Your shoulders were pink, your cheeks flushed, and you winced every time your damp shirt clung to your back. Still, you sat stiff on the edge of the bed like you hadn’t spent the afternoon getting cooked under the sun — all because you and Caleb refused to forfeit during that dumb water gun war. He ended up winning because he used his Evol to cheat. What a jerk.

Caleb stepped out of the bathroom, towel slung low on his hips, a bottle of aloe in hand. His expression softened when he saw you, though there was the faintest smile tugging at his lips.

“You’re impossible,” he sighed, shaking his head. “I told you we should’ve stopped earlier.” He’s acting all responsible now but he was just into the water gun fight as you were.

He crouched down in front of you, holding up the aloe. The burn on his own shoulders was just as bad, but he didn’t seem to notice.

“Don’t worry about me,” he said before you could point it out. “I’ll take care of mine later. Let’s get you fixed up first.”

He twisted the cap off and met your eyes, his voice gentler now. “Off,” he looked at your shirt. “It’ll hurt less if we do this right away.”