What can I say? When there’s an opportunity to dance around a bonfire under a full moon in the middle of the woods, I like to go all out. Conner won’t have any of this stuff with him because he’s a minimalist when it comes to the great outdoors. He probably just brought a small tent, a sleeping bag, and a lantern.
I smell the campfire before I see it, but as I get closer…
What the hell? Shit, I must have taken a wrong turn because there is no way on this green earth that what I’m looking at is Conner’s campsite.
Twinkle lights adorn an enormous tent. There’s a bonfire already going and tiki torches set around the whole thing. Music’s playing too. This can’t possibly be his place. I must have followed the wrong path.
Pulling my cell out to double check his location, a branch snaps behind me.
“You scared the shit outta me,” Conner says, holding a pile of wood in his arms. “Damnit, woman.”
“Did you think the jingle monster was out to get you?” I flick the bell on my hip that’s supposed to deter bears.
“I told you to text before you came because I didn’t want you walking alone in the woods.”
“Meh. It’s fine. I walk these woods all the time by myself.” Before he can argue further, my focus pivots to the campsite. Pointing at the glamorous set up, my jaw hits the ground.
“Close that pretty mouth before I stuff it with a pickle.” He somehow balances the wood in his arms and tries to snag the cart handle from me.
“I’ve got it.” He doesn’t like that I’m fighting him on this but doesn’t argue about it either. Once I drag the cart into the clearing, the whole setup comes into view. It’s incredible. “I had no idea you went bougie, Con.”
He dumps the wood on the ground and wipes his hands on his cargo pants. “I’m not bougie.”
“No?” My hand runs along the twinkle lights. “So, this is to keep bugs out then?”
He rolls his eyes. “I just wanted to…” He lets out a big exhale and runs his hand through his curly hair. “Too much?”
“No such thing as too much when you’re talking twinkle lights.”
Conner leans down and kisses me swiftly on the mouth before grabbing my cart and wheeling it around to the other side of the tent. “This don’t look like pizza.”
“I madesandwiches instead.”
“Ohhhh, you got some nerve calling me the bougie one.” He holds up a pillar candle. Then another. And another. “Damn, are you trying to start a forest fire?”
“They’re battery operated and no. I just…” And now I understand exactly how he feels. “Too much?”
“When talking about battery operated candles, can a girl really have too many?”
See? He gets me.
The slight tension I thought was there between us lifts. “I reinforced the area a bit,” he explains. “Had some baby bears sniffing around here while I was gone today. Figured the lights, fire, and music would keep them away.”
“This is all for the bears, then.” I smile. “Just to be clear.”
“Yeah. For sure. No other reason at all.”
“My candles are to scare away cryptids.” I nonchalantly drop my ass into a chair by the fire.
“I thought you liked Mothman.” He sits next to me, and we both face the stream.
“I do. It’s his cousins I worry about.”
“Got it.” He nods. “So, we’re good then. All covered. Totally safe.”
“Definitely.”
Conner’s leg bounces nervously. “What about that bottle of wine?”
