A minute passed as they stood in the lake.
The water moved gently around them, small ripples reflecting the pale moonlight through the trees.
Kate was still trying to shake off what Ray had said.
Her brain kept replaying it.
"You're cute… when you're angry."
She frowned and looked at him again, clearly annoyed.
I can't believe he actually called me cute.
"And you're a jerk!" she suddenly said out of nowhere.
Ray blinked.
He just stood there, staring at her like she had completely lost her mind.
"O-oookay?" he replied.
"You can't just call me cute out of nowhere!" she said. "At least let me be prepared next time."
She angrily slapped the water with her hand, sending a splash straight toward him.
Ray raised an arm a little too late as the cold water hit his chest.
Kate stepped back again afterward, returning to that familiar expression on her face.
The one that clearly said: I'm offended by something random that wasn't actually offensive… but I'm still mad about it anyway.
"Is it already… that time of the month?" he asked carefully, clearly trying to say it as gently as possible.
Kate froze.
For a second her face went completely pale.
Then her eyes widened.
"The fuck did you just say?" she asked slowly.
And somehow she looked even more furious than before.
"You know what? I'm done with you for tonight," Ray said, clearly annoyed now. "You're mad for no reason, and I'm not going to play your weird little game."
He turned and started walking toward the shore.
"You can find your own way back," he added over his shoulder. "Scream for me if wolves want to eat you."
Kate stood there for a moment, stunned.
Then she started walking after him, splashing through the water toward the edge of the lake.
"I'm the one who's supposed to be mad," she muttered to herself as she walked out of the water.
Cold drops slid down her legs while she stepped onto the grass near the shore.
"He just said I'm mad because I have my period!"
She grabbed her pajama bottoms from the ground, clearly still fuming.
He's such a dick… ughhhh
Kate shook her head, still talking to herself as she pulled them back on.
"He thinks all he needs to do to get into my panties is say I'm cute! Such an asshole!" she continued grumbling to herself.
Kate walked slowly along the path back through the trees, still muttering under her breath while she brushed damp strands of hair away from her face.
Up ahead, Ray was already a few meters in front of her.
He hadn't waited.
He really just left her there.
Kate frowned slightly as she noticed the distance between them.
So he was mad.
"Whatever," she muttered to herself.
I'm not the one who can't stop thinking about him.
She tried to convince herself of that as she walked along the narrow path through the trees.
But the only thing filling her mind right now was Ray.
His chest.
Those stupidly cute eyes...
"Ugh!" she groaned under her breath.
Kate picked up her pace, walking faster along the path as if that might somehow help clear her head.
She finally caught up to him.
Ray was walking ahead along the narrow path, his hands in his pockets, looking straight forward.
Kate didn't slow down.
She walked right past him without even looking at him.
For a second she turned her head slightly over her shoulder.
"Fuck you," she said angrily.
Then she kept walking.
Ray didn't answer.
He didn't even look at her.
He just kept walking slowly along the path, his hands still in his pockets.
The only thing he noticed was that she had put her pajama bottoms back on while her body was still wet.
He shook his head slightly to himself.
Such a dumbass
Kate reached the campfire first.
The moment Jake saw her, he jumped up again.
"WOOOOO—"
But she didn't react.
She didn't look at him.
She didn't look at anyone.
Kate walked straight past the fire and headed toward the cabins without saying a word.
"He wanted to fuck her for sure!" Jake screamed again the moment he saw Ray coming from the path.
Ray walked up slowly, stopping right in front of him.
For a second he just stared at Jake.
"Stop saying it like she's some fucking piece of meat," Ray said coldly.
Then he shoved Jake lightly out of the way and kept walking toward the cabins.
Jake stumbled half a step, then immediately started shouting again.
"SEE?! I TOLD YOU!"
Emma rolled her eyes.
Sarah, on the other hand, smiled softly to herself.
The group slowly returned to their conversations around the fire, though the topic had clearly shifted.
Now it was all about Ray and Kate.
Back at the cabins, things were much quieter.
Ray walked up to the door of his cabin and reached for the handle.
He pushed it.
Nothing.
He frowned slightly and tried again.
The door didn't move.
It was… locked?
Ray had expected something like this.
Before even trying the door, he already had a backup plan.
Their cabin actually had a second room in the back — a small living room they hadn't really used yet. One of the windows there never fully closed.
He walked around the hut quietly and pushed the window open.
A moment later, he climbed inside.
The small living room was dark and quiet, lit only by the faint moonlight coming through the window. He stepped across the room and headed toward their bedroom.
He pushed the door open.
Kate was standing there.
Naked.
She had just taken off her wet top, and drops of water still clung to her skin. Her hair was damp from the lake, falling loosely around her shoulders.
Ray froze for a moment, unable to look away.
Their eyes met.
Kate's face went bright red.
"RAY!" she screamed. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! I'M NAKED!"
But this time Ray didn't step back.
"Shut up," he said bluntly. "You're the one who locked the door."
Ray's eyes dropped straight to her breasts.
Kate immediately tried to cover them with her hands, but they were too big to hide properly.
"Turn around!" she screamed.
Ray sighed and finally turned his back to her, now facing the small fireplace inside the cabin.
"Don't you dare turn around!" she shouted again while quickly grabbing a towel.
"Of course you were spying on me, pervert!"
She kept yelling at him while hurriedly drying herself off behind him.
"If you didn't lock me out, I would have just turned around!" Ray shouted back.
He kept facing the fireplace while he heard her moving quickly behind him.
Panicked footsteps.
Fabric rustling.
Drawers opening and closing.
Kate was clearly scrambling to get dressed as fast as possible.
"If you keep at it, your ass cheeks are going to freeze off!" Ray said, though his tone had turned playful.
"Don't talk about my ass cheeks, you perveeeeeert!" Kate shouted back from behind him, still rushing to get dressed.
The noises behind him slowly stopped.
After a moment, Kate spoke.
"You can turn around now… I mean, you saw everything anyway."
Her voice still carried that mix of embarrassment and anger.
Ray turned around.
Kate was standing near the bed now, her face still red with fury. She had thrown on a small white shirt and a pair of shorts, her damp hair still falling over her shoulders.
Her eyes were locked on him like she was still deciding whether to yell at him again or throw something at him.
"If it's any consolation," Ray said as he walked past her and sat down on the bed, "I've never seen a body more perfect than yours."
Kate froze.
For a moment she just stared at him.
Did he really just—
"STOP SAYING THINGS LIKE THAT!" she suddenly shouted, her face turning even redder than before.
"I'm red all the time because of you!"
"My mom always used to say: never lie. So I don't," Ray said calmly, looking at her.
Kate rolled her eyes immediately, though the redness in her face didn't fade at all.
"Your mom clearly didn't warn you about saying stupid things to girls," she muttered, crossing her arms while trying very hard not to look directly at him again.
"Stupid things… to a stupid girl," Ray said, looking at her with a playful grin.
Kate's eyes widened immediately.
He leaned back slightly on the bed, clearly enjoying the reaction he was getting.
His plan for tonight was simple: make her as mad as possible.
If a white hair grew on that red head of hers by the end of the night, that would just be a nice bonus.