"Why is all this coming with us?"
They insisted that you'd bring your car along with their truck and were now shoving your vehicle full of bedding and alcohol. You weren't sure if you liked where this was going.
"We do this every once in a while. We go out past town and kinda have our own little party." Heat said, wedging a bottle of Jäger between a couple pillows. "There's a lot of drinking so we stay the night in the truck, and your car too tonight. It's hard to fit five people in one vehicle."
"Oh, okay." It was a good thing you didn't have anything planned tomorrow.
Kind of "camping" for the night with a few good looking men didn't sound like a bad deal. Especially when you still had the hots for one of them. He may be pissed with you by the end of the night, or maybe not. You'd have to see how things played out.
Right now, Wire was busy helping Kid stack up some extra wood in the back of their truck and cinching it down. He and Heat had gone and picked up some old pallets from behind the local grocery store that were going to be tossed. They had some extra bits of scrap wood in their backyard they filled in the gaps with. From the looks of it, they were planning on burning a lot of stuff well into the night.
You were no pyromaniac, but you were excited to set some stuff on fire. It wasn't something you'd been allowed to do in the past and new experiences were always fun. At your request, the guys had tossed a bag of marshmallows into one of the vehicles. It'd be a crime to have a bonfire and not roast marshmallows.
"Is that everything?" You asked as Killer came out with even more alcohol. The car wasn't going to be able to hold much more. It was practically already bursting at the seams with bedding and drinks.
"I think so, unless you've got any other requests."
"Nothing I can think of." You shook your head.
"How about condoms?" He whispered, nudging you suggestively. "There'll be plenty of space for you too to get 'lost' in."
"No!" You whisper yelled back, blushing hard. "That is so not happening tonight!"
"Have some class." Heat grumbled and headed off to finish helping Kid and Wire.
"Just a suggestion." Killer raised his hands in defeat. "Take your time with this then. As long as you talk to him tonight, I'm sure things will go in that direction eventually."
"Why is that the most important thing on your mind?" You asked with a huff.
"It'll make more sense after you talk with him, trust me."
You watched him suspiciously, waiting for him to add something else but he met your stare boldly and smiled. Nothing strange going on here.
"We good to go or what?" Kid barked.
"We're good." Killer answered.
"(Y/n)?"
"Yeah, I'm all set." As much as you could be for a spur of the moment night out.
You'd sent Smoker a text, letting him know where you'd be and you felt fine with it all. If there was one thing your family taught you that you still found important, it was to always let someone know where you'd be if you were planning on heading out somewhere. It was supposed to be a good way to keep safe but it was funny how that was the one thing you never did for your family when you left. Life lessons at their finest.
----
You followed the truck to their little spot. Heat rode with you in the only other open seat in the car while the other three had piled in the truck together. It had a large enough cabin to fit all of them, but he said he would've felt bad letting you drive by yourself. As scary as he looked, Heat had a big heart.
It was about an hour drive and by the time you got there, it was beginning to get dark. But there was still enough light for you to appreciate the scenery. Most of the area surround the town was rolling hills and farmland but if you went out far enough, it changed quickly. Their "camp site" was a thickly wooded area with a clearing big enough for the two vehicles plus at least four more. In it's center was a large spot free of grass and undergrowth with a few old logs around it. To get to it all, you had to drive down a narrow, worn path.
You could hear water running nearby, just out of sight past the trees and smell the fresh outdoor air. The best part was at the edge of the clearing, past a couple trees, you could see this whole site was placed on a ledge looking out to Aufork. It had an amazing view of the town and all its surrounding farms. You didn't even realize how far up you'd come until you were able to look down at the town.
"How'd you guys even find this place?" You peered over the edge while the guys started piling the pallets up in the dirt center. Of course it was the spot for the bonfire.
"We've spent our fair share of time exploring around here." Killer said. "And we just happened to come across it and decided we liked it. Been coming here a few times a year ever since."
"Best part is there's still phone service believe it or not." Kid added happily. He loved his technology.
"Oh cool." You pulled out your phone to check and sure enough, the service worked. You were able to see Smoker had texted you back and sent him a picture of your view. It was too good not to share.
Then you got to work helping the guys set up. Once they had the bed of the truck cleared, you swept out the small splinters of wood that was left behind and tossed some of the bedding in it. Your car was on the opposite end of the clearing and set up similarly. It's back seats were folded over to make more room and turned into a makeshift bed. A few blankets and pillows were tossed into the front seats of both vehicles as well so everyone could spread out some.
Coolers of alcohol and snacks were placed around the logs by the bonfire and it was all good to go. You had to admit, it was a great little set up. This was your first time camping and you were more than a little excited for it.
"I can't believe you guys get to do this all the time." You said.
"I can't believe you haven't done this." Wire finally said something. Sometimes it felt like he had to work up the courage to talk to you.
"Couldn't do it for the same reason I couldn't do a lot of things."
"Too dangerous." They all said in unison.
Yep. They'd heard often enough about all the other things you weren't allowed to do. Ride motorcycles, go camping, fishing, handle heavy tools, hell, your family didn't even like you driving for the longest time. You had to sneak around to get your license.
