Her eyes finally settle down into less shock—until I grab her shoulders and point her in the direction of the tiny tent.
“That’s our tent.”
She looks at it and blinks slowly. “Is that for your pet mouse? Because I don’t think one person could fit in that tent, much less two.”
“It will be snug, for sure. But the good news is, you won’t have to worry about getting cold.”
“Oh goody,” she says. “I don’t think we can even sit up in that thing.”
“We might be able to—” I stop myself. “Actually, it’d look strange if we both slept in the car.”
“I guess there’s only one thing we can do,” she says seriously.
“And what’s that?”
“Snuggle.”
I bite back a groan at the thought of having Lucy pressed up against me all night. I like to think I’m a good guy, but I’m not a saint.
“You wait here.” My voice sounds gravelly, even to me. “I’ll go get our things.”
And maybe walk ten miles to cool off.
THIRTY-TWO
Lucy
By the time Miles gets back to the tent with our bags of stuff, I’ve come to the sad realization that nothing is going to fit in it besides Miles and me.
Whatever configuration we do, it doesn’t matter. This tent is barely big enough for a mouse.
Miles drops our bags next to the tent, laughs, and stares at it with the same concern that I do.
“I hope you don’t mind that snuggle I mentioned because, honestly, our sleeping bags are going to practically be on top of each other,” I say as I choke on a laugh.
Miles frowns. “I’m really sorry about this. I really did want you to have fun on this camping trip.”
“Maybe I could string up a hammock somewhere else,” I suggest, raising my eyebrows.
“That wouldn’t be a red flag for my grandma.”
“No, good point. She’d probably set us up for marital counseling if I did that.”
Miles still looks concerned.
“It’s totally fine,” I say again. “We’ve slept in the same bed before.”
Miles shifts, and I get the idea that he’s even more uncomfortable about this situation than I am, which is really saying something. We’ve done this to ourselves. We signed up for this. It’s our own fault that we didn’t think of all the ramifications that would come with pretending to be a married couple.
“It’s fine. It’s not like we’re going to be spending a solid few days here. We’re just sleeping in here.”
“Oh, there you are!” a voice calls out.
I turn around and see someone walking toward us. I don’t recognize him. I’ve never met him. But as he gets closer, I realize…it’s Miles in thirty years.
“You didn’t bring your wife to meet me right away?” he practically yells, but he’s got a big grin on his face and a big, booming voice.
Miles slings an arm around my shoulders. “This is my dad, Andrew,” he says.
