserved, he was softer with her. When his youngest boy was the only one to give him a grand child, she might’ve been an accident, but no one ever regretted her after. 

But he saw the fear in Conor’s eyes, he wondered what made him so afraid, so cautious, especially when he had someone like you as a mother. He wasn’t going to bring it up further but he soaks up every interaction he has with you.

It came to more of a head when Righty was leading a football game with the boys, and Conor kept off to the side. Trying to avoid the ball, or flinching at it, but then it hit him hard in the stomach, putting him out on his back. He runs over to him, as Conor sits up with tears in his eyes, the kids crowding him.

“I’m sorry, I should’ve caught it.” he starts, voice cracking, “I’m really sorry, Righty.”

“Buddy, it’s alright.” he murmurs, helping him to his feet, “Go get a water from the cooler and sit in the shade, yeah? It should help and we’re almost done.” 

When tears fall down Conor’s cheeks, he’s quick to wipe them away, almost like it was instinct to hide his emotions. He does what Righty says, trying not to feel bad about not playing well. You come back to meet up with his group, popsicles in your hand and all the boys come to join you. Then you don’t see Conor, so you look around in a slight panic before finding him underneath a tree. 

“What happened?” you pester the moment Righty comes over to you, but you take him off the side away from the kids.

“He was really nervous to play, then he got hit in the stomach…he kept apologizing.” Righty explains.

“I’m sorry, I’m gonna go check on him.” you reply, turning your head with worry, grabbing his favorite popsicle, an orange flavor. 

When you meet his eyes again, he nods in agreement so you hand him the popsicle box and walk over to your son. Then you get down on your knees next to you, handing him the cold treat, “Are you okay, baby?”

“Yeah, I just got scared.” he admits, not meeting your eyes. 

“That’s okay, you did your best and that’s all that matters.” you hum, moving down to sit next to him, “I’m not gonna let anything happen to you, okay?” Conor looks up into your eyes before opening the plastic wrap of his popsicle.

“Okay, Mom.” he sighs, pushing his glasses before walking away from you. 

You felt your chest hurt at his disbelief in you, and there was nothing you could immediately do to fix it. There were times where you weren’t there and you’ve never regretted that more. When you found out that your ex hurt him, you didn’t know how to remain calm anymore, be passive. He told you that it was normal, even when you knew it wasn’t, but the bruises you found on your seven year old, it made you lose it. No more excuses, no more bullshit, you waited until it was too late and you couldn’t erase that. You couldn’t erase his pain as much as you wanted to, it would only hurt him in the end. He was allowed to be angry at you, he was allowed to not believe you. But it was your job to accept that, to let him feel however he needed to towards you, knowing you would never hurt him, or one day learning he wouldn’t be hurt. The thing was, he got more nervous when you weren’t around him, waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

Finally getting the courage, you walk back over to the group, Righty giving you a lingering look before handing you a spare popsicle, “Saved you one.” he smiles, sweetly.

“Thanks.”

Then you watch Lefty walk over to Conor, chatting him up, “They seem like they might become friends.” Righty remarks. 

“I hope so, Lefty’s a sweet girl.” you affirm, he blinks a few times, processing your words before slowly nodding his head. 

That night you struggled to sleep, your own memories plaguing your dreams, one time when you wake up you see a text on your phone. 

Righty: ‘Conor had a nightmare, he won’t seem to calm down’

You immediately get up from the bed, walking into the bathroom, closing the door, and dialing his phone number. 

“Hey, I’m sorry for not replying.”

“It’s alright, do you wanna talk to him?” he asked.

“Please.” 

“Hi mom.” he sniffles.

“Hey baby,” you murmur, “You had a bad dream?”

“Yeah it was dad and he was hurting you again.” he starts, before getting emotional.

“I know, I’m so sorry you had to see that, it should’ve never happened. But you're safe now, okay? I’m next door, Righty’s been nice?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you wanna talk about it?” you question.

“I just wanna forget.” he cries softly.

“All that matters is that you're safe, okay? No one’s going to hurt you or me.” you assure, “I won’t let it happen.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too. Can I talk to Righty for a second?” he agrees before handing off the phone to Righty, there’s a rustle over the line, “Can you get him a glass of water and does he have his toy bunny?”

“No he doesn’t.”

“It should be in his bag then, that’ll help. I’m sorry about all of this.” you apologize.

“I don’t really think it’s for your fault…” Righty retorts, clearing his throat, “I’ll get everything for him.”

“Oh and he gets overheated so make sure he wears shorts and sometimes a very cold cloth will ground him.”

“That sounds good, are you okay?” 

“I’ll be okay if he is.” you reply. 

“Okay,” he trails, “I’ll let you know.”

At breakfast the next day, Righty comes up to you with Mack Cap on his head, his eyes searching your face with soft intent. Then he offered you that familiar lopsided grin, a curious sheen in his eyes but there was no judgement or malice. Conor now sat with Lefty, a smile on his face and you felt a small sense of peace. You know it will all be different when he goes to therapy. 

“Did he sleep at all?”

“Yeah, I hope it’s not weird but he wanted me to sleep on the floor next to his bunk.” he admits, shoving his hands into his front jean pockets. 

“I wish he didn’t have to hold all that pain.”

“You’re doing a great job.” Righty declares. You feel a heat spread across your cheeks as he looks into your eyes, seeing them only from a far away before. The shade of his dark blue eyes made you feel warm, you swear there’s a golden tint to them. From a distance they looked brown, you thought this was a new conclusion but in hindsight you’ve been thinking about them. 

“Thanks.” you remark, your voice a little nervous, his jaw tics, lips twitching to the sides. Then you realize neither one of you has looked away, the flush on your cheeks runs along your chest. 

“Are you excited for the bonfire tonight?” your gaze going from the length of his arms through his t-shirt to his eyes. They had bright teal sleeves on them with neon logos for the camp covering his chest. The design might be hard on the eyes but the person wearing it was not, noticing the way the sleeves were rolled up. 

He had an affectionate crinkle to his nose, “Sure, I love s’mores.”

“Yeah, I do too.” you said, you look away, not seeing the smile that spreads across Righty’s cheek, his own turning a little pink. He tried not to show it but he had a certain look in his eyes. The crush he has on you was growing everyday, he didn’t if it was wrong but it felt mutual. His eyes wondering your soft features like the two of you were some trance. 

“Sometime I should uh talk to you more about the nightmare, give more context.” you add, lowering your voice.

“You don’t have to.”

“Oh yeah, sorry.” you sputter, looking down at your feet.

Panic spreads over Righty’s face, his words coming out wrong, “But you can, you definitely can.” he rushes.

“Okay.” you nod, looking back into his eyes, he nods, giving you a soft tight lipped smile with his dimples wrinkling. 

The hike later on in the day was a bit miserable, it was hot, and you had to drag along a wagon of water and supplies. Lefty stood towards the front of the group, walking behind or next to you, going on about her horses. Sometimes she even willingly pulled the wagon along, even if it wasn’t for long.

“You know, my dad’s single and lonely.” she begins, as you try not to laugh.

“Well maybe he likes it that way.” 

“Do you?”

“What? I’m not lonely.” you claim.

“My dad’s a great guy! Since I was little he gave me his marshmallows from his cereal and we all know that’s the best part. Plus he literally bought me three horses.” Lefty rants.

“That’s awesome, he does seem like a good guy.” you insist. 

“You…” she saddles up right next to you, pointing at you, “should date him.”

You snort, shaking your head, “I don’t think so.”

“Why not? Do you not like him? Conor said you might.”

“Conor did?” you question, as she just shrugs. “It’s not about that, it’s not professional and it’s about a lot more than just how I feel.” 

“Oh, my dad likes you, don’t worry about that.”

“Okay, Lefty..” you gently clap your hands together, “Talk about something else now.” you urge.

“Oh fine!” she laughs, “But think about it! I don’t see him a lot but he’s kinda funny sometimes and he really loved my mom so I bet he could love you too but different.”

“How would it be different?” you indulge, the slip of tongue was embarrassing. “Wait nev-.”

“He looks at you differently than anyone else.”

That night at dinner the air feels different, everyone goes back to the cabin taking showers before getting ready for the bonfire. Some girls made friendship bracelets, the others played games. It was nice to see the kids without their phones, they of course got time to talk to others, but they were usually kept away.

You tried not to think about the juvenile conversation you had with Lefty, because she had no idea what she was talking about. He didn’t look at you in any type of way, he cared but he cared about everyone that’s just how Righty is. But you’re distracted by all the groups coming together to have a collective bonfire. He found you in the crowd, “This is nice.” he comments. 

“Yeah, it’s been a long week, a good one though.” you hum, standing off the side with him. 

“You’ve made it bearable.” he adds, voice hesitant and you turn your body towards him.

“Just bearable?” you tease. 

“I don’t know I just-.” he sputters, nervously. “I feel like I can relax, taking care of eight, sometimes sixteen kids around the clock…”

“Well you make it better for me too.” you counter, smiling over at him, “So Lefty spoke about you today.”

“Oh god, what did she say?” he humors, searching your eyes in a way that makes butterflies swarm in your stomach. 

“All good things,” you assure, “It’s clear she really loves you, wants you to be happy.”

His brow arches, “She comes off that way to you?” Righty questions, glancing back over at Lefty and Conor standing near the fire, working on their s’mores together. 

“Defintely, I mean I see where she gets the tough exterior.” you declare, playfully punching his arm.

“Me?” he squeaks, holding his arm like you actually hurt him, with a dramatic drop of his mouth.

“Yes.” you laugh at his show, his teeth slide across his bottom lip, his eyes scanning your face. The smile on his lips, his gaze trapping you, but then you feel a different stare on you. Turning to see Lefty whispering in Conor’s ear while pointing at the two of you. “She um, also…” his gaze drops to your lips and you almost choke on your spit. “She wanted to set us up.”

“Oh no, you’re joking.” Righty cringes, the flame from the fire shows enough light to see the blush on his cheeks, “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s all good, it’s cute.” you reassure, “Like I said she wants you to be happy.”

