Page 88 of Close Quarters

“Probably,” I agreed. “I just hate the idea of leaving them to roam around or hide, all scared and shit during the night. Poor things.”

“Stupid things more like.”

“Well, yeah, but still…poor things.”

He cast me an amused look. “You and your big, soft heart.”

“You know, I’d point out that you have a bigger heart than you like to let on, but I don’t feel like getting pushed off my horse,” I told him with a grin.

“I wouldn’t push you off the horse.”

“Uh-huh. Tell me why because we both know it’s not sweet.”

“Because I’m not carting your broken-legged ass back to the damn ranch. You’d bitch the entire time.”

“That’s what I thought.”

I guess you could say we knew each other too well at times, but it made me laugh anyway. And even though I knew the answer, I had to ask. “So, can we search a little longer? I know we wouldn’t be able to head back today even if we found them, but?—”

“Hmm, I guess,” he said, surprising me.

However, within half an hour, I knew searching further would be pointless. There was only so much light left in the day, and we needed as much as possible to set up camp. Reno only needed to give me a meaningful look before I sighed heavily, nodding to say I understood and agreed.

“Problem with setting up camp is, I don’t know the first thing about it,” he admitted as we began to look for a good spot.

“Hey, I might,” I said with a sudden grin.

“Seriously? How?”

“I did some Boy Scout stuff when I was younger.”

“Uh…how much?”

“Um…six months.”

“Of course.”

“Hey! I learned some things! I know how to start a fire. Well, I know how, but I don’t know if I can. And I also have a good idea of where to set up a camp. I was in it long enough to go on a couple of camping trips.”

“Not…exactly the best endorsement, but fuck it, more than I know, that’s for sure.”

I could have pointed out that he didn’t exactly sound enthused by the idea but swallowed the impulse back. As far as Reno went, that was about as enthusiastic support as anyone would get. Honestly, it was progress for both of us that he even showed that support and that I didn’t immediately take offense. It was sometimes hard to see how well he had learned to read me, but from my end, it was easy to tell he was letting go of control and letting me prove whether or not I knew my stuff.

Thankfully, fate or whatever was in charge decided to take mercy on me. I found the perfect spot under a stable overhang of rock where we could set up our tents on the ground rather than the rocks. It would also give us plenty of cover when the sun rose in the morning, so we’d at least have a chance to wake up to the light rather than the suffocating heat.

The tents were…well, I hadn’t really set up tents when I was a kid, so it took both of us. It took almost twenty minutes to set up the one pup tent correctly, and we were already running out of daylight fast.

“Err, we could share?” I offered, not enjoying the idea of fighting with another tent.

“We’re not exactly small,” he said, eyeing the tent warily. “And that’s a really small tent.”

I chuckled, reaching over to grip his waist and squeeze it. “And we’ve managed to fit onto tiny ass twin beds before. It’s a good thing I’m so fond of cuddling.”

His eyes darted to me, lingering for a moment before slipping away, but not without leaving a slight smile on his face. “You are pretty persistent.”

“Yeah, and you suffer in silence so well,” I said, knowing he enjoyed it just as much as I did. He also knew that I knew, and I knew he knew. It was just the sort of complicated, slightly dramatic cycle that should have had him bitching, but he just rolled with it instead. I might wish for more overt displays of affection from him, but on the other hand, I knew he treasured that I was willing to read between the lines for his comfort.

“I didn’t think to look through the food,” I admitted, reluctantly letting go of him. I had no doubt we would find time later to use the small space afforded us by the tent, considering I had already thought to slip in the…necessities when I realized we were being sent out into the plains again. “What do we even have?”

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