Love Bites

The next morning the twins woke up excited with anticipation. The trip up the mountains would take a little over two hours once they got going. Waiting for Blaine, Abby, and Dallas to arrive, the twins ate breakfast, then gathered up their packs, placing them by the door.

Their mom reminded them of the agreed upon rules, told them to be safe and to have fun.

The van showed up with Blaine, Abby, and Dallas already inside, along with their stuff. Blaine had picked up Abby, and sine Dallas was in the opposite direction, picked him up next.

Abby’s parents had one of the large tents, which was already loaded into the van. The twins owned the other which Cory loaded into the back as Kayla stowed their packs with help from Dallas.

The last stop was Lily’s house because she had the three smaller tents. Everyone agreed that loading those last was the prudent thing to do so no adults would see them and question it.

Like most vans, Blaine’s had two bench seats in addition to the driver and passenger seats, so each couple could sit together. Blaine and Abby sat in front, Cory in the first bench seat alone until they picked up Lily, and Kayla and Dallas sat in the last row just in front of the rear storage area.

After loading the packs, tents, and teens into the van, they headed off to pick up Lily. She was outside waiting for them with her pack, the three smaller tents and a plastic grocery bag.

Cory jumped out and loaded her pack and the tents into the van, letting her get in with the bag, which after Cory got back into the van, they found out contained sodas and snacks for the trip. The others were thrilled with this as no one had thought about it beforehand. Each had assumed they could stop, which they still could, on the way up if anyone wanted to, but this way they would get up there faster.

They talked on the way up the mountain until conversation ran out, then Abby put in a C and they all started singing along. As they climbed in altitude, the road started getting more winding, snaking in and out of the smaller eroding mountaintop. The view from the roadway got better as they climbed as well.

A clear azure blue sky provided what seemed to be nearly unlimited view of the cities in the distance until they disappeared into the curve of the horizon.

Just over two hours after they left, Blaine pulled into the campground where they were going to stay.

This was a state forest campground, so it was a first come, first serve site, and it took them a few minutes of driving around before they found a spot they liked.

Normally, during the summer, the campground tended to have more people, but as chance would have it, this particular campground was sparsely populated.

The spot they picked was a good sixty plus feet from the next camper. This gave the group space to spread out some and still have privacy.

They got out of the van to examine their surroundings closer. The grounds were setup in a seemingly circuitous, meandering path in the large clearing with several centrally located restrooms scattered around. Each camp site had a permanently anchored barbecue and trashcan, as well as a water spigot that had almost no pressure behind it. At least some water was better than no water, however.

There was also a concrete picnic table which was put to use almost right away as it was nearly lunch time. A quick vote decided that they would have lunch before unpacking the van and setting up the tents.

The group quickly pulled out the food packed by Abby and set about having a picnic under the bright blue sky with patches of cirrocumulus clouds rippling across it. All over the path of land the campground sat on were trees typical to most mountainous areas, conifer trees, mostly pines and firs.

Abby was the first to speak up and said, “This is such a tranquil place.” The silence was almost total, broken only by their talk and the occasional chirping of birds.

After their lunch was finished, Cory said, “We still have to go to town to get food.”

Blaine spoke up and said, “I brought some charcoal and starter, so we’re good there, and Abby brought enough plastic sporks to last a month at least, just in case…”

Kayla finished, “…we get snowed in, flashfloods, nuclear fallout or alien invasions?” This elicited laughter from everyone, including Abby.

Once the laughter died down, Blaine said, “My lovely Abigail, what would we do without you… or your sporks.”

“Eat with our fingers,” retorted Cory, bringing another round of laughter on.

With lunch done, the group unpacked the van, taking out everything except the little food they had left.

“Blaine, Abby, and I will go to town to get food and supplies, while you guys set up camp,” Lily said to the others. Dallas tried to give her money, but she shook her head saying, “Don’t need it. I got it covered.”

He looked at her curiously and she just shrugged and smiled.

