by A. D. Ryan
“I’ll go and gather some firewood,” I offered as the guys started clearing an area for our fire pit.
I gave Jensen a quick kiss before turning to the girls who had made themselves a cozy little seat out of a couple of old blankets. “Ladies? Care to join me on a nature walk?”
Willow narrowed her eyes at me, keeping them locked on mine as she leaned over to Lilah. “Nature walk is code for gathering wood,” she translated. “She wants us to work.”
Shaking my head, I stalked toward them and laughed. “Willow, get off your ass and come help me,” I mock-threatened.
With a salute, Willow hopped to her feet. “Fine,” she huffed with a tiny smirk. “Let’s go. The sooner we find wood, the sooner we’ll all be warm.”
Kyle snickered again, and we all knew what was coming before he said it. “That’s what she said.”
That was our cue to leave.
Together, we trekked through the brush gathering kindling and any bigger pieces of wood from fallen trees that we could find. We only grabbed enough for the night since the sun was beginning to set and the temperature was dropping; there’d be plenty of time to gather more the next day.
“Madi?” Willow asked as I picked up a larger chunk of wood, inspecting it to make sure it was dry enough.
“Hmm?”
“If something were wrong, you’d tell me, right?” she asked, seeming nervous.
I stopped in my tracks and turned to face her. “Of course I would.” I felt awful for keeping anything from her—she was my best friend—but I just wasn’t ready to tell people.
“Okay.” She still didn’t seem convinced that nothing was wrong.
“Look,” I said, walking toward her and Lilah. “If it seems like I’m acting … odd … just know that everything is fine, I’ve just got a lot on my plate right now.”
Willow and Lilah accepted that, and we all went back to our search. A little while later, we emerged from the thin brush and started toward our campsite where the guys were just finishing up with the fire pit.
We were about twenty feet away when I started to feel faint. Willow and Lilah hadn’t noticed that I stopped walking for a minute to deal with the fog in my head, but Jensen did. He immediately got up and walked over to me, capturing the attention of everyone else.
“Here, let me help you carry that,” he said loud enough for everyone to hear, and when he was next to me, he leaned in to take the wood from me before adding, “What’s wrong?”
“I feel a little light-headed. I need to eat,” I told him.
With a nod, Jensen turned and carried the firewood, keeping me close. “We’ll just get the fire started and then we can start dinner. Is there something in particular you want?”
I could feel heat rise in my cheeks. “Um, yes. But we don’t have it, so I’ll have a veggie dog … or two.”
“What do you want? I’ll go get whatever it is.” It made me smile that he was so willing to dote on me.
“Thanks,” I told him. “But if you were to bring me what I really wanted, I think people would start to catch on.”
Comprehension flashed in his eyes. “Oh. Steak again?”
I nodded. “I don’t know if I can handle that though,” I confessed. “I mean, nine months of this? Just the thought of it makes me … well, hungry, but also incredibly sick.”
“If it’s what your body needs, then we’ll figure something out,” he assured me, kissing the side of my head.
When we were within hearing distance of the other four, we stopped talking about what was going on, and I joined Willow and Lilah on their cozy little blanket set-up while the guys started the fire. Within fifteen minutes, the fire was roaring, and we were all holding hot dog sticks over the fire.
“I’ll prepare the buns,” Jensen offered.
Before Kyle had a chance to say anything, Willow, Lilah, and I spoke together. “We know, we know; that’s what she said.”
Pushing his bottom lip out, Kyle pouted. “You girls just sucked the fun right out of it.”
I choked on the sip of water I had just taken, holding out the hand that held my bottle, and pointed at him. “And that is what he said!” Everyone, including Kyle, roared with laughter.
“Okay!” Kyle’s booming voice tore me from my happy place, and I focused all of my attention on him as he pulled out a bottle of Patron and some shot glasses.
