"Hanna, where are you?"

"I don't know, Emily. I'm around trees. All I see is trees." The annoyance was obvious in Hanna's voice.

"Well, what does your GPS say?"

Hanna pressed a button on her GPS and let the speakerphone pic up its flat, monotonous reply: In approximately 3 hundred thirty-two miles, turn slight left to stay on Route 95 North.

"332 miles, Em!" Hanna screamed into the phone. "I have to go another 332 miles before a fucking lane change!" Emily put her hand on her chest, laughing hard. "Like, who the fuck goes to fucking Vermont for Spring break?"

"Sorry, Hanna. That's what happens when you're dating an older woman!" Emily was sure to say "older" extra loud, even though Paige could hear her every word from the driver's seat.

"She's not your grandma!" Hanna was still yelling, burning off steam. "She's still young enough to go to Cabo!"

"I told you, Han. She doesn't want to go someplace where we'll be surrounded by 'drunk, hormone-crazed kids.'" Emily deepened her voice as she quoted Paige. "She wants to go someplace chill, where we can decompress and come back rested."

"Fuck," Hanna almost whispered. "Maybe she is your grandma!"

"Hanna..."

"Can't you just ply her with sexual favors or something?"

"Hanna!" Emily gasped in shock.

"What did she say?" Paige looked over from the driver's seat, smiling in anticipation at hearing whatever inappropriate thing it was that Hanna had said.

"She wants me to ply you with sexual favors," Emily said, exaggeratedly loud, so that Hanna would know that she was telling Paige.

"Actually, that probably would've worked," Paige laughed, "but it's a little late now!"

Emily smiled, about to relay Paige's response to Hanna, but Hanna cut her off. "I heard, I heard," she said, exasperated.

Paige smiled over at Emily when Emily ended the call. Emily was shaking her head, also smiling.

"So, you were saying? You and Sydney talked?"

"Yeah. So, she said that it was like being gay, you know? The fact that I can sleep with guys doesn't mean that I want to. Or that I have to. I don't know - it sounded better when she said it."

Paige laughed heartily. "No, I get it, Emily. If I were a coach, I might use that analogy myself, except that, if I did, I'd probably get in trouble with the NCAA."

"But is it bad, though?"

"No, it's a great analogy. They're just hypersensitive."

"No, I mean, is it bad if I decide not to go pro? Would it look bad?"

"To whom?"

"To Coach Murphy?"

Paige laughed. "If it meant that he'd have you on his team for another three years, I'm sure that he'd be dancing for joy."

"Well, what about to the agents?"

"They'll wait, Em. You're young. You've still got plenty of strong swimming years ahead of you - if that's what you decide that you want. They want to get you into the system as soon as possible, because it's a revenue stream for them. For you, too, if you want that. It's win-win, in that case."

"I don't know. If I had to make a choice right now, I'd say that I don't want to."

"And that's fine. And it's good to know that you don't have to make a choice right now."

Emily nodded. Paige registered the nod in her peripheral vision, but she kept her eyes on the road.

Emily was ready to change the subject.

"So, this place is nice?"

"The B & B?" Paige looked over, and Emily nodded. "It's supposed to be," Paige shrugged. "The pictures look nice."

"You've never been?"

Paige shook her head.

"Never came up with Lacey Lowman?"

"Never borrowed my Dad's car to transport a minor across state lines in an old, beat-up Subaru?" Paige smiled over at Emily. Emily just rolled her eyes. Yes, it was a stupid question. She just wanted to know that she was Paige's first.


"You've got to admit, Hanna, this place is pretty nice," Emily said, pointing out the lake. "I mean, just look at the water. It's beautiful!"

"Hmm. Yeah, water" Hanna replied sarcastically. "Only one thing missing."

"What's that?"

"Hot guys!" Caleb cleared his throat. "Well, duh, Caleb. You're hot, but you know what I mean."

"Look, we're here now, so why don't we just enjoy it?" Paige was trying to be the voice of reason.

"I'm just saying, Paige. We go to Spencer's shore house every summer to decompress. For Spring Break, we need to go someplace where we can let loose."

"Well, it's not as if you're in school anymore, Hanna. You and Caleb can go on Spring Break next week!"

Hanna looked at Caleb. They both smiled. "So, you guys can watch Tristan?"

Emily shook her head vigorously. "I'm not allowed to have animals in my dorm," she pointed out, as her excuse.

"No, but I can have them in my apartment!" Paige eagerly pointed out. She knelt next to Tristan, rubbing behind his ears. "Do you want to come to State College with Auntie Paige, big guy?"

"Paige…"

"Aw, it'll be great, Em! I'd love to have a dog around the apartment, wouldn't you?"

"You don't mind driving all the way back to State College with a dog in the back seat?"

"He'll be fine. Won't you, boy?" Paige asked in the baby voice that she always used with Tristan.

"I'm just glad that we took your car," Emily said, mainly to herself. Paige was off in another world, with Tristan.


"Paige!" Emily pleaded from her lounge chair. "Come on, take a break!" Paige and Tristan had been running around the lake for the better part of an hour. Paige looked over to where Emily lay lounging, her bikini bottoms covered by a towel, her tanned skin glistening under a layer of sunscreen, the black bikini top standing in perfect contrast, and Emily's no doubt pleading eyes hidden behind a pair of black sunglasses. She made a compelling case. Paige walked over in her direction. When she got closer, Emily reached up to grab her by the arm. "We're supposed to be chilling. Come sit with me," she said with the sweetest smile.

