ever have good ideas.”
He chuckled along with her, but he couldn’t help remembering Gina. Did his mom consider that a good idea? Then again, he had no idea what happened between Gina and John after Lukas had snuck out. Maybe they’d ended up hitting it off after all.
Maybe that was really what John wanted to talk about.
John realized his mistake when Lukas swam away from him.
He should have said right then that he was sorry for running away, and that he was having feelings for Lukas as well and could they please go somewhere to talk.
He’d intended to use his new tactic the next time he saw Lukas, but he hadn’t actually seen him since the lake right before lunch. He was late arriving at the pavilion for dinner—having lost track of time while hiking—but since Lukas’s parents were still there, he’d thought Lukas would be too.
“Where’s Lukas?” he asked Dave and Lydia as he sat at their picnic table with his plate of food. He couldn’t remember whose turn it was to cook, but the barbeque ribs smelled amazing.
“He went to take a nap a few hours ago,” Lydia said, looking around. “He must still be sleeping. Dave, will you go get him so he doesn’t miss dinner? I know he hasn’t been sleeping well at night, but he shouldn’t skip meals either.”
Sighing, Dave laid his utensils down, but before he could rise, John stood. “I’ll go grab him.” At their confused expressions, he added, “I forgot something in my cabin.”
Dave just shrugged and went back to eating, but Lydia gave him a grateful smile. Abandoning his untouched plate, he took off, trying to hurry without appearing to rush. Lukas could wake up at any moment and head to the pavilion. John wanted to try and catch him in his cabin, if at all possible.
The cabin Lukas was sharing with Greg Ashe was three from the end, which meant there was only one other cabin between his and John’s. John always took the cabin closest to the end since the path for the cabins fed right into the forest trail and made it easy for him to go for early morning walks while reducing his chances of running into other people. Plus, it was one of the few single cabins.
When he reached the door to Lukas’s, he knocked lightly and waited, but when he didn’t get a response, he didn’t bother knocking again. He carefully opened the door and slipped inside the darkened interior. All of the cabins were basically the same size and shape just with different beds. A couple—like John’s—had a single queen-sized bed, most had two full-sized beds, and a handful had a queen with a pair of bunk beds. They all had a bathroom and a small kitchenette, though their group did most of their cooking together and used the large communal kitchen near the pavilion.
He had to wait a few moments for his eyes to adjust since the drapes were drawn over the windows, but then he saw him. Lukas was curled up on his side, facing away from the door. Taking a deep breath, he walked over and crouched near his head, wincing when his knees popped loudly.
“Lukas,” he murmured, reaching out and gently running his fingers through the longer hair on top of Lukas’s head. When he stirred but didn’t open his eyes, John grinned and lightly scratched his scalp, running his thumb over the shell of Lukas’s ear. “Wake up, sleepyhead. You’re going to miss dinner.”
Rubbing his face into his pillow, Lukas opened one eye to a slit. He seemed to have a hard time focusing on John, and when he spoke, his voice was huskier than normal. “John?”
“Mmhmm. Why haven’t you been sleeping well at night?”
When Lukas just shrugged and closed his eyes again, John scratched his head once more, grinning at the small noise it caused. He should stop touching Lukas until after they’d talked, but he couldn’t make himself do it. Carding his fingers through the strands a few more times, he tried to get Lukas to open his eyes.
“I know you’re tired, but don’t you want to have dinner?”
“Too sleepy. Stupid snoring,” Lukas murmured, burrowing into his pillow once more.
That’s right. John remembered suddenly how Lukas had complained last year about not getting much sleep since his roommate was such a bad snorer. “Okay. I’ll save you something. Come find me when you wake up, alright?”
He wasn’t a hundred percent sure Lukas actually nodded and didn’t just