Golden

18| A Hot Can of Baked Grilling Beans

18| A Hot Can of Baked Grilling Beans

It smelled the applewood smoked bacon, and I didn't know why, but it reminded me of the campfire in late fall, borderline winter because of how cold it would get when it was late enough to see the moon peeking out of the sky, dimming from blue to black in minutes. Reminiscent of sitting on shitty homemade cushions with my dad, because my mom liked to sew, and we didn't want to get our asses wet on the grass of the campsite. His words, not mine. But they stuck with me.

We'd basically burn applewood bacon in the fire and eat it. Because we had a sweet tooth, we'd douse it in maple syrup before biting into the crispy charred meat. It could sound unappealing. Mom even thought we were weirdos for it. But it was a mutual treat me and my dad had shared. Our little evening activity while mom snuck off to bed in the tent. We'd sit guard, basically, with the fire and a lantern at our side, always to my right. Dad said if any bears or crazy bald men appeared, I would take the lantern and run into the tent with my mom, while he handled the situation. I'd always laugh and ask, "Yeah, and what are you gonna do to handle the situation?" Just to test him. He'd say, "Go into the tent, zip it up, and find out."

So I would. Every time.

And every time, he would stand up, move the lantern in a way so he'd be able to cast his shadow upon the tent, and I'd watch his silhouette do some terrible, over-exaggerated, and utterly cheesy karate moves. He really felt like he was in some sort of movie.

It cracked me up.

So I woke up, smelled the applewood smoked bacon, and was brought back to nostalgia. It made me significantly happier, and all the while, a tad sadder. Bittersweet memories, and I was used to it.

"I know you weren't expecting company this morning, but I'm really gonna need you to cut it on the beauty sleep."

Bacon didn't talk.

That was a human.

I had to blink my eyes three times to really focus in on my surroundings. I'd just woken up, and my eyes, ears, and everything was fresh as fuck. I hadn't put contacts in, or my glasses on, even, so my sight wasn't the best. But I could see someone standing in the little kitchenette of my hotel room, and I wanted to scream at the top of my fucking lungs.

"You're looking at me as if I'm some sort of fucking walrus that's snuck into your hotel room!" Charlie snapped three times. "Snap out of it, sleeping beauty! It's time for you to eat some bacon."

I grabbed my glasses of my nightstand, and was shook to find out that my suspicions were correct.

"Ain't no way in hell I'm not tripping right now," I muttered, lying back into my pillow, but not breaking eye contact with Charlie. Her intense blue eyes didn't dim from more than ten feet away. "How'd you get in here?" I yawned.

"River."

"Does River get in here?"

She shrugged. "I feel like he has some weird ins with the hotel staff. So, he might just have some sort of grand access key, or some shit. Either way. I got access. And here I am. Bacon?"

She came closer while I groaned, and tried to adjust myself under the sheets.

This should have been every man's dream. Like. Literally.

Staying the night in a hotel, and suddenly, you wake up to the fresh scent of hot, crispy, bacon, which was made by a gorgeous woman, who surprised you with breakfast in bed.

This felt like rom-com type shit, but it was giving break-and-enter.

At the same time, I was flattered, but incredibly unprepared. Hence why I felt the need to tuck myself deeper underneath the covers. I was pretty much entirely naked. And while I was pretty secure with my body and shit, I was really unwilling to have my naked ass body revealed to my current competition.