“Well she isn’t too far enough, crazy to think you wouldn’t make any man happy.” he relents, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Yeah?” you breathe. 

A dimple pops as his adam’s apple bobs, voice low, “Yeah…” he looks off to the side, “you wanna go for a walk with me?”

You nod, “I’d really like that.”

“I’ll be right back.” he winks, moving over to a couple other counselor’s. You watch him with anticipation on what the walk would behold, having that alone time with him. He acts as if he’s on a mission, a furrow in his brow, hands gesturing as he speaks. Before clapping one of the guy’s on the back, and making his way back over to you. “They’ll look after the kids for a bit.”

“Are you sure?” 

He gently throws the flashlight in his hand in the air, catching the handle as it comes down, you roll your eyes at the gesture, “I’m sure.” he starts leading towards the path, you hover in closer to him. 

“I don’t like the dark.” you address, getting further into the woods and further away from the light of the fire. 

His hand reaches out for you, “I got you.” Righty promises, while your fingers slide into his, leading you further into the night. 

“You’re not taking me somewhere to murder me, right?”

“Well I wouldn’t tell you if I was, “ he jokes, as you giggle, he squeezes your hand as you edge in closer. “I promise I’ll keep you safe.”

A comfortable silence comes over you, your hand still encased into his warm one. You aren’t in any hurry, relishing in the rare commodity of quiet. “I know it’s a lot to start off with my past, but you’ve already seen too much.”

“What I meant earlier and now is, you don’t have to do it because you feel obligated.” he restates. 

“I know, but I think I trust you.” you confirm before taking a deep breath in and continuing on, “My ex, he was always rough around the edges but I had my own stuff too. When I was pregnant though, I was so excited for a chance to be a mom, to make it right but he wasn’t, we fought and he yelled a lot, broke stuff in the past but never put his hands on me.” Righty stops walking, his whole attention redirected to you, his thumbs rub against your palms as you look down at your feet. “After Conor, it was like he would get so frustrated, he just wasn’t the same as before. I know nothing excuses hurting me but I know I did things to deliberately piss him off, it felt like the only power I had. When he started hitting me, I thought I’d never let this happen to me, but it was fine, it just couldn’t happen to Conor. I was able to protect him for a long time, he was rarely alone with his dad, but as he got older I let it slip. When I found the bruises on him, I couldn’t stay anymore. I had years of evidence, pictures of the marks, some situations with my family beforehand, even a video of him yelling at me and breaking a lamp. It was enough for a restraining order and I tried to just leave, move back in with my parents.” you ramble, “But then he showed up, we fought and my mom walked in on him choking me and my dad got in the middle of it. I remember seeing my dad cry that night, he never thought it was that bad. I don’t know I grew up with my dad breaking shit and I knew it wasn’t normal, but it was a rough part, right?”

“And Conor, he saw?”

“Sometimes, yeah and then he told Conor that he wouldn’t hurt me if he kept what happened between them a secret, that they were just wrestling roughly. But then Con came to me with a bruised eye and I wanted to kill him.”

“Where’s he now?”

“On probation, he’s not allowed to see Conor until he’s 18, but I won’t let it happen.” you reveal, as he pulls you in a little closer.

“How long ago was that?”

“A year now.” you sigh, “Conor’s been having night terrors and nightmares, his anxiety is so bad and I’m just so happy he found a friend Lefty.” you admit, tears glimmering in your eyes, “After we moved it’s been like he’s afraid of his own shadow.” His hand comes to your back, petting over in soothing circles and staying to respectful places. “He’s gonna start therapy when we get home, I just want him to be okay, you know?” tears fall down your cheeks, and his other hand comes up to wipe away your cheeks.

“I do, I do.” Righty declares, “I never know what I’m doing with Lefty, always feel like I’m screwing up, like she hates me.”

“She doesn’t.” you argue.

“I didn’t mean to make it about me.”

“You didn’t, you…you didn’t.” you coo, one of your hands sliding along his strong forearm as he cups your cheek. “You know, it was really hard to argue with her, Lefty made point after point about how perfect you would be.”

He shakes his head bashfully, “I’m not perfect.”

“Yeah, yeah.” you hum, bitting on the inside of your cheek as you lean into his touch, your pointer finger coming to his chest, “But you’re just right.” he rolls his eyes at the pun, while simultaneously enjoying the comment. 

“I hope so…” he murmurs, tracing your features with his gaze, “I might not be enough though, seriously, sometimes I don’t know what to do to be a good partner.”

“I just want you to be you, we can figure out the rest.” you declare, looking into his deep sincere blue eyes.

“My ex cheated on me, Y/n.” he said like it was a dealbreaker, “I’m just saying, I would never hurt you but I might fail as a partner.” he reiterated but it doesn’t change your mind because it didn’t seem that way anymore. 

“Trust me on this.” you press, “It’s just the beginning too, we have no idea where this will go. But I know when I want something, Righty.”

“And that’s me?” he asks, tilting his head to the side.

“Yes,” you oblige, one palm flattening over his pec, “It’s you.”

He darts his head forward to envelop your lips with his, making you gasp into his mouth, while one of your hands comes to the back of his neck. A raw need seeping into the way your lips move, the way he tugs you in closer. Righty slowly separates his mouth from yours for just a second but that’s when you meet him for a kiss. He hotly slips his tongue against yours, one of his hands clasping over your hip and leading you backwards. While you clutch on to him, wrapped up in the way he kissed you, in the way he made you feel. Then your back meets a tree truck, excitement pulsating through you. It’s all good until his body presses to yours, then suddenly your heart drops as you remember the way you hit the tree. You don’t see Righty’s soft face anymore, you push him back by the shoulders roughly, mouth ripped off of yours. 

“Oh, I’m sorry-.” you panic, hand hovering your mouth. 

“It’s okay, it was too much.” he soothes, keeping his distance but raising his hands up to say ‘I’m on your side’.

“It wasn’t enough for my ex either, he-I’ve always been a bigger girl and but after Conor it was like he hated my body, he cheated but kept it under wraps, it didn’t even matter anymore.” you elaborate, stepping in closer to him, “When things got intimate, it was always rough, he was always angry.”

“Excuse my language, but he’s a piece of shit.” he blurts, “he didn’t deserve either of you.”

“Thank you, Righty.” you smile.

“Thanks for trusting me, I know it can’t be easy.” he declares, stepping in closer as you did.

“For some reason with you, it is. I just need time.”

“I have plenty.” Righty affirms. 

“Kiss me one more time?” you question as he reaches for your waist. You bite your lip before carefully kissing his lips, it was slower than before. A promise that he would follow through on fulfilling all of your doubts and worries. Flashlight in his back pocket, one hand splaying under the hem of your shirt and the other around your hip. You lean into his touch, your fingers finding the curls at the top of his neck.

“Alright.” you sigh, pulling apart breathlessly, he gives a toothy lopsided smile on his face. Righty’s eyes flickering over you like he didn’t want to be caught staring, hands tucking behind his back.

That weekend your groups worked together, you kept it professional between the two of you, even with your mind floating off to thinking about him. Even with the lingering gazes and little jokes only the two of you would understand. Early that next week it was in the high 80s and the kids were going to be at the lake. The bathing suit on you was a one piece but fit your body like a glove. Your soft belly peeking out pretty stretch marks on your hips, he tried not to notice but on day four he began to struggle with his attention. But you dealt with the same problem, Righty had a strong farmer’s body, slim but hard from all the work he’s done. He wore a swim guard for awhile but it got hotter, layers had to be shed.

“You should spray a little sunscreen in your hair.” you suggest. 

“Why?” he questions, “You don’t like it blonde?” he points to his brown hair that grew lighter from the sun each day. On cooler days, he wore a hat but it got hot real fast.

“Sometimes your scalp can burn and the sun is beaming right down on you.” you claim, flushing at the comment, noticing his freckles darken the longer he was under the sun. They were scattered all over his back, sprinkled over collarbones and shoulders. You wanted to run your hands along his chest and arms. He agrees with a hum and nod, you grin, moving over to the bench to grab the sunscreen and he ducks down for you. Then you spray it from a distance, covering his eyes from the splash. “There you go.”

“Thanks.” he hums, giving you a fleeting look before heading towards the doc and counting the kids. You do the same after you go back to Conor and Lefty, you wave them over to freshen up their sunscreen. 

“Are you two having fun?” you inspect as they pant nodding, “Get some water too.”

More kids come to the shore to grab some water, or ask for a snack and need more sunscreen. But Conor started talking to you, “You know I always wanted a sister.”

“Baby, I’m not getting pregnant anytime soon.”

“Don’t call me that mom!” he rants, crossing his arms over his chest.

You roll your eyes, messing up his hair as he glares at you, “Go get some water.” Lefty giggled as she followed behind him.

Later that day after washing up and eating, you do a team exercise, where groups of two do trust falls. While throwing in a lesson about consent before you do the practice. You finish early so you meet up between your cabins, back doors meeting each other. Partnering up with each other's groups, the two of you demonstrate.

“Would you like to do a trust fall?” Righty asked.

“Yeah we can do that.” you reply, turning your back to him, he comes in distance enough to catch you steadily. Then he stands you back up, “Do you wanna take a turn?”

“Yeah.” he grins, turning around and falling back into your arms, you fall back a little with his stature but you lift him back up. His hand coming to your back to steady himself before moving away with a twinge of pink on his cheeks. 

“Alright, everyone, partner up!” you direct.

When they get free time the next day, Lefty and Conor decide to play tag, or hang around with a group of their friends from similar groups. Righty comes up to you, “I promise I’m not ignoring you…I mean, I might be a little but it’s because I am so distracted by you.”

“Oh.” you smile, scanning your surroundings to see the two playing in the corner, “So don’t get offended if you aren’t staring?” 

“Oh I’m still staring,” Righty husks, before you know your eyes are on his while he searches your gaze. Then he turns his head, “Do you see Lefty?”

“They were just by that tree.” you point.

“I’ll look for them.” he nods.

Conor had lost Lefty in the pursuit of hide and seek tag, she took a turn at a cabin and off she went. He couldn’t find her, and when he did there were three boys swarming around her, they weren’t from his cabin.

