Page 9

Chapter nine

Day One

Hiding was not the best strategy.

Especially since eating and sleeping were necessities.

From what Danny said, the next day was going to be busy.

So, it was time to do that sucking it up thing.

My growling stomach seconded that decision.

The cooking was being done from one of the sites in the center of the campground, between two RVs that were owned by a few of the more well-paid lawyers in the firm and their partners.

Leslie Howe and her wife Deanna, who owned a boutique store in St.

Petersburg, were one of the couples with the RV.

They weren’t self-proclaimed chefs or anything but opened their equipment and storage to everyone.

It turned out Danny’s husband, Lee, was also one of the men who would man the grill on this trip, but that wasn’t what we were doing for dinner.

The other RV was owned by Walker and Morgan Jackson.

Walker was one of the best in the firm, but I didn’t know much about his husband.

They had brought four big containers of smoked brisket and multiple containers of prepared potato salad and coleslaw.

The only thing being grilled was the garlic bread.

Simple meal to feed the masses, and it was perfect for day one when everyone was so busy.

We all met around the double RV campsite and made plates.

I didn’t see Crow anywhere.

If he didn’t show up, I would fix him a plate out of guilt.

But I didn’t want to be that nice to him.

Instead, I grabbed a Diet Dr.

Pepper can out of a cooler of drinks and took my plate to one of the picnic tables where Danny and Lee sat.

“Hi, guys.” I sat across from Danny.

I’d been hanging around with him, walking from campsite to campsite and helping out where needed.

I’d assisted a couple of ladies in putting their tent up.

Hosed out a cooler where a couple of soda cans had burst open, then took it up to the main office to refill it with ice.

And other small chores like that.

But what I was really doing was avoiding going back to Crow’s space.

I didn’t want to be there, especially knowing I was going to have to sleep in the same damn tent.

Danny and Lee greeted me and kept eating.

“This is so good.” Danny wiped his mouth.

“Dig in, man.”

I took a bite, and he wasn’t wrong.

“This is amazing. Who made this?”

“Walker’s husband,” Lee answered while Danny chewed another bite.

“Mmm…it’s good. I don’t know much about him. Morgan, right?”

Danny swallowed with a nod.

“Yeah. Morgan. He’s real nice. But I admit I don’t know what he does either.” He picked up his bread but didn’t take a bite.

“Hey. Where’s Crow?”

“Don’t know.” I shrugged, thinking he was missing out on this food.

“Don’t worry, if he doesn’t show up, I’ll take him a plate.”

Danny smiled.

He was so sure he’d solved all our problems by shoving us together.

Not.

I glared at him.

I had not forgotten.

“You’re still not out of trouble for this mister.”

He held up his hands.

“Wait and see.” With a mischievous look in his eyes, he giggled as he dug back into his food.

Afterward, we helped clean up.

The RVs had sinks, but there was more cleaning up to do than that, so some of us used a collapsible wash basin to wash up silverware and stuff outside.

With everyone chipping in, it only took a few minutes.

And Danny and a few others informed me that the key to fun camping was keeping things clean and organized.

Made sense.

But Crow never showed up, so I made him a plate and headed over to his site.

“Hungry?” I stretched out the food to him like an olive branch, though I still didn’t think it was me who needed to make nice.

I was simply trying to get along to get through this.

“Wow. Thanks. Yeah, I lost track of time, I guess.” He took the plate and sat at the table.

“Looks like you got everything together.”

He nodded and pointed his fork toward the tent.

“Go check it out.”

I didn’t argue, since I needed to figure this out.

What was the situation?

I ducked in, wiping my feet on the mats.

The front section had a table with supplies on it and under it, including my duffle bag.

That was actually considerate of Crow.

He was trying, so I figured I needed to as well.

Manners would get us through this awkward situation.

In the bigger sleeping area, two separate sleeping bags were set up, one on top of a thick blanket palette on the ground and the other on an air mattress.

So separate but close together.

Too close.

Fuck me.

Nothing I could do about it.

It could have been a smaller tent that had us shoved right up against each other, body to body.

This was at least a concession, though I didn’t look forward to sleeping on the hard ground.

It was getting dark, and the next day was going to be crazy, so I grabbed my duffle and pulled out a pair of sweatpants and a tank top to sleep in.

I changed quickly and then stretched out on top of the sleeping bag on the floor.

Crow even supplied a pillow.

Why was he so thoughtful when I was trying so hard to stay mad at him?

After a few minutes Crow walked in, wearing only a pair of shorts.

Not very long shorts.

To be fair, they weren’t booty shorts, but they weren’t basketball shorts, either.

“Uh, Sky? You’re probably going to get hot wearing that. I mean, I do have a fan, but it gets hot in here at night.” He went about setting up the little fan, which I didn’t think would do much to cool us off.

“A few flashlights are on the table if you need to go to the bathroom. It’s probably going to get very dark.”

“Okay, thanks.” I rolled over, facing the sidewall of the tent, giving him my back.

“It’s hard to find things in the dark. Maybe set a pair of shorts close before we crash. That way, you can find them easier if you get too hot.”

“I’m fine.” I was not going to admit I was wrong.

I didn’t care.

Sharing this small space, especially with him practically naked, required sweatpants.

Why did he have to have such thick, muscular legs and such a broad chest?

“You are. And stubborn.”

I turned and glared at his snarky ass.

He turned over on the air mattress, and it shifted, making a squeaky noise.

“Have it your way.” If he wanted to be considerate, he could have offered to sleep on the ground and give me the mattress.

Even as I thought it, I knew I wasn’t being fair.

I grunted and turned back.

The ground was hard, but there were blankets under it, so it was not the worst place I’d ever slept.

It didn’t take a long time for me to drift off.

But, of course, it got hot.

Mother fucker!

I was sweating and fucking miserable.

I tossed and turned but couldn’t get comfortable.

And I had to take a piss.

I tripped, trying to get out of the fucking tent.

At least it wasn’t too hard to find a flashlight.

The bathhouse was only a short walk up the sidewalk, so I went and headed back to the tent.

It was so fucking hot.

I hadn’t listened to Crow about having a pair of shorts handy.

And I didn’t want to try and find any in the dark.

But it was dark, and I was beat.

I took off my sweats to sleep in my boxers and tank.

I still wouldn’t admit I was wrong, though.

I looked over at Crow, sleeping peacefully and snoring lightly.

He was too fucking sexy for his own good.

Fuck Crow, anyway.