Page 24 of Timeless Pages

Chapter twenty

Nate

I looked between Isa and the group of obnoxious kids, who were enjoying the warm summer day.

They had every right to be here, but I wanted to stomp over and pay them to leave.

I was also strongly considering not stopping.

They were far enough away not to see anything.

I didn't care if they knew what we were doing as long as they didn't see anything.

And if I got Dom and Evan to block their view, we would be safe.

"Nate..." Isa warned.

Still, I hesitated. Isa expected me to put her down.

Expected me not to continue with my plans to ravish her in the water.

I knew I could convince her. I knew it would take little effort to distract her enough to let it happen, but as much as I wanted to be buried balls deep in Isa, her comfort was more important.

And ultimately, I knew she wouldn't be comfortable with such a public display.

Already, she had come so far and opened up so much to us; I didn't want to do anything that might hinder that.

Reluctantly, I let Isa slide back into the water. As soon as I released her, she snatched her swimsuit from Dom and tied it back in place. Once she was covered, Isa looked up at me apologetically.

"I'm sorry."

I cupped her cheek and kissed her softly. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Little Bell. Why don't we go figure out dinner? We'll have our time soon enough."

We swam back to shore, and Isa immediately wrapped her delectable body in a towel. I wish she were confident enough not to bother with it, but the fact that she wore the bikini at all was not lost on me. Baby steps. One day, she wouldn't be ashamed of her scars.

"Who wants to start the fire?" Dom asked as we walked back to camp.

I rolled my eyes. The fact that we were out here at all was ridiculous.

We didn't know the first thing about camping, but we were pretending we did like pros.

"I can give it a shot," I sighed. I was probably going to end up burning my eyebrows off by the time we returned to civilization.

I grabbed my phone from the tent when we got back and immediately searched YouTube for how to start a campfire.

Luckily, Dom's shopping spree meant we had Firestarter sticks, so I was confident that I could get one going.

"Need help?" Evan asked.

"I don't think so." How hard could it be to set some wood on fire?

I collected a bunch of twigs and leaves to start the fire and put them in a little pile in the center of the fire ring, then added the Firestarter sticks.

I struck a match, and as soon as the sticks lit, I started adding wood.

That was apparently a mistake, or rather, I added too much because it quickly smoked out.

"I got a hatchet to cut the firewood smaller if that will help," Dom offered from the camping chair he was relaxing in. "It's in with the rest of the gear we haven't unpacked yet."

I fetched the hatchet and got to work splitting one of the logs into kindling.

While I was doing that, Evan gathered more twigs and leaves for the base of our fire.

We added more Firestarter sticks and lit them again.

This time, as the twigs caught, we slowly added the kindling, letting it catch before adding more.

Then, when we had a steady fire burning, we added the larger logs.

When I stepped back, we were well on our way toward a roaring fire.

"Good job," Isa praised. She had changed into shorts and a tank top.

Her hair was still wet and had started to curl into soft waves.

She was stunning, and I couldn't believe she was ours.

I know Dom and Evan thought I was too picky about girls before, but it wasn't that I was being picky; I just didn't connect with the girls they dated in the past. And I knew whoever we chose had to fit perfectly with all of us. None of them had, until Isa.

Once the fire was hot enough, we pulled out the grill Dom got and placed it over the flames, adding the burgers and hot dogs to it.

Soon, the smell of grilling meat filled the air, and as the sun fell and we sat down to eat, we discovered our nemesis for the night: mosquitoes.

As long as we stayed close to the fire, the parts of us facing the fire were safe.

That didn't mean the little fuckers didn't sneak up behind us and attack.

When I got bitten on my ass through my chair, I had had enough.

"That's it," I said, jumping up. "I'm going in the fucking tent."

"I'm right behind you," Isa said.

We all piled into the tent and huddled in the doorway, watching the fire from behind the screen. It was rather cozy, and I found myself enjoying this experience a little more.

"We forgot about the s'mores," Evan whispered.

"Fuck the s'mores," Isa whispered back as I took a sip of my drink, making me choke on it.

"Tell us how you really feel, Beauty," Dom chuckled as Evan clapped me on the back.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly. "But I'm not going back out there until the mosquitoes go away." She shifted over so that she was closer to me and snuggled into my side.