The three going on the store run loaded into the van and headed off, leaving the other three to set up camp. Together they decided to put up one of the larger tents in the middle, which would fit the six of them if they just sat around to talk and escape the bugs. This tent they put between the barbecue and the picnic table, with the opening facing the fire.

After that task was done, they discussed the placement of the other three smaller tents. When the question of privacy came up, Kayla blushed a rosy red and studied the marshmallow dotted sky, acting like she wasn’t a part of the conversation.

Dallas suggested that they space the tents around the big one, putting the twins at the far corners, allowing them the most space.

“So, neither of you feel awkward,” he added.

Cory wasn’t sure what might happen with him and Lily, or between Kayla and Dallas, so he agreed. He didn’t want neither his sister nor himself to be distracted, worrying about the other. Or jealous for that matter. Even though Kayla pretended to be otherwise occupied, he could feel her angst. Cory agreed to space the tents out as wide as possible while still keeping them in the little campsite and he and Lily would take one side, Blaine, and Abby the middle, and Kayla and Dallas on the far side.

That decided upon, the trio set about putting up the little dome tents, each of them setting up one of the tents. The smaller tents didn’t require more than one person to set it up, unlike the bigger one, and each had theirs setup five minutes later.

With camp set up, the three decided to go exploring their little section of the mountain. Heading back into the mountain further, the trio found a small stream that ran around the backside of the campground, then into a culvert. The stream was no more than three feet wide, bubbling with clear, cold water.

“Wow, I gotta take Abby back here. She’d love it,” Kayla said to no one in particular. Because of the varying amounts of rainfall and snow melt, the streambed was about ten or twelve feet wide by the looks of the river rocks. The trees growing around the it also gave it a wide berth, growing no closer than four to five feet from the high-water line. Even from that distance, the tree canopies covered the burbling flow of water covering it in shadows with the little rays of light poking through.

Kayla wandered around, exploring, and picking up pinecones to decorate the camp with, while the two boys followed her around passively. Realizing that both boys were quiet and simply following her around, she abandoned her foray into the woods.

They returned to camp in a stoic silence which confused Kayla. Everyone was getting along and having a good time earlier and nothing changed as far as she knew.

Maybe it had something to do with the sleeping arrangements, she thought. No, Cory would have enough of his own anxiety over the possibilities tonight might hold.

She finally decided it was either a boredom thing or a male testosterone thing. Whatever it was passed once they got back to camp and saw that the store trio had returned.

They had already unpacked some of the items they bought at the store, putting it in the larger tent.

Abby asked Kayla, “Okay, so who’s tent is who’s?”

“The middle one is yours,” she said pointing. “We figured you two needed to be watched on both sides, so your virtue is not besmirched.”

Abigail, who was naturally pale in complexion, blanched enough to actually worry Kayla. The natural reddish-orange freckles on Abby’s cheeks and nose stand out with such contrast that Kayla almost called for help.

“Honey, are you okay?” Kayla asked, concerned.

“I never told… I’m… We’ve… shit,” Abby sputtered, then turned so red that Kayla almost couldn’t make out her freckles. Abby took Kayla’s hand and pulled her away from camp.

The others watched them walk away, but no one followed. After making sure that they were well out of range of being heard, Abby leaned into Kayla and whispered into her ear. After a few seconds, Kayla let out a girlish squeal and hugged Abby.

Stepping back, Kayla took Abby’s hand in both of hers and looked her in the eyes. Abby slowly nodded her head up and down. Kayla hugged her again and then took her hand and led her back to camp.

Once back at the camp, Lily asked, “Is everything okay?”

“Couldn’t be better,” Kayla replied.

Lily looked at Abby who was still slightly red and not making eye contact and said, “Okay then.”

Kayla then explained the tent arrangements and the real reason for it.

Abby was now nonchalant about the arrangement, while Lily had a smile on her face and said, “Thank you,” to Kayla.