“You’re so weird, with your stupid little boyfriend!” a boy mocks, pushing her into the tree. 

She brushes it off, “He’s just my friend! And he’s not weird either!” Lefty grunts, crossing her arms over her chest but another boy sweeps her legs out from under her and the other punches her. Conor is taking off running towards the boys, tapping one of the boys on the shoulder before punching him. But then he gets knocked to the ground, the boy's attention redirected on to him. 

Lefty gets up from the ground to tackle him, just as Righty finds them, “Lefty get off!” he yells, voice booming even from a distance, she immediately gets off but the two boys disperse, the one top of Conor did not. So he hooks his arms around him, hauling him off.

“Calm down!” he urges, worried eyes flickering over Conor and heart stuttering at his bloody nose. “Lefty go get Y/n! Or anyone!”

You and another counselor run over to the scene, when you see your son on the ground, you run even faster. When you get to him, you go down on to your knees beside him, your hand moving underneath his back to carefully prop him up, “Hey, what happened?” you gently pinching his nose and tipping his head back. 

“Kenny, attacked me! So Conor punched him but it was three to two.” Lefty informs, casting her head down, Righty turns to her. 

“That’s not true!” The boy with the bloody nose protests. 

“He broke my glasses.” Conor cries.

“I know, I believe you, it’ll be okay.” you promise, “I’m so sorry.”

Righty goes to Lefty, she moves in to hug him tight, “I was so scared.” she whispers.

“I’m sorry baby.” he sighs, feeling a fullness in his chest, he looked away for a second and this happened. “Are you okay?”

“My elbow hurts, but I’m okay. Is Conor? He protected me.” Lefty remarks. 

He watches as you walk away with Conor, heading towards the main lounge where the infirmary would be, “Y/n took him to get patched up, just give me a second.” he moves over to talk to the head counselor as they walk away, telling him what he saw when he came upon everything. 

After getting someone to watch the other kids, they got to the front office. You knew a different conversation was going to happen aside from the one you had. There were a few kids who were hurt in this scenario but two of them looked like Lefty and Conor. You couldn’t believe some children could be so mean but it depended on the people they were around.

“I saw a little from the distance, but it was Conor flying to the ground, then it was just a mess by the time I got there, it happened pretty quickly.” Righty explains when he gets to the office, the head counselor meets with each kid. 

Then you and Righty and the other counselor were brought in without the kids, “We’ll be calling their parents, aside from you two, the kids cannot get physical again or they are out. Though I know this out of character for Conor and Lefty, and if what you said was true, they were protecting each other.”

“They won’t.” you assure, the other two agreeing with small nods.

“Okay, all three of your cabins need to stay inside for the rest of the night, got it?” 

You three leave the room, you make your way over to Conor who was sitting just outside the room, tears still streaming down his face. 

Then you crouch down to meet his eyes, “Hey, are you hurting?”

“They gave me medicine.” Conor replies as you nod.

“Yeah, I got some tylenol for later, if that’s alright.” Righty comments.

“Of course,” you hum, glancing up at him before looking back over at your son, “I don’t want you in any pain, I’m really sorry I wasn’t paying enough attention.”

“I should’ve done better.” Conor argues with a shake of his head.

“You did amazing!” Lefty affirms, sitting next to him on the bench.

“My glasses are broken too, but I don’t want anyone to get in trouble because of me.” he worried.

“No one’s mad at you, they got in trouble because of them, you defended yourself and Lefty, and I’m proud of you.” you reassure, squeezing his knee as you give him a soft smile.

“And you know, I got some super glue back at the cabin.” Righty mentions, standing next to Lefty, “I bet I can fix them.” He reaches for the broken pair in his pocket and waves them around loosely. 

When they get back to the cabin, Righty gets out the glue, “C’mere.” he waves Conor over, “Hold them together.” he instructs, handing him the broken frames, doing as Righty asks, he uncaps the glue before letting the liquid bubble to the top. Then he smears it on the middle frame, “Okay, now hold it just like that.” he guides his hands a little closer.

“Should I blow on it?”

“Sure.” Righty agrees, standing up and putting away the glue. The two wait a little while for them to dry, knowing the kids would be dropped off in a few minutes. “Alright, give them a try.” Conor puts them back on with a sigh, “Just be careful with them til you can get new ones.” 

“I will.”

“Thank you for standing up for Lefty.” he addresses.

“I shouldn’t have hit anyone.” Conor remarks.

“They shouldn’t have gotten violent first.” Conor nods at his support, giving him a sheepish smile.

“Do you like my mom?” he pressed.

Righty blushes, laughing, “I do.”

That next weekend was a break off for counselor’s, you and Righty both had the same night off on Saturday. He was planning on spending the whole day with you, telling you to get ready for a picnic and hike. You dressed in overalls and a tank top underneath it, he shows up in a cowboy hat and boots, jeans and a white t-shirt. Walking together up the hill into the woods, he holds a backpack and a basket. His other hand holding yours, even in the heat, he wanted to be close to you. Though it wasn’t hot enough for him to forsake his jeans for today, it was probably any excuse he could to be able to wear them. 

“Camp’s almost over.” you mention.

“Yeah, I bet the kids will want to hang out.” 

“But not us, right?” you tease, as he pauses in his tracks, turning to you. Then Righty pulls you in by the hand, gazing down at you with passion. 

A tingle runs down your spine as he hovers in, “Of course I’ll want to see you.” he promises, as you slowly nod, his blue eyes shimmering as he leans down to kiss you. But he waits, giving you the control, your palm meets his jaw, and you press your lips to his. 

He leads you further into the forest before turning down a gravel path, “Where are you taking me?”

“To a secret place.” he replies, leading you through a thicket of trees before falling upon a clearing to a lake. 

“Oh wow.” you gasp, looking at the landscape while Righty begins to quickly set down the blanket. You turn to see him setting down the picnic basket, “Righty…”

“Come sit.” he pats the spot next to him as he sits down, leaning back on his forearms. You sit next to him as he moves over to open the basket, grabbing two waters out.

“Thank you for this.”

His hand descends upon yours to give you a reassuring squeeze, making you soften even more, “No problem, I want to Y/n.” You bite your lip, looking at him for a second before he turns his head, jaw clenching, “I uh, wanted to open up more about my ex, I don’t wanna rush anything but you’ve told me alot.”

“Alright.” you nod, hand sliding over his shoulder and he turns his head back towards you. 

Righty looks down, “I always liked her more than she liked me and I was okay with that.” he explains, gnawing on his bottom lip, “I felt so upset when she left so I drank and went numb, then my old man got sick and I just felt like a complete failure. When he died, Lefty spent that weekend with me and I realized how much I missed her, how little time I have with her. I want more but she’s getting older and I don’t want to tie her down to my place.”

“You should talk to her about it,” you suggest, he doesn’t meet your eyes, “You never know, Righty.”

He smiles over at you, scanning your features, “I like when you say my name.”

“You get distracted so easily.” you giggle.

“By you.” he winks, shifting towards you, glancing at your mouth, “But can I be brutally honest?”

“Go for it.”

“You’re different, you feel more relaxed, half the time I can’t take my eyes off of you.” Righty confesses, looking at your lips, “I don’t know if I can give you everything but I sure as hell wanna try.”

“You are such a romantic!” you tease, lightly shoving his shoulder, breaking the intense moment, a hearty laugh leaves his mouth, it almost sounded like he was in pain. “You laugh so weird!”

“What? No I don’t!” he glares, while you move in closer, palms landing on his chest. 

“Can I rephrase that?” you whisper.

“Hmm.” he replies, interested in whatever your coverup was going to be. 

“Your laugh makes me feel all weird inside.” you hum, inches away from each other, while he dips his chin to look right into your eyes.

“You make me feel all weird inside too.” he humors, as your hand slides up to the back of his neck. Soothing over his cheek, you take off the cowboy hat, setting it on your head and he shakes his head, jaw clenching. But then you capture his lips to yours, moving with slow intent, hand slipping back into his hair. One of his hands meets your waist, angling his face to deepen the kiss.

“Okay.” he breathes, “Are you hungry?” 

Righty puts out two sandwiches with strawberries, a container of chocolate sauce, and a little tin. “Very romantic.”

He shrugs, “I wanted you to feel special, not like some…” he pauses, looking back at you shyly, “cheap teenage make out.”

“It’s wonderful so far, Righty.” you urge. He grabs the tin sliding it open and showing you what’s inside, a few rolled up blunts. When you meet his eyes, you're grinning and you reach in to slip the lighter out. “I haven’t smoked since Conor was born.” you laugh, shaking your head, “Before if you can believe it I was a pot head.”

A laugh crawls up the back of his throat, sounding like he was almost blurting, “I actually didn’t.” he pulls a joint out of the container. 

“So you’ve just had a secret stash?” you trail, as he slides one behind your ear. 

“For special occasions only.” he replies, the tip of his forefinger pets at your cheek. You’re stuck again, looking into his eyes like they were reciting scripture. His lips move slowly as he hovers in closer, “And for my unfounded pothead.” you sit in silence, time passing unprecedented, as his eyes flicker to your mouth. 

You take the spliff out from the crevice of your ear, setting it between your lips, you hand the lighter to him. He tips his hat up on your head, flicking it on, hand cupping around it to block any wind and the flame comes to the end of it. You inhale as the tip burns before handing it off to him. You start to cough as you blow it out, his hands come to your back while the end burns as he inhales. 

“Let me know if it’s ever too much.” he acknowledges, handing it back over to you.

“I will.” you remark, taking another hit and pausing as you exhale. You passed the blunt back and forth, until it was down to the roach. Then you lay on your back, looking up at the clouds in the sky, you sit like that for a while. Righty’s hands slip into yours, rubbing his thumb on the back of your palm, the two of you turning your head towards each other. 

“C’mon let’s eat.” he offers, sitting up and handing you the sandwiches. You slowly eat with a rare silence that didn’t happen at camp, there were always kids talking, or making noise. Or there were always other beings around, there was privacy out here, just the two of you. You enjoyed, relished in the comfortable gentle sounds of birds and a light breeze . When you were done you went back to lay out on the blanket, finally taking the hat off, you sat beside the two of you. 

