“First thing in the morning,” Georgia answers.
“Alright, now that we’ve solved that problem, how are we going to capture the neighbors?” I ask quizzically.
“Let’s have them over again tonight, get them drunk and do it after they pass out,” Georgia offers.
“What if they say no? Then what?”
“I can be extremely persuasive.” Georgia flicks her hair over her shoulder confidently.
I tip my head back and burst into a venomous laugh.
“I’ll let Cora and Jared know to be on standby for clean up in the torture room.” She’s already planning ahead.
Clapping her hands and jumping up and down, she excitedly says, “We can have a little fun before we head to our next campsite!”
“My thoughts exactly,” I say darkly.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-TWO
Before choosing Blackwater River State Forest, I saw there were plenty of things to do. One of those is being able to take Ryan’s two-seater highway vehicle, also known as a side-by-side, through some trails. It’s on a small trailer beside our truck; we detached it in order to set up our tent.
Honestly, I forgot about it sitting there until I walked around the car holding my cellphone up—still no service. Profanities flyfrom my mouth as I stalk over to the two-seater highway vehicle where Ryan is already revving it up.
Ryan suggested doing this today, so we bundled up and put on our helmets. You can never be too safe. This isn’t my first time on it; we’ve taken it on trails close to our home.
The adrenaline rush is something we crave. Ryan put these huge tires on it, which let us go through any type of terrain, so we use it quite frequently back home, especially after it rains. But with it being colder and since it hasn’t rained, I doubt there will be any puddles. But it will still be fun twisting and turning around the trails.
“You ready for this?” Ryan asks me giddily.
“Hell yeah,” I respond, bubbling over with excitement. “This will be my favorite part of the trip!”
I jump in, and we put our seat belts on and shut the doors, double-checking they are secure. Ryan picked up a map at the community center when we first got here. I’m so glad he did; everything seems to be down. We aren’t even able to connect to the Wi-Fi in the truck.
“We should bring one phone in case we get some bars out there,” I suggest.
Ryan agrees, and I bounce out, speedily walking to the truck and rummaging around my bag.
“Got it!” I hold it up so he can see.
“Let’s roll!” he shouts, shutting the visor on his helmet. I’m half tempted to convince him to stay here, seeing how hot he looks in his gear.
We take off in the opposite direction from the hike we took the other day. Ryan starts off at a decent speed, getting the lay of the land and how the vehicle handles the terrain. Typical Ryan behavior. I know he has studied the map and even has it in his pocket in case we get lost. The park is over two hundred thousand miles.
Without notice, Ryan takes a turn, spinning out, and I scream. I am startled at first, but excitement begins humming through my veins.
Ryan speeds up, and I hold onto one of the handlebars as we hit one of the small hills, the vehicle bouncing in the air, our bodies going with it, and my stomach bottoms out.
The wind encompasses us. I’m glad we decided to dress warmer.
Taking another sharp turn, the vehicle goes sideways on two wheels.
I yell in excitement, and Ryan shouts over at me, “Doing okay, babe?”
“Better than okay,” I squeal as my body jostles all over my seat, enjoying every second of it. “Go faster!”
“Hold on tight!” Ryan yells again, gripping the steering wheel tighter as he presses down more on the pedal.
