Free Labor of Love by Rachel Hawthorne Page B

said.
    â€œOkay, so what do we want to do?” Jenna asked.
    I shrugged. “Maybe we could go down to the French Quarter—”
    â€œHey, Jenna,” Tank called out, walking toward us. “We’re going on the tour. Are you?”
    â€œYeah, we are,” Jenna said.
    Okay, I guess our plans changed.
    â€œGreat! See you at the bus.”
    She waved at him as he walked away. I watched as he joined up with Brady and Sean, said something to them. Then they headed to his car.
    â€œHope you don’t mind,” Jenna said.
    â€œI’m good with it,” Amber said. “I mean, we’re here to work and have fun.”
    They both looked at me, like they thought I was going to argue with the fun part. I guessed there was no reason why I had to go. But I didn’t want to spend the rest of the afternoon alone either.
    â€œIt’ll be interesting,” I said enthusiastically. I didn’t see how, but I was trying to be a good sport. “But I have an important question here—what does one wear to a swamp?”
    Ms. Wynder took us back to the dorm so we could clean up—fast. She wasn’t going on the tour, but she was willing to drop us off at Sara’s.
    I changed into shorts. I decided to double layer two tank tops that I had, putting a red one over a pink one that peeked out just a bit. I slipped on my red sandals.
    â€œYou know a swamp is probably squishy,” Jenna said.
    â€œYeah, you’re right.” I changed into sneakers. I didn’t want muck getting between my toes.
    Quite a crowd was at Sara’s when Ms. Wynder dropped us off. The other three girls in our group immediately headed toward three guys who’d shown up at the site with Sara that morning.
    â€œWow, that didn’t take them long,” Amber said.
    â€œLooks like a lot of people are pairing off,” Jenna said.
    â€œHere we go, everyone!” Sara said as the bus pulled up.
    â€œI guess we can all sit together,” Jenna said.
    She said it like it was a fate worse than death, obviously worried that Tank wasn’t there yet. And then suddenly there he was, grinning broadly, Brady and Sean right behind him.
    â€œHey,” Tank said, taking Jenna’s hand. “This is going to be awesome.”
    Maybe swamps were a guy thing.
    Brady and Sean were both standing there with their hands in their back pockets, like they weren’t exactly sure what to do. Like maybe they were wondering if we were all going to pair up again like we had last night.
    I remembered how worried Amber had been about how things would play out if Jenna was seeing Tank. I hadn’t wanted to deal with it then. I still didn’t.
    We headed onto the luxury bus. Each row had two seats. Sean was leading the way. Amber was following him. I was behind her. Sean dropped down onto a row, reached out, took Amber’s hand, and pulled her down beside him. I felt a small spark of panic. Where was I supposed to go now?
    I went a couple of rows back and took a seat by the window. Jenna slid onto the seat in front of me, and Tank sat beside her. That was cool. I could sit alone.
    But suddenly Brady was there. He eased down beside me.
    â€œI think the bus is going to be packed,” Brady said. “Tight fit for everyone, so I figuredsitting by someone I knew beat sitting by a stranger.”
    â€œThese are all people from the site. Don’t you know them?”
    â€œSome of ’em, sure, but not like I know you.”
    What exactly did that mean?
    â€œSo should I move?” he asked.
    I shook my head. “No, you’re fine.”
    He grinned, wiggled his eyebrows. “Some would say I’m better than fine.”
    I couldn’t help myself. I laughed.
    Sara took a head count, and then the bus headed out.
    â€œSo…Sara predicted I’d walk into your life?” he asked in a low voice.
    â€œUh, no, she predicted a red baseball hat was in my future. Not exactly