"Who's going to put out the fire?" Dom asked.

"Thanks for volunteering, man," I replied, pulling Isa closer. No way in hell was I going to leave her side voluntarily anytime soon.

"I did this to myself," Dom said with a sigh of defeat as he regarded the screen with apprehension. It was swarming with mosquitoes that were trying desperately to reach us.

"Quick like a cat," Evan suggested helpfully.

The look Dom shot him suggested it wasn't helpful at all.

With a final sigh, Dom tapped the screen to shoo the bugs away and then quickly opened the screen and slipped through the hole.

Evan zipped it behind him almost as soon as he was clear of it, so none of the little bastards slipped in.

We repeated the process after he doused the fire and put away all the food.

"Now what?" Isa asked as we sat in the tent, staring at each other. I knew what I wanted to do, but it was too damn hot in the tent to even think about that. As it was, we had all spaced out so that we weren't sharing body heat.

"I guess we sleep?" I suggested. "Get an early start in the morning.

" We all lay down in our respective spots, and I focused on the night sounds as I tried to fall asleep, but it was so fucking hot, I couldn't get comfortable.

Judging by the restlessness of my tentmates, neither could they.

Finally, I sat up. "This is ridiculous. Are we done with this little experiment now, or are we going to continue to torture ourselves? "

"Do we have a choice?" Evan asked.

"Of course we do," I replied smugly. "I knew this would be a disaster in the end, so I made arrangements for a wilderness adjacent option."

"What kind of option?" Isa asked.

"A little cabin in the woods with electricity, indoor plumbing, air conditioning, and most importantly, no mosquitoes," I replied.

"Sold," Isa replied, standing.

"Oh, come on," Dom said, "it isn't that bad."

"Dom, I appreciate how much thought and effort you put into making this happen," Isa said kindly. "And I can understand not wanting to throw in the towel, but it's time to give it up. We aren't tent people."

Dom sighed. "Yeah, fine, let's go," he conceded.

"What do we do with all the gear?" Evan asked.

"We can come back and get it in the morning," Isa suggested.

"I have a better idea," I replied. "Make sure to grab all of your things from the tent and unload all the extra gear in the car we won't be using.

" I stuffed what little clothes I had taken from my duffle back into it and left the tent.

I tossed the bag in the car and grabbed a flashlight.

I could still hear the high schoolers down the beach, and I made my way down to the lake and along the shore to where they were.

As I approached, it was clear they were drinking and planned to sleep right on the shoreline around the giant bonfire they had crafted.

When they spotted me, I saw them scramble as they tried to hide any open containers, making me chuckle.

Ah, to be young and dumb again. "I'm not a cop," I assured them.

"I have a camp set up not far from here, we're leaving and never plan to camp again.

Anyone interested is more than welcome to claim the gear for themselves.

You can come with me now or grab it tomorrow morning. "

"What kind of gear?" one of the girls asked.

"Just about anything you could ever want and need to camp," I replied.

Several in the group exchanged glances before one of the teen boys stood. "We'll take it off your hands."

"Excellent. It will all be there waiting for you." I turned and left them to their party. I'd swing back by tomorrow afternoon to make sure they didn't leave anything behind, but I suspected I wouldn't have to worry about that. "The kids will take the gear," I announced when I returned to the car.

"You're just giving it to them?" Isa asked.

"I mean, yeah," I replied. "We're not going to do anything with it, so it may as well go to people who will."

"That was very sweet of you," Isa replied, going up on her tiptoes to kiss my cheek. "Most people would have returned it all."

"This was easier," I joked. We got in the car, and I drove us the short distance to where we should have been in the first place.

"Little cabin?" Isa asked as she stared through the windshield at the Triple Tech cabin.

When I realized the whole camping thing was really going to happen, I called Grant and asked him if we could use his cabin if the camping thing hadn't panned out. Luckily, he had found the idea of us camping just as ridiculous as I had and happily agreed to let us use it.

"Maybe it's a little large," I chuckled.

"It's a fricking mansion in the woods," Isa deadpanned as we got out of the car.