"They let you learn how to swim at least, right?" Heat asked.
"Yeah, thankfully." You said with a smile.
"Oh you're going to love this then." Kid smiled, eyes sparkling. "C'mon and check this out."
Everyone followed Kid towards the source of water. It didn't take a genius to figure out where he was going with this. There was a small path leading to an overhang. A few feet below it was an almost crystal clear pond. The sound of flowing water came from the small waterfall off to your right depositing fresh water into it. The pond looked pretty deep. Deep enough that you weren't too worried when you saw Kid strip off his shirt and jump down into it.
Water splashed back up, tiny beads of it flicking across your face.
"Wait, I don't have a change of clothes with me..." You trailed off when you noticed the other guys stripping. Shirts were tossed to the side and you had to look away when jeans were unzipped.
"None of us do." Killer answered with amusement.
There was another splash as someone else joined in.
"Don't tell me you guys are going in naked!" You shouted down.
Another splash.
"I promise unmentionables are covered (Y/n)! You coming or not?" Killer shouted back.
"Bold enough for porn but not enough to take a dip. What a shame." Kid joked.
"It wasn't my porn!" You looked down in time to see Wire jump down in just his boxers. What do you know, they were covered.
"So are you not coming down?" Wire popped out of the water, slicking his hair back only for it to flop back into place. It was too short to do much else.
They were all grinning, expecting you to chicken out and damnit, you couldn't. With a sigh, you unbuttoned your shirt and tossed it to the side but left your tank top on. Boots were kicked off and the guys cheered below.
"Take your pants off!" Kid whistled at you playfully. You found a small rock and tossed it at him, hitting him square in the forehead. "Ow! What the fuck?"
You still stripped off your pants. There was nothing worse than soaked jeans. And then you jumped down before you could change your mind.
There was a solid second of straight adrenaline from the fall before you hit cold water. It clouded your vision and chilled your skin. Your tank top clung to you like a second skin and there was a moment of peace. All you could hear underwater was the thunderous sound of the waterfall and muffled laughter from the guys. It wasn't quiet, but it was still calming. Everything felt right in that moment.
And then you were above water, gasping for air and from the cold.
"Holy shit it's freezing!" You fell into a fit of laughter, shivering and ducking as someone splashed water at you.
The laughter changed to a yelp of surprise when Wire grabbed you around the waist and lifted you up, only to toss you back in the water. But you clung to him, wrapping your arms around his neck and dragging him down with you.
Bodies writhed around you two as the others began wrestling but you were focused on Wire. His initial look of surprise turned into a bright smile. Bubbles escaped his lips as he chuckled and you were so glad the water was clear. It'd been some time since you saw him like this and it made your heart ache. You smiled back like a love struck idiot.
Yeah. It was time to talk to him. Getting over him wouldn't be easy and you didn't want to anyway.
----
You all goofed off in the water until the air had cooled with nightfall. Then it was a climb back up the ledge to get to your clothes and back to the campsite. The one thing the guys forgot to bring was towels so everyone huddled up around the pallets while Heat started a fire. Soon alcohol was being passed around and everyone was drying out by the fire.
Killer was just as intent as you about getting that talk in with Wire. He managed to get you two sitting together with him and the other two on the opposite side. The tall flames between them and you created the illusion of privacy. Between it's crackling and the soft murmurs of the other three men, you and Wire could talk without interruption.
Things were beginning to feel tense and awkward as they usually did when it was just you two. He avoided looking at you, his whole body was hunched in on itself and turned away. It was almost painful to look at.
"It's really pretty out here." You started with small talk to ease him in and hopefully relax some of the tension.
"Yeah."
"It's nice that you guys get away every once in a while."
A grunt of agreement.
"...Thanks for inviting me out with you." He didn't invite you personally, but you got what you wanted by saying that.
Wire finally looked at you, not at all amused.
"What're you doing (Y/n)?"
"I'm trying to start a conversation. Is that really a question?"
He sighed. "Maybe you should look for new friends."
"Why? Because you can't tell me what's the issue with giving us a shot?"
"Do you really want to have this talk?"
"Yeah. I do."
He met your stern stare for a moment before standing up and grabbing his jeans. You don't know how you were able to talk so seriously with him in just his boxers and you hardly in anything better.
"We're going for a walk guys. We'll be back in a bit." He told the others.
You snagged your pants, doing a little dance to get them pulled over your ass and shoved your boots on. You grabbed your button up and waved to the others as you trotted after Wire. Kid and Killer were all smiles while Heat gave you a thumbs up. Nice to know they were rooting for you.
You went a distance in silence. The fire turned into background light and then fell out of view, leaving you in darkness. But your eyes adjusted well enough to pick your way through the trail that Wire was creating. His broad back stayed in view, only a few steps ahead of you.
"How'd your ex treat you?" He spoke up as he let you fall in step with him and watched you.
"Why's that important?"
"Just tell me."
"Well..... He was mean. We were supposed to get together so he could merge his business with my mom's, it was all out of 'necessity' so to speak."
"Mean how?"
"Do you really need the details?" You grumbled.
