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“They’re all empty.”

I glanced at the buckets. He was right. The little fuckers had managed to drain every last bucket in less than five minutes.

“Get the hose,” I told him.

“Can I spray people with it?”

“No.”

“Can I spray you with it?” he tried again.

“No.”

“Can I⁠—”

“No.”

He walked away, disappointed by the shortness of my answers. Alvin would have said something more creative than a straight-up refusal. Scratch that, Alvin would have been the one to aim the hose at me without asking permission first.

I looked back through the trees. Omar had leaned towards Alvin, who was laughing now. His head tipped up at the sun and one hand pressed against his chest.

Omar said something I couldn’t hear. Alvin picked up a grape and threw it at him. Omar caught it in his mouth. Alvin applauded. And I ground my teeth until my jaw hurt.

The campers began shouting as they chased one another around the open field. I spotted the water spraying across the grass and glittering in the sunlight out of the corner of my eye. A girl shrieked.

I should have been paying attention. Instead, I watched Alvin reach across the blanket and wipe something from the corner of Omar’s mouth. And my stomach turned over.

Omar said something else, and Alvin’s expression softened. His fingers stayed in Omar’s grip. Their hands rested between them, surrounded by the basket, the blanket, and the sort of easy affection I had never once allowed myself to give him.

I looked away.

“Darius,” Cindy called out from somewhere behind me.

I didn’t answer. She came up beside me anyway. Cindy had a water gun tucked beneath one arm, a whistle hanging around her neck, and a smirk on her face that suggested she’d figured out what I was doing and intended to make me suffer for it.

“Everything okay?” she asked.

“Fine.”

“You don’t look fine. You look like you’re worried I came all this way to try to kiss you.”

I glanced at her from over a shoulder, only half paying attention to what she was saying. “Huh?”

“You look like you want to vomit, Darius,” she clarified, and I finally caught her meaning.

I shook my head and peered back through the trees, where Omar was attempting to catch another grape in his mouth. “I’m supervising,” I told Cindy.

“From here?”

I glanced at her again. “The campers are in the outdoor activity area.”

“They are. And you’re in the activity area adjacent to the outdoor activity area.”

“I can see everyone,” I assured her.

“You can see Alvin.”

I cleared my throat and pivoted to face Cindy, keeping part of my body turned so that I could still get a glimpse of the picnic area too. “I can see the campers.”