“You’re really going to tie me up and leave me here?”
“No. I’m going to clean up this campsite, then I’m going to drag you into town.”
“You’ll regret this someday, brother. You’ll have sent your family to jail over some skirt.”
I look over to Reese and smile. “She’s much more than that. If you knew anything about family, you would see that too.”
I walk toward Reese whose body is shaking and wet, her hard nipples piercing through the thin fabric of her shirt. I smile and hold her against my chest. “That was something by the way. How’d you cut the tent?”
She whips out a Swiss army knife from her pocket. “More parental advice,” she laughs. “My dad told me to keep this around in case of weirdos. He seemed like a weirdo. The fact that he’s your brother is the only reason this knife isn’t buried in him right now.”
Rain falls heavier over top of us and a tree cracks in the distance. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. He’s not someone I’m proud of.”
“She understands,” Brianna shouts. “In fifth grade she told everyone that I was adopted because she couldn’t admit her older sister was the one wearing a Michael Jackson glove to school.”
I flip my gaze back toward Reese and she grins. “Let’s just get out of here. How far back do you think the Jeep is?” I ask as I pull up the tent and pop it back into its smaller shape, wrapping it into the backpack.
“A few miles. It’s going to be a hike, especially in this weather.”
“I’m sorry about all of this,” I say trying to comprehend how difficult it’s going to be to get out of here tonight.
Brianna walks up behind us, her site already cleaned and ready to go. “Don’t be sorry. This is the most adventure I’ve had… ever. That said, I’m ready for it to be over with. Let’s go find a hotel. I can’t wait to check myself into something fancy and warm.”
“No way, you’re staying with me!” Reese says, sliding her arm into Brianna’s.
Her sister glances back, a wide grin on her face. “And listen to you two play hide the pickle? I don’t think so. I’m going back to that resort that overlooks the mountains and I’m going to book a nice quiet room and maybe even a spa treatment tomorrow morning.”
Reese looks back at me with a sly look, as she walks forward with Brianna. I grab the remainder of our things and pack it on Joe’s back. He might as well be useful as we walk out of here.
He looks toward me, his head hanging low. “Do you really think you have something here?”
“I do. She’s exceptional,” I say with a smile.
He rolls his eyes as I walk with him leashed beside me. “It’s never going to work. You’re going to make sacrifices to be with her, and that’s not us. We’re wild and free.”
I sigh heavily. Listening to his logic is like listening to a wood drill against cement. It doesn’t go anywhere.
“Where do you think this is going to go with this girl, anyway? She’s half your age and you live in the middle of nowhere Alaska.”
I realize he’s trying to get under my skin, and I shouldn’t let him, but there’s a piece of truth in what he’s saying and it’s hitting me like a cold, hard, wall of bricks. Despite what I feel for Reese, we may as well be from different planets.
“You know, Joe, I’m not the guy you came to Colorado with. Fuck chasing after gold, and fuck my place in Alaska. That me died in that campsite. You got what you wanted.” I look at him with sincere eyes. “Joe, I can’t live without that girl, and she’s all I’ll ever need.”