You move into the side of his body, slipping your arms around his, clasping his hand in yours while resting your chin on his shoulder. He glances down at you with a fond expression on his face before his thumb rubs the back of your knuckles. 

There was an air of newness, a fresh start, you had a good feeling about him. He was gentle in a way that was rare, he cared so much about everyone, even if he struggled to show it. You sit up, looking around for the container of strawberries and chocolate sauce. Righty leans up on his elbows, and you move down across from him. He opens the container of sauce and you grab out a piece of fruit. You dip the end of the strawberries into the melted coco. Then you bring it up to his lips, they slowly fall apart for you, his teeth skim outside before sinking down and you set the stem down. He slowly chewed the fruit, swallowing thickly. 

“Your turn.” he hums, grabbing a strawberry, he does the same, the chocolate trips on to his forearm, your finger sweeps against the dot. Bringing it to your mouth and sucking it off, then the tip of the fruit meets your plump lips. Righty’s chest heaves more intensely, your tongue sliding forward to lick off the chocolate with a swirl and suck. Then you take a languish bite, his gaze could’ve shot lasers through as he watched.

Mouth lightly agape before he nips at his bottom lip with heat, “Tastes good,” you tease, as he shakes his head while blushing. Then you grab another, dipping before bringing it up to his mouth, he opens for you. But you smear the chocolate along his lips, the dimples on the side of his cheek wrinkling. His tongue peaks out, but you pull the fruit away, “Don’t lick the chocolate.”

Righty’s eyes search yours with heated enthusiasm that has goosebumps prickling your skin. Then his teeth nip at the strawberry and you can help yourself. Your hand coming up to his jaw as you kiss the chocolate off, his jaw slowly working as he chews on the fruit. He tries to catch up with your movements, one hand landing on your waist. Once he swallows the food, his other arm wraps around you, hauling you on to his lap. 

“You have the control.” he admonished, while your hand reached back for his hair. Your legs caging his hips while your mouths move together with fervor. Then you press your tongue against the seal of your lips, he groans into your mouth at the intrusion. One of his palms splays along your back, the other grinding your center into his before pausing, “Is that okay?”

“Yes, give me more.” you plead, his hand comes up to the button of your overalls, unbuttoning one by one before pushing them down your front. 

To reveal your low cut tank top, his palms encase your waist and rock you against him. Righty smashes his lips to yours, slotting his tongue into your mouth, your nails digging into his scalp. He rubs his hand along the exposed skin of your back, then you shove your overalls the rest of the way off. Pressing your french cut panties against the growing bulge in his jeans.

“You feel so good, Y/n.” Righty rasps, as you attempt to keep up with the way he kissed you.

“We….should go for a swim.” you suggest, not moving from him but his lips slow.

“What?”

You start standing up, “I need a distraction, c’mon.” running towards the doc, he follows you, shucking off his jeans, boots and t-shirt, stumbling over himself. You dive into the lake gracefully, resurfacing, he jumps in with a cannonball right next to you. 

Righty comes up in the water, swimming towards you as you do the same, meeting him halfway. “C’mere.” he coaxes, you haul your arms around his neck, his hands coming to your hips and slipping backwards. Your legs wrap around his waist, then you press your body down on to his erection. “Stop teasing me.” he grumbles as you giggle, gently sealing your mouth over his as he treads in the water. 

His torso was soft yet gently defined, his shoulders were broad with strong muscles, everything about him resembled hard strength that came with real time and dedication. You purse your lips to kiss him harder, he meets your mouth with the same hunger. 

“I’m a little obsessed with you, even for a grown woman.” you explain, pressing your chest to his, your pebbled nipples indent through the soaked material.

“That’s good.” he concedes, as you nip at his bottom lip, like it felt like some kind of victory. “I didn’t know if you liked me how I like you.” he swallows deeply, jaw constricting, making you want to lick the curve of it.

“How do you like me?”

“Like a woman I’ve never seen so strong, yet so gentle. You’re an amazing leader, all these kids look up to you, the counselor’s watch you, Lefty admires you.” Righty exasperates, a soft furrow in his brow, “The way you are with Conor, you really love each other. You’ve got baggage but we all do and you can clearly protect yourself, you’re a resilient woman. I want you, I want you more than anything I’ve wanted before.” His blue eyes search yours as you stare dumbfounded, “And I’m not just saying that. I know I may not show it-.”

“You’re doing all of it, Righty. You’re romantic, soft. I want you too.” you reply, brushing your fingers through his dirty blonde hair. 

“I wanna show you that I’m always gonna respect you, want you, worship you.” he husks, sliding his nose against yours. “Protect you.”

“I ran away because I’m nervous, I’m nervous you have a switch and I’ll find some way to flip it. Make all your affection, loving looks turn into regret and disgust. Because I think I’ll always find a way to make others hate me.” you admit, eyes wide, and you wish you could take it back, it was too much. 

“That’s alright, I’m sorry that’s what fills your pretty head.” he husks, kissing your cheek softly, “The running away, it’s alright, you didn’t have to, we can always stop. Even if I say something in the heat of the moment, when you’re done-.”

“It was just instinct, it wasn’t what I really wanted.” you answer.

“Sometimes…” he trails, pushing a piece of hair away from your face, “I felt like a deadbeat, Lefty hated me, I’ve always had people around me and yet I always feel alone.”

“You aren’t.” Your hands frame his face, gaze tender as you carefully meet in a kiss, “Show me.”

“Yeah, how’s that?”

“With your tongue?” you question, gripping his hair. 

Righty brings you to the shore, leading you back to the blanket, after gently setting you on the ground. Wringing his underwear out, before he gets to the blanket, kneeling between your legs and meeting your lips in a frenzied kiss. He slides the material of your tank up your soft belly, moving down to connect his lips to the stretch marks on your stomach and continues upwards. Meeting the lift of your breasts, he cups his hands over them, making you arch your back into him. One of Righty’s hands slides down to press two fingers along the gusset of your panties.

“This okay? I need to hear you.”

“Yes, keep touching me, Righty.” you beg, as he groans, kissing you harder on the lips. 

“So warm.” he sighs, moving down your body and tugging at your underwear. But he hesitates, palms wondering over the dip of your hips. He kisses your belly button before beginning to suck the skin around the area, not marking, “This okay?

“Hmm, need more.” he sucks harder below your navel, before reaching over to the container of chocolate next to you. Dipping his finger into the sauce before dripping it along the soft curve of your belly. His tongue flattening against your skin, he moans into you, nipping at your skin. “I need your mouth on me.” you plead, tilting your hips towards his touch. Righty pushes your thighs apart to get a look at the soft lips of your pussy. 

“So pretty baby, look at how wet you are.” he bites his lower lip, pushing your legs up and leveling his face with your center.

“For you.” you mumble, desperately, as he trails kisses over the backs of your thighs before licking flatly against your folds. “Oh god, Righty.” you cry, bucking your hips, he slips his arm over your stomach, giving him more control, but you want it. 

He hums into your core, tongue dipping into your wet hole, licking up every last drop of your arousal. Like it was his personal mission to suck you dry, burying his face like you were his only life source. Lips wrapping around your clit, sucking, flicking his tongue against the sensitive nerves. Two fingers gathering your slick overflowing from your wet entrance, he slowly sheathes his middle into you, stretching you out.

“Righty.” you moan, a small burn curls with the thickness of his one finger, then two.

“You’re so tight.” he grumbles, sealing his mouth over your clit. 

Righty digits curving, petting at your sensitive walls, little noises falling from your lips, struggling to contain the way he was making you feel. Something you haven’t felt in a long time, or maybe ever. Your fingers roughly combing at his wet hair, slowly drying in loose curls. He makes out messily with your nub, while your wetness slides down his digits. A soft wet sound filling the air, one of his hands cupping your breast over the white lace. Your nipple darkening through the fabric, letting your hips stutter up into his awaiting mouth. 

“Everything, you’re everything.” Righty grunts, flicking his tongue against you perfectly, bending his fingers just right, hitting your g-spot.

“Right there-.” you gasp, as he switches to reach for your other tit, finding your nipple, and pinching the bud before kneading the soft tissue. 

“Taste so good, so good baby.” he slurs, like he was drunk on you, he only takes seconds before he’s popping your sensitive nerves back into his mouth.

“Please don’t stop!” you mewl.

“Can’t if I wanted to.” he mumbles, moaning into your center, a wet gush coats his fingers as he presses into that gummy spot. 

The burn turned into a raging fire, toes curling as your hips jolted upwards. Your hand clawing at his shoulder, the other scraping at his scalp as you arch your back. A sound akin to his name sounded like a breathy whisper, Righty doesn’t stop as you fall apart. He adjusts, removing his fingers, he licks them clean before descending his tongue on to your throbbing core. Licking at the slick, glossy against his lips as he relentlessly devours you.

“Oh fuck-.” you sob, bucking as his arms wrap around your thighs, drinking up every last bit of your come, tongue fucking into you. “I’m so senstive-Righty-.” gasps between breaths, “I’m gonna come again-.”

“Is that okay? I fucking need it.”

“Yes.” you tremble, he tugs you in closer his wet muscle reaching deep into you and lapping hungrily. 

Your past orgasm not completely dissolved away, puts you into the throws of another, covering his tongue with what he wanted most. You're high making your head dizzy, falling apart underneath him again, once he's done he pulls back. Chin wet, eyes looking into yours with a satisfied grin on his face, he dips his chin, peppering kisses on your thigh.

“I could do this over and over again.” Righty admits, nuzzling into the softness of your inner thighs.

“That was so good.” you admonish, reaching down for his shoulder while he raises to meet you, pressing his body to yours. The contrast of your plush curve against him was worthy of obsession, you feel the strain of his length through his jeans, your hand stroking over the outline. “Can I?”

“Don’t worry about me right now.” he deflects. “I want to focus on you.”

“But you’re-.”

“I don’t want you to think I’m doing this just to get something, you deserve time that’s just on you.” he explains, as you flush, staring at him before cupping his cheek and pulling him into a passionate fulfilling kiss. 

