“When I was little. My grandmother suggested bubble baths to help me relax until I broke out my microscope and showed her how unsanitary baths really were,” she said, feeling his lips twitch against her skin.
“It’s better now?” he asked, sounding worried.
“Yes,” she said, deciding that it would probably be for the best if she didn’t tell him that he was the reason why.
Chapter 35
“Does anyone want another hotdog?” the little bastard said as he shoved another one of the discounted hot dogs that they’d bought from the gas station that had taken them over an hour to find, in his mouth while Reed sat there, rubbing his hands down his face as he tried to remember if he’d promised not to maim the little bastard or kill him.
Because right now he was tempted to do both.
More than tempted.
“I’m going to kill your brother,” Jackson announced from the other side of their campfire with a slow nod and a glare at the little bastard stuffing another questionable hotdog in his mouth.
“I’m really not seeing the problem,” Matt said as he grabbed another one of the hot dogs that was seven weeks past its expiration date and shoved it onto a stick.
“I’m going to kill him,” Jackson repeated while Reed pointedly looked around the fucked up campsite that the little bastard reserved for them, pausing on the porta potties lining one side of their site and the ditch filled with empty Budweiser cans lining the other, and the pile of old camping gear that their father had forgotten to throw away dumped in the middle of the campsite kept brightly lit by the floodlights surrounding them.
“What? It’s really not that bad,” Matt said as he followed his gaze.
“Not that bad?” Reed asked, gesturing around them. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“You don’t hear Joey complaining,” the little bastard said, gesturing lazily in the direction where she’d taken off four hours ago after she’d taken one look at their campsite and decided to go camping by herself so that they’d have a chance to catch up.
As much as he’d missed his best friend, he didn’t want to be with Jackson.
He wanted to be with her.
“I’m definitely going to kill him,” Jackson decided with a firm nod as Reed leveled a glare on the little bastard.
“That’s because she was smart enough to reserve a site near the fucking lake!” Reed snapped, wondering if his mother had dropped the little bastard on his head and forgot to tell him.
“This was twenty bucks cheaper,” Matt pointed out with a shrug.
“Definitely going to kill him.”
“And what about this?” Reed demanded, pointing toward the small army tent that was barely big enough for two people never mind three full-grown men.
“What about it?” Matt asked, finishing off the last hot dog.
“You said that you were going to take care of everything,” Reed bit out even as he couldn’t help but glance toward the path that would take him down to the lake.
“I did,” Matt said, gesturing toward the pile of useless shit.
“And the food?” he couldn’t help but wonder.
“Was a small oversight,” Matt said with a sad shake of his head. “But it’ll be fine.”
“How exactly is it going to be fine? It’s an hour hike to get back to the car and the closest store is an hour away,” he pointed out as he pulled out his phone and—
Nothing.
Vowing to spank her ass if she didn’t let him know that she was okay, he sent her a quick text and-
“What are you doing?” Matt suddenly asked.
“None of your damn business,” he said, glaring down at his phone as he waited for the text that damn well better be coming soon.
“No phones allowed,” Matt said with a heavy sigh and a disapproving shake of his head.
“I will break every bone in your body,” Reed pointed out when the little bastard reached over to pluck the phone out of his hands.
“Fair enough,” Matt murmured, quickly pulling his hand back.
“Who are you texting?” Jackson asked, sounding curious, most likely because that “no phone” rule had been Reed’s.
“His girlfriend,” Matt said as he helped himself to the hot dog that Reed had abandoned after he’d realized that foul scent wasn’t coming from the porta potties.
“She’s not my girlfriend,” he said absently as he waited for some sign that Joey was okay. They never should have let her go off on her own, he thought, slowly exhaling as he glanced at the time and-
“Really? Then what is she doing at the house every night besides screaming your name?” Matt asked, blinking innocently as he finished Reed’s hot dog and decided to help himself to the one Jackson tossed in the fire.
“You’re seeing someone?” Jackson asked, sending him a curious glance only to cringe when Matt devoured the rancid hot dog in one bite.
“Every night,” Matt said, nodding solemnly as he washed the rancid hot dog down with the iced tea that the store clerk had advised them against buying.
“I see,” Jackson murmured, sounding thoughtful as they watched a heavyset middle-aged man stumble toward the porta potties with his hands plastered against his stomach and an, “Oh, god,” only to follow that up with an, “Oh, god, no,” when he spotted the “Out of order” sign.
---
“Okay, this was a bad idea,” Joey mumbled softly, trying not to panic as she hugged the flashlight tightly against her chest as she made a mental list of all the things that she deeply regretted.
When she heard another twig snap somewhere close by, she couldn’t help but put coming here alone at the top of her list of regrets. The sounds of something rustling through the leaves had her quickly switching that with coming here at all.
Not that she had that many regrets because she didn’t.
Okay, so that might not be entirely true, she thought, deciding that perhaps now might be the best time for her to crawl into her sleeping bag and squeeze her eyes shut when the sounds of another twig breaking made its way inside the tent that she was starting to question its ability to protect her in the case of a bear attack. The next time she went camping it was going to be from the safety of a hotel room with round the clock room service, she decided as she curled up in the fetal position and thought about all those things that she didn’t regret.
Maybe it wasn’t too late, she told herself as the first glimmer of hope came that she wasn’t about to be devoured by a rabid carnivorous squirrel when the rustling suddenly stopped. Closing her eyes, she dropped her head back with a sigh of relief that quickly turned into a whimper when she heard something brush against her tent.
She was never going camping again, she decided as she squeezed her eyes shut only to forget how to breathe when she felt something slide over her leg and-
“Shhh, don’t scream,” Reed whispered, chuckling as he pulled her sleeping bag open so that she could crawl onto his lap and wrap her arms around him.
“Did I scare you?” he asked, wrapping his arms around her.
“No,” she said quickly, even as she couldn’t help but look over to make sure that he’d closed the tent behind him so that they wouldn’t have to worry about those aforementioned rabid squirrels getting in.
“Then I guess you just missed me, huh?” he asked as she shined the flashlight around her tent, making sure that they were alone when she remembered something important.
“Where’s Jackson?” she asked, quickly getting off his lap and putting some much-needed space between them.
“Most likely killing Matt,” Reed said, not really sounding all that worried.
“What are you doing here?” she couldn’t help but ask since he was supposed to be spending some time with her brother.
“I took one for the team,” he said with a sad shake of his head.
“Took one for the team?” she asked, her eyes narrowing on the big jerk that she’d missed.
Sighing, he nodded. “Someone had to.”
“And why exactly did you have to take one for the team?” she asked, deciding that she would take advantage of his presence and venture out of the tent so that she could grab a few items that she’d been forced to abandon when she’d heard that first twig break.