After the second show, he threw his Retro jumpsuit in the approximate direction of his costume rack and hightailed it out of there. He had already showered and buried himself under his blankets by the time Beau and Ben came back.

A few hours later, once he had mentally tortured himself to the point of exhaustion, he fell asleep, wondering how he could possibly do this for another five weeks.

He was still in bed the next afternoon when Beau suggested going for a swim.

“Yes,” Archer said, attempting to muster up some enthusiasm. “That sounds great.” The idea of plunging into the cool depths of murky green water was actually appealing. Anything to shut the world out for a few minutes.

“Not me,” Ben said with a yawn. “I’m going to grab a nap before the show.”

“Okay, love.” Beau gave him a quick kiss. “See you in a bit.”

They found Dominik, River, and Gage down at the dock, too, and Archer was happy to be distracted by their antics in between deep, refreshing dives. He held his breath until his lungs burned, then pulled himself back up toward the sunshine.

The afternoon was winding down when Archer climbed out of the water and his shorts snagged on a wayward nail, leaving a long, ragged tear down the front panel.

“Shit!” he said, examining the damage. He held the fabric together with one hand over the expanse of exposed thigh.

“Oh man, that sucks,” Beau said, but he was distracted by his phone. “Message from Betty in the group chat,” he told Archer.

Archer dried his hands on his towel and retrieved his phone from his bag to check. Meeting at 4:30, everyone! Stewart’s back! Let me know you got this.

Archer sent a quick Got it. Stewart. Hopefully that meant everyone would be better behaved again, although he wasn’t sure there was any coming back from the current disaster. Mateo would probably never forgive him. Archer’s throat squeezed as the guilt that had been washed away by the lake water came flooding back.

“Ben hasn’t replied.” Beau frowned at his phone. “He’s probably still asleep. I’d better go wake him up.”

“It’s fine,” Archer said. “I’m going to head up now anyway to change. I’ll make sure he’s up.”

“Okay, thanks. I’ll meet you guys at the theater then.”

Archer wrapped his towel around his torn shorts and made the trek back up to the dorm. He unlocked their door and, as he pushed it open, was met with a mass of moving flesh and blankets. It took him a second to realize what he was looking at. “Oh, shit, sorry…” He started to back out when he realized … that was not Beau and Ben. Beau was down at the dock. And one of the people in the bed had brown skin … It was Caleb. And Ben.