“Sleep, I guess,” Camila answers, a soft laugh in her voice, like she’s half-joking but not really.
Valeria nods. “Yeah. Sleep,” she echoes.
They both grab their toothbrushes and step out into the cool night air, the campsite dim and hushed, lit only by a few scattered lanterns. Somewhere nearby, one of the girls laughs softly, quickly shushed. They share a bottle of water to rinse, passing it back and forth.
Valeria slips back into her tent to change, the zipper whispering closed behind her, and Camila does the same, crouching inside her own tent, rummaging through her bag, pulling out whatever she finds first.
A light knock taps against the side of her tent.
“You can come in,” Camila says, without hesitation.
The tent flap shifts, and Valeria peeks in, wearing the sweater she took from Camila. It hangs a little loose on her, but somehow she rocks it. Camila can’t help but smile when she sees her in it.
“I like your sweater,” Camila teases.
Valeria glances down at herself, then back up, feigning innocence. “Oh, this old thing? A cute girl gave it to me.”
“Oh?” Camila arches a brow. “Did she now? How cute would you say she is?”
“The cutest.” Valeria steps closer. She leans in enough to press a quick, careful kiss to Camila’s cheek.
Camila’s breath catches. The flutter in her chest turns wild.
Valeria pulls back immediately, eyes wide, nervous smile wobbling. “Was that okay?”
Camila blinks, her brain taking a second to catch up. “Yeah,” she says, a little breathless, reaching out without thinking and catching the sleeve of Valeria’s sweater. “It was more than okay. I’m following your lead, remember?”
Valeria’s shoulders drop. She laughs quietly, rubbing her thumb along the cuff of the sweater. “Good.”
“Would it be okay if I did it?”
Valeria nods. “Absolutely. I don’t want to put hard lines on anything, I want us to go with whatever feels right in the moment, as long as we’re both okay with it.”
Camila stores the information for later. Right now, her heart feels too full, still buzzing from the press of Valeria’s lips against her cheek, to consider returning it. She’s pretty sure that if she tried to kiss Valeria anywhere—even somewhere as innocent as her cheek—she’d short-circuit completely. Maybe even implode on the spot.
Slow is probably best, she thinks faintly. She could fall wholly into Valeria, as if she were something to be stepped into and never stepped out of again.
Camila reaches up and turns off the lantern, the light shrinking down to nothing. She shimmies into her sleeping bag, fabric rustling as she gets comfortable.
Valeria turns onto her side to face her. Even without thelight, Camila can tell. There’s a stillness to her. Even in the dark, she sees Valeria thinking.
Camila shifts enough to face her. “What is it?” she whispers.
Valeria hums softly. “Are you a cuddler?”
Camila gulps down a breath. “Very much so.”
“Big spoon or little spoon?” Valeria moves in closer to Camila.
“Mm ... whatever the moment calls for. Sometimes I want to hold my partner; sometimes, I want to be held. You?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never been a big spoon,” Valeria answers sullenly. “Brooke has never liked being a small spoon, so she wouldn’t even let me try, but I think I’d like it.”
Camila’s heart narrows into a tight ball. She hates the thought of Brooke controlling something as easy and intimate as cuddling. “Well, I am a fantastic little spoon.”
“I will keep that in mind for whenever we aren’t separated by theframe of our cots.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Camila says, regretting not bringing her double camping cot. Her heart feels like it might burst out of her chest at the thought of being in Valeria’s arms and also getting to hold her.Slow, she reminds herself. She needs to let Valeria lead.