“How did I find you?” you breathe, while you begin to shiver, he pulls your tank down along your torso.

“Fate.” he smiles, gently placing his lips on yours for a peck.

The two of you take your time getting your clothes on, Righty trying to will his erection away with your taste still on his tongue. You pack up everything, heading back to the camp as the day grows longer. Taking some extra time to hike together, apparently Righty was a bit of a bird watcher. Stopping on the trail, pointing out with wonder and curiosity in his eyes.

It made you like him even more, “What got you into birdwatching?”

“Spend so much time outside, it just became a little game. Then Lefty got me a book actually.” Righty elaborates.

“Always looking out for her dad.” you comment.

Righty shrugs, giving you a hesitant smile, “I dunno.”

Your hand reaches for his, he leads you through the woods further, back towards the camp as the sun slowly falls down past the clouds. When you get back to the camp, he leads you to an empty cabin, out by the abandoned ones, unlocking it before holding the door open for you.

“Aw, you got us a cabin?” you grin, looking to the corner of the room that had a little nest of blankets and pillows. An old TV sat on the nearby bed with a dvd player right next to you and an old remote.

“I wanted to ensure privacy for us.” he declares, you nod, turning around as he clicks the door shut and locks it.

“I need a shower.” you announce, walking backwards towards the bathroom.

“Alright.” he agrees with a little up and down motion of his chin.

“With you.” you add, wriggling your index finger, inviting him to join you. Righty’s blue eyes widen with excitement, you turn around and he trails after you like a lost puppy. Then you face each other, pulling at your overalls. Your hands rids yourself of the panties, and then your bra. He watches you with wide eyes, “Your turn.” you step forward, “Can I take these off?”

“You’re gorgeous, Y/n.” he sighs, dreamily you wonder if this man was even real.

“You can do whatever you want to me.” he retorts, a dimple indenting on his cheeks.

You laugh softly, “Yeah?” two fingers hooking into the waistband of his jeans and tugging him in close. 

Righty’s voice is quiet, “Hmm.” you glide your fingers into the hem of the shirt, pressing against his stomach and then pushing the material over his head. Your hands skim over his pecs before moving down to undo the buckle on his jeans, he watches your every movement, chest rising and falling deeper. 

Then you finally push down the denim over his hips, dragging them down, his cock twitching to life in his boxers before you get rid of those too. Now Righty was in complete naked glory, all strong muscles, long legs, thick thighs, your gaze following the length of his collarbones and the broad expanse of his shoulders that were littered with freckles. His cock bobbing forward, already hard for the mere exposure to your naked body. You step forward, giving him a view of your back side as you start the shower. That’s when you step into the shower, glancing back over at him, he follows after you.

His palm molds over your waist as though they couldn’t belong anywhere else. He doesn’t hold you possessively, but like he knew all he wanted to do was touch you. Not to claim, Righty couldn’t get enough of you and he was sure he never would. Then his nose skims along the curve of your shoulder before dipping into your neck. You’re hyperaware of each touch frozen in place as you wait for someone to convince you that he wasn’t going to hurt you. But that wasn’t Righty, your ex looming over your conscious, like a ghost or parasite. 

“Are you okay?” he whispers, the rough tumble of his voice bringing you back into the moment. You don’t move his hand removes from your body, “Hey…” he carefully turns you towards him, concern written over his face.

You shake your head, “I’m sorry, I’m just.” you pause, “Forgot where I was for a second.”

“How can I make you stay?” Righty inspects, you step in closer to him, bringing your arms around his shoulders. While he rests his hands at the small of your back, you press your face to his chest, hiding yourself as he embraces you. Tucking your head underneath his chin and rubbing your back. “Can I wash you? The hot water won’t last very long, I’ll be careful.” he promises, as you glance at him.

“Yes you can.”

He reaches for the unwrapped soap on the ledge of the shower. “No idea how old the soap is, but it’s unused.” he claims, as you hum in reply, “Are you sure this is okay?” he searches your face trying to really gauge how you were feeling.

“I’m okay, you make me feel safe, I just don’t know how to trust that.” you explain, gnawing on your bottom lip, “But I want to, I don’t think you would hurt me.”

“I never want to touch you with malicious intent or outcomes, I won’t.”

“I know.” you assure.

Then he begins to lather the soap against his hand before switching sides with you, starting at your plushly hips, over your ass and moving up. Washing away the lake water, sweat and grime from a day out in nature, as he said he would be, the way he touched you was careful. Not avoiding any spots but not lingering too long, it didn’t change the throbbing member between you. Righty wasn’t lingering but your eyes were, he was long, his tip red and wet with his own arousal. 

“Don’t worry about that, m’sorry, I shouldn’t be-.” he starts when he notices where your gaze keeps returning to.

“I wanna taste you.” you mewl, fingers splaying over the ridges of his chest. Looking up through your eyelashes, nervous with your ask, even when he was hard for you. Righty swallows deeply, teeth grinding as he finishes washing you. 

“You can, let me wash up.” he counters.

“Let me.” you encourage, hand stretching out for the soap.

His tongue slips across his bottom lip as he gives it to you, then you glide the bar across his chest and over his upper back. Righty’s breathing grows heavier, his cock twitching while you trail over his torso, over his thin hips and the swell of his ass. You tug him in closer, setting the soap to the side. Your body presses flush against his, he groans at the sensation of his member crushed against you. One of your hands cup the back of his neck, mouths meeting messily. You lean back, palm flattening over his erection and applying pressure to him. His hips flex in your touch. 

“Can I now?’ you pout, teasingly and smashing his lips to yours.

“Christ, yes, yes.”

Then you sink down to your knees, grasping on to his cock, his head tipping backwards. You slowly jerk him off, before bringing the end of his length to your mouth. Lips parting, tongue peaking out to lick at the salty arousal at the crown of his tip. Precisely bobbing your head to take more of him, drool pooling down his length. Righty’s thighs trembling under your palm, your other hand taking what you couldn’t in your mouth.

“Y/n.” he moans, he pushed himself further down your throat, making you gag. Your nails dig into the back of his thighs as you take him deeper, “Shit-I’m sorry.”

You moan vibrations running down his member, while you keep him close, rocking your head, letting him grind into your mouth. Then you cup his balls in one hand, he starts to gently fuck your face with a push and pull of your head. His cock pulsates on your tongue, precome smearing along your lips and inner cheeks. Righty’s head tilting back as his mouth opens in a dark gasp.

“I’m gonna come baby.” he breathes out, voice cracking as you continue a relentless rhythm that slowly pulls him over the edge.

A grumble hums through your chest and the coil in his stomach snaps. Hips rutting forward while you stroke the rest of his length, his seed spills on your tongue. The hand clasping your hair gently pets through it as he comes down. Then you pull off of him, rubbing his calves before rising to meet his eyes.

Righty cups your face in his hands, sealing his lips over your swollen ones. He didn’t know when he’d get another moment alone with you after this. If you wanted to see him after everything, he needed to see you after so he hoped for the best. A woman who had every right to fall apart but keeps your head up. He presses you into the wall, the water growing cold, then you turn the faucet off. He wraps a towel around you before covering himself with another one.

“Let me find some clothes then we can go find food, the kids should be in bed.” Righty plans, as you head towards the backroom to rummage through the dresser. He finds a couple oversized t-shirts and basketball shorts. 

You look in the mirror, “I look like Adam Sandler.”

“A very sexy Adam Sandler.” he retorts, the clothes fitting him quite differently, stretching across his strong shoulders. “Let’s go find food.” he reaches out for your hand, you two slip out of the cabin. Righty has a flashlight in his hand, walking back towards the cafeteria lodge, he hands you the light when you get to the door. Unlocking the door, he opens it wide for you, he follows in after, locking the door behind him. Walking over to the other side of the room, he flicks on the light, moving along the kitchen to look for things. 

“I’ve been dying for some mac and cheese.”

“Let me see what I can do, sit here.” Righty instructs, leading you to the counter, tapping the plaster, and you perch yourself up on it.

He wanders around the kitchen, luckily finding all the supplies and hot dogs to add to the pasta. He boils two pots, you watch him, thinking about a future with him doing something similar to this for you. Cooking for your little blended family, when he turns to you, you reach out for him.

Righty steps forward hand starting at your waist before trailing up your back. Your arms look around him, pecking his lips as your fingers pet at the back of his neck. He sighs through his nose, his tongue poking past the seam of your lips.

“I gotta cook.” he sighs, pushing back as you grin.

“I’m not the one slipping tongue.” you accuse, wiggling your eyebrows, and he’s so tempted to go to you. But then he notices the water was boiling, he throws the hotdogs in one and the noodles in the other. He rinses off his hands before coming back over to kiss you again. You're hanging on by every thread, desperate for him, for the way he inspired so much hope. 

He eventually finishes up the food, melting the cheese into the noodles. Then he chops up the hot dogs and tosses them in. “It’s not the fanciest.”

“I love it.” you affirm.

He mixes everything together, grinding over at you as he spoons it up for you. Righty sits next to you, handing you your bowl. He presses the side of his thigh against yours, not talking about much. Then you help him clean up before going back to the cabin with a quiet apprehension for him being close.

When you got back to the cabin, you sat in the nest while Righty moved around, “I’ll see what they have.” 

“They have veggie tales, the godfather, no country for old men.” He is rooting through the closet, finding the small selection of movies. 

“Ooo, weird options, we should no country for old men, that guy freaks me out.” you declare, as he snorts taking it out of its case and popping it into the dvd player.

He slips in next to you above the blanket while you're tucked beneath it, two old mattresses below laid on the floor, pillows lining the sides to safely cage you in. You tug off your shorts, not wanting the extra weight, you overheat at night, and you would with him. Righty’s eyes meet your bare thighs on the bed, swallowing deeply.

“Today’s been really fun,” you divulge, while he tucks himself under the blanket, wedging his arm behind your back and you press yourself into his side. 

