TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER
The sun was well over the horizon when Jonah and I trudged back to the campsite, hand in hand. Now that I could touch him, I didn’t want to stop. My body still hummed like a livewire, and instead of feeling satiated by two mind-blowing orgasms, I just wanted more.
We approached the ring of tents to find everyone else up and sitting around a low fire, sipping coffee.
They all stopped to stare at our approach.
Oscar started a slow clap until Dena elbowed him in the side, hiding a smile behind her hand as she watched us with warm eyes.
Holly buried an embarrassed giggle in her shoulder, though she looked tired, as if she hadn’t slept much the night before.
Theo only gaped, his expression unreadable.
I met his eye with a small smile he didn’t return, and he quickly looked away.
Jonah stopped, took in all the stares. “Did you guys hear that last night? Mountain lion. Loud one too.”
Everyone burst out laughing. Except Theo.
I swatted Jonah’s arm and took my seat around the fire. Theo’s dark stare followed me, prickling on my skin. Dena handed me a thermos of hot black coffee. Our eyes met, hers full of warmth and something like gratitude .
I sat on the ground between Jonah’s feet, leaning back with my elbows on his knees. A perfect fit.
All of this, I thought, sipping my coffee. So perfect.
We all took a hike through the woods that morning, following a rough path that cut downward toward a small body of water called Stella Lake.
The guys skipped rocks across the surface, insulting the hell out of each other in an affectionate but cutthroat competition.
Holly, Dena, and I walked around the perimeter under a leaden sky that threatened rain.
Holly had been quiet all morning. She stuck close to us on the walk but said little, her hands jammed in the front of her sweatshirt.
“I cheated on the ‘no cell phones’ rule and checked for weather updates,” she finally said. “A huge thunderstorm is going to roll through here.”
Dena and I looked up at the same time. The sky was flat and gray, and in the distance, darker, heavier clouds gathered.
“So, I was wondering if we were going to leave early,” Holly said. “Like, today. And if we do, could I get a ride with one of you guys?”
Dena’s expression warmed with concern. “Why? What happened?”
“Theo and I broke up,” Holly said.
“When?” I asked.
“Last night.” She tugged at her eyebrow piercing. “Right after everyone went to bed.”
Dena glanced at me, then back to Holly. “I’m so sorry, Holly. Can I ask why?”
“He’s an asshole, that’s why,” she said with sudden fire.
“He told me he was tired of trying to make something work when it obviously wasn’t.
He’s always been kind of…hot and cold with me.
But this time it felt…final.” Her eyes filled with tears that she quickly brushed away.
“Anyway. I don’t want to spend that long drive back with just him in the truck. ”
“No, of course not,” Dena said, putting her arm around her. “ You can ride with us. I’ll find out from Oscar what he thinks about this potential storm, and we’ll figure it out, okay?”
Holly nodded. “Thanks a lot. I appreciate it. I’m going to go back up. I’m sick of camping.” She looked to me, her voice hardening into petulance. “You got the good brother.”
Dena and I watched her turn and storm back up the trail, then exchanged wide-eyed glances.
“Well, on the one hand,” Dena said as we continued around the path, “it was shitty of Theo to break up with her while she’s stranded, hundreds of miles from home. On the other, I don’t know why he brought her at all. She’s the closest he’s gotten to having a girlfriend, but she never sticks.”
I shrugged. “She’s not the one.”
“Definitely not. He isn’t looking for the one. And he shouldn’t.”
“No?”
“ Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. They are in each other all along,” she recited.
I smiled, a warmth expanding down low in my stomach, along with a sense memory of Jonah sliding into me. “I like that,” I said
“I do too,” Dena said in her gentle voice, the kind of quiet tone that made you feel like she was telling you something only meant for you to hear. “Rumi, again. Never ceases to amaze me how his words still feel so true and potent, hundreds of years after he lived.”
We stopped and watched the guys skip rocks. Even fifty yards away, I could see laughter in Jonah and Oscar’s stance, and glowering sullenness in Theo’s.
“Jonah is one of the best men I’ve ever known,” Dena said.
“It’s been hard seeing him shut down the part of him that longs for love and wants to care for someone.
When he had that last biopsy… He made a decision not to get involved with anyone again.
He used Audrey’s breakup as the cover. But now he’s with you.
He un- made the decision. Now he has a chance. ”
“A chance of what? ”
“Of being happy. He is happy with you.” Dena’s dark eyes met mine intently.
“He won’t jump out of planes or visit far-flung places of the earth.
He has no bucket list. He only wants to finish his installation.
And I worried—we all did—it wasn’t enough.
I have no doubt he’ll finish. But I wanted him to share his beautiful art with someone. And now he is.”
She put her hand in mine, gave it a squeeze. “You don’t have to tell me. I’m sure he fought to protect you. To keep you—”
“At a safe distance,” I said.
She sighed, nodded. “He’s pushed so many friends away for the same reason. But he couldn’t keep you away, could he?”
I shook my head, a smile spreading my lips. “No, he couldn’t.”
“Of course not,” Dena said with a laugh, and turned her gaze on Jonah. “You were in each other all along.”