“Don’t thank me,” she told Lily. “It was all Cory and Dallas’ doing. I tactfully ignored the whole discussion.”

The three girls put their heads together conspiratorially. When they moved apart, they all had smiles on their faces.

“Oh, by the way, guess what I found…” Kayla said and proceeded to tell them all about the stream.

Abby got all excited and quickly went and got Blaine and pulled him off towards the stream. Lily wandered over to Cory and said, “Maybe you can show me the brook once the other two get done?” he asked.

“Err… Get back is what I meant to say,” she said with a smirk.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

“Now why would I hold something back from you?” she asked innocently.

“You’re acting suspicious. You, or maybe all of you girls, have something planned.”

She reached up and putting her finger on the back of his jaw, drug her fingernail down to the tip of his chin and said, “Guess you’re gonna have to just be patient and find out. This, if we have anything planned at all…”

“Now you’re just teasing me,” he said, pulling her to him and kissing her.

After getting her breath back, she said, “Of course I am. That’s part of the fun,” and smiled mischievously.

Cory just sighed.

“Come on,” she said. “Let’s go start dinner.”

The two of them headed for the big tent and Kayla and Dallas joined them. Dallas got the charcoal and lit the barbecue to get it going, while Kayla, Lily, and Cory prepared the hamburgers and opened packs of hot dogs, and some veggie burgers for Dallas.

Once the coals were hot, Cory started cooking the food and the smell of burgers brought Blaine and Abby back from their outing. Both Kayla and Lily noticed that Abby was a little frustrated but said nothing about it.

Coming over to the table, Abby said, “What can I do to help?”

“We have this,” Lily told her. “Just stand there and be beautiful with your glow,” she added, running her fingers through Abby’s mussed red locks, deftly pulling out several twigs. She placed these into Abby’s hand and closed the girl’s fingers around them.

Abby paused, looked into her hand quickly, then blushed, but Lily just looked past her and winked. Although Abby and Lily had known each other for only a few months now, they had gotten really close like she and Kayla had, but she was mollified by the lack of Lily’s judgement against her.

Abby doubted that Kayla told Lily her secret but wasn’t sure because of the wink. Either Kayla had told her, or it was obvious what they had been up to. She didn’t think it was obvious or the boys would have commented on it. They didn’t usually have a brain-to-mouth filter and would say whatever entered their minds.

Abby decided to ignore any implications and pretend it’s just her imagination.

Cory started pulling food off the grill and everyone sat down to eat as the sun started to set. They ate and talked while watching the sky go from blue to a pinkish-orange hue, then slowly changing back to a navy blue, before finally fading into the deep blue-black of night.

The barbecue wasn’t meant for a large campfire because of the possibility of forest fires, but Blaine had collected some dry wood while waiting for dinner, and he now stuck some of it on top of the hot coals. The fire blazed and lit up their little camp spot while the kids sat around it, talking and looking at the starts from the higher altitude on the cloudless night. With no clouds, the moon was bright in the sky, casting moonlight tree shadows.

They talked until the fire died down, then each pair took an electronic lantern, they retreated into their own separate tents.

Abby and Blaine were the first to leave the pops and crackles of the low burning fire. They walked off, hand-in-hand, Blaine holding the lantern, leading the way. Not long after, Kayla excused herself and said she and Dallas were going to call it a night as well, leaving Cory and Lily alone at the fading fire.

There were several large rocks around the camp and Cory was using one as a back rest. Lily moved from around the side of it where she was leaning, coming to rest between his splayed legs leaning back against him.

He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin between her neck and shoulder.

Turning his head slightly towards her neck, he buried his nose in her thick, dark hair. Taking in the smell of her jasmine shampoo, a hint of citrus, perfume, the smell of wood smoke and the aroma of the outdoors.

“You smell wonderful Ms. Madison,” he said, nuzzling her neck.

She leaned into him and said, “But I must smell like sweat and dirt Mr. Hudson. That can’t be all that appealing.”

