Page 78 of Wanting My Husband
Fuck that, the only one who can mark me is John.
“We can say goodbye and see them off, then we can track them so we know exactly where they’re going,” I suggest, getting excited now. “Do you have Liam’s location on yourphone? It’ll be like in high school when we’d sneak out of our parents’ house to go to parties. This is how we get a thrill in our thirties, apparently.”
Blake laughs. “We don’t need to track them, bro. I know where they’re going. Liam went last year, and he said they go to the same spot every time.”
“Well, that’s easy, where is it?”
“Kremler Mountain. Liam spent a long time the other day telling me all about the ‘dispersed camping.’ They drive until they find an open spot to camp on the road.
“Rugged.” Wow, there really is so much I have no knowledge of. “Huh, do you think we need to get our own gear? We can probably sleep in their tents, right?”
“Let’s talk to Wyatt, he’d know,” Blake suggests, and I’m already turning to walk back to his house and my much cuter babies.
“Blake,you don’t need an air mattress!” I shout as he loads the back of my Range Rover. Wyatt said to bring whatever we’d want to be comfortable, and Blake took that very literally.
“Good luck sleeping on the ground, Chad. You’re going to be jealous when Liam and I are all comfy in his tent and there’s not going to be any room for you,” he teases.
“I don’t want to sleep in your tent. Especially not if John is there.” I waggle my eyebrows. “Besides, it’s camping! I think the point of it is to sleep on the ground, right? Wyatt gave me that ground sleeping pad thing. I’m sure that’ll be fine.” Although, looking at the air mattress now, I am feeling a bit jealous. It’s so much bigger than the thin little pad Wyatt gave us.
“I don’t care what the point is, I’m doing this for you, and I’m going to be comfortable. Now help me lift this cooler into the car,” Blake requests, and I pick up the other side to load it in.
“I hope they like the snacks we’re bringing.”
“Who knows what they planned to eat, but the charcuterie board will be so much better,” Blake says confidently as he closes the trunk. It’s officially road trip time.
After nearly two hours of singing in the car, we pull up to the camp road they’re on. It’s made of dirt, and it’s bumpy as hell.
“Just keep driving down this road until you see John’s truck,” Blake instructs. “It looks like there should be a lake right up here.”
Sure enough, I pull around the bend in the road and there’s a lake. It’s stunning, and as soon as we pass it, the massive trees start swallowing the road. “Why do I feel like we’re about to get murdered in these woods? I did not think this through. This is so much scarier than my house, and it’s not even dark yet! You know how I feel about the dark, Blake.”
He laughs even though I’m being very serious. “Yeah, Chad, I know you’re afraid of it, but guess what? You’ll also have your big scary man to cuddle into for protection from all the squirrels and chipmunks out here.”
“Uh, John is not scary. And I think you forgot the bears. There are bears here, I googled it!” I counter.
“Sure, but those bears eat, like, berries and stuff, not humans.”
“Yeah, because the person hasn’t lived through it to tell the tale. They’re just gone, Blake. Bear food. RIP.”
“You’re being ridiculous, and you know that’s saying a lot from me.” Blake grins at me from the passenger seat. “Liam made this trip sound super relaxing. I don’t think there’s any reason to be scared of camping.”
“Says the one who doesn’t listen to true crime podcasts while he works out! There’s plenty to be afraid of, Blake, but you live in your naive little bubble, my friend.”
Blake laughs again. “This was literally your idea! You should’ve thought of this before you planned a surprise campingtrip. It’ll be fine. I just can’t wait to see Liam. We’ve got to be getting close.”
I nod, hoping John is equally as excited to see me. I spent the night at his house last night since my house is a true construction zone now too, so he said goodbye to me when he left a few hours ago. He’d seemed a bit sad both this morning and last night instead of excited for this big annual trip. I think maybe it was because he thought he’d be away from me for the weekend.
“Do you know why they do this?” I ask Blake.
“No clue. All I know is this is their thing and they’ve been doing it for years. Liam didn’t invite me last year or this time,” Blake says. “But I also didn’t exactly want to go.”
“Wait, I think that’s them.” I point to the black truck up ahead, pulled over to a spot on the side of the road.
“It is. Here goes nothing!” Blake says as I navigate over the last of the bumps on this unmaintained road and pull over to their site. “Site” is more loose of a term because it’s really just an open spot of land with a stone fire pit. There’s nothing else. I don’t know why I imagined more.
“Uh, Blake?”
“Yeah?”