Paige leaned over and gave Emily a kiss. She tugged at her t-shirt a couple of times, to get a cooling flow of air going. "Wow, I really worked up a sweat," she said as she pulled the shirt over her head. Emily squirmed a little in her seat at the sight of Paige's elongated torso as her arms moved over her head.

"Do you need some sunscreen?" Emily asked, wiggling the bottle at her.

'No, I'm good," Paige said, smiling, as she sat down.

"Paige. With your fair skin, you need UV protection. Get over here." Paige willingly gave in. She liked the idea of Emily's smooth hands massaging sunscreen into her skin. Emily sat up in her lounge chair and pulled Paige's chair closer. She took a towel and gently dabbed the perspiration off of Paige's skin. "God, you smell so good," Emily said, and Paige purred. "Oh, shit – did I say that out loud?" Emily laughed shyly. Paige caught hold of Emily's hand and gave it a kiss.

"Ack! It's Cold!" Paige protested when the first of the sunscreen hit her back.

"Sorry!" Emily kissed Paige's shoulder and rubbed her hands together to warm the sunscreen a little before she continued. "Better?"

"Mmm… You're good to me," Paige said, moving her hair out of the way so that Emily could get her neck.

"I love you," Emily said, in response to Paige's observation. She kissed the newly exposed skin on the back of Paige's neck, and Paige reached behind her to give Emily a hug.

"I love you, too, Emily."


The hotel had a breakfast kitchen, but the guests were on their own for other meals. Emily had noticed a nice looking restaurant on the way in, and, since no one was in the mood to cook, they decided to give it a shot.

Hanna was in rare form at dinner. She had a million observations about the people, places, and things that she had encountered in her fashion internship. Caleb was taking it all in stride, nodding, laughing, and shaking his head at all of the appropriate moments.

Paige excused herself to retrieve something from the car. Emily looked at her, confused, wondering what she could possibly need right at that moment. Paige smiled and leaned down to give Emily a kiss, promising that she would be right back.

"Maybe she's got an engagement ring out there," Hanna speculated, taking a rare break between her stories before jumping right back into them. She was still going on and on when Emily, worried after watching the minutes click by on her phone again and again, got up to make sure that Paige was okay.

As she approached Paige's car, she could see her arms flailing wildly and her head bobbing back and forth. When she opened the door on the passenger side, Paige let out a gasp of surprise and embarrassment, turning down the radio and bringing her one-woman dance party to an immediate end.

"Oh, hi, Em," she said sheepishly. "Did you miss me?" she tried to joke.

Emily was smiling as she shook her head. "Couldn't take any more?"

"Emily, she just does not stop! I don't know how you and Caleb handle it!"

"Oh, she's just excited, Paige. This is her dream!"

Paige sighed. "We have to go back, don't we?"

Emily nodded, giving Paige a sympathetic pout.

"Want to make out?" Paige asked brightly, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Yes," Emily said slowly, drawing out the word. "But you know that we have to go back inside."

"Ohhhh, Emily," Paige groaned. "Don't make me go! I'm sure that they're doing fine without us! Hanna probably hasn't even noticed that we're gone yet!"

"Paige, you've got no one but yourself to blame, you know!" Paige knit her eyebrows. "You were the one who got her excited about following her dreams!"

"Only because I couldn't handle tutoring her anymore. Shit. I should've left it alone. At least she didn't talk about school the way that she talks about this!"

Emily gave Paige a kiss on the cheek. "You're a good soul, Paige McCullers. You rescued her from a life that would have been horrible for her."


"So, what did you guys do, have a quickie in the car?" Emily elbowed Paige in the side, to keep her from saying what Emily knew that she was thinking: If we were going to get accused of it anyway, we might as well have done it!

Hanna was more subdued. Caleb had a hand on her bicep. Paige realized that he must have suggested that she tone it down.


"So, are you glad that we came here?" Paige asked as she wrapped her arms around Emily and settled in to get some sleep.

"It's nice. Cozy."

"You wouldn't rather be in Cabo?"

Emily turned around and smiled at her. "I wasn't really in the mood for all that craziness, to be honest." With a kiss, she added, "I've got everything that I want right here."

Paige took a deep breath. "So, what do you think that I should do about the recruiting job?"

Emily stroked Paige's cheek. "What do you want to do?"

Paige rolled onto her back, staring at the ceiling. "I wish I knew."

"Would there be a lot of traveling?"

Paige shook her head. "It would be a lot of going through reports and looking at film. And it would involve coordinating visits to bring recruits to campus. I might go on one or two trips a year."

"Is it something that interests you?"

"Not so much. It would be an investment. I found out this past season that I really like coaching."

"And you're good at it!"

"Thanks." Paige kissed Emily's cheek.

"No, you really are. You did such a great job with Sydney. And with me." Paige took in a breath, but Emily cut her off. "Don't even say it, Paige. I'm being serious."

Paige chuckled. "I didn't have to do anything for you. You were obviously going to develop into a huge talent."

Emily smiled, accepting the compliment. "Anyway..."

"Anyway, I really like coaching, and this is one of the things that I would need on my résumé if I wanted to coach full time. You know, as a head coach."

"And the downside?"

"The downside is that I'm not really sure that I want to give up on my studies, and coaching would pretty much mean giving up on my dreams of getting a PhD."

Emily nodded.

"I don't know, Emily. What do you think?"

Emily put her head on Paige's chest, finding her hand and intertwining their fingers. "Well, I know that you really love coaching." Paige smiled and nodded. "Do you really love Lit?" Paige nodded. "Do you want to give coaching a year, see how you like it, and whether or not it's worth giving up Lit for?"

"Maybe."