My eyes instantly fell to Jensen across from me, and my brow furrowed with worry. Pushing myself up and stepping over Bones as he slept on the blanket at my feet, I walked over to Jensen. He leaned back against the huge fallen tree we had set up camp around and crossed his legs. With a wide smile, he offered me his hand and pulled me down onto his lap. Once I was situated comfortably across him, I wrapped my arms around him and he nuzzled my neck, making me giggle and squirm against him.
“Madikins?” Kyle said, bringing my attention to him.
“Hmm?” I said, turning to see the full shot glass he was offering me. “Oh, um … I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
His eyebrows shot up. “And why not?”
I had to think fast. “Because after how drunk I got on my birthday, I’ve decided to lay off for a while.” I purposefully avoided Willow’s eyes because I knew she’d see right through me. Instead, I turned back to Jensen and he smiled at me while running his hand up and down my back soothingly. Supportively.
Thankfully Kyle seemed to understand and didn’t push me. He was a little suspicious and tried to tell me I’d give in soon enough.
“Wouldn’t it just be easier to tell them?” Jensen asked quietly, his eyes pleading with me.
“Not yet,” I whispered, casting my eyes around the fire to see that everyone else was deep in a conversation, the bottle of Patron momentarily forgotten.
Jensen sighed, running the fingers on his free hand through his hair. “Okay.” There was something in his eyes that concerned me, but it quickly disappeared when Kyle engaged him in a conversation about a paintball outing he was trying to organize.
I was relieved that the focus seemed to have shifted from drinking. Brandon had even passed beers out to everyone. I politely declined, telling him that I really did plan to take it easy since I got so out of control on my birthday. He accepted my reasoning easily and didn’t pressure me; he was good like that.
The night wore on, and I could tell everyone was feeling a little tipsy. It was funny to see just how silly they got when drinking. Having always partied with them, I’d never really noticed this side of things before. Jensen took it easy on the drinking, choosing to be supportive of the fact that I couldn’t partake without giving our little secret away. While he wasn’t drunk, I could tell he was loosening up.
I was still sitting across his folded legs, my arms draped around his neck. A shiver ran from my scalp, down my spine, and out through my toes when Jensen’s fingers glided through my hair. Our eyes remained locked, and in an instant, we were transported into our own little bubble, the voices around us hushed as we focused on each other. I watched, in silence, as the shadows from the flames of the roaring fire danced over Jensen’s rugged jaw, how his eyes blazed brighter than the glowing embers. I sighed contentedly.
Swept up in the moment, I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his, hoping that my kiss could convey just how happy I was—even if still a little nervous about the timing and having to put my career on hold for another year. The hand moving through my hair moved down my back until it rested on my hip, squeezing gently as he opened his mouth to deepen our kiss. With a soft moan, I complied, sinking down into his lap a little more and bringing my left hand up to cup his face as his right hand slid up my inner thigh …
“Okay, you two, let’s make s’mores,” Kyle suggested excitedly.
Jensen must have been out of his mind, because he thought it would be sexy to feed me one of the delicious treats, but in reality it was a gooey and crumbly affair. I laughed when he offered to retrieve the bits of graham cracker that had fallen down my shi
rt, and slapped his hand away when he weaseled his fingers down the collar and between my boobs. This only spurred him on until he had me pinned on the ground, tickling me mercilessly, and it wasn’t until Kyle threatened to dump cold water on us both that he stopped.
By midnight, I was pretty damn exhausted. It had been a pretty huge day for the both of us. With a yawn, I stood up and stretched. “Okay, you party animals, I’m heading to bed.”
Jensen hopped up. “Me too,” he announced a little too eagerly.
Everyone seemed to be in agreement that it was time to pack it in, so after extinguishing the fire, we all went to our tents. Once inside our tent, Jensen and I changed while Bones circled the little blanket we had set up for him before flopping down. I pulled on my tank top and a pair of flannel pants while Jensen pulled on his own pajamas and pulled the top of the double sleeping bag down for us. I waited for Jensen to get situated before I joined him, rolling onto my side away from him so he could curl himself around me.
