Page 18 of Love Hazard

I didn’t say anything for the next twenty minutes. The viewwas pretty enough, and I was still groggy from my nearly two-hour nap. It wasalready starting to get dark by the time we made it to the campsite, or atleast what I assumed was the campsite. There were two RVs, a tent, and a firegoing, but that was basically it. I could hear the waves crashing before we gotout of the Jeep. August remained silent as he killed the engine and slammed hisdoor. There were no bathrooms that I could see, which meant I had a date withnature and a very embarrassing talk with August about where to go to thebathroom to look forward to. Fingers crossed there’d be no curious bears.

I left my purse and phone in the Jeep so I could help, thenpulled my black hoodie over my head and shivered. I was glad I’d packed morethan one sweatshirt and a big jacket just in case it rained.

August was pulling stuff out of the back of the SUV: twoblue folding chairs, some dry firewood that he moved to the side, some food,and finally, the tent. He left the blankets inside just in case. Wait, why wasthere only one tent?

I stared, then stared harder. “That looks small.”

“What?” He swatted away my pointed finger. “There aren’t anyspiders or bugs. What’s your deal?” I pointed again, and he swatted again, thencursed. “Seriously, what’s your issue? Have you really neverseen a tent before?”

First off, it was yellow—bright yellow. NASA would have notrouble finding us, just like every other creature, Bigfoot included. “Why isit so small-looking?”

He stared at it, then back at me, then back at it. “Becauseit’s for one person. Maybe two total if you spoon the hell out of each other.But don’t worry, princess. You’ll be in your tent. Everything’s fine.”

In that moment, I didn’t think I would ever be able toadequately describe the actual panic that stripped my soul and humanity. “Um,my tent?”

You know when you know you’re completely screwed, and yourbody kind of goes numb, but your hands manage to prickle all over while a coldchill rests on your skin? And then you get those bad goose bumps, not the goodones that tell you you’re about to be kissed or pressed against a wall withyour hair pulled in a really good way? That. That was this feeling.

“Yes.” He rolled his eyes. “Your tent. It was right next tothe third chair on the ground and the extra sleeping bag your dad left foryou.”

“Ha ha.” It wasn’t funny. “Theextra sleeping bag?”

His green eyes furrowed. “Yes, to sleep in, unless youplanned on wrapping yourself up in a blanket and sleeping on the sand under thestars.”

“I didn’t bring it,” I blurted.

His yellow, bundled-up tent dropped to the ground. “I’msorry, what? Because it sounded like you just said you didn’t bring it. Define it.I need to know what it is.”

I gulped and hugged my body. “It would be more like a pluralword in this scenario?”

“How plural? And why is that a question? It should be astatement, like…oh, I forgot my bug spray, or my phone. My charger. I forgot myfavorite bag of chips. What did you not bring, Hazel?”

“I was distracted.” I sidestepped the question. “And mayhave forgotten to put my tent and the extra sleeping bag in the Jeep.”

Had he yelled, I would have felt much better. Instead, hejust stared at me like he was about to throw the tent and leave me to fend formyself. “So, you’re saying you forgot what you needed for the camping trip?”

“Look.” I spread my arms wide. “It’s not a big deal. I cansleep in the Jeep.”

He burst out laughing. “You’re going to sleep in the SUV andfreeze to death at night? Do you realize how cold it gets? And we aren’tkeeping the Jeep on all night. The tent holds body heat, and we put it in frontof a fire. Do you even know how nature works, or is it just a guess fromreading at this point?”

I rolled my eyes. “I know what you mean, but how cold is itactually supposed to get tonight?”

Rain started to come down as the wind picked up.

I was already shivering.

He grabbed his tent. “Come on, help me put this up, andwe’ll figure the rest out. Don’t grab the firewood yet, and leave the dryblankets.”

I huffed and followed him toward the edge of the tree line.He pointed up at the large trees. “If we camp here,it shouldn’t get too windy, and we can at least have a fire. The farther we gettoward the ocean, the windier it gets. Normally, this area is calmer, but earlysummer storms can be a thing here, especially with the rain.”

I nodded like I knew exactly what he was talking about. Hedropped the tent to the ground and started pulling pieces out of the bag. “Justtell me how I can help.”

He snorted out a laugh. “I would tell you to read theinstructions, but it would just take longer. Why don’t you start setting up thechairs and build a place for the fire, as in put rocks in a small circle, digout a dry hole, and put in the firewood? Then grab the poop shovel and—“

“The what shovel?” I asked.

He sighed like I was the most annoying person on the planetand turned, hands on his narrow hips. Why did jeans have to look so good onhim? And why did his stupid thighs match the tree trunks next to him? “For thebathroom.”

“A bathroom shovel? But you calledit a poop shovel.”

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