"Yes. You said before he was aggressive, I want to know how."
You frowned. "You know last time I told someone about it they brushed it off and told me to get over myself."
His eyes softened at that. "I promise I won't do that. You don't deserve it."
You searched his eyes in the dark for a moment. They were as dark as ever, though instead of seeming like they were solid, they felt like black pools. Something you could drown in. They were still as inviting as always.
You looked straight ahead as you walked on before continuing. "He liked reminding me that I would never be good enough for him under normal circumstances. Liked telling me I wasn't worth much and I wouldn't amount to much. And when he wasn't telling me how useless I was, he'd find excuses to get me in bed with him and just....do what he wanted." You shrugged like you could shake of the heavy feeling that came with talking about it. "The family told me he didn't mean it and I was probably overreacting. They told me to get over it and learn how to take 'compliments' better."
Wire was stiff beside you, his steps jerky, fists clenched, face steeled. "Kid was right about your family being nothing but assholes, no offense."
You let out a bitter laugh. "None taken. The longer I'm away from them the more I agree with him."
"I'm sorry you had to go through all that."
"Don't be." You shook your head. This wasn't supposed to be a pity party. "What's done is done and I think I got out relatively unscathed. It could've been a lot worse."
"That doesn't make it any better."
"No, but I'm not planning on living in the past, especially when I'm sure they'll leave me alone. Life's been good lately and I want it to stay that way."
"I'm glad you came here. It sounds like it's been good for you."
"Then why don't you tell me why we supposedly won't work?"
He stopped and leaned against a tree to face you. You looked up at him with your arms wrapped around your middle, hugging yourself as you prepared for him to give some lame excuse. Or maybe something so true it might hurt. Talk about anticipation.
"Staying friends would be easy. I like you a lot but I'm afraid of hurting you."
"How? You're not a degrading asshole. Maybe a grump, but not an asshole."
"A grump." He chuckled. "Is that what you think I am?"
"Wire....."
"Alright." He was still smiling but you could see he was back to business. "This is important, how many partners have you had?"
"Like....sexually?"
"Yeah."
"Just my ex."
"So your only experience is with someone who treated you like shit."
"How's this important Wire? Get to the point. Please." You added the last part to seem a little less bitchy.
"It wouldn't be a big deal if you liked someone with normal taste but I can't change what I like and I don't think it'll work for you based on that."
"So you're saying..... we can't work because you're not vanilla?" This had to be the last excuse you thought he'd ever give.
"He hurt you."
"Not physically. Why would you just assume that I'd never be able to...." You groaned. "Really Wire? We could've avoided so much of all this–this stupidity if we just talked about this from the get go."
"It's not stupid to worry about you." He growled.
"It is if you don't try to figure things out before giving up."
"So you still want to give it a shot?" Strangely enough, he sounded both annoyed and hopeful.
"Yeah."
"Fine! Okay then."
"Okay?"
"Yeah." He was frowning at you.
You held his stare for a moment and slowly started giggling. He just angrily agreed to dating you. Who does that?
"What's so funny?" He grumbled.
"You." You gasped as the giggles turned to full on laughter that had you doubled over. "You really are a grump."
"Whatever." Wire took a step forward, closing the distance between you and him.
You straightened back out to look up at him just in time for him to slip a hand around your jaw and pull you in for a kiss. It was like the first time, rough and dominating. He was hell bent on having full control and you were more than happy to give it to him. It gave you the chance to feel along his chest, guilt free this time. He rumbled under your delicate touch and moved down from your lips to your throat.
"By the way," He said between firm, wet kisses against your skin. "It's not just that I'm not vanilla." He suddenly bit down on the side of your neck until you gasped. "I'm a bit of a sadist."
It hurt and felt good at the same time, you couldn't explain it, but it made sense now. He was afraid of hurting you the same way your ex did. If he did hurt you physically, there might have been a chance you wouldn't have been able to handle this but you liked Wire too much to have never wanted to give it a shot.
He continued to worry at the spot, probably leaving a hickey in the process. While the sound you made before was out of surprise and partially pain, you were now whining softly from pleasure. It still hurt but it was like a bitter aftertaste, a little unexpected but not bad. It was disappointing when he let go, running his tongue over the slightly raised spot and then pulling away with a content sigh.
"I think I could get used to that." You purred and smiled up at him like an idiot. That had you in a bit of a pleasure induced daze.
"You have no idea how relieving that is to hear."
He stooped down to kiss you again but you put a finger to his lips. "There is one thing I do need to tell you before we get too far into all this."
"Is it that mysterious secret of yours?" Wire took your hand away and held it in his, rubbing his thumb along your knuckles. He was enjoying getting to touch you finally.
"Yeah actually. I haven't told anyone else about it." You gathered the courage to look him in the eye. "And it's something you need to know."
(A/n)
I feel like this is something that needs to be prefaced/ have a warning so I'll try to do it without giving it away. Her secret involves something I think should be talked about more often but isn't, at least as far as I know. I don't think it'll be anything triggering but you never know. So yeah, it will involve something that can be considered life changing and difficult to work with. It's also something I personally relate to and I'll address this more at the end of the next chapter!