You turn your head to snuggle into his chest, sliding a foot along his calf and drawing towards him to tangle your legs together. Righty hovers above your head then presses a kiss to your temple, one palm holding your side while he skips through the commercials. The movie rolls on slowly, the two of you holding each other tight, he would look down and meet your lips in a kiss. You were more focused on him than the film, once he takes off his shirt, the climate changes. Flushing as you press your ear flush to his chest, hearing his heartbeat. You turn your body further into him, your hand trailing his shoulder.

Then he dips his chin, meeting his tender ocean blue eyes that struck deep. You push forward to reunite your lips, his tongue sweeping in to taste you. His hand drifts down to your hip, shifting you on top of him. Hands wandering his chest, you slide your palms against the sides of his face before slipping them into his hair. You feel a tenting in the mesh material of his shorts, you press down on it. He groans into your mouth, noses smooshing together and lips wet. Then you trail away from his face, pecking along his throat, under his ear, along the curve of shoulder. You skim your nose along the bottom of his throat, sucking on the skin before kissing the length of his collarbone, your hands wondering his waist and hips. 

“Sorry, I just want you so bad.” you confess, leveling his face as he shakes his head, a red tint on the apples of his cheeks. Righty’s fingers thread into your hair, slotting your lips together, the other palm clasp at your hip, grounding yourself on to him. 

“You’re perfect.” he rasps, eyes dilated, leaning into you, then his hands grip your shirt. “Can I take this off?”

“Yes, but I want you naked too.” 

Then the two of you strip down, you settle back on to his lap with his aching cock between you.

“I’m on birth control.” you inform, searching his eyes.

“Yeah? You want me to fuck you?” he purrs, deeply, hovering over your ear. “Do you wanna be in control?”

“I want to trust you.” you concur, his hands splay across the side of your face.

“You can, I’ll do anything to prove that.”

“Not supposed to be so serious.” you counter, inches from his lips.

“Screw that.” he darts forward to collide your mouths, one hand cradles the back of your head. As he flips you on to your back, slotting between your thighs, “When’s the last time you were tested?”

“Two years ago, and I haven’t had sex since.” you said. 

Righty brushes your hair away from your face, “It’s been about a year and yeah I’m clean.” then he readjusts you, hooking your legs over his hips, he brings the tip of his length to your entrance. He swipes through the seam of your pussy, applying pressure to your sensitive clit. “I’ve wanted you so bad.” he rants, dipping his member into your hole, there’s a burn with a thick stretch overwhelming you. 

You knew he was lengthy but you didn’t expect him to make you feel so full, a gasp leaving your mouth, “Fuck you’re so big.”

“Don’t say that.” he chuckles, darkly, pausing his movements, Righty slides his mouth against yours, distracting you with a flick of his tongue as he fills you up the rest of the way, your fingers digging into his back, “You’re so fucking tight.”

“Righty.” you cry, softly, he carefully grinds your centers, the tip of his hitting that spongy part deep inside of you. Overcoming the ache, he peppers kisses along your face as you adjust to him, taking his time, he didn’t push all of his weight on to you, but made you feel protected. “Move.”

“Yeah?” he coos, shifting his hips back before plunging back into you. Your arousal coating his cock and he gently works against you. With a deliberate rut of his body, that pressed close to yours as you hook arms under his to hold on to his back for leverage. A soft clap of his body slamming into you and his lips devour yours. Tears welling up at the corner of your eyes, as you moan.

“You’re so quiet.” he murmurs into your ear, pecking along the shell.

“Feels so good, just fuckin’ can’t.” you whine, clawing at his ass to drive his deeper and pulling his torso closer “You can crush me, I want you too.”

Righty shifts his weight into you, changing the momentum of his thrusts, and feeling the way you squeezed his cock in reply. “Doing so good, you’re so beautiful.” he voices, words muffled by your neck that he kisses along. Breathing heavily and hotly, sweat gathering at his temple, your breasts press into his chest.

Sex that didn’t feel like you were being used, you didn’t have the fear of your lover not being attracted to you. He made you feel wanted, the way that only his eyes devoured you made you feel alive. His mouth was all over you, trying to map out every inch he could reach. Righty cared about your pleasure, there was something else though. That you didn’t want to let go of, you wanted all of him, you wanted more.

His girth jolting forward, he’s steady as he sets his arm next to your head, neck straining, his eyes boring into yours, jaw trembling with pleasure. Blue eyes were dark, anxiety spread over your chest, but it wasn’t bad. But rather from the intensity of his expression, his gaze, the way his hips met yours like he meant every thrust. The only way to fix it was with him, so you pull down to your mouth greedily, desperate to soothe the ache. Then his hand comes between you to rub your clit in concentrated circles. Your thighs tighten around his hips, then he pushes them further against your chest. A moan racketing through your chest, head tipping back as you start to thrash against him.

“So close.” he grunts, the spasming from your cunt sucking him in and making his member throb. Your hips buck upwards into his, “Y/n.” he moans, you gasp, the heat building in your gut, the friction of his dick and sensitive nerves, your orgasm seized through you.

“Righty.” you sob, while his hips stutter forward, losing control over himself as his own high slowly rises over him. A moan leaves him as he buries himself to the hilt.

“Fuck, where should I-.” he starts.

“In me.” you plead, running your hand through his hair as he thrusts a couple more times before coming inside of you. A guttural groan exasperates from his lips, forehead resting against yours, when he opens his eyes, he has a soft expression, kissing your cheek once before capturing your mouth in his. It was gentle, unhurried, the two of you trying to catch your breath. 

A smile breaks out across his face, his searching gaze making you even more flustered, “What?” 

“You’re really just…” he shakes his head, “You’re perfect.” He repeats the earlier sentiment, like he was in disbelief of you, like you were someone so precious and valuable. 

You didn’t know if you deserved it, but you relished it. 

The last week of camp comes closer than you expected, you don’t get another allotted time to spend time with Righty. After that night you felt like you were on the top of the world, you felt like a teenager again. But you weren’t, so was it actually real or a blip in time?

It wasn’t the time to think about that because it was field day, the last Tuesday of camp. The next couple days were going to be busy, you just needed to focus on the girls. Righty tries to come up to you during breakfast, but you’re quiet.

“Hey, Y/n/n.” you don’t reply to the nickname, giving him a tight lipped smile. Looking away from him as a flush comes over your cheeks, before walking away. 

Then the kids get into new groups, but the counselor’s signed up together in the beginning of the four weeks, so you were with Righty. You keep your distance, not wanting to indulge in something that would be taken away in three days. How were you just supposed to be Conor’s mom? If he meant what he said, would he want a future with you if it wasn’t fun anymore? All you wanted was for someone to stay, to take care of you when you were tired, to be there for you and Conor. Your kids don’t wound up in your groups, but went to the same one together. You lead the group in a tug a war, the group splitting in half, you and Righty are face to face. 

“You ready?” he grins, a knowing look in his eyes.

“Are you?” you retort, planting your feet as you look back at the kids.

“Always.”

Then you blow your whistle, both sides pulling with their full strength, making the rope sway back and forth. Righty’s gaze is intense, jaw constricted, his arms bulging as the muscles spasm, you shake your head out of the distraction. Determined to win, you grit your teeth, but then you remember how those arms were looped around your thighs, his face stuffed in your pussy. You slip, falling forward, a few kids piling on you.

Righty’s laugh echoes in the air, it’s hard not to laugh with him, and you do, he leans down to help you up. But you don’t take it, brushing off the sand, feeling his stare on you as you check on the other kids.

“Alright!” you clap your hands, “Campers only!”

He follows you as you stand off to the side, lowering his voice, he tries to speak before you try to walk away, “Y/n, are you mad at me?”

You swallow deeply, a half genuine smile on your face, “No, it’s just we’re almost done with camp.”

“I know I’ll be relieved.” he relents, you scoff before blowing your whistle. 

“Glad you're so eager to leave.” you snap, avoiding his eyes, “Now I’m mad at you.” you saunter over to the other side of the kids.

Confusion is written all over his face, he tries to piece together what he did, what went wrong. He was relieved to get out of here, to really be with you. You didn’t have to pretend to not want each other, he’ll be able to kiss you whenever, if you want that. Righty wasn’t going to push a relationship on to you, he didn’t want to overwhelm you. Small confusions won’t matter in the future, there won’t be barriers when you speak to each other. He was here, he would wait as long as you needed him to. He would make things right, it just wasn’t the correct time, he knew that now. 

So he wouldn’t prod, he just just supported, and when he caught your eye or your full attention, he just gave you his signature sweet smile. You couldn’t help but talk to him, it was in the job, but it was so easy for it to float off. The two of you meeting eyes, laughing when the kids fall over in the bag races. Not cruelly, but when a little swarm of campers fell over like dominoes, it was funny. You got caught in the tone of his laughter, to the way his blue eyes shine in the daylight, how bright and infectious his smile was.

When you get to the next station, it’s stacking cups, the kids glancing over at the other quickly to see who was doing the best. Going from place to place, getting water breaks between them. During lunch you get back together with your cabins, a few more activities were planned in the afternoon. You’re more quiet around Righty, Lefty can tell something is off, though you don’t treat her any differently. She had nothing to do with your romantic relationship, she was friends with Conor, and your situation with Righty wouldn’t affect that (in your book). 

The next activity was three legged races, your groups heading to the activity.

“Okay guys, who has done a three legged race before?” Righty questions, as a couple kids raise their hands. “Well, Y/n and I will show you.” he nods over to you, and you crouch down to show them how to tie the knots.

“After you get tied up, you have three legs.” you kick your legs out to show all the kids, making Righty grunt, and you grin. Then you go to stand, his hand comes to your back to balance you and himself. When he feels you go ridget, he immediately drops his arm, looking away with a frown.

“Okay, let’s do this.” he nods over at you, offering you left arm, you hook your around his, linking elbows. The two of you begin to walk forward one step at a time, you wobble and his palm comes back to balance you and your arm moves across his back. “I got you.” those words stuck to you, then you lean your weight into him, before together more fluidly. Then you turn around to trudge back to the kids before wobbling over on your faces at the end. Somehow Righty catches your fall, you giggle, while glancing down at him, slipping off quickly.

