Page 77 of Ashes of Us
It started to drizzle right as they got back to the rental place and handed in their kayaks and lifejackets, so they hurried to the store, rented a pot, picked out two lobsters, and went back to the campsite.
With the gazebo over the firepit and picnic table keeping things dry, Alex started the fire and set up the pot of water on the grill above it to boil.
Danica added salt to the water and cleaned and wrapped a couple of potatoes in tinfoil, setting them around the edge of the firepit, away from the flames but still close enough to the heat to bake, along with corn on the cob slathered in butter and wrapped tightly in tinfoil.
When the water was at a rolling boil, Alex put the lobster in, and they sat and listened to the rain fall over them.
“Oh, it's gonna be a long, damp, cold night.” Alex stood up and stretched as he walked to the edge of the gazebo's covering. “I wouldn't blame Xavier and Emilia for getting a hotel room at all.” He looked over his shoulder at her. “I hope you brought warm clothes to sleep in.”
“I brought jogging pants and a hoodie.” Danica wrapped her arms around herself.
He was right, the air had been steadily getting colder since the rain started, and she could feel the dampness beginning to creep through her clothes.
“You know something? We don't have anything to crush the lobster shells.”
Alex frowned as he turned back around. “Well, shit.
We don't either.” He sighed as he looked at the steadily falling rain for a minute.
“I'll be back.” She watched in amusement as he ran over to his bike, pulled the cover back, pulled out a small bag, and came back.
“My tools in case something goes wrong on a ride.” He answered her quizzical look as he pulled out a wrench.
“I figure we can clean it, and it'll be fine.”
They were finishing their meal when Danica's phone went off, and she pulled it out, reading the text from Emilia.
“Called it.” She grinned as she showed Alex.
“They got a hotel room.” Another text came through, and she turned the phone around.
“Xavier is offering to come back and get us. There are a couple of rooms available at the hotel.”
“Ah,” Alex's eyes drifted over to his bike, and he shook his head.
“You're welcome to go, but I don't feel comfortable leaving our things here overnight like that.” Danica nodded and texted back that they were fine and to enjoy their night, not wanting to leave Alex by himself in the tent because she didn't think that was fair at all.
“I told them not to bother,” she said as she put the phone back in her bra and started cleaning things up. “I came prepared to be in a tent in the rain. Even brought some card games so we can keep ourselves entertained.”
When they had cleaned everything up, they made the wet, muddy trek to the outhouse, which had Danica wishing she'd told Xavier to come get her.
When they got back, Alex made sure the fire was completely out while she changed into her warm, dry clothes, and then let him do the same while she grabbed their snacks from the storage tent.
They played a few card games, ate their snacks, and Danica finally managed to get out of him what happened with Heidi.
“She called, freaking out that I wasn't there and there was no reservation, and tried to put the blame all on you, thinking you had set her up and never even told me I was supposed to be there.
I shut that down real fast and told her I already knew what you'd done, because you told me immediately you ran into her when you got back to the office.” He smirked, looking pleased with that.
“She was really upset to hear that, and even more upset that I had given you permission to fool her, so I asked what she thought was going to happen?
I don't want anything to do with her, and it's not my fault she's struggling to understand that.
I told her to go back to London; I was away in another state and wouldn't be coming home for several days.”
“So, has she? Gone back, I mean.” Danica shifted and pulled her sleeping bag up higher on her shoulders. They were both sitting on their individual air mattresses, wrapped in their sleeping bags, and playing cards in the space between them.
“No, actually.” He smirked as he discarded two cards and picked up three.
“She sent me a selfie of her in a bikini by a pool a few days after we got back from Seattle and followed it up with a text bragging about her new, younger, richer, taller and more muscular American boyfriend who is better than me in every way possible.
This was later followed by a picture of her sucking his dick, and I can say with complete confidence that he is absolutely not better than me in every way possible, because if the blisters I saw on his pencil dick were what I think they were, she's in for a shock.”
Danica, who could feel her eyes widening with every word, burst into laughter when he implied the man not only had a smaller penis than he did, but that he had herpes.
It took her a few minutes to get herself under control again, and she finally managed to choke out a response.
“Please tell me you sent the picture back with the blisters circled and asked what they were.”
“Who am I to burst her happiness bubble?” Alex shrugged as he grinned at her slyly. “I just sent back a very nice text telling her I hoped her and pencil dick were very happy together and blocked her since I no longer have to document her attempts at contact.”
They played a few more games, and when Alex won for the fifth time, Danica groaned and fell backwards on the air mattress. “Ugh, I quit. How are you so good at this?”
“I've been cheating.” He informed her nonchalantly as he started picking up the cards. “Picking up more than I'm supposed to when you weren't paying attention and hiding the extras until I could slip them back into the pile.”
“Are you kidding me?” Danica pushed herself back up and gave him a mock-annoyed look. “You were seriously cheating?”
“Yeah,” He nodded, chuckling as he handed her the pile of cards. “I hate losing.”
“You're the worst.” Danica huffed and shook her head as she put the cards back in the box and settled down into bed. She didn't actually care that he was cheating; she'd enjoyed the relaxed evening with him and had fun anyway. “You're lucky I like you.”
“Oh, believe me, I know.” Still chuckling, Alex lay down and turned off the light. “And I'm grateful for that.” They were quiet for a minute, listening to the rain hit the fly over the tent, and then Danica remembered a question she'd been meaning to ask.
“Hey, Alex,” she mumbled, feeling her cheeks heat up. “When I flew over to get you after your dad died and we were coming back, you said I talked in my sleep but wouldn't tell me what I said. Do you remember that?”
“Vaguely, yeah.” She could hear the smile in his voice and knew he remembered exactly what she was talking about.
“Will you tell me now?”
“Oh, it was something along the lines of “He's still too fucking hot for his own good,” or something like that.” He told her, yawning. I had no idea that you thought that way about me.”
“God dammit.”