Like Father, Like Son ✔

Chapter 18 - The Morning After

"Damn right, I'm cute," Nick grinned triumphantly, his forehead pressed against hers.

They stayed in bed until the late hours of the afternoon, and Nick got to explore Cat's body all over again, kissing her and touching her absolutely everywhere. The only reason they even got out of bed at all that day was because Cat's stomach started growling so much neither one of them could stop laughing whenever they heard the sound.

Cat went to shower while Nick pulled some jeans on and made his way outside to start up the grill. Not knowing there was a nice little store just a few miles from the campground, Cat had stocked up on enough food for them to last a week. Nick rummaged through the refrigerator and grabbed the things he needed to make grilled avocado, which he would then stuff with salsa and Greek yogurt. When his mother used to make these on camping trips, she'd swap the yogurt for sour cream, but Nick preferred it his way and it was healthier anyway.

Cat took the longest shower, and Nick had a feeling when he went in there later there wouldn't be any hot water left. She came to find him after she was done, wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing her lips to the middle of his back.

"It smells good," she murmured.

"It tastes fantastic too, I promise," he grinned, draping an arm around her shoulders and tugging her closer.

"I would've never thought to grill avocados," Cat giggled.

"I know, it sounds weird, but trust me, I know what I'm talking about," Nick told her pointedly. "You just cut them in half... remove the seed... I brushed them with a bit of lime juice for some added flavor; my mom doesn't usually do that... she just does the olive oil... She also uses sour cream instead of Greek yogurt, but it pretty much tastes the same and it's healthier. "Now we just put them flesh-side on the grill, wait a couple minutes..." he gestured around the patio. "Add some salt and pepper, then we indulge."

"I feel like I've been indulging way too much with you these last 24 hours," Cat giggled, giving Nick a quick hug before making her way to sit down in one of the patio chairs. "I mean, how are you even keeping up? You're like, a guy... you can't... just... whip it out that often, can you? Or are you just that good?"

The end of her sentence was muffled, probably by her hands. She did that whenever she got embarrassed about something, and Nick was willing to bet her face was flushed.

"I'm just that good," he shrugged.

After eating, Nick and Cat decided to spend some time outside since they hadn't done much of that yet. They exchanged their clothes for swimsuits and went swimming for a while, which was really just another excuse to make out a lot. Cat had such a relaxed, easy-going air about her, like she felt free and without any worries for just a little while.

Nick liked that he could be the one to bring out that side of her... to just make her unwind when her brain was usually wired on the 'mother' frequency.

They got out of the lake and lounged around for a bit, then Cat went back inside to give Nick's parents a quick call to make sure Luke was doing alright. She got to speak to him for a little while and found out that he was having an absolute blast. Nick's dad was showing him how to fly a miniature airplane and tomorrow they'd be going to the park with Adam and Grace.

Luke wanted to talk to Nick as well, so he got his chance on the phone with the little guy too.

"Hey buddy, how's it going?" he grinned into Cat's phone, resting a hip against the counter that was made way too low for his tall frame. It was just too small in general, acting as a very minimal work surface in the kitchenette. You could hardly fit a cutting board on there, which made it difficult to get much done – especially when you took up as much space in a kitchen as Nick usually did. He had a certain organizational system.