“It’s one weekend, Emily.”
“No, a weekend is Saturday and Sunday, you want to leave Thursday morning and come back Monday night. That’s five days I’d have to take off of work.”
“But it’s summer vacation, and it’s just one weekend, and Buddy and Julia are coming and it’ll be fun, and we’ll have a campfire and go kayaking …”
“I can’t, Joel. I can’t take that many days off of work! My boss would fire me!”
“Then quit.”
“Ha, ha. You know my mom’s deal. I have to work or she’ll kick me out.”
“Fine then, move out.”
“Right, quit my job so I have no money and then move out and have nothing to pay the rent with. Because that makes sense.”
He glared at me. He didn’t like the dry, sarcastic wit I had inherited from my father. “I’m serious Emily. Move in with me. We spend most of our time at my place anyways. Move in with me and you can help me keep the place clean, you can cook, and I’ll pay for your time.”
“I don’t know, Joel, I’ll think about it, okay?”
“Will you ask for the time off at least?”
I rolled me eyes. “I’ll ask, but don’t get your hopes up.”
I was genuinely surprised that my boss was willing to give me that many shifts off but apparently there was someone asking for extra hours for a few weeks so it all worked out, this time.
“Don’t you go making a habit out of asking for a whole week off,” my boss said, shaking a finger at me. “I don’t keep lazy, layabouts on staff. You work or you get fired.”
“I know, I promise it won’t be a regular thing, not even during the summer.” I had the time off and that meant my number one excuse for getting out of the camping trip was out the window.
Wednesday before my shift I packed my bag. Spending the weekend with Buddy and Julia wasn’t exactly appealing. I swear Buddy and Joel could have been brothers, or at least cousins, and Julia looked like a French model, pale and long limbed, with perfectly straight hair that never had any fly-away bits, and these crisp blue eyes. They were nice people, but like my boyfriend they were kids from actual rich families, not just a family that was well enough off that their daughter could play at being upper crust. Not only that, but when Buddy and Joel got together they got really competitive and started doing crazy, reckless things. Boys will be boys and all that but rich boys with big, fast, dangerous toys was scary.
We left very early Thursday morning, all four of us in Buddy’s SUV. There were two kayaks strapped to the roof and a trailer on the hitch. The back was loaded with bags and coolers and Julia and I sat in the back seat while Joel and Buddy took turns driving.
I slept through the early part of the drive, having worked a long, late, busy shift the night before, and when I opened my eyes again the city was far behind us. We passed through a few small towns, stopping for the occasional fuel top-up, bathroom break, or snack run, so the drive took most of the day, even with Buddy speeding on the open highway.
We headed for a spot Buddy knew by the North Platte River. Dense trees alternated with grasslands as we wound down the highway. There weren’t many animals but it was mid-afternoon and most of them were probably in the cool of the trees or down by the river. Once we were away from the highway and out on the back roads there wasn’t much for people either.
A whole weekend without power, without internet, and without anyone but Julia, Buddy, and Joel to talk to. I thought. Why did I agree to this? Why didn’t I just stay home and work?
CHAPTER TWO
The spot where Buddy stopped was a low spot right by the river. There was a natural clearing but the grass had been worn away and there was a ring of stones around a fire pit so we weren’t the first ones to come here. It was probably a popular backwoods camping spot and we were just lucky we had it to ourselves.
Joel and Buddy unhitched the trailer while Julia and I started unloading bags and food. We were struggling with a chest cooler that turned out to be loaded with beer and ice while the boys stood on the river bank surveying the river.
“This is perfect,” Joel said. “Kayaking is going to be awesome here.”
“Are you two going to stand there yakking all afternoon or are you going to help us?” Julia said. They turned and watched us stagger away from the SUV with the cooler between us. We set it down not four feet from the vehicle with a solid thud to much laughter from the boys.
Julia flipped her middle finger at them and we went back to unloading.
