Life and Love

Chapter Thirteen

We drive for two hours and it is the most comfortable drive in my life. The squishy leather arm chairs swivel around 180 degrees. I turned mine inwards to Nik's and tucked my feet in beside his legs. Every so often he would trace patterns on my ankles and I couldn't stop myself from smiling up at him. The incident back in the bedroom left me feeling like a hormone enraged teenager. I suppose I am a hormone enraged teenager.

I have to remind myself several times how bad of an idea it is to be more than friends with Nik. But it feels pointless to try to fight the fact that we are attracted to each other. I try to convince myself that it would be okay to have the type of relationship Jennie and Chase have but Nik and I have never been good at 'casual'. With us, we are all in. All in and perfectly happy or all in and going down in flames.

We pull into our campsite, after circling the entire park twice, and join the rest of our group. It appears my new friends have been anxiously awaiting this day for a long time. The RV and this camping trip have been a topic of discussion for them for weeks now. It almost makes me feel like I am intruding but I am here now, so it's not like I can back out.

"Are we all sleeping in here?" Jennie asks from her spot, perched on Chase's lap.

"No." Everyone but Bev, Clare, Jordan, and me chime in response. There is no need to ask for a further explanation. After hearing about the thrupple staying up all night, hooking up together at Nik's party, I think we all know exactly who won't be sleeping in the RV.

"I brought my tent trailer." Jordan gestures out the window, and I can see a much smaller camper hooked up to Nik's truck.

"Steer clear of that thing tonight." Nik says as he plops down beside me and brings his arm to rest on the top of the couch. I see Jennie raise her eyebrow at me. I know she is considering this action to mean that Nik has his arm around me. I try not to think of it that way.

"Noted." I laugh.

"We aren't going to hang out in here the whole trip, are we?" Jessica pipes up as she jumps to her feet. The sound of her voice is still unfamiliar to me; she is so quiet. "Come on Cal. I will show you how to build a proper fire."

Suddenly everyone is on their feet and we begin to set up the campsite. The site itself is large, but most of the space is occupied by the RV. Chase re-parks it twice to give us as much room as possible. When he is happy with the position, he releases the slide out and the living area inside the RV doubles in size. Next he cranks out the awning and we have a covered area to protect us from the rain.

The storage compartments on the outside of the RV are brimming with supplies. Folding chairs, a card table, a set of horseshoes, a badminton set, an expensive-looking table top bbq, an outdoor area rug, a collapsible shoe rack and several canisters of propane.

Jennie and I lay out the area rug underneath the awning and set up a table and chairs. Jessica and Cal get a fire going in the stone fire pit while Bev, Clare and Jordan set up their tent trailer. Hayden struggles with the badminton set for a few minutes before giving up and hammering the horseshoe stakes into the ground instead. Chase and Nik come out of the RV, each carrying a large cooler filled with beverages.

Within forty-five minutes, our campsite is complete and we all relax into chairs around the fire. The smoky aroma of the burning wood brings back memories of another camping trip, years ago with Becca and her family. I smile at the memory but my heart aches, missing my best friend.

"You good?" Jennie nudges me and hands me a can of Twisted Tea. We decided not to bring any tequila with us because we don't want to spend the entire weekend wasted or hungover.

"Fine." I smile at her and take the can.

"We need more firewood." Hayden states as he tosses the last few pieces into the fire, sending an explosion of embers into the darkening sky.