Page 20 of Riverside Reverie

Desmond sat across from Theo, cutting potatoes on a wooden cutting board he’d placed over what he affectionately referred to as his “cooking stump”. Neither one of them had noticed me yet, so I made a quick and quiet escape down the pathway to the thunderbox.

It was, quite literally, a wooden box over a deeply dug hole. If it wasn’t as new as it was, I would have hesitated about sitting on it, but Jasmine told me the year before they had brought supplies to fix it.

I opened the lid, doing my best to ignore the smell. I mean, it wasn’t the Ritz, but my burning thighs hated the idea of squatting when I didn’t have to.

Breathing through my mouth, I relieved my bladder, wiped with the biodegradable toilet paper I’d snagged specifically for this trip, and quickly shut the lid. I washed my hands with the antibacterial hand sanitizer; also purchased for this very occasion.

The pathway was far less scary during the light of day, and I took my time walking back to the tent. I reached inside for the water bottle I’d left in it, brushing my teeth quickly before I slid my toiletries bag inside and reached for my sweater. Jasmine groaned, turning over, but didn’t wake up as I poked her gently with my foot.

She was dead to the world and would be until she woke herself up. Jasmine had always slept like that; so deeply, nothing could disturb her. I grabbed the muscle cream before I zipped our tent back up and stood, stretching the kinks out of my back.

With the sun not fully risen in the sky yet, it was a little chilly. I pulled my sweater over my head, collecting my hair from the nap of my neck and tugging the long strands through the collar. I slipped the muscle cream into my sweater pocket, hearing it knock against my cellphone.

I’d forgotten I’d placed it inside the pocket last night. I’m not sure why I thought bringing a cell phone with me as I trudged up the dark trail to the thunderbox was a good idea; I suppose I was thinking I’d use it to call for help if I encountered a bear. Of course, that was before I realized I got no reception—a blessing, and a curse.

This meant I hadn’t heard back from any of the jobs I’d applied for, but I did my best not to stress about that. I’d know soon enough.

As I walked down to the beach, I could hear Baz and Rhiannon moving about in their tent. The zipper opened as I walked by, enough to let Moose out to relieve himself. He peed on a nearby tree, spotted me, and then raced over with his tail wagging ferociously. Licking my hand, he followed me the rest of the way to the beach.

Hearing us, Theo looked over his shoulder. He’d gotten the fire going and was boiling water in a percolator.

“Good morning,” he grinned, and the way the simple greeting fell from his lips caused my heart to trip over itself.

“Morning,” I repeated, sitting in the chair I’d left the night before.

“Do you want some coffee?” he asked, straightening. When he stretched, the hem of his shirt lifted to reveal a sliver of his perfectly sculpted abdomen. He was in peak physical form; even his muscles had muscles.

The tantalizing mental image of my fingers—and tongue—running along those muscles had my mouth watering.

“Coffee sounds good,” I managed, tearing my gaze away from him, but not before I caught the secretive grin. He’d caught me looking again. Hiding my attraction to him wasn’t exactly working. Of course, it’d help if I’d stop staring at him.

When the coffee finished percolating, Theo poured it into a tin mug and held it out to me. “There’s creamer in my cooler, and the sugar is beside Desmond.”

“Thank you.” Our fingers brushed together as I took the mug from him, and another electric current zinged through me at the connection. I smiled a tentative smile and stepped over to the cooler he’d directed me to with a tilt of his chin. It would have been easy to find on its own: his last name, Whitmore, was written in capitals with a sharpie on the lid.

As I fixed my coffee with a few splashes of cream, Baz and Rhiannon made their way down to the beach. They carried more breakfast supplies, and I instantly felt silly for not thinking of it.

“I should go grab some more food,” I said hesitantly.

“Don’t worry about it, we’ve got more than enough to cook up right now,” Desmond said softly, giving me a warm smile and holding out the container of sugar to me.

“Thanks,” I said gratefully.

“Is Jasmine still asleep?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I replied, laughing lightly. “I don’t know what time she ended up coming to bed, but it must have been late. She’s completely out cold.” I glanced at him again as I returned the container of sugar to the log. I almost missed the fondness in his eyes, before he dropped his gaze to the potatoes in front of him and nodded. I got the sense there was something there: that Desmond’s feelings for Jasmine were a little more than friendly.

“Talia’s still snoring, too.” Rhiannon remarked with a yawn of her own, holding out her travel mug for Theo to fill and smiling at me. “How’d you sleep?”

“Good,” I admitted, pushing my hair behind my ear. I tried to avoid watching Theo; even though I could all but feel his eyes on me. “It was so peaceful, I passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow.”

“I love that first night—when the fresh air and all the exercise hits you. I always sleep so well,” Rhiannon said dreamily. Baz planted a kiss on her cheek as he passed by, headed for the percolator.

“How are your arms today?” Theo asked me. I had no choice but to look at him, and I prayed my cheeks weren’t as red as they felt.

“A lot better. The Tylenol and cream helped a lot. Oh, speaking of…” I reached into my pocket and grabbed the muscle cream, passing it to him. He took it, our fingers making the briefest of contact. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

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