By the time we were finished the boys had stopped being useless and had gotten a decent sized fire going. Julia and I sat back with our beers while the boys grilled steak over an open fire. The potatoes were easy, they were wrapped in foil and tucked in the rocks around the fire, all you had to do was flip them every fifteen minutes or so, but the steak was harder until they figured out a way to get the grill to stay up without dumping the meat into the flames.
Somehow it all turned out delicious and only slightly burned around the edges, but it tasted like camping and we were all starving so no one complained.
We cleaned up, put out the fire, and went for a hike. It was a beautiful area and I was starting to relax into the adventure. We climbed a hill that crested at the river bank giving us an amazing view. The river stretched away in either direction, picking up speed downstream of us. Across the river was dense forest in all the vibrant greens of summer.
“It’s beautiful here. Wyoming has a lot of beautiful wilderness, doesn’t it?”
Joel put his arm around my waist and all my doubts and regrets about coming out here melted away. This was right. This felt good.
“What’s that?” Buddy said, pointing off in the distance.
From between the trees far off down river a thin tendril of smoke was drifting skywards.
“A campfire?” Julia said. “We can’t be the only ones who come up here to get away from the city.”
“Maybe,” I said. “I just hope it’s not the start of a forest fire.”
“Don’t worry,” Joel said. “We’re being careful with our fire, and I’m sure whoever that is out there is doing the same with their fire.”
We ignored the mystery smoke and watched the birds circle and swoop until the sun began to dip low in the sky and our shadows grew long.
“Come on,” Buddy said. “We don’t need anyone twisting their ankle on the way down in the dark. Who wants marshmallows?”
Joel perked up. “Oh, I do. I’ll race you back!” They took off back down the narrow trail, shoving and crashing.
“At least they’re scaring away anything that might jump out and scare us,” Julia said.
“I was really hoping to see a deer this trip,” I said. We followed them down at a more cautious pace. By the time we made it back it was almost full dark and Buddy and Joel had the fire going and marshmallows roasting.
As we came up behind the trailer we could hear Joel saying, “Come on man, you owe me this. I did the same for you, remember?”
“That was different,” Buddy said. “It’ll be a lot harder out here!”
“You can’t chicken out on me, come on man.”
“What’s going on?” Julia said.
“Oh – uh …” Buddy looked at us and then Joel.
“Just an old bet,” Joel said. “Don’t worry about it.”
Julia and I exchanged a look and I shrugged. If they’re not going to talk about it, why push?
Joel was settled on a blanket by the fire so I sat down with him and cuddled up next to him. Sparks danced up into the night sky like lightning bugs.
We ate marshmallows and s'mores and talked and laughed. The fire had burned way down again and the orange light was dancing in the coals. I was staring at that wavering light and almost missed the way Buddy leaned over, reaching for the pile of wood, and then stopped, nodded, and sat back up. He stretched big and yawned bigger. “I’m wiped. I’m going to turn in. Are you coming too Julia?”
“I guess s
o. We’re going to be pretty active tomorrow. Are you two coming?”
I opened my mouth to say yes but Joel said, “We’ll be along in a little bit.”
My first thought was oh god, he’s going to propose! A wedding proposal by dwindling fire light beside a grand river under the stars was probably romantic, but it wasn’t my idea of the ideal proposal. And I wasn’t even sure that I wanted to marry Joel. I liked him, I cared about him, we were good together, but I just wasn’t sure I was ready for that yet. I mentally began preparing polite ways to say, “No”.
Instead of proposing he said, “Let’s move away from the fire.”
“Away from the fire? But it’s warm here, and light. I don’t want to be out in the bush with all the wild animals in the dark. Julia is right, we’re going to be out in the boats all day tomorrow, we should get some sleep.”
“We will,” he said, standing. He pulled me to my feet as well and then scooped up the blanket. “But I don’t want Buddy stepping out to piss and seeing us.”
“Why can’t Buddy … oh. No, not out here! Joel!”
