Eva's Expedition

Chapter 21: Stay With Me

I grinned at him, "Then you're coming with me because I've never felt like this before. I like being with you. You're more family to me than my parents ever were."

I was taken by surprise when Logan grabbed my face in his hands and pulled me down for a hard kiss. I relaxed against him and melted into his kiss.

Madame Zulu was right. The attraction and passion was overwhelming.

Logan pulled back as I rested my forehead against his.

"Do you want to go back to the hotel? Grab some dinner and watch some movies maybe? It can be another date," I offered with a grin.

"The day I pass up a date with you will be the day I'm six feet under," Logan chuckled.

I got up off of him and reached out a hand, helping him up off the damp sidewalk.

"Nice," he grumbled as it started to drizzle rain.

I shrugged, "It's just rain."

Logan chuckled and wrapped an arm around my waist, tugging me close to him as we started to walk. The rain soaked us but it wasn't really a bother.

Logan laughed as I stomped in a puddle and splashed him with muddy water. He splashed me back and I hip bumped him away from me.

We were soaked when we reached the hotel.

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"We need this too," I said, grabbing some extra fluffy blankets and throwing them in the cart.

"Eva, what happened to the bare essentials?" Logan said from behind the cart, looking at the mound I'd created.

I shrugged, "I've never been camping. I don't know what the bare essentials are."

"Just like, I dunno, sleeping bags, a tent, a mini grill, flashlight, some food, water purifier, things like that," he listed off.

"Well we have all that, now for some homey necessities," I grinned and pulled on the cart to make him keep moving.

We were walking around a Gander Mountain in northern Tennessee. For destination six, we were going camping and hiking on the Appalachian trails that cut through Tennessee and Kentucky.

Logan and I drove as far north as the trails allowed to cut down on the time. Now we were supplying up. I figured we could splurge on this destination since we'd been penny pinching for a while.

I continued to toss what I thought were necessities into the shopping cart. Female necessities were no longer needed since my problem had only lasted three days. I was still rejoicing.

"I think that's good," I said approvingly as I threw a warmer jacket in. I was also getting Logan some hiking apparel, despite his whining.

"Thank god," he sighed and started pushing the cart towards the register.

I jumped on the end and laughed as he sped up to race around the store. The clerk looked at us like we were misbehaving five year olds...which wasn't technically wrong.

I paid for all the stuff, refused to let Logan see the receipt and drug him back to the truck. I don't know why, but I was exceptionally excited about camping.

For a girl who's never been out of the city, the complete opposite of home sounded fun.

Logan tied a tarp over all of our things in the bed and climbed in the cab. I directed him towards a local park that led to the trails.

"We can drive up to the Green springs clearing and then walk from there tomorrow," Logan said as he slowly drove the truck along the dirt road.

We came to a large clearing that had a stream running directly through it. I stayed glued to my window, taking in all the green.

"The camping grounds are about four miles from here," Logan said as he studied a map.

"Do we really have to get all the stuff out now just to pack it up in the morning?" I sighed as I looked at all of our gear.

Logan made a lazy face before brightening up, "I have an idea."

I raised an eyebrow as he started piling things out of the truck bed and setting them aside. I smiled as he then filled the bed with our pillows, sleeping bags and blankets.

"It's warm enough to sleep here tonight," Logan said, putting the tailgate down.

We both decided to eat some snack food we'd brought for dinner and to save the rest for later.

Logan turned on the radio and we laid in the back of the truck while the sun set. Crickets and other bugs began to hum while some owl hooted somewhere.

"Ever gotten a view of the stars like this?" Logan asked, pointing up.

I looked up at the stars and gasped, "Holy shit...no, I've never seen the stars like this."

They were magnificent. I couldn't confuse any with an airplane or such. There were clusters in areas of the sky. Faint swatches of different colors of our galaxy were just barely visible.

No light pollution of the city. Just pure sky.

"Shooting star," I said as a star streaked across the sky.

"You can make a wish on those, you know."

I wish I could live this dream for forever.

It grew late and we started to get ready for bed.

"You can turn the music off," I said to Logan as I brushed my hair out.

"I did," he said from the other side of the truck.

We looked at each other and glanced around. Faint rock music was coming from somewhere and we could barely see some light coming through the trees.

"Wanna go see who's there?" I asked Logan.

He hesitated, "We don't know them."

I shrugged, "Sounds like a party."

I grabbed his hand and started walking towards the light in the woods. Logan followed closely.

The music became louder and I became more excited.