“Okay, partner up, start tying yourself together, make sure it’s secure!” you direct, as Righty begins to work on the knot connecting the two of you. 

“Remember the knots we learned!” Righty adds, you watch quietly, shoving a finger into a knot and tugging at it. He lowers his voice, “I’m sorry for whatever I did.”

“It’s not a big deal, I should’ve known.” you reassure, “Don’t worry about it, okay? I don’t want you to feel bad.”

“About what?” he pushes, confusion written all over his face. Then you become untethered, you pull away as Conor comes over with Lefty. Righty stops for a second, looking at you with patience and desperation before going over to help another camper. 

“Did my dad do something?” Lefty presses, you meet her eyes before taking in the worried expression on Conor’s face.

“No, honey, I promise everything's okay.” you reply, Conor watches you intently, “Con, I promise.” he slowly nods, before handing you his glasses, then you point towards the starting line. “Good luck guys.” 

You immediately felt guilt for making it the kids problem, when it wasn’t, it had nothing to do with them. Well it had everything to do with them, you found someone who treated Conor well, someone he trusted, and that was more important than anything else. There were many reasons you found Righty attractive, but being a good man, a good parental figure were checked off that list. 

Righty blows the whistle to start the race, he doesn’t come over to you, keeping his distance, trying to mull over the conversation in his head. He honestly wasn’t sure what he had done wrong, or what you were talking about. But whatever it was, it caused distance and something you were trying to convince him that you were fine with, but you clearly struggled to believe and communicate that.

But you continue to be quiet, but your eyes are lingering on him, when it comes to water balloon fights. Righty thought that it would be funny to smash a balloon over Lefty’s head, but she doesn’t react as expected.

“Why did you do that?!” Lefty yells, voice cracking.

“Lefty-.”

“No! You ruin everything! I hate you!” she marches away from him, Righty is frozen in shock, the rest of the kids too. 

You come over to him, concern written all over his face, “What’s wrong?” Lefty is sobbing, he crouches down in front of her, to be shoved away. “Why don’t you two go and talk?” you suggest, hand skimming over his shoulder for a brief moment.

“Thanks.” he nods, moving towards his daughter who kept creating distance, “Let’s talk, please.” Lefty crosses her arms over her chest after harshly wiping away her tears as she walks away with him. “I’m sorry, I thought you would find it funny,” he begins.

“Well I didn’t!” he nods slowly, understanding her, as he scans her features, trying to figure out what was wrong underneath it. There’s always been something.

“What did you mean? I ruin everything?” Righty asked, cautiously, “That you hate me?”

Lefty doesn’t look at him, “I’m sorry, okay?”

“No, if you feel that way, it’s okay, I just want to know why.” he explains, carefully, she finally looks at him, glaring.

“I’m not in trouble?” she questions, he shakes his head.

“Do you throw those tantrums with mom?”

“Yeah…” she murmurs, casting her eyes down, “She usually gives me my phone.”

His heart hurt because she was always angry with him, she blew up on him because it got to be too much. Ruby wanted to blame everything on him, but she buried things too, she ignored issues. “What did I do?”

“You’re gonna leave Y/n like you left me.” she huffs, looking at him through her lashes, “And mom.” with pouty, nervous eyes. 

His adam’s apple bobs, “I never left you.”

“You did.” she cries, softly, bottom lip trembling.

“I didn’t mean to, I want you around sweetheart.” his hand comes over his heart, “You mean everything to me and I know I’m not good at showing that Lefty, but I love you so much.”

She wraps her arms around his neck, hugging Righty tightly and he tries not to cry, squeezing his eyes shut. One hand rubs at her back before she pulls away, he wipes away her tears, “What about Y/n and Conor?”

“What about them? Everything will work out.” he promises.

“I know you like her dad! And I want you to be together and we can be family, but you two can have little babies too!” she elaborates as his eyes widen, a laugh bubbling from his throat.

“Can you keep a secret?”

“Oh yeah!” she grins, jumping once in excitement.

“I want all that too.” he admits as she claps, before pointing at him. 

“You have to tell her, she doesn’t know that!”

And Lefty might just be on to something and now he turns his head towards you. To see you sneakily peeking over, but when you look over again, it’s clear that you’re worried. You offer him a reassuring smile and Righty turns back to Lefty.

“Wanna help me with something?”

The rest of the day the kids get clean up having hot dogs and cheeseburgers for supper, going into the indoor gym to watch Lilo + Stitch before heading to bed. Righty doesn’t push anything, if he didn’t wanna talk about it, you wouldn’t bring it up. An awkward space in time that shouldn’t have been so complicated, but you were unsure. It left you in this place where the truth was protected because you didn’t know what the reality of the situation was. Did he want you now or does he need you as a vice? Or did he genuinely like you? Were the lingering looks ever going to follow up with a reminder that you should change?

You didn’t know but you knew he kept giving you that look. He’d meet your eyes like he wasn’t setting you ablaze with his just lingering gaze. It was like you knew what he was thinking about when he sucks his lips in. Before darting his eyes away from you, when he did, you immediately want it back. What you wanted even more was to have him close enough you could see the golden strikes in his blue eyes. Now they look dark, almost like they were brown, doey, and then he looks again so you don’t have imagine. You bite your lip, anxiously, mouthing, ‘Come here’. Because you could take him this far away. Righty sits down next to you on the ground, leaning his head against the wall before turning towards you. 

Your gaze roves over the thin line of his lips, to the bulbous end of his nose. He was handsome in a way he didn’t quite know, even his smile lines itself could take you under. You wanted to trace your finger along each freckle and crevice, there’s a slight indent along the front of his left eyebrow. Instead you feel the front of his pinky reaching out to soothe along the back of your hand. A questioning twitch of his eyes, jaw working with nerves, you skim your palm along his knuckles before he turns his hand face up. He links your fingers together, the tension in your shoulders attempting to relax. Righty’s thumb petting over your knuckles, when you're finally able to focus on the movie. Rather than dreading the inevitable heartbreak loving a man like Righty would feel like. 

It was now clear to you that your exes issues went above distaste for you or Conor. But Righty was a good man, he truly cared about his daughter, he knew how to talk to her, to Conor without fear or judgement. You didn’t have to be scared and you wish you could feel that bone deep. In order to do that you needed to trust yourself, you knew you were picking the right man. You just really hope that it’s mutual. 

You go to bed thinking about the warmth of his hands, how they held you only a couple nights ago. The cabin got up around at seven to start a long hike that would take up most of the day. It wasn’t your favorite, especially when you had to haul a whole wagon of supplies again. The girls stop to write down about certain things they saw and you finally remembered to bring your polaroid camera. Trying to find moments in the shade so that the pictures wouldn’t be washed out by the sun. 

Once you get to a spot by the water, you give them a break before starting breakfast. Putting out a tray, you make eggs, showing the girls how to make the fire while getting out donuts just in case you couldn’t start a fire. You weren’t going to keep them to yourself, less to haul and less of a chance of a kid passing out or getting too tired. The group had grown a lot closer over the course of the last month. Lefty hadn’t struggled with the other particularly, but she was quiet, she held herself back from bonding or getting to know them. But now she sat between two girls who were adamantly chatting with her while they ate their eggs. 

Then they find rocks before getting out the paint supplies, and decorating the rocks that they found. Some looked like insects or animals, others were large enough to use akin to a canvas. It took awhile to gather everyone afterwards, to wait for the paint to dry, though it was fast-drying paint. 

“What time is it?” a girl questions. 

“Noon, it took us about an hour to get here, so we should get back for a late lunch.” you address.

But then they continue to drag their feet, they keep wanting to take detours and make excuses to stop. “Do we get to swim tonight?” someone asked.

“If we can pick up the speed, maybe?” you tease, turning back at them. 

“What if we’re meant to be late?” Lefty retorts, as another girl elbows her in the side. If you didn’t already have suspicion before this, you certainly did now. 

When you get back to the campsite, the girls change before heading out for free time indoors before lunch. It was hot, the kids spent the whole morning outside, they deserved some AC for a bit. While you grabbed all the laundry and headed to the main lodge, having to wash the camp attire the kids were assigned to wear. Then you go back to check on the girls, but you can’t find Lefty, Righty or Conor either. With the other counselors around you went to go find them, winding up in the nurse’s office to see Conor on the bench with his knee banged up. 

“Hey…” you sigh, walking over to him, concern etched in your brow, with Righty crouched down next to him. You sit beside your son, “What happened?” 

Conor turns to you with tears in his eyes. “I fell, well I was pushed down, but we were playing tag.”

Righty sighed, standing up but gently squeezing his shoulder with reassurance. You meet his eyes, you figured it wasn’t the complete truth, he was used to protecting others. Righty had already cleaned the wound before you arrived so you finished, applying ointment and a bandage. Then you get him a candy bar as you pull Righty away to talk to him in the next room.

“What is it?” you press, searching his eyes, hand on his bicep, he steps in closer.

“He got pushed by a kid, like deliberately, he didn’t want to upset you and I promised him you wouldn’t be.” he explains, blue eyes softened.

“I’m sorry, he, when I found those marks on him, I cried so much.” you hang your hand in shame, “I felt like a failure, the one thing I was supposed to do was protect Conor and I couldn’t.”

“You got out,” he remarks, hand starting at your scapula and moving down the side of your back. “That was only human, okay? You’re doing better now, he just wants to protect you and I can’t blame him.” his hands comes up to caress your jaw, “Not that you're some damsel, you’re not, but I hate seeing you hurt or upset but I have to talk and you gotta let me finish.”

“Alright.” you agree, with a small smile on your lips. 

“I don’t want this to be a temporary thing, I’m falling in love with you, when we leave here, I’ll drive the twenty minutes to come see you, I’d drive however long I needed to, to get to you, whenever you need me.” he rambles, a little breathless, mouth slightly agape, “And I was supposed to wait, because I came up with this whole thing with Lefty but I can’t let you tell me that and hold back because you think I’m not gonna be around. Because if you want me, I’m yours, I’m there.”

You step in closer, your knuckles hitting the bill of his hat before your hands coming to the back of his neck. He grins as you connect your lips with utter passion, to display how much you wanted-no needed him. 

