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I couldn’t make eye contact. “It was very sweet of you.”
“Anything for you. Should we load this up and go pick up Shelby?”
Oh, Shelby, you lovely, awful reminder of what would never be. P.S. I think I might hate you.
~*~
I know I told Jenna to be nice to her, but on the drive up all I could think about was ways to torture Shelby. Maybe a push in the rushing river, a snipe hunt, a burned marshmallow rubbed in her perfect blonde hair. Where were these violent thoughts coming from, you may ask? It wasn’t just that she was there, but when we picked her up, I didn’t see a tent. Not only that, but she brought designer luggage. We are talking Louis Vuitton monogrammed luggage. She better have a dang tent stuffed in there. Oh, and she was wearing wedges with tiny denim shorts that proved she was a freak of nature—she had not one ounce, not even a ripple of cellulite. I was born with more fat than she had on her entire body.
If that wasn’t enough, I began to question her story of only being an office manager for an eye clinic. Really? What was that salary? Around forty thousand, maybe fifty if she was lucky. I was thinking she was very lucky, or a liar. She lived in an upscale townhome at the new Bridge Park development that was like a mini town in and of itself. The community boasted a country club, expensive restaurants, boutiques, and its own fitness center. The starting price was half a million. The mortgage payment alone would take her entire salary before taxes.
The worst of it, though, was Miss Sunshine was about ready to wet her pants when we drove over Freedom Pass. She was sitting in the backseat of my Jeep. Sawyer was riding shotgun. I would give her credit that it was a tad frightening. Guardrails were few and far between, the windy roads were narrow, and you could see a car or two that had gone off the road and landed in the pine trees below. The views were breathtaking, though. The only sights for miles were mountain vistas, pine and aspen trees, and a bald eagle or two. With the top down on my Jeep, we were able to soak in the clean mountain air that settled in your soul and made you feel more alive than you imagined possible. The abundant sunshine added to the energy of it all.
All Shelby could focus on was the sheer height we were at . . . and Sawyer. She had him in a stranglehold for miles while squealing. If she was that worried, she should have stayed in her seatbelt instead of reaching up and hugging Sawyer from behind. Sawyer kept patting her toned arms, telling her it would be okay and that with me at the wheel, she was in good hands. He shouldn’t have been too sure. I wanted to rip those perfectly tanned arms off her and start whacking her with them. And with her out of her seatbelt, devious thoughts had run through my mind. No need to say them in case of self-incrimination.
By the time we arrived at the campsite, I needed a vacation from my mini vacation. I had a feeling that cooler of Dr. Pepper wasn’t going to last long. And if that chick thought I was sharing my Dr. Pepper with her, she had another thing coming. Sawyer I had no say over, but that real Dr. Pepper was all mine.
I pulled over on the tiny rutted dirt road near a clearing where my family had camped before, about fifty yards from the river. The pine trees made an almost perfect circle around the clearing, as if they had been planted with campers in mind.
I couldn’t get out of my Jeep fast enough. I wished some of our other friends were already there. Without a word, I hopped out and headed straight for the river. The sound of water calmed my soul. At least it used to. Before I could get too far, I heard Shelby ask, “Where’s the cabin?”
What?
“Cabin?” Sawyer laughed.
I turned around to see her bite her lip all sexy and cute. “Well, yes, when my family goes camping, we rent this really beautiful cabin in Blue Ridge. It has any amenity you’d ever want.”
“That’s not camping.” Sawyer grinned.
“Oh,” her lip started to quiver, “I didn’t realize that this is what you meant when you said camping. I didn’t even bring any bedding.”
Was she serious?
Sawyer hugged her and began patting her back; she settled right into him. That’s when I headed back for the cooler. It was going to be a six-pack day.
“Don’t worry. I’m sure between all of us we can take care of you.” Sawyer gave me a pointed look. “I know Em has plenty of room in her tent.”
