I stay silent, shaking my head, because I really don’t know what to say to that.

After a few seconds of silence, he says, “You don’t believe me, do you?”

“Yes, I do.”

He stops and turns me toward him. “Look me in the eyes, and say you believe me.”

I sigh heavily and look him in the eyes. “I’m…I’m trying to believe you. And it doesn’t have anything to do with you but instead everything to do with me. Just one of those roadblocks I have to get over.”

“I understand,” he says softly while tilting my chin up with his finger. “But just know, I’d never lie about that. You…Scottie…created a monster, because after last night, I’m addicted. And I’m counting down the fucking minutes until I can have more of you.”

I move into him and place my hand on his chest. “Me too.”

“Here’s an idea. Why don’t we plan our date in the cabin? We can just⁠—”

“You cannot plan your date in the cabin,” Sanders says, scaring the both of us.

“Jesus,” I say, gripping my chest. “Where did you come from?”

He eyes the both of us. “You’re to pick a date from the date book in the main building. Understood?”

“But don’t you always say you want your couples to be intimate?”

“I do,” Sanders says. “But the point of these dates is to build that anticipation, to learn to flirt with each other again. You can’t do that if you’re hiding out in your cabin, screwing each other.”

“I don’t know. I’m pretty good at flirting,” Wilder says while scratching his jaw. “I might not need to practice.”

Sanders points his finger at Wilder. “Stay out of your cabin until nighttime.”

“What if…we want to go in the lake and need our bathing suits?” Wilder asks, clearly trying to find a loophole.

Sanders thinks about it for a second and then says, “I’ll allow it. Just for swimsuits. I want you building that anticipation.”

“Trust me, with my Pips wearing that shirt today, the anticipation is already there.”

My Pips.

Did he really just say “my Pips”?

I think he did.

And why do I love it so much?

Maybe because my ex never claimed me the way Wilder so easily does.

“Come on.” Wilder loops his arm over me. “We have a day to plan.”

“Babe, we have to do the tandem bike.”

“Have you ever ridden a tandem bike?” I ask as I stare down at the pamphlet.

“No, but how hard can it be?”

“Uh, hard.”

I turn to the receptionist and ask, “Is it hard?”

“No. Once you get the hang of it, it’s quite enjoyable. You just need to communicate well.”

“Oh, we have excellent communication,” Wilder says.