Chapter 10
Ten
Johnny
After untangling Devon’s lure from where he’d thrown it and a little more help, he was able to toss it out and reel it in a few times.
Neither of us caught anything, but I didn’t really expect to.
It was part of the experience. Getting closer to nature without having to figure out what to do with a fish was perfect for me.
Eating fish was one thing, cleaning one was another.
“Why don’t we go back to the cabin and see what we can figure out to eat,” I said, and ignored how relieved Devon looked. When we got here, I thought this was something he’d done when he was young and wanted to share, but now I realized he brought me here to take me away from it all.
“A sandwich sounds great,” he said as we walked along the trail. “When we go to the store to stock up, we can get some different hot foods to bring back here.”
“You mentioned the store. That sounds great, but let’s see how we do on our own for a couple of days.” The more I thought about having time alone with him the more I liked the idea.
“Just a reminder that I’m not a great cook. I can make spaghetti and tacos, but that’s about it for my culinary skills,” he said.
“I can cook,” I said as we put the fishing gear away and walked inside the cabin. “It was colder out there than I realized.” I rubbed my hands together and threw another log onto the fire before walking over to the kitchen.
“Since when? I’ve known you for close to a year and not once have you mentioned you could cook, or shown off your skills,” he added.
I lifted my shoulder and went to the refrigerator to get what we’d need for sandwiches. “We’ve never really had time for me to cook for you. When we were staying in Reno, we really only had that first night free, then it was easier to just get takeaway food.”
“So, what can you cook?” he asked and took a seat at one of the stools at the kitchen bar.
“What do you like? I can cook pretty much anything I suppose.” He helped me spread mustard and mayo on the bread while I sliced tomato and onion and tore off some lettuce.
“I’ll eat anything and I’d love to eat something you cooked.”
“Then I’ll cook for you. We have everything for breakfast so I can cook that in the morning.”
“Oh, thank god. I wanted to impress you by buying actual groceries. I can scramble eggs but that’s about it.”
I threw my head back and laughed and tried to remember the last time I felt this free.
No commitments, and no one needing an answer immediately to something I didn’t have time to think about.
“Baby, I can’t wait to cook for you.” I meant it.
Cooking was something I enjoyed when I had a little time to myself, but the past year that hadn’t happened more than a few times.
And the fact Devon didn’t know I cooked said a lot about how little time we’d had together outside of the band.
“Now I’m going to hold you to it.”
“You better,” I said and passed him a plate with his sandwich and opened a bag of chips. “What did you want to drink?”
“I could go for a beer.”
“That sounds perfect.” He walked over to the fridge and took one out for each of us. We opened them and he tapped the neck of his bottle to mine.
“To us,” he whispered.
“To us,” I said and we took a drink before digging into the sandwiches.
“I know it’s only a turkey sandwich but it’s really good,” Devon said.
“Everything tastes better when you’re camping,” I said, echoing my grandparents’ words.
“Must be all the fresh air.” He took another bite and shook his head at the taste. “What card games do you know?”
“I know a few. Poker of course. Have you played king’s corner?”
“I don’t think so.”
“It’s like solitaire but you play it against each other to see who gets rid of their cards first.”
“That sounds fun. How about war?” he asked.
“I haven’t played that in years.”
“Sounds like we’re playing a round of war,” Devon said before taking another bite.
The rest of the afternoon passed with the two of us playing cards and talking.
We talked about everything, and I hated the fact it had taken us a year to find the time to just sit and get to know each other better.
The more I knew Devon the more I liked him.
He may have been a flaky teenager, but he was a focused adult, and he had so many things to talk about that had nothing to do with the band.
“What’s your favorite movie?” he asked me.
“That’s a tough one. I don’t know if I can choose just one.”
“If you had to . . .”
I loved watching movies, and what he didn’t know was when we weren’t together, that’s how I spent most of my time. It helped me relax and take my mind off everything else. “Maybe Rocky Horror,” I said. “It’s too hard to choose.”
“Rocky Horror?”
“No, don’t tell me you’ve never watched it. Rocky Horror Picture Show?”
“Nope, I have no clue.”
“Well, looks like we’re watching it,” I said and turned on the television. There were a few streaming channels and luckily enough it was there. I glanced at Devon and when the logo came up, he looked at me like I’d lost my mind.
“What exactly is this?”
“Don’t worry, it’s a little weird but you’ll love it.” We settled onto the couch and after taking a break to make popcorn, by the time Frank-N-Furter had the two travelers trapped in his castle we were both laughing.
“I have no clue what this is but you’re right, I love it,” Devon said.
“They used to play this at theaters and people would go in character and act it all out,” I told him.
“Do they still do that? It sounds fun.”
“I’m not sure. Maybe for Halloween.”
“We should go, you could be Frank,” Devon said making us both laugh.
“I’m not sure I have enough confidence for that,” I admitted.
“You could totally pull it off,” he said and rested his head on my shoulder. We laughed and tried to sing along, and I loved every second of it. Especially when Devon tried to do the Time Warp.
“I think I’ve got it,” he said, and really didn’t have it at all but he was having fun, and we were both laughing more than we ever had. “What do you think?”
“I think you’re perfect, and this is how you do the Time Warp,” I said before jumping up and trying it myself.