Gemotions

Liam stared at the photograph; it was a candid shot of his new colleague, Sarah, from her college days. She was sitting by a campfire, laughing. "Is that… Camp Clearwater?" he asked, his voice catching in his throat. A wave of heat washed over him.

Sarah’s head snapped up. Her smile faltered slightly. She set down her coffee cup. "You… you know Clearwater?"

He could feel his palms begin to sweat. He remembered the exact spot in the photo, the way the fire crackled, the smell of pine needles. "I… I went there every summer growing up," he said, his voice husky. He reached out a hand, almost without thinking, to touch the picture.

Her eyes widened minutely. "No way," she breathed, her expression a mixture of amusement and… something else. He couldn’t quite place it. The world seemed to shrink around them, the office noise fading into the background.