“Dove?” I felt my forehead pinch together. Callum didn’t sound like it meant “dove” to me.
His expression was of the deadly brand of serious. “Dove.” He shrugged his shoulders. “You know, the common bird that’s associated with the pigeon family that people consider an all-around nuisance and pest?” Callum motioned his hands at himself like he was proving something. “So yeah, totally prophetic for the person I grew into.”
This time when the group laughed, I joined them.
It took me by surprise—the laugh. Until this moment, I’d been convinced I’d spend the summer on a laughter strike. An hour into day one and I was already disproving that whole theory.
I could tell he was trying not to laugh, but one slipped out. It was a nice sound. One of the nicest sounds I’d heard in a long time. It wasn’t the fake kind or the dialed-down kind; it was the real kind.
“So I guess we’re just a couple of birds.” I smiled at him, wondering if at the end of the summer, I’d leave this place with more than just enough money for a beater car.