“I’m so scared, but I’m falling too, I don’t wanna stop.” you relent, “That’s the sweetest, most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me, I want you so bad, all the time.”

“I do too.” he mumbles against your mouth as you smile, pursing your lips to kiss him back. 

“Okay, we’re working…” you remind as he reluctantly lets you go, “And you can do the plan, for the kids sake.”

Righty raises his eyebrows, giving you a lopsided smile, “Yeah for the kids alright,” he jokes, kissing your temple and making your chest feel warm. 

So after lunch, the kids go to their respective cabins and get ready for the lake afternoon, taking all the time for a break. The girls had been begging all day for the lake, now they were ditizing around, coming up with every excuse to stay back. The girls going in and out of the rest room, they haven’t even gotten their swimsuits on yet. 

“Guys, c’mon!” you usher, uselessly. You know that this has something to do with Righty and Lefty’s plan. 

Then there’s a knock at the door, you peer over your shoulder, the girls giggling behind you. “Open it!!” Lefty encourages.

You slowly open the door to reveal Righty with all the campers around him, all playing their respective instruments, clanging symbols, using shakers and bells. Then you eye Conor next to him, playing the recorder. He stands in front of you with a crooked smile, a bouquet of daisies. The kids end the ruckus as you step out towards him, they are all beaming about their performance for you. It was adorable, “Will you be girlfriend, Y/n?” you walk forward, arms circling around his waist, his head tucks into your neck. Then the girls and boys begin to cheer in excitement, as you giggle, hearing a soft murmur of Righty’s laugh.

“Okay, can we swim now?” A kid presses.

Righty pulls back gently, shooting you a wink before completely letting you go, “Gotta return the instruments, then we can go.” he replies, as the group starts to hurry towards the music building. He turns to you as the girls collectively agree to get changed. 

“And yes, I’ll be your girlfriend.” you hum, he smiles at you, top teeth nipping at his bottom lip, you close the distance to finally kiss him. That’s when his arms wrap around you, your reaction is to completely melt, his fingers firmly digging into you. 

Then you hear laughter behind you, separating from the kiss, you see Conor standing there with a big grin plastered on his face. “We need the key.”

“Yeah, sorry I’m coming.” he blushes, as Conor runs off again. Righty hand slides from your back to your waist, before struggling to drag himself away. “I’ll see you soon.”

There’s a moment before he walks away from you, a few feet away, it felt like the two of you were drawn together like magnets. Righty’s eyes were soft, his hand flexing with the will to reach out to you, before he turned away. 

You knock before entering the cabin, “Alright, let's go to the beach!”

The two of you orbit each other, throwing smiles across the way and speaking with your eyes. The second to last day was a slow start, the morning hike and swimming was meant to wear them out. Knowing they didn’t have to get up early the next day was a relief, but that last night would be a campout in the woods with your two groups. You were teaming up with Righty again, it was a ways away from camp, about a thirty minute walk from the main camp ground. But less than five minutes from the next group of campers.

Righty was working on setting up the walkie talkie’s and telling everyone the frequency of ours. He goes over a lesson about how to use them, the plan was going out to collect supplies, wood. Whoever makes the coolest art project with nature, wins. They don’t win anything in particular but the kids didn’t have to know that.

You spend the rest of the afternoon, giving each group a map and telling them to stay on the blue path. Both of you rotating to keep track of the kids, you were just lucky to not have any running off on you. It took awhile to get the campers settled afterwards, showing them how to hide their food, even though they had no bears. 

The setting up the tent part took the longest and after they got dressed for bed. You and Righty take turns changing into your respective pajama’s, the idea of sleeping with him tonight was thrilling in a quiet way, where’s even better than you imagined. Then he works on a fire, you go down to the creek with Conor to a bucket of water to put out said fire. 

“What do you think about Righty and Lefty visiting after camp’s over?” you enthuse, as your son’s eyes light up with bright enthusiasm. 

“I really liked that, Lefty’s my best friend, Righty's your boyfriend!” he replies, as you trek back up the bank, handing the pail to Conor when you get to the top. 

“They’re something special aren’t they?”

“It feels right.” Conor adds, as you lean down to kiss his head, to out of sight from the other camper’s, he didn’t mind.

“I’m happy you feel that way too, bud.” you agree. 

When you come back into view, Righty meets your eyes, a soft smile spreads across his cheeks. You count the kids as you give them each a marshmallow, “Everyone still has a stick?” you ask, as they chirp up a ‘yes’ or lift their stick in the air. “Okay, go ahead and take turns guys.” you sit on the other side of the circle, directly across from him. 

His blue eyes searing into you, anticipation welling up in the air between you as the night creeps forward. You were going to be in his arms the whole night, knowing it wouldn’t be last made you even more eager. 

The two of you go back and forth with ghost stories, the kids taking their stabs at it. Enjoying their s’mores before going out to the porta potties for one final trip, a small dim light inside of them. You were ready with the wet wipes before they got back into their tents, making sure everyone was comfortable. 

Then Righty comes up to you, slinking his hand into yours before leading you to your shared tent. He unzips it carefully, holding it open like a proper gentleman then stopping inside behind you. You both fold into the separate sleeping bags, turning towards each other, the distance doesn’t sit quite right with either of you. 

“I’m not doing this.” he asserts, before unzipping his bag and reaching over to pull you in closer, undoing your own sleeping bag. You scoot closer as he drags your thigh over his hip, you giggle, draping your arms around his shoulders. Looking into his eyes, he skims his hands down your back, fingers tangling into his hair. Righty dips his chin to kiss you, unrushed, lips slowly move together but ramping up in tension. Being more about intimacy than sex, you missed being close to him, but tonight wasn’t the night for it either. He pulls away breathlessly, dragging his nose along your jaw and down the column of your throat. “I missed you so much.”

You ground your hips down onto his thigh, running your fingers through the strands, “I missed you too, thought about you holding me every night.”

“I will one day, every night.” he promises, rubbing his nose along the shell of your ear, his breath washing over your neck. 

You move your head to the side, his eyes flutter open and he collides your lips together again. Righty hums into your mouth, slipping his tongue past the threshold, finger digging into your hips, and pressing his thigh into your core. Then he pauses, shaking his head softly before pecking over your cheek, along your pulse point. 

“You’re so addictive, Y/n/n.” he whispers, kneading your ass as you tip your head back, bucking into him. 

“One more kiss than we have to stop.” you breathe as he groans lowly, quietly. 

“Want you to get off on my thigh, but you gotta be real quiet.” he retorts, as you squint, trying not to give in but then he flexes his muscles underneath your core.

“Yes…” you murmur, rolling your hips in his grasp, your mouth molds back on to his, messily licking past his lips. 

His tongue works with yours, controlling with the way he guides your thrusts, his erection beginning to strain against his plaid pajama bottoms. Moving down his neck, you suck at his throat, trying to contain your pleasure as you tremble. He closes his eyes, hands moving along your soft love handles and thighs, so tempted just to take you here. But it wasn’t his reality in the moment, this was. The way you can barely even kiss his neck because your breath is so uneven--god it was enough. One of his hand cups your cheek, angling your head, enveloping your bottom lip in his. You desperately chase after his mouth, needing the push and pull of his tongue, the flavor of his gum filling your senses. 

Your high washes over you, making you gently writhe against his thigh, moving to bury your face into his neck while moaning. Hand clutching at his hair, whole body shaking, as he slows the movements of his leg. He presses kisses along your face, before you turn your head to look into his eyes. 

“What are you doing next weekend?” Righty questions, as you furrow your eyebrows.

“What-why?” you blink a few times, still coming down from your orgasm. “I mean, nothing…give me a girl a minute to recover.” you joke, as he chuckles gently, kissing your lips gently.

“Sorry baby, got excited.” he notes, you lay your head on his shoulder, and his hand comes to run at the back of your hair. “You uh, should come over, I don’t have Lefty next weekend, but I have a bed for Conor to sleep in and a fold out couch.” 

A smile spreads across your face, lifting up on to your elbows, “We can do that. But we have to get you a bed.”

“I know, I just never really cared to decorate before.” Righty mutters. “I have two rooms, one’s just storage…But we can move that stuff to the basement.”

“Are you really doing all this planning, right now?” humor in your eyes, as he shrugs. “You really do want me.” It wasn't a question this time, it was a statement. 

“I do, even if I can’t have you again, I’d just hold you forever, or have you make those pretty sounds into my neck again.” he admonished, as you flush, heat crawling up your neck.

“You’ll have me again, Conor can spend the weekend with my mom.” you said, “But only one night, cause he gets homesick.”

“I would too.” he counters, finally kissing you carefully, burying his head into your neck, holding you close and leaving feather light pecks in his wake.

You buzz a little at the intimacy, at the way he held you like he needed you. There wasn’t a maybe or a begrudged answer, he was sure. Righty had fallen just as much as you were, you could see all these moments in the future with him. But not just him, Lefty, and Conor growing up as best friends, having each other’s back.

When you were sure that you were going to be alone with Conor, that it was the only safe way. But no one was like Righty, no one’s ever cared so much or understood so easily. He was funny, you didn’t know everything about him, but you wanted to learn. You wanted to fall in love over and over again with him. Having the chance at real love, hoping this wouldn’t be one where you had to throw in the towel for your own protection. He was more than a rebound, he was a part of your continued healing. You could be on your own but you don’t have to be anymore. All the baggage only brought you closer, showing your scars to be met with gentle care, acceptance. 

Even if you’re scared, it feels like the real kind with your heart on the line, with your utter adoration comes crumbling down with reality. The kind that felt really good after you jumped through the hoop. Trusting that the reality was he was obsessed with you, he was making plans, just like you.

That night even in the wilderness, laying on the cold hard ground together. You couldn’t have been in a more perfect place, wrapped in a man who truly appreciated you. He saw you, even if it was the start of falling in love, it felt like the beginning of everything. 

end note: i do have an epilogue! i’ve written it but i want it to be a little longer than it is so it might take a minute! i really hope you guys enjoyed this, i loved writing this fic, comment and stuff! Part 2 is HERE