Her eyes were closed, her hand in the air, her head down, and she was doing a running-man-inspired dance. Her feet were pumping as she inched toward her man, one bounce at a time. When she stopped feeling the hand in the air, she put both in front of her and started doing a jig, kicking her feet out to the side.

This.

These two people. This dancing. Knowing that when I made myself known to them, they wouldn’t be embarrassed. They might turn the music up and dance around me in circles.

I had missed this too.

The song changed, and a slow bass began—Eminem’s “Ass Like That.” As one person, they jumped toward each other. Hadley leapt high enough to turn all the way around, her ass doing its own dance.

Owen crouched around her, pretending to frame her booty like he was a photographer giving his model instructions.

Then he looked up, and his mouth dropped.

Hadley continued popping it with the rhythm, then leaned back and pretended to slap someone’s ass in front of her. When she backed into Owen and realized he had stopped, she looked up.

Her mouth dropped too.

I waved. “If you’re having a dance-off, is there a way to cheat?”

They paused. One second.

“Charlie!” Hadley screeched.

Owen offered his own awkward wave. “Hey, Charlie.”

She launched herself at me. I hadn’t seen this woman in eight years, but that didn’t matter. She leap-frogged and stuck to me like a window suction animal—legs around my waist, arms around my shoulders, and she climbed up, settling into a better position.

I reacted on instinct, grabbing her so she didn’t pull us both down.

That’s how my hand landed on her ass, and she wiggled it, mewing into my neck. “Aw, she’s missed us too, D. And there’s no cheating in a dance-off.”

“Whoa.” I hugged her tight. “Okay. Extrapolate.”

She laughed, letting go and standing on her feet again.

Owen moved up behind her, a protective hand coming to her shoulder as they perused me.

These people.

We were all in our late twenties. I knew these two had a kid, maybe two by now, but they looked like they were still in their teens. It was the camp air. Had to be the camp air, all fresh and no toxins. What kind of animals enjoyed breathing that stuff?

“I’m hoping the D stands for Owen.” I wasn’t sure if I wanted to pose that as a question.

Owen’s tanned cheeks flushed, so yep. Got my answer.

“Okay. Hug time.” I pointed at D. “If you leap-frog at me, you’re going to hit air.”

He laughed, came forward to hug me briefly before Hadley squeezed me tight again. She rocked me left and right. “I’ve missed you so much.”