No! Nope, no, absolutely the fuck not. Begone, intrusive thought.
His eyes widen with excitement. “Yeah, but we can, like, build afire. It’ll be fun.”
I don’t know if it’s intentional, but he bats his eyelashes at me, and all opposition flies out of my brain. Cute guys definitely slow my brain down.
“I mean, random shit like thisiswhat college is about,” I reply. “Let’s make the most of it.”
Him launching me into a side hug of his own and dragging me down the sidewalk all but seals the deal. We turn off into the woods, trudging along the trail with a chilly wind biting at my cheeks and making me grimace. Why I chose to move to a damn refrigerator of a place is beyond me, but this time next year, I’ll be somewhere that’ll feel like summer. Another gust of cold air blasts us when we leave the woods and get to the beach, and Nick ruffles my hair when he spots my unamused expression.
If he keeps it up, I’m never gonna get over this crush. Even if he does, I don’t know if I can go back to the way things were, considering I always had a thing for him. I’m not sure what there is forme to go back to, short of cutting him out of my life entirely, which isn’t something I want to do. Not at all.
“So, this is probably a shit time to be asking this, but do you have a lighter?” Nick avoids eye contact, choosing instead to gather a piece of damp driftwood in his search for flammable material.
I chuckle. “You’re in luck, man.” I pull Claire’s lighter out of my pocket. “My friend asked me to confiscate her lighter so she doesn’t smoke tonight, not that that has ever stopped her. Let’s burn some shit and warm up.”
A fruitless search for kindling ensues, with both of us returning empty-handed, save for a few twigs I found drying on a rock.
“We’re never building a fire, are we?”
“Hey.” Nick jabs his fingers into my chest, which does nothing to stop my rising heart rate. “Not with that attitude. No quitting until we quit.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“Doesn’t have to. Now help me find some fuel.”
It rained overnight, and everything here is wet. “Give me some pointers,” I say, hoping he can come up with an idea I haven’t thought of.
“I don’t know… Look for something dry. Press on it, and it should be hard.”
Smirking, I raise an eyebrow. “Hmm. Really hard wood. I’ll try to find some.”
“Want me to take my shirt off? I think that’ll help us find some long, hard wood.”
“Don’t.” I chuckle. “You’re gonna freeze to death, and I’m not gonna pop a woody just so we can light it on fire.”
“Alright, suit yourself, man. Maybe try to light the twigs on fire so it’s ready for when I get some wood.”
I get to it, clicking the lighter and attempting to light the not-so-dry kindling. When that doesn’t work, I grab a packet of tissues from my pocket and stuff them under the twig pyramid I made, and while the dry paper catches easily, it doesn’t last.
So I sacrifice my entire packet, as well as a random drugstore receipt, right as Nick returns with a handful of small logs.
“Any luck?” he asks when a single twigfinallycatches.
“Not really. Come and help.”
He scoffs. “Aww, you’re so useless. It’s cute.”
I glower at him. “Shut the fuck up before I shove a piece of wood into your big mouth, and not in the fun way.”
“Ooh, feisty,” he mocks, stepping back and sticking his hands up. “Here, let me try.”
I chuckle as Nick pushes me aside and grabs the lighter out of my hands, shielding the makeshift firepit with his body and clicking the sparker at the top, muttering under his breath. He blows, slowly at first before speeding up, and in the cold darkness, the dim orange light gives way to a flickering glow.
We fucking did it. Holy shit.
Desperately, I ease one of the smaller logs into the barely there fire, avoiding the plume of smoke blowing at my face. I hold my breath, lest it extinguishes all of our collective effort.
After a while, Nick stops clicking at the lighter, and he looks at me with his head tilted and a sneaky expression plastered across his face. “Is this lighter, like, expensive or sentimental?”