His smile was strange. “Yes, come on, it’ll be exciting and wild and romantic.” He took my wrist and tugged me in the direction of the car, bringing the blanket with us. “No one will see us, come on.”
He wasn’t going to drop it so I went along with him. He spread the blanket out over a patch of grass and then took his shirt off. My eyes adjusted to the almost complete darkness as best they could but still all I could really see of him was an outline.
He grabbed my arms and kissed me. Usually I melted at that first kiss but today it felt different. Maybe I was nervous about being out in the open, maybe I just wasn’t interested, I wasn’t sure, but his kiss did nothing for me for the first time in our relationship.
It can’t always be fireworks and roses, I thought and kissed him back. A relationship means working at it.
His lips were soft and warm but his kisses were rough and demanding. I tried to slow him down, to set a more romantic pace, but he was insistent. He only stopped kissing me to help me out of my shirt and bra. “Careful,” I said. “I don’t want to lose those.”
He didn’t reply. He undid the button on my jeans and then started pulling his own jeans down.
“What’s the rush?”
“Oh, well, I don’t want to get too bitten up by mosquitoes and you’re right, we don’t want to be out here when the wild life comes to investigate. Come on, just a quickie in the dark, it’s an adventure.”
I shrugged and shoved my jeans down. I almost fell over trying to step out of them and Joel caught me. Once I was free of my clothes we settled on the blanket. His hands were all over me as he started kissing me again. It was sort of exciting to be out in the wild at night, naked, being kissed and touched.
I pulled back sharply. “What was that?”
“Rocks,” Joel muttered. “Something walking by. I don’t know.” He kissed me again.
“What if it was Buddy?” I whispered.
“They he’ll go pee and go back into the trailer.”
“Won’t he come looking for us? We’re not by the fire anymore.”
“No, he won’t.” He pushed me back and silenced me with a rough kiss.
I struggled free. “I really heard something,” I said. “It sounded like the trailer door. If it was Buddy or Julia going pee shouldn’t they be going back into the trailer.”
“Emily, relax, okay? No one is going to see us.” He sat back and groped my breasts with both hands. “You’re beautiful,” he said.
I laughed. “You can barely see me.”
“I don’t have to see you, I know you’re beautiful.” I expected his next kiss to be gentle and romantic but it was just as rough as the others. He took my hand and guided it to his cock. “I want you to kiss me,” he said, “Kiss me here and finish getting me hard.”
My heart was thundering in my chest. I really wanted to get dressed and crawl into the safety of the trailer, but he was so excited for this, and what could it hurt? It took a little shuffling around but soon I was on my knees beside him bent almost double so I could take his cock into my mouth. I licked the tip the way he liked but he put a hand on the back of my head and pushed down.
I opened my mouth and took him in. It was different at this angle but I let him push deeper into my mouth
“Yes,” he groaned. “Like that.”
He ran his hand slowly down my neck and back and over my ass while I bobbed up and down on his cock.
“That’s it, eat it, good girl. You like that cock, don’t you? Oh fuck yes. Fuck you’re good at this. Oh, take it deeper, deep throat my cock you little tease.”
I stretched my mouth wide and took his as deep as I could, holding him there.
His hand came back to my hair and he pulled me up only to push me back down again. “Fuck my cock with your mouth. Keep taking it in your throat. Fuck yes. Fuck, like that.”
Every time I tried to stop without taking him as deep into my throat he pushed until his cock brushed the back of my throat. Up and down on his cock I went. At least he let me go slowly so I could focus on breathing.
“Don’t stop what you’re doing,” he said. “Don’t fucking stop.” His hand slid down my body again and cupped my ass. His finger played around my asshole making me squirm. “You like that, don’t you? You want to be fucked.” He slipped his finger into my pussy and started fingering me. “You don’t know what you want more, that cock in your mouth or shoved up your cunt. Maybe you’d like two of us? Maybe You want to be fucked in the mouth and the cunt?”
