When he kept glaring, which was probably valid considering what happened when she tried to make s’mores earlier, Kristen decided that it would be in her best interest to take another stepback. That was followed by deciding that now would be a good time to explore.
“I should probably take the dog for a walk,” Kristen said, going for a smile only to rethink that decision when his eyes narrowed on the move with a look that dared her to follow through with the gesture right now.
Clearing her throat, she focused her attention on her dog, who was currently curled up beneath an old tree, alternating between looking bored and looking at Garrett adoringly. “Pumpkin, here,” Kristen said, gesturing for the dog in question to join her only to watch as he rolled onto his back with a groan, effectively dismissing her.
“Los,” Garrett said, not bothering to look up as he worked on yanking the tent stakes that she might have accidentally bent…and set on fire, out of the ground, making her frown as the dog got up with a groan and made his way over to join her.
When the dog that apparently didn’t want to be called Pumpkin sat down next to her, Kristen decided to test out a theory that was starting to form in her head. Looking at the dog, she said, “Louse,” and just in case, she followed that up by gesturing for him to walk with her as she turned around and started making her way towards the main camp only to realize the dog wasn’t following her.
Sighing, Kristen opened her mouth and-
“Los.”
-grumbled to herself when Garrett called out the command again.
A few seconds later, her dog was making his way past her and leaving her with no other choice but to follow him as she pulled her phone out of her back pocket. After a quick swipe, a tap, and another tap, she held up her phone and said, “Meaning of louse.”
“Parasitic flattened insects known for feeding on warm-blooded animals,”came the immediate response that once again left her grumbling as she shoved her phone back in her pocket.
“Lice,” Kristen said, shaking her head in disgust as she kept playing the word through her head as she made her way down the path that took her through the woods, past other campsites where friends, couples, and families were in various stages of camping. She followed the path as it took her through the woods again, noting the signs pointing the way to the rec area that promised a heated pool, volleyball and badminton courts, firepits, boat rentals, vending machines, and community activities and-
Found herself thinking of all the possibilities when she stepped out of the woods and took in the scene before her, from the axe throwing contest to the tree climbing contest and everything in between.
She could definitely make this work.
CHAPTER 17
Her characters were never going camping, Kristen decided as she willed her hands to stop trembling so that she could finish putting her details into her phone. When her fingers refused to cooperate, she wiggled and shifted until she managed to lower herself in the sleeping bag so that she could pull it over her head.
Thermal sleeping bag, her ass, Kristen thought as she continued shivering her ass off. God, she couldn’t remember ever being this cold before, she thought as she pressed her thumb against the “Auto Fill” option only to have her phone ignore her. Grumbling, Kristen pulled her trembling hand back and shook it, hoping the move would help blood flow to her fingertips again.
When that didn’t work, she blew on her fingertips, muttered, “Come on,” and pressed the “Auto Fill” button again only to sigh with relief when her information suddenly appeared. She quickly scrolled down the page, agreed to the terms before clicking “Reserve,” and held her breath, hoping the page didn’t time out again.
As soon as it went through, Kristen was frantically fighting her way free from the sleeping bag, grabbing her backpack, andcrawling as fast as her ice-cold hands and knees would allow. When she reached the tent opening, Kristen released a shaky breath as she reached for the zipper, and after a slight hesitation, she slowly stuck her head out, made sure the coast was clear before her attention shifted to the tent across from her and glared.
She kept glaring as she shoved the tent flaps out of her way, when she crawled out of the tent, somehow stumbled, fell flat on her face, grumbled against the ground, regrouped, and shoved herself back up onto her hands and knees so that she could send one last glare at the tent where the large bastard, who’d destroyed all of her camping dreams, was currently passed out with her dog.
She allowed herself one last glare, mostly because it felt like the right thing to do, turned around and willed her trembling hands to work faster as she struggled to zip the tent flaps shut. After a few muttered curses, she finally managed to close the tent, took a deep breath, turned around and-
Decided that she should probably move her ass when the skies suddenly opened up and decided to make this day even more memorable. Biting back a curse, Kristen pulled on her backpack, got to her feet only to go still when she heard it.
The unmistakable sound of rustling.
Worrying her bottom lip between her teeth, Kristen glanced back at Garrett’s tent while she did her best not to panic, knowing what would happen if he caught her trying to escape. They had a deal, but even knowing that, she couldn’t force herself to go through with this.
She just…
God, where to begin?
When axe throwing didn’t go exactly as planned, mostly because it slipped out of her hand and landed in an unfortunate spot that left several campers with no choice but to runscreaming, she decided to try her luck with the tree climbing contest. Unfortunately for her, she didn’t get very far before she remembered that she was afraid of heights and was forced to squeeze her eyes shut and hold on for dear life.
That’s when Garrett found her.
He didn’t say anything, but then again, she didn’t expect him to. He simply plucked her off the tree and threw her over his shoulder before he carried her back to their campsite.
That’s when the nightmare began.
For whatever reason, Garrett decided to take it upon himself to help her with her “research.” He started with the basics, showing her how to collect sticks for the fire because apparently, she screwed that up by getting the wrong sticks. After making sure that she knew all the reasons why using green sticks was wrong, he stopped what he was doing and glared at her until she took the hint, whipped out her notebook and made a note of it.
