Chapter 13
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
With a cheerful clap, I practically skip to the girls, my words spilling out in a shout, “That sounds like fun! I haven’t played in years!”
I lug a camping chair over and settle into it next to Cora, who immediately passes me the whiskey bottle. “Take a sip before we start the game so you and your tongue loosen up a bit.”
Not needing to be told twice, I take a swig as Ryan drops a camping chair on the other side of me, already having a beer in his hand.
Looking around, I see AJ by the two folding tables closer to the RV, arranging plates and utensils while drinking a beer. He moves to the RV to snag a camping chair, places it beside Georgia, and sits back in it, his legs wide.
Jared pops up unexpectedly and throws a log into the fire, and it makes a loud boom, causing me to flinch. He picks up a camping chair and situates it on the other side of Ryan.
“Who wants to break the ice and go first?” Cora asks coyly, rattling the whiskey bottle, making the liquid slosh around.
Gazing over at the girls, I see they are wearing jeans, crop tank tops with open jackets, and sneakers. The guys are in loungewear, pants, sweatshirts, and sneakers. Ryan and I are both wearing jeans, oversized sweatshirts, and sneakers.
Color blooms on my face; we must look like an absolute mess since we haven’t showered in two days, while they all look fresh from taking a shower in the RV.
My mind wanders as I remember when Ryan came up with this grand camping idea. I was originally opposed, but he wore me down, reaffirming it would only be for a week.
Quickly, I make a mental note to use some of our water to rinse off a bit more.
Fueled by the whiskey, I lift my hand gleefully. “I’ll go!”
Cora is already pressing the bottle into my hands before I can react. “Do you remember how to play?” she asks, clearly amused.
“You make three statements about yourself—two are truths, and one is a lie. The other players must guess which one is the lie. If they guess wrong, that person takes a drink; if they guess right, the person who made the statements takes a drink,” I state matter-of-factly, looking at all of them.
The girls nod impatiently, wanting me to get the ball rolling.
“Okay, let’s see,” I lean back, pondering over what my statements are going to be, and I say, “I’m a diehard fan of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, I love to cook, and kayaking is one of my favorite things to do.”
I peer around at everyone, waiting for someone to guess the lie. Ryan sips on his beer because he knows it wouldn’t be fair to guess.
After a minute, Cora speaks up. “The lie is that you love to cook!”
Giggling, I say, “Nope!” I pass her the whiskey, and she takes a generous gulp.
“Come on, it’s obvious that you hate anything to do with camping, even kayaking.” Jared laughs, taking a swig of his beer.
I laugh back. “This is my first time, and I loathe it.”
Laughter ripples through the group.
“Okay, okay, it’s my turn!” shouts Cora, shushing everyone.
“Hmmm.” She taps her finger on her lips and looks off into the dark. “I’m a huge meat eater, I like a thumb in my ass,” she winks at Jared, “and I have an OnlyFans account.”
Jared bursts into laughter, nearly spraying his beer everywhere. “The lie is definitely that you like a thumb in it; you prefer a dick.”
Cora giggles, kicking her feet, and we all laugh with her.
“Drink up,” Jared tells her, and she takes a drink, shoving the bottle at Jared.
“Umm, give me a minute.” Jared reclines, rubbing his chin. “I play guitar, I own a cat, and I’ve eaten a liver.”
A strange silence rolls over the group, and my heart rate spikes.
Ryan speaks up to end the silence and get back to the game. “The lie is that you play guitar; hasn’t everyone eaten an animal liver of some sort?”
I laugh a little nervously at that statement, because it was weird as fuck. Jared looks at me bizarrely, takes a sip, and passes the bottle over to Ryan.
Ryan takes it and, without hesitating, he announces, “I sent my boss a dick pic accidentally, I can quote the entire Dirty Dancing movie, and I still have a list of the women I’ve slept with.”
Gawking over at Ryan in disbelief, my mouth hangs open, because I really have no idea what the lie is. Georgia blurts out, “The list of women is the lie.”
Ryan dips his head in agreement, downing a hefty gulp of whiskey as I whack Ryan on his chest, and he chuckles as he slides out of my reach.
Georgia takes three big sips and looks at the bottle. “Looks like we need another.” Getting up abruptly, she saunters over to the cooler and opens a new one.
“Alright, my turn,” she declares, plopping back down in her seat. “I still sleep with my baby blanket, I love haunted locations, and I hear evil voices.”
My eyes widen at that unusual statement, and Cora turns her head, snickering.
AJ immediately declares with confidence, “You love haunted locations.”
The whiskey strums through me, and my vision wobbles. I take it as a joke, and so does everyone else, all of us laughing lightly.
Georgia lifts the bottle to her lips and drinks deeply, then hands over the whiskey bottle to AJ.
I squirm in my seat, wondering what he is going to come up with, knowing he’s the most likely to come up with something outlandish.
“Alright, alright, give me a second.” He sighs. “I can name every serial killer in the U.S., I love walking in complete darkness, and I’ve fucked someone without eyeballs.”
A devilish grin creeps across his face while he looks right at me, then at Ryan, daring us to be the ones to guess the lie.