I tried to pull up to answer him but his other hand pressed down on the back of my head. “Don’t fucking stop. I want to feel the back of your throat every time. I want you to fuck my cock with your hot wet mouth.”
My mouth was aching and I was sure he was going to finish in my mouth before he finally pulled away. “Wow,” he said. “Emily you’re fucking amazing. Come here.”
I was still catching my breath and he just moved me around and sat me on his lap. He shoved his cock into me without warning and started thrusting.
“Fuck you’re so tight and wet tonight, just the way I like you.”
It was fast and hard and rough. I could feel my breasts shaking with the force of his thrusts. He released my hips and grabbed my breasts. He squeezed them and pulled on them. One hand let go of my breast and he slapped my ass, hard, and then rubbed the now stinging spot before rubbing his thumb over my asshole.
“Fuck, I would love to take your ass tonight, babe. Your cunt is so fucking tight, I bet your ass is even better.”
I didn’t have time to enjoy any of it, I wasn’t even sure I did enjoy it. Mostly I was concentrating on not screaming and alerting Julia and Buddy but I managed to say, “Joel, it hurts.”
“Take it, oh, take my cock,” he groaned. I wasn’t even sure he’d heard me.
“Joel.”
“Oh, that’s it, take it.”
“Joel, stop!”
He thrust hard a few more times and then grunted hard. I could feel him coming inside of me but still he kept thrusting. Finally, he let go of me, collapsing back. I scrambled away from him. “What was that?” I said.
“We were having sex Emily.”
“I told you it hurt, I told you to stop.”
“I did stop. Look, Emily, I’m sorry I god carried away. If you don’t like it like that I won’t do it again, I promise.”
He reached for me but I sat back out of his reach.
He sighed. “Emily, I love you too much to hurt you.”
“You did hurt me. This wasn’t about us; this was all about you.”
“I don’t want to sound like a selfish jerk but sometimes sex is like that. Let me make it up to you. Next time it will be all about you. I’ll do anything you want, you can tell me to do anything, anything at all. We’ll do it at your pace, the way you like it, and I’ll make you scream in all the best ways.”
This time I let him touch my arm
. “I don’t know Joel. I need to you listen to me, to respect me.”
“I love you, Emily. Of course I respect you. But there has to be some give and take between us. I know I took too much tonight but I’m willing to make it up to you. I should have talked to you about it first. I’m sorry.”
I let him draw me into his arms. “Okay. But promise it won’t happen again.”
“I promise.”
We got dressed and went back to the trailer. We stopped to make sure the fire was completely put out and that all the blankets and chairs were folded away where they wouldn’t blow into the river overnight. Joel wrapped his arm over my shoulders and said, “I love you Emily.”
I forced a smile. “It’s late. Let’s get to bed.”
“Don’t be mad, please.”
“Let’s just go to bed, please. I don’t want to talk about it now.”
CHAPTER THREE
We were up early the next morning to the sound of crows squabbling in the trees. I should have been tired but the crisp fresh air was better than coffee. Of course the coffee helped too. And so did the bacon and the scrambled eggs. We took our time eating breakfast, mostly in silence. Joel was staring at me and I was doing my best to avoid his gaze. Julia seemed angry at Buddy and Buddy just looked awkward. He kept looking at each of us as if trying to figure out what was going on, or what he could do about it.
As soon as we finished supper Joel said, “Why don’t Buddy and I take care of the clean up this morning so you ladies can take care of whatever you need to do.”
I stood up and stretched. “I could do with a shower.”
Buddy chuckled. “I don’t have one of those, sorry.”
“Oh well, I’ll make do with washing my face and getting dressed. What about you?”
Julia huffed. “Yeah, I’ll come with you.”
We all went down to the river together, the boys to get water for dishes and Julia and I to wash up. The river was freezing but the water was clear. I wouldn’t have taken a drink from it on a bet but it worked for my face.
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