It didn’t take long before sounds I really could have gone without hearing started coming from the other two tents, and even less time before I realized Jensen had the same idea.
“Mmm,” he hummed against my neck, placing sweet kisses along the skin there and inhaling deeply. The way his fingers tickled against my lower belly as he worked them beneath the bottom of my shirt caused me to shiver.
Before he could get too far, I turned around and placed a hand on his cheek. “Hey,” I said softly. “Would you be upset if I said I’m tired? It’s been a pretty big day and all.” Nervously, I bit the inside of my cheek and awaited his reply. I hated disappointing him.
Jensen leaned forward and kissed my forehead. “Not at all, love,” he assured me, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me into his side.
I rested my head on his chest and let the steady tha-thump tha-thump of his heart lull me to sleep.
Chapter 32. Campfire Tales
I don’t know when I finally fell asleep, but when Kyle started shaking our tent, I awoke with a startled gasp.
Grumbling, Jensen pulled me back into his warm body. “Fuck off, Kyle!”
“Dooo-ooode!” Kyle responded, his shadow moving around to the front of the tent. Bones was on his feet in an instant, waiting at the door of the large tent with his tail wagging manically. “It’s nearly noon. You two are going to sleep the entire day away.”
The sound of the zipper moving forced Jensen and me upright. “Kyle, I swear, if you open that door …” Jensen threatened.
“It’s okay, we should get up. I’m kind of hungry, and we should go and gather more firewood for tonight,” I said, kicking the blankets toward the end of the bed. My pants had twisted up around my calves, and I was pretty sure Jensen may have been copping a feel in his sleep because my shirt was showing more skin than it should have been.
Thankfully, I had just fixed my tank top when Kyle’s head popped into our tent through the small opening he’d made in the door. “Come on! Get up. We made breakfast!” And then he was gone, Bones right behind him through the opening.
After quickly getting dressed, Jensen and I emerged from the tent to find Kyle playing fetch with Bones while Willow and Lilah helped Brandon cook over the fire. I recognized the smell of pancakes immediately, and my stomach rolled.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” I whispered, covering my mouth and running as far away from the campsite as possible.
I hoped that no one else would notice my abrupt departure, but I heard both Willow and Lilah calling after me as I disappeared into the brush and dry-heaved a few times. My legs trembled, threatening to give out, so I rested my hand on a nearby tree to steady myself. I felt a hand on my lower back, and the relief it brought could only mean it was one person.
“Are you okay?” Jensen asked, moving to my side as I pressed the back of my hand to my mouth and nodded. “Is there anything I can do?” I shook my head, feeling the nausea still rolling around in the depths of my belly.
When my stomach finally settled, I pushed myself upright and wrapped my arms around Jensen, tears from the energy I’d expended almost getting sick slipping from the outer corners of my eyes. Jensen placed his right hand on my lower back while his left held the back of my head softly, and he tried to calm me down before we faced everyone.
“I told them you had to pee. I don’t think they suspect anything,” he told me.
I forced a smile on my face as we neared the group, and he was right; it would appear that they were none the wiser about what was going on.
“Hey! Feel better now that your bladder’s empty?” Willow asked before taking a bite of her pancakes.
“Uh, yeah. Much.” I looked around at everyone’s plates. “Hey, are there any eggs?”
Everyone shook their heads, looking at me apologetic-ally, but Jensen came to my rescue. “You know, I could go for some eggs, would you like me to make you some too?”
Nodding, I smiled up at him. “Yeah, thanks. I’m going to go and brush my teeth.” Bones decided to follow me back to the tent where I retrieved my toothbrush and a bottle of water before heading back over to the bushes. After brushing my teeth, I rinsed my toothbrush with the bottle of water and turned to the dog. “Bones? C’mon, boy,” I urged before head-ing back to camp.
