Chapter 16
New Hampshire Camp Grounds
He honestly had no fucking idea how this happened.
One minute, she was beating the shit out of him with a wet towel and the next…
Christ, the next, she was destroying his will to live.
There was honestly no other way to describe it, Garrett thought as he watched Kristen slowly take in the campsite they’d rented for the week while he stood there, thinking about the moment he fucked up.
He should have just stuck with their agreement, pointed out that she owed him three days, renegotiated their deal so that they could stay the week, and if that failed, leave a trail of Snoballs leading to his truck.
Instead, he’d pointed out that she could use this camping trip as research for a future book.
The last word barely had a chance to leave his mouth when she went still as her eyes narrowed dangerously on him and her expression turned thoughtful.
With a few muffled words, she went from trying to smother him with a wet towel to dropping it on his head and promptly forgetting about him as she stepped over him and quickly made her way into her room, where she spent the next two hours learning everything she could about camping.
That led to her researching camping equipment, compiling a list of everything that she was going to need to go camping, and then debating her camping site options.
He’d expected her to take a couple hours to do a little research, ask questions, and make a quick trip to the store to get everything that she was going to need.
What he didn’t expect was for her to tear her house apart until she found what she was looking for, her grandfather’s old pocket knife that was rusted shut, an old backpack, a pair of old tennis shoes, two bottles of water, a notebook, a few pens and pencils, and a granola bar.
That was followed by announcing that she was going to reserve a “Primitive” site and the realization that he forgot something important.
Really fucking important.
When it came to researching for her books, Kristen didn’t fuck around.
She took it really fucking seriously, which he learned the hard way after they watched The Goonies for the first time.
If he’d known that she’d used Elmer’s glue instead of nails to hold that board down, he never would have agreed to walk the plank…
That was followed by learning how to set booby traps, dumping her piggy bank in the pond only to remember that she didn’t know how to swim, enticing him with a trayful of her aunt’s cupcakes to jump in and get them, followed by creating an intricate treasure map to find her piggy bank only to lose the map and forget where she hid it, and a deeply disturbing weekend spent trying to learn how to play the piano.
When she decided to try her hand at writing a ghost story, she begged her aunt and uncle to let her go to a haunted house and refused to take no for an answer.
She hounded them day and night, waited outside their bedroom door, ready to pounce on them and recite all the reasons that she came up with the night before on why they should bring her, did extra chores, tried to entice them into saying yes by bringing them breakfast in bed, and made it clear that she wasn’t going to give up until they brought her until they finally had enough and said yes.
Granted, if they’d known that she planned on “getting in the right mindset,” her words, by sneaking downstairs the night before and watching every horror movie that she could get her hands on, they probably would have said no.
Then again, if they’d known that she’d watched The Texas Chainsaw Massacre the night before, her uncle probably would have thought twice about cutting down that old oak tree in the morning.
He didn’t want to think about what happened when they realized that she’d watched The Exorcist…
“This isn’t primitive camping,” the small woman determined to destroy what was left of his sanity said accusingly.
“Of course it is,” Garrett said, absently gesturing around them. “You have grass, trees, and a beautiful view of the lake. This is the very definition of primitive camping.”
Slowly nodding, Kristen took in the campsite that he’d paid the park ranger a hundred dollars to convince her that this was where all the hardcore campers stayed before she met his gaze.
“We also have an unobstructed view of the first-aid shed, the showers, the vending machines, and a sign pointing to the nearest ATM.”
“Which is what all the primitive campsites need,” Garrett said with a helpless shrug and a heartfelt sigh that once again had her slowly nodding as she shifted her attention from the concession stand that promised half-off hot dogs on Tuesday and focused on the pile of camping gear that he’d been forced to drag her to the mall to buy this morning.
“And all this?” Kristen asked, taking in everything that he bought for her from the brand new tent to the backpack he’d packed for her after he’d tossed her old one back in the closet.
“Is what every survivalist needs to live off the land,” Garrett said, forced to reach up and rub the bridge of his nose to hide his wince.
“And the air mattress?” she asked as he followed her gaze to the deluxe air mattress he bought for her along with the down pillow he’d grabbed on a whim.
“Is the very definition of roughing it,” Garrett said with a firm nod.
“I see,” Kristen murmured as she glanced from the pile of camping gear that he may have gone overboard with to the path to her left that would take her to the paddleboats and mumbled, “I see,” again.
“And the reason why you’re not spending Easter with your family?” Kristen asked as she took in all of his camping equipment.
“That wasn’t an option this year,” Garrett said, shrugging it off as he watched her.
“And your mother was okay with that?” Kristen asked, throwing him a curious look.
“Not really, but it couldn’t be helped,” he said, watching as she absently nodded as her attention once again shifted to the lake.
When she didn’t mention plans for Easter, he decided to look into a few things.