He squeezed her and responded by saying, “Ahh, but you don’t. You smell of flowers, outdoors and…” he took a deep smell of her, “… lemons or limes.”

She gently rubbed his arms that were around her. “I like the feel of your skin,” she said as he kissed her neck and added, “and that feeling.” She caught her bottom lip between her teeth when he traced a little circle on her neck with his tongue. Just as she let out a low, “mmmm…” they both heard a giggle from the tent that Abby and Blaine occupied.

Frozen from the interruption, both watched the silhouettes in the tent close together in an embrace before the light went out. The giggling continued.

Cory stole a glance at the tent Kayla was in. The light was on still and it showed two people inside, sitting apart, facing each other.

Lily felt Cory’s head turn in that direction and scolded, “Oh no, Mr. Hudson, let your sister be. What she decided to do, or not to do this weekend is NOT your concern.”

“But –” he started, and she stopped him. “No buts Cory. She’s strong and she knows what she wants… and doesn’t. Let her be. Right now, you should really be more focused on other things. Come.” She stood, and turning around, held out her hand to help him up.

He took the hint and stood, taking her hand, and brushing both of them off with the other.

Hand-in-hand, she led him to their tent after picking up their lantern but leaving it off. As they neared their tent, Cory swore he could hear the sounds of kissing coming from Abby and Blaine’s tent. He took another look at his sister’s tent and he saw that the two silhouettes looked to have merged into one larger one, with hands on each side.

They had stopped just outside of their own tent and Lily asked, “Still with me, Mr. Hudson?”

He looked back towards her to find she was staring at him intently. Embarrassed, he replied, “Yes, Ms. Madison. You have my undivided attention.”

“Good,” she replied and with a flip of her hair, she had turned and disappeared into the tent.

He hesitated a moment and the tent lit up, so he went in following Lily, taking his mind off his sister.

“Zip it up,” Lily said as he entered.

After zipping up the mesh netting, he zipped the inner privacy panel as well. Turning, he looked into the tent to see two sleeping bags were laid out, along with pillows. Peeking out from under the sleeping bags were inch thick foam pads. “Blaine and Abby thought of everything,” he murmured.

Lily sat on one of the sleeping bags and patted the other, and said, “Sit.”

Cory sat and stretched his legs out.

“Might as well get comfy,” she said, starting to untie his shoes.

He agreed, following suit on her shoes. After their shoes came off, Lily said, “Much better,” and wiggled her toes. “Now, where were we? Oh yes…” With his legs still out in front of him, she scooted around, spreading his legs wider, moving up to him. Her knees were raised, her thighs over his, feet hooked behind him. “As I said, much better,” she said, quietly.

In this light, her eyes were almost a liquid silver and were looking straight into his azure blue eyes. “Tonight, is about us,” she told him. “If you start to wander, I’ll know…and I won’t be happy.”

He nods his assent almost imperceptibly.

“Good. Now then…” she trailed off, cupping his face with both hands, leaning in and kissing him deeply.

He wrapped his arms around her, one hand on the nape of her neck, fingers splayed through her thick hair, the other on her back.

After a while of making out, she leaned back and said, “My, my. You’ve become an excellent kisser, but is that all you have planned?”

He looked at her questioningly.

She sighed and took the hand from her back and placed it on her breast. “Your other one can stay where it is. That feels almost as good,” she told him as she reached over and turned off their light.

Now, in darkness, he gently squeezed the flesh under his hand and Lily let out a quiet moan, and he felt a familiar poking in his palm. He grinned. As if to pay him back, Lily scooted towards him slightly, her pelvis rocking up against him. This caused his breath to hitch slightly.

Lily quietly said, “Oops,” knowing full well what she did. Her hands found his face again, and they were soon making out again, Cory alternating hands every once in a while, so nothing felt neglected.

As the night progressed, all six heard various noises from the other tents as all three couples made out.