Kinky Confessions

“I know. And we’ll have to do it in addition to school and everything else. That’s why it scares me. But I’m serious, I don’t know if I can walk away from that much money. And that’s just my ballpark estimate. I ran it past Susan, though, and she said it’s in line with her budget and the estimates she got from the local guys. So, what do you think? Can we handle it?”

“I… don’t know.”

“Neither do I. But I’m willing to agree to the first part, the Retreat. Then we can spend the summer looking at the other parts of the project. If it’s too big for us, we’ll tell Susan, and she can get a real construction company to handle it. Well, our little company’s real enough, but you know what I mean

—a bigger company, one with the resources to do the job right.”

He studied me intently for a moment, and I hoped my expression didn’t

show how nervous I felt. Unfortunately, he saw right through me.

“Yeah, me too,” he admitted. “I have butterflies the size of 747s in my stomach. I’m literally terrified. But part of me thinks we can do this!”

I laughed. “I know what you mean. Yeah, I’m scared, but I’m excited too.”

“Let’s talk to the girls about it. We can’t make a decision like this without their input.”

“No.”

“’Cause it affects them. Besides, I think they’ll enjoy part of it. Susan’s talking about doing some marketing to attract more visitors. That’s Wren’s wheelhouse. And all the new buildings will need art and decorations. That’s Christy’s department. So…,” he said after a moment, “are you up for it?”

“Honestly? No, I wanna run screaming. But… yeah. Let’s go for it.”

“I was hopin’ you’d say that. Sure, it’s a lot of work, but you’re the one who asked if extra work bothered me.”

“Crap! I did, didn’t I?”

“Uh-huh. But it’s also a lot of money, and I mean a lot. We’ll double our income from last year, and that’s accounting for it being a longer project.” He sat back and grinned at me. Then he opened the bottom desk drawer and took out two glasses and a fancy decanter of Jack Daniel’s. “I keep some of the good stuff in here. Seems appropriate to toast our new venture.”

He unstoppered the decanter and poured two fingers’ worth into each glass.

“Holy crap,” I said as the enormity of what we were talking about finally hit me.

“‘Holy crap’ is right.” He raised his glass and touched it to mine. “To success… and a fat bank account.”

We discussed the entire plan with Wren and Christy, although we didn’t go into detail like we had with each other. Still, we made sure they understood it would be an ongoing project, probably for the next year at least. Wren wasn’t uninterested, but she didn’t ask many questions. She clearly had a lot on her mind and wasn’t thinking beyond graduation. Christy was more involved but mostly deferred to me. She saved her real questions for later, as we were

getting ready for bed.

“Do you think he can do it?” she asked.

“Trip? Yeah, I’m sure he can. I’m more worried about me. That’s a lot of responsibility, and I’m just a college student. I’m not even a real architect.”

She immediately set aside her lotion and sat on the bed, where she took my hand and ducked to look me in the eye. “You’re a real architect,” she said. “And you can do this. I know you can. I’ve seen you work, remember?”

“Yeah, but that’s designing things. It’s just pretty pictures in my head. It isn’t real construction or real deadlines or real money.”

“But you act like it is. I used to think you were a little silly for how serious you were, but now I see why.”

“Architecture’s a serious business for serious people.”

“Exactly.”

“But this is a bit more serious than I’m ready for.”

“You’re ready. Besides, no one loves the camp more than you do. You’re the only one who can do this. None of the others care. It’s just a job to them, another project in a whole bunch of projects.”

“You’re right about that.”

“Of course I am,” she said. “And I’m right about this.”

I nodded slowly.

“Besides, this is one of those things you’ll regret the rest of your life if you don’t at least try. So it’s settled? We’re going to do it?”

“We?”

“Of course, ‘we’! We’re partners, remember? You said so.”

“It’ll mean a lot of work,” I said. “And maybe a lot of time apart. This summer won’t be so bad, but next year’ll be pretty busy. Trip and I talked about it before we told you and Wren. He’ll probably do all the scheduling and management, which means I’ll be doing the site visits.”

“You can do it,” she insisted. “Besides, I’ll go with you.”

“You wouldn’t mind?”

“I told you, I won’t let anything come between us. Not even a huge construction project. Now, let me finish my routine. Then I’ll convince you properly.”

“Sounds good. But… I might need a lot of convincing. It’s a very big job.”

“Of course it is. And you’re just the man to do it. But… are we still talking about the construction project?”

I grinned. “You tell me.”

“You’re such a pervert. And I love you so much.”

“I love you too.”

“Mmm, I know.” She leaned in and kissed me. “Now, let me finish.

And… um…?”

“Yes?”