He knew that her aunt and uncle, really her great-aunt and uncle, moved to Arizona after they retired, but he didn’t know that they’d passed away a few years ago.
He’d hoped that her mother finally stopped being a bitch and stepped up for her, but after a quick online search, he realized that was never going to happen.
Her mother barely acknowledged her existence and when she did, it was either to make sure that everyone knew that she wanted nothing to do with Kristen or to let everyone know that she was the reason behind Kristen’s success.
Other than that, her mother focused on her perfect family, bragged about her other children, and made sure to share pictures of her daily caffè macchiato every morning.
There was Kristen’s assistant, but he didn’t know much about Amber other than she showed up twice a week at Kristen’s house with a chocolate milkshake, ran her errands, organized her signings, and helped run her online reader groups.
That left him.
He’d already fucked up once and he wasn’t about to do it again, which meant that he couldn’t leave her alone.
He’d debated taking her home with him for Easter, but he couldn’t risk his family fucking this up for him and there was absolutely no doubt in his mind that they would happily fuck him over.
As soon as he showed up with Kristen by his side, his family, mostly his asshole cousins and brothers, would take it upon themselves to fuck him over for their own entertainment.
It was to be expected, which was why he was going to wait until there was no doubt in his mind that she’d forgiven him before he allowed his family near her.
Until then, he was going to do everything in his power to remind her just how much she adored him, starting with making sure that this was a camping trip that she would never forget.
When her gaze shifted to the path that would take her back to the front office and the teenage boy that would most likely cave and rent her one of the primitive sites if she smiled at him, Garrett decided that it would probably be in his best interest if he showed her how to set up her tent now.
“But, what if I-”
“No,” came the immediate response that had her biting back a disappointed sigh.
“You didn’t even let me finish. I could use the hatchet to-”
“No,” the man who’d been glaring at her since the unfortunate incident with the tent spikes said with a pointed look at the line he drew in the dirt an hour ago until she took the hint, grumbled to herself, and stepped back behind it.
“What if I promise not to swing it over my head this time?” Kristen asked only to grumble and take another step back when Garrett kept glaring at her.
“What did we talk about?” Garrett asked as he looked pointedly at her feet again until she took another step back.
“That I’m not allowed to look at or even mention the hatchet for the rest of this trip,” Kristen grumbled, sighing heavily and not really caring that she was pouting, not when she needed to find out if she could use the hatchet to-
“No,” he bit out with a glare that told her just how close he was to following through with his threat earlier to spank her ass.
“Fine. Then, will you at least let me try lighting the fire again?” Kristen asked, gesturing towards the pile of twigs she’d collected earlier.
When the request was met with a murderous glare, she found her gaze drawn to what was left of his right pant leg and quickly decided that perhaps now wasn’t the best time to bring up the fire.
When he kept glaring, which was probably valid considering what happened when she tried to make s’mores earlier, Kristen decided that it would be in her best interest to take another step back. That was followed by deciding that now would be a good time to explore.
“I should probably take the dog for a walk,” Kristen said, going for a smile only to rethink that decision when his eyes narrowed on the move with a look that dared her to follow through with the gesture right now.
Clearing her throat, she focused her attention on her dog, who was currently curled up beneath an old tree, alternating between looking bored and looking at Garrett adoringly.
“Pumpkin, here,” Kristen said, gesturing for the dog in question to join her only to watch as he rolled onto his back with a groan, effectively dismissing her.
“Los,” Garrett said, not bothering to look up as he worked on yanking the tent stakes that she might have accidentally bent…and set on fire, out of the ground, making her frown as the dog got up with a groan and made his way over to join her.
When the dog that apparently didn’t want to be called Pumpkin sat down next to her, Kristen decided to test out a theory that was starting to form in her head.
Looking at the dog, she said, “Louse,” and just in case, she followed that up by gesturing for him to walk with her as she turned around and started making her way towards the main camp only to realize the dog wasn’t following her.
Sighing, Kristen opened her mouth and-
“Los.”
-grumbled to herself when Garrett called out the command again.
A few seconds later, her dog was making his way past her and leaving her with no other choice but to follow him as she pulled her phone out of her back pocket. After a quick swipe, a tap, and another tap, she held up her phone and said, “Meaning of louse.”
“Parasitic flattened insects known for feeding on warm-blooded animals,” came the immediate response that once again left her grumbling as she shoved her phone back in her pocket.
“Lice,” Kristen said, shaking her head in disgust as she kept playing the word through her head as she made her way down the path that took her through the woods, past other campsites where friends, couples, and families were in various stages of camping.
She followed the path as it took her through the woods again, noting the signs pointing the way to the rec area that promised a heated pool, volleyball and badminton courts, firepits, boat rentals, vending machines, and community activities and-
Found herself thinking of all the possibilities when she stepped out of the woods and took in the scene before her, from the axe throwing contest to the tree climbing contest and everything in between.
She could definitely make this work.