Scene 16 — Lindsey

Cal and Lindsey headed back to the main lodge. Cal put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into him in a companionable side hug. She leaned in and put her arm around Cal’s waist, enjoying the physical contact.

“Awesome work, girl. We overcame so many difficulties this morning. I can’t believe it was freakin’ Stefan and Annie who came closest to beating us, but you know what, we got it done. Great teamwork, buddy, and nice gesture there at the end too. I know she drives you nuts, but you were really the bigger person there,” Cal said.

Lindsey beamed at him. The rage and terror she’d felt at losing had flipped when they crossed the finish line, she was on fire with emotion - elated, satisfied, and confident. She had never felt better in her life: this camp was awesome, Cal was awesome, life was awesome. They were going to win this damn thing.

“You’re such a great teammate dude,” she said “we worked together so, so, well to figure out solutions when things went sideways. That was amazing, I feel amazing.”

They walked the rest of the way to the lodge with their arms around each other’s shoulders, swaying and carrying on like drunk friends after a night out but they were just high on the energy of winning an intense game. As they walked huddled closely together Lindsey could feel her emotions shifting, her positive feelings were coalescing into something similar, but a little different: attraction to Cal. The pair made a cursory effort to wipe the worst of the mud off their feet so they wouldn’t track across the lodge and climbed the stairs to their room.

“First shower for you again, ma’am?” Cal offered.

Lindsey bit her lip and made a decision.

“Cal, do you have a girlfriend or boyfriend?” she asked.

“Uh, no,” he answered, confused.

“Well then how about you join me and we save some water?” she asked coyly. She held her breath, nervous that he would reject what her suggestion implied and she would ruin everything. She had not put herself out there in quite some time, had she misread the subtle signs from Cal?

It took a moment, but the lightbulb went on for Cal at what she meant, he nodded dumbly and followed her into the bathroom and into the large shower. Before he could turn on the water Lindsey pulled him into a proper hug. Their slippery, muddy bodies pressed together, sliding against each other. She could feel the softness of her curves press into him, and she felt him begin to get aroused.