The eggs Jensen made really hit the spot, and because he had them with me, no one asked any questions or seemed suspicious. Willow looked at me a little strangely, especially since she knew I had crazy-mad love for pancakes, but she didn’t say anything.
“Should we maybe gather some more firewood for tonight?” I suggested after we got the dishes and campsite cleaned up. “It would probably be wise to do it during daylight hours rather than waiting until the sun goes down.”
We wound up gathering quite a bit of wood for our fire and decided to head back. I was thankful for that because I was feeling pretty wiped out and ready for a nap—at three in the afternoon. I had only known I was pregnant for less than twenty-four hours and my symptoms had hit me like a freight train.
Jensen started stacking the firewood when I knelt next to him. “I’m going to go and lie down for a bit, okay?”
“Are you feeling all right?” he asked, concern appearing in his eyes.
I nodded. “Yeah, that walk just kind of zapped all my energy.” Smiling, I leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “You know, you could always come and snuggle with me.”
“You don’t have to ask me twice. Let me just finish up here, and I’ll be right there.”
With a smile on my face, I started to make my way toward our tent when Willow stopped me. “Hey!” she exclaimed. “Where are you off to?”
“I’m going to go and take a little nap. That walk through the woods really took a lot out of me,” I explained.
There was something in Willow’s eyes that told me she suspected something, but she didn’t say anything. “Okay. Well, have a good nap. We’ll see you when you get up.”
“Thanks.”
I had just finished changing out of my jeans and climbed into our sleeping bag when Jensen slipped into our tent alone. “Where’s Bones?” I asked.
“He stayed with everyone else. Kyle was playing fetch with him again, and I didn’t want to break up their fun,” he explained, shedding his jeans and T-shirt before crawling into bed next to me. “How are you feeling, baby?” he asked, rolling onto his side and propping his head in his right hand as he used his left to tuck my hair behind my ear.
“Um,” I said quietly. “I feel okay.”
The smile he gave was sympathetic. “Only okay? You’re sure there’s nothing I can do?”
“Nope.” I sighed. “I’m not sure, but I also don’t think there’s anything anyone can do. We’ll just have to wait this part out.”
When I yawned, Jensen chuckled. “Okay, sweetheart. Let’s get some sleep.” He moved until his warm body was pressed to mine, and I rolled onto my side, placing my head on his chest and sighing when I felt his lips against my forehead.
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br /> I was lying on my belly with my arms tucked up under my pillow when I opened my eyes slowly, still groggy. The light canvas of the tent wall came into focus as I reached for my cell phone with a groan. Based on the time, it would appear that my “quick nap” wound up being three hours long.
“Hey, we slept longer than inte—” When I turned my head to my right, I found myself alone, and I sat up quickly. “Jensen?”
There was rustling from outside the tent before the zipper moved upward and Jensen stepped in. “Is something wrong?”
Shaking my head, I tossed the sleeping bag off my legs. “No, I just woke up and you weren’t here.” I looked up at him with sad eyes. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
Laughing softly, he dropped to his hands and knees over my stretched out legs and kissed me sweetly. “I tried, but you were non-responsive. I figured I’d let you sleep. I’m sorry.”
He kissed me again, and I found it impossible to stay upset. “I guess you’re forgiven. Did I miss anything?”
Jensen hopped to his feet and offered me his hands to help me up. I changed back into my jeans and long-sleeved tee from earlier and took his hand, following him outside.
“Kyle and Brandon are trying to think of what to do tonight. The girls want to play charades while Kyle would love to scare the shit out of you all with ghost stories.” He laughed. “I feel like a camp counselor mediating for a bunch of children.”
I joined in his amusement and bumped into his side lightly. “Well, we’re going to have to practice that if we’re going to have camp sessions next summer,” I reminded him.
“Excellent point.”
When we made it back to the fire, Willow and Lilah stole me away from Jensen and pulled me down onto the log between them. I watched as Jensen rejoined the guys, taking a fresh beer from Brandon and smiling at me while Kyle talked to both of them.
