Chapter 25 Javonte
A few weeks later, she tells me we’re going camping.
I’m hoping it's the kind with cabins and catering, but she’s definitely the type to do it old school with just the basic essentials.
I don’t hate the idea, but I didn’t have anything for camping, so I bought everything: a tent, boots, a hunting knife, those long pants people wear when they’re standing in the lake fishing.
I dropped serious money at Outside World.
Man, it feels good to be chosen though. Lily planned this whole thing for me.
We’ve been trying to work on a relationship for almost a month now.
It’s going well, and we see each other a few times a week.
We haven’t gone further than kissing. I’m following her lead, but I know what it’s like with her. ..mind-blowing...and I miss it.
I’m respecting her pace and her boundaries. She’s going to have to be the one who takes the first step. I’m patient.
I’m waiting at the door, excited when she rings the doorbell. She has the code and can walk in, but she never does.
I laugh when I open the door. She looks exactly how I imagined in camo overalls and worn hiking books with her hair in a ponytail.
Her hands immediately rest on her hips. “What’s so funny?”
“You.” I reach out and pull her close to me.
“What about me?” She wraps her arms around me, melting into my hug.
“You look experienced. It’s not funny, just surprising.”
Lily steps back and looks me up and down. “You look like you’re about to be out of your element. Your sponsor needs to make outdoor gear.”
I look down at my matching sweatsuit. It’s warm, comfortable, and easy to move in. “It’s a basketball company.” I shrug.
“You’re not about to be photographed.”
“Some of the bears out there might be fans.”
She laughs and rolls her eyes. “Ready?”
I load up her car, taking up the whole backseat with my gear. She smiles the whole time I pack my things in, and I feel like there’s a joke I’m not in on happening right now.
After I close the doors, I turn to her. “What’s so funny?”
“You look inexperienced.”
I wave my hand at her. “I like new things.”
She opens the driver’s side door, her eyes locked in on me. “Anything else you need for our 2 days of camping?”
She gets into the car before I can answer, so I hurry and get in too. “I want to be prepared.”
She’s looking at me like I’m the sun. It’s a bright smile that comes from somewhere deep inside.
Damn, I love her so much.
I wish she felt the same way.
We talk and listen to music for the two hour drive. Lily doesn’t take us to a campsite. Instead, we drive up to a large black gate with CR on the front. She presses the button to the intercom and tells them she has a reservation.
The gate opens, and we drive up a long path to the Carbinger Ranch.
“We’re camping on a ranch?” This doesn’t make sense.
“Something like that.” That smile returns, and I realize I’ve been had.
When we step out of the car, and a man in a nice ass cowboy hat and some expensive boots greets us. “Welcome to Carbinger Ranch, Texas’s premiere exotic game and hunting ranch.”
Shit.
I turn to Lily. “Hunting?”
“Yep!”
I force a smile on my face. This is what I get for talking all the mess about those survivalists. She really brought me out here to commit crimes against nature, all expenses paid.
“You looking to make a kill on something as big as you?” The man nudges me with his elbow.
“Um, yeah, something like that.”
Absolutely not.
“All right. Let’s get you two set up in your suite, then we can go out for our first excursion.”
The suite is wrapped in luxury. There’s a bearskin rug with the bear’s head on it still. I look away and silently apologize to it for its life being reduced to floor covering.
Lily walks in, sees the rug and stops. “Oh!”
“I bet it’s super soft.” I don’t go anywhere near it to test my theory. Part of me wants to roll it up and put it in the closet.
“This is nice,” I tell her.
“Yeah, they really give you an experience here.”
“You’ve been here before?” None of this is who Lily is. I’m shocked she brought me here.
She shakes her head. “No. But I thought you’d like it.”
I hate it.
“So, this is your version of camping?” I narrow my eyes at her.
She shrugs. “I said pack for the outdoors.”
I step closer to her, my hands on her waist. “You’re trouble.”
“The best kind.” She slips out of my hold and swats me. “Go put on all your gear. Nature is waiting.”
I change into a weird combination of camo and comfort wear and step out feeling very subconscious about my choices. Lily doesn’t even try to spare my feelings. She bursts into laughter once I cross the threshold of the bathroom.
“Take me home.”
She runs up to me and hugs me. “I’m just not used to you being awkward.”
“That’s not helping.”
“You’re cute. I like awkward on you.”
She tugs on my shirt, and I lean down to kiss her.
Outside, our guide Jim leads us to a camo side-by-side parked outside the lodge. It has a roll cage, mud on the tires, and a cargo bed full of gear. I stare at it, then at Lily.
“You expect me to fit in that?”
She grins. “You wanted to survive in the wild.”
“I wanted to watch people survive in the wild from my theater room.”
“Now you get the real thing!”
Jim drives the side-by-side like a maniac. I don’t know when I became someone’s overprotective dad, but I really want to tell him to slow the hell down. I know he has these animals all gated in with no escape, they aren’t going anywhere.
We come to a nice wooded area. The perfect home for some deer to raise a family. Jim grabs two hunting rifles from the back and motions for us to follow him. He shows us both how to hold the gun, letting us know to brace ourselves before pulling the trigger.
“It’s as simple as it seems: point and shoot.”
He looks between the two of us. “Who wants the first kill?”
Lily points to me.
“All right, big man. I’ll make sure you’re set up just right when we spot something, and all you’ll have to do is pull that trigger.”
I’ve never held or shot a gun in my life. Now I’m out here about to murder some baby animal’s mom. Some adult animal’s child. What is this?
We hear a rustle directly in front of us, about 20 yards away. Lily’s hands go to her mouth. Jim steps close to me and aims the gun.
“Whenever you’re ready.”
My finger sits on the trigger. My heart pounds in my ears. I’m not ready. I’ll never be ready.
I look over at Lily. She’s staring at me, waiting for me to be a big hunter man. I look at the deer again, and I swear it looks right at me, pleading for it’s life to be spared.
My finger twitches on the trigger. I can do this. People do this all the time. I let out a slow breath and look at the deer again. It’s eating some grass.
Hell, now I gotta take him out while he’s eating his lunch? That’s not right.
I lower the rifle. “Lily, Bambi’s out there eating lunch, minding his business. I’ve never had deer meat in my life. I can buy some if you want some, but I can’t kill him. He didn’t do anything to me.”
Soft ass,” Jim whispers.
I turn to him. “I heard that.”
“I said it loud enough.”
Lily bursts out laughing, one hand pressed to her stomach.
“You laughing too?” I ask.
She wipes under her eye. “A little.”
“That deer was eating lunch.”
Her smile changes then. Still amused, but softer. “I know.”
“I’m not killing anything while it’s chewing.”
“Okay,” she says, looking at me with a softness I didn’t think I’d see again. “No hunting.”
Jim takes the rifles from me and Lily and walks back to the side-by-side.
“You’re adorable.” She places a hand on my cheek.
“I’m not trying to be.”
Her hand moves around my neck. “I know. That makes it sweeter.”
“So I’m sweet and adorable?” These aren’t the compliments she thinks they are.
“Yes, and that’s why I love you.”
Everything in me goes still.
She blinks, like she just heard herself.
I don’t know if I’m supposed to make a big deal out of it or pretend she didn’t just hand me my whole heart back in the woods while Jim calls me soft from the side-by-side.
So I do the only thing I can do.
I bend down and kiss her.