Camping with the Jerk

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

It was night time. I already knew that much, judging by the amount of light that entered the cabin. A cold sweat had broken out across my forehead and I struggled to sit up. The only problem? I weighed way too much at the moment.

"Why am I so fat right now?" I grumbled, rolling over. I heard a low chuckle coming from beside me.

"It's because you eat too much."

In my sleepy state, I couldn't recognize the voice. But it sent happiness flooding through me. "Your voice makes me happy," I murmured. "But your words do not."

"How so?" Another throaty laugh.

I tried to shrug. "I can't be fat...because I don't like eating."

No more lovely laughter. I frowned, burying my face into the blankets. That's when I heard the voice again, only this time it floated right into my ear, making my spine tingle. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not mean...You're mean." The voice didn't sound happy. It made me unhappy too and that was meaner than any mean thing ever in the whole wide world.

"Why don't you like to eat?"

I wriggled around, rolling over a couple times. "I like it now. Just not before."

"Why not?"

My head started to hurt. And then I came to my senses like I was coming out of a trance. "Colton?"

I squinted at the dark silhouette above me. "What are you doing here?"

He was a bit too close for my liking, but he didn't back down or step away, even as I reached up to shove him away. Eventually, he sighed. "You have so many issues. I don't even want to figure some of them out."

I don't know why, but it hurt to hear him say that. It was probably the meds talking.

"Your face is nice."

Yep. Definitely the meds.

"What?"

At least it got him distracted, I thought. Maybe if I can keep him off the subject for long enough, I won't have to answer any stupid questions.

 "I said, you're face looks like mice."

I cringed visibly as soon as the words were out of my mouth. Colton raised an eyebrow at me but said nothing. I waited silently for him to tell me that I was stupid or annoying, but it never came. When I glanced up at his handsome face, he didn't notice. His eyes were focused on my hands, which were clenching his bed sheets tightly.

"The first time we spoke, I asked where you got all those scars from."

His voice was soft, but held an iciness to it that made me ease away. I nodded.

"Did you lie to me?" he asked.

What did I say when he asked that? I thought hard, trying to remember even though my head pounded and pulsed. When I drew blank, I shrugged.

He scoffed and turned away, glaring at the wooden floor. "You're a bitch, you know that?"

Colton's words sliced through the fog in my mind and I nearly flinched. I hated knowing that was his opinion of me, even though I had a feeling it was true.

"I guess so." My voice was calm and casual, if not a little slurred.

My companion, if you could call him that, let out a rough growl. He sounded both angry and annoyed and it scared me when I realized I was the only person around. If he needed to take his anger out on someone...

"Knock it off," he commanded. "I know you're injured and shit, but you don't have to act like everyone in the fucking world is out to get you. Gosh, you're such a bitch."

"What did I do?" I asked, genuinely confused. Anger tainted my words and I sounded harsher than I meant to.

"Every time I make a comment, you either start to sulk in pity or convince yourself that I'm like that bastard. Get it into your thick skull that I'm nothing like him."

I frowned. My head was alost fully cleared by then, and I almost wanted to go back in time. If I did, I wouldn't understand what he was saying so clearly, let alone realize it was one hundred percent true. The thought that I was only seeking attention made me sick.

"You know what? I'm tired and I've had enough playing Knight in Shining Fucking Armor. Go to sleep," he snapped.

When he slipped his shirt off and headed straight for me, I immediately tried to get off of his bed. My attempt proved to be futile as he gripped my arm and pushed me back down. The back of my head throbbed slightly before dimming into a dull ache. I scooted away from Colton's body when he laid himself beside me.

He was way too close for comfort.

His body was tense and utterly still for a long time. I was afraid to break the silence, but I also feared the tension that radiated from the male beside me. The very hot male beside me. I cringed, resorting to staring at the dark ceiling.

Eventually, I became fed up with the thickness in the air. My voice sounded small as I whispered, "Colton?"

"What?" he said after a moment.

"I'm sorry."

He turned his head to look at me, but I stubbornly held my gaze upwards. "For what?"

My eyes burned after keeping them open too long. I blinked rapidly to get rid of the stinging sensation. "For dragging you into this. And for making you play nurse for me. And for sleeping in your bed."

He chuckled. "Go to sleep, Princess."

My eyebrows creased. "I don't know why you call me that."

"Isn't it obvious?" His tone was playful and light. It eased some of the pressure off of my chest..

"Should it be?" I countered. He ignored my question and laid his hands behind his head. I could see his biceps bulging in the dark of the room and strained to tear my eyes away.

"It's because you're so fucking beautiful," he replied jokingly. I laughed quietly, and he shook his head. His voice turned more serious. "You want the truth?"

"That's why I asked." My sarcasm went unnoted.

"Well...you're probably gonna hit me when I tell you this," he told me. I listened closer, unconsciously drawing my body towards him.

"I won't."

"Promise?" he teased. I nodded vigorously.

"Okay, okay." When he gave in, I bit back a triumphant smile. "It's..."

I moved even closer. "It's..."

"It's..."

I glared. "It's what?"

He flashed a devilish smirk. "A secret."

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Author's Note: This wasn't very good. I whipped it up really quickly, hence the length and the embarrassing nothingness of it all. I keep thinking I should delete this and start over. :(

Thanks for reading!

Forever and Always,
Me