Fair enough, that was creative in a deranged way.
The suspense around the fire thickens, and the silence returns. I steal a glance at Jared, and his face is completely stoic, then I peek at Georgia, and for a few moments, her eyes widen. Chances are, her startled expression went unnoticed by everyone.
The hairs on the back of my arms stand up. Honestly, I don’t know what the lie is; All of them are fucked up.
Jared pipes up. “The eyeballs one man; come on, that’s absolutely diabolical, and you’re scaring the girls.”
Disregarding AJ and his twisted mind, I let out a breath I’ve been holding, and Ryan squeezes my hand as if to bring me back down from my mind overanalyzing everything.
AJ gets up and stalks over to the grill, wobbling as he goes, which explains his fucked-up thoughts. He’s clearly drunk.
“Hope you guys are hungry for some hot dogs. I made them myself. Beef hot dogs only, none of that processed shit,” Jared informs us.
Ryan rubs his hands together with a look of appreciation. “I love beef hot dogs.”
“I brought some baked beans for a side this time. I’m beyond starving after lying in bed all day, nursing this hangover,” Georgia reports.
AJ flicks his hand, pointing toward the prepared table. “By all means, load up your plates, buffet style.”
Ryan rushes over and does just that, adding two hot dogs onto his plate. Stacking my plate as well, we all find a seat at the table.
“Can I get anyone a beer, more whiskey, or a seltzer?” Georgia asks.
Ryan throws his hand up. “I’ll take a cup of whiskey.”
Realizing I need to slow down, or I’ll be lying in bed all day tomorrow too, I answer, “I’ll grab a seltzer, are they in the cooler?”
“Yeah, they are!” Georgia says in a bubbly voice, her voice higher than usual. I observe that everyone else chooses to stick with whiskey.
As I head for the cooler, I try to maneuver around AJ without touching him, only for him to step back on purpose and bump into me. He whirls around, catching my arm. “I’m sorry about that,” he says, devoid of any emotion.
Goosebumps flare along my arms, and I fix my eyes on his. Standing this close to him, they look lifeless. I ignore it, blaming the amount of alcohol I’ve had tonight.
Instead, I say in a friendly voice, “Good catch, I’m pretty clumsy, and the chances of me falling on my face are high.”
It’s like he was aching to touch me. He seems more clever than he lets on. Typically, I have a good read on people, and Ryan wants to see the best in them. He has a way of assuming that any mean-spirited behavior, especially from strangers, is just a misunderstanding or harmless. He’s na?ve.
On the other hand, uncertainty is something I’ve always led with from a young age. After being bullied in high school, it changed the way I see people.
Digging for my seltzer in the cooler full of ice, I find a black cherry flavor and head back to the table.
In between mouthfuls, Ryan, ever the conversationalist, asks to no one in particular, “So are you guys just staying here for the rest of winter break and then heading back to school?”
Georgia nods. “That’s the plan.”
“Ugh, I’m not looking forward to classes,” Cora whines, throwing her head back.
“What year are you guys?” Ryan asks, tilting his head.
“We are all seniors, so this will be our last semester. All around the same age, 21 and 22,” Jared says, stealing a glance in my direction.
“Awesome, any plans after that?” Ryan questions, intrigued.
“Nah, man, I think we are going to travel over the summer and take the RV to different campsites, finding odd jobs here and there. We all agreed we want to go out west and see the sights,” AJ pipes in without missing a beat.
“That’s cool, no rush to sit in an office job.” Ryan chuckles under his breath.
“No rush whatsoever,” AJ agrees, scrunching his face in revulsion at the idea.
“What about you guys? How long are you staying?” Cora probes.
“We’ve got five more days before we have to head back to reality, aka our jobs,” Ryan sighs, obviously not looking forward to it.
“What do you guys do for work?” AJ asks, clearly interested in the answer.
“I’m a graphic designer, so I work from home mostly, and Ryan is an accountant for an outdoors company,” I answer.
“How long have you guys been together?” Georgia wonders aloud.
“Oh wow, let me think. We met during our junior year in college, so almost ten years now.” I smile affectionately over at Ryan.
“And you guys aren’t married?” Georgia questions, seeking clarification.
My eyes still lingering over Ryan, I smile with one eyebrow cocked, quietly waiting for an answer.
“I have plans. Marley is it for me. I just want to be in a better place financially.” Ryan’s eyes find mine.
“Aww, you guys are so cute, and really cool to be in your thirties,” Cora gushes.
We finish up eating and talk about how great it’s been being so far away from the community center and other campers.
After helping clean up when everyone finishes, Ryan cracks his back and yawns. “Well, guys, I think we’re going to call it a night. I’m wiped out.”
“That sun will wear you out, man,” Jared replies.
Letting out a yawn too, I tell Ryan, “Yeah, I’m ready to call it a night.”
I hug the girls goodbye, and Ryan shakes the guys’ hands. We thank them a few times for providing dinner yet again.
“It was great!” Ryan proclaims as he digs his flashlight out of his pocket.
Turning it on, we head back to our campsite.