I heard him give a huff. “Well, the view in front of me is pretty amazing already. What, did you pour yourself into that thing?”
I gave a modest smirk over my shoulder, but the truth was, I was loving the fact that I had Trip practically drooling. I knew he found me likeable enough to be my friend and cute enough for us to hook up on occasion, but all that was nothing compared to when he found me desirable. I was overcome with a perverted sense of power, feeling the scales shift ever so slightly, allowing me the upper hand for the first time in our relationship. Not that Trip went out of his way to wield control over me, it wasn’t his fault that I’d fallen in love with him. He never led me on or made me believe that we were anything more than what we were, which, in itself, had always been pretty great. But after spending almost an entire year panting after him, it was nice to finally see some sort of balance of power between us, some sort of point scored in my column.
The feeling was dismissed almost immediately, however, when I realized that I didn’t want to have power over Trip. The only thing I ever wanted was him.
I stepped over a log and around a huge boulder, emerging from the treeline into a small clearing. Lisa and I had found the place years before and while I’m sure we weren’t the first nor the last explorers to venture there, it never became a popular destination. There were dozens of hiking trails throughout those woods, and twice as many lookout points along the ridge giving beautiful views of the valley. This spot was more off the beaten path and very secluded, which is why I picked it.
Trip stepped out onto the grass and almost dropped the blankets he’d been holding. There, in the little clearing surrounded by pines and scrub brush, was the turquoise tent I’d set up an hour before. It was the tent I’d used for sleepovers with Lisa in the backyard and “camping trips” with Bruce in the living room. In all the years I’d owned it, it never found its way into actual nature. Until now.
Trip was stunned. “You did this? You came all the way out here lugging that huge thing and set it up yourself?”
I couldn’t have been more proud. “Mm-hmm. Impressed?”
Trip ditched the blankets and candle on a nearby rock, came over and wrapped his arms around me. “Yes. You’re unbelievable.” He kissed me then, made my knees go weak. “It’s gonna be a hell of a night, huh?”
I’ll say.
“I hope so. Hey-crack open that bottle. Let’s have a glass of wine while we watch the sunset.”
I gave Trip the opener from my purse and he went to work on the cork. “Damn. This is a great idea and all, Layla. But I’ve never done this before.” I came over to help, but I had no idea what I was doing either, so between the two of us, we’d managed to get the broken cork into the bottle. No matter, as long as we’d be able to get the wine out, who cared? Trip poured us each a glass, then he followed me through the pines a few feet to the rock ledge. He bounded the few steps up a boulder then held out his hand to help hoist me up. Miraculously, I was able to climb up without spilling my drink all over the front of my dress. We sat down side by side, our elbows and hips touching as I wrapped my legs under me. Trip had his knees up, his arms stretched straight out over them, the glass dangling from between his fingers.
“This is beautiful,” he said, looking out over Norman Valley from his perch at the top of the world.
We were probably about ten minutes too late for a perfect sunset, as we were only able to catch the last hints of pink and purple before the sky went navy. But he was right. It was beautiful. And so much nicer to watch without a sand fight distracting from the show.
The memory panged at my heart, thinking that there’d never be another shared sunrise or sunset for us ever again. I considered the fact that I’d be gone in just fourteen short hours from then, but I buried the thought almost as instantly as it had appeared. I refused to let our last night together be turned into a glum occasion.
We sat there sipping our drinks for a few minutes, unspeaking in the early dark. When our glasses were empty, we hopped off the rock and headed back to our tent. My stomach was in knots, nervous and anticipating what was going to happen next.
Trip lit the citronella bucket I’d packed-brilliant planning on my part, if I do say so myself-offering a soft glow throughout the small clearing and staving off any mosquitos we might encounter out there in the woods. I grabbed the bottle of wine off the ground and Trip grabbed the radio and blankets. We headed into the tent, kicked off our shoes and set up camp. I laid the blankets out over the floor while Trip found us a good station on the radio. The quarters were pretty cramped as we moved around inside the tent, but after we’d set everything up, there was plenty of space for us to both sit across from one another. Trip poured us another round and tucked the bottle into the corner so it wouldn’t spill.