Fighting to go on

Chapter 11

            By the time the weekend rolled around, I was very excited about the camping trip. Sarah had gotten permission to go as well, so at least I wouldn’t be the only girl.

            We left straight from school on Friday. Ryan, Sarah, Chase and I in one car, and the other four guys in Brandon’s car. Both cars were jammed with gear as well, so it was a tight fit, but I was too excited to care about the cramped conditions in the vehicle.

            When we got to the campground, everyone pitched in with unloading all the stuff. Sarah and I grabbed our tent and found a level spot to pitch it. We emptied everything out of the bag and looked at the instructions. I furrowed my brow as I read them. “Um, we do what now?”

            Sarah was looking at them with equal confusion. “I’m not entirely sure…”

            “I thought you’ve been camping before?”

            “Yeah, but we always had a tent trailer or something. Not just a tent.”

            I sighed. “Well, let’s try and figure this thing out.”

            Half an hour later I grabbed one of the poles and threw it down, cursing angrily at it. “Stupid pole A won’t fit into slot C. Stupid instructions,” I grumbled.

            Ryan chose that moment to wander over. He looked at the mess by our feet with amusement. “Having issues?”

            I glared at him. “I swear if you laugh, I will kick you somewhere that will really hurt.”

            He grimaced and automatically reached down to protect his manhood. “Sorry angel, I won’t make fun of you.”

            I pouted as I stared at the jumble of poles and then an idea suddenly came to me. I bit my lip and looked at Ryan out of the corner of my eye. He was looking the other way so I sidled over to him. Sarah saw me moving and she stopped what she was doing to watch me. I laid my hand on Ryan’s arm. “Ryan,” I said softly.

            His eyes snapped down to mine and he looked at me warily. “Yeah?”

            I moved until I was standing in front of him, my body pressed lightly against his. “You’re a big, strong man, right?”

            “Yeah…”

            I trailed my hands down his chest and his breathing hitched. I stretched up on my tiptoes so I could brush a teasing kiss over his lips. “And you want to spend time with me, right?”

            He dipped his head to nuzzle at my neck. “Of course I do.”

            “Well, since you’re so big and strong, you wouldn’t mind helping me, right?”

            “You know I’d do anything for you.” His lips trailed up to my ear.

            I shuddered, but forced myself to focus on the task at hand. “Can you put the tent up for me?”

            “Of course.”

            He went to kiss my lips, but I sprang away from him. “Great! Sarah and I are going to go explore a bit. We’ll be back shortly!” I grabbed Sarah’s hand and bolted away from our site, the laughter of the other five guys following behind us.

            “You’re going to pay for that Sammy,” Ryan yelled out after us.

            Sarah and I giggled like idiots as we took off to explore the campground. There were quite a few other people camping as well, but we didn’t stop to talk to anyone. I was comfortable around Ryan’s friends, but I still had issues with strangers.