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Cass smiled. “Give me about two minutes here,” he said, and when Ash reluctantly nodded, Cass got to work.

He unpacked several pillows and blankets from the two suitcases and arranged them neatly in the bed, the pillows sitting up against the cab for support. Then he stepped back over to the tailgate and offered Ash a hand to help him up.

“Alright, there we go, now sit here,” he instructed once Ash was up in the bed with him.

“Okay . . .” Ash took a seat where Cass had indicated, a spot well cushioned with pillows and blankets. Then he looked up at Cass, obviously skeptical.

Cass smiled again. “Trust me.”

“I do, or I wouldn’t be here,” Ash said with a grin of his own.

Cass’s heart fluttered at the sight, and he dipped his chin. “Good,” he said. Then he half knelt and reached over to unfold one of the blankets up over Ash’s legs. “It’ll get colder, I’m sure. Are you warm enough now, though?”

Ash nodded in response. “Yeah.”

“Good.”

Cass pushed himself back to his feet and leaned over to shut the driver’s side door, extinguishing the last of the light. The darkness around them seemed awake and active, somehow, with the quiet rustling of the trees and gentle lapping of the water against the shore below. It wasn’t uncomfortable or eerie in any way. At least not to Cass. He hoped Ash felt the same.

When his eyes had adjusted enough to the darkness, he lowered himself down next to Ash and moved the cooler in front of him.

“I didn’t want to go to a movie or a busy restaurant,” Cass explained quietly, opening the cooler. He pulled out two thermoses and then two more plastic containers. “I just wanted us to have some time together, without any other distractions.”

“I like that idea,” Ash said.

Cass glanced over at him, sitting only a foot or so away. Even through the darkness, he could see Ash’s beautiful, soft smile, his eyes sparkling like the stars above them. An ache in his chest tried to tug him closer, but he valiantly ignored it and continued.

“So, uh, after a bit,” he said, “we’ll be able to see a ton of stars out here, and if we’re lucky, we’ll also be able to see the Milky Way. I guess there are a couple of meteor showers visible this time of year, too, but we’d need a telescope, and I didn’t have one.”

“Oh, wow.” Ash’s eyes were wide, and he tilted his head back for a moment and stared upward. “How long until our eyes adjust?”

“I think we’re supposed to give it a good thirty minutes,” Cass said.

Ash hummed in response and continued studying the sky, his mouth slightly parted in wonder. Cass’s heart did the same thing it had a moment ago, urging him to move closer, to wrap an arm around Ash’s shoulders and hold him tightly. And he wanted to give in, to let it happen, to ignore his brain for just a moment.

He took a long, slow breath, still watching Ash, and then he dropped his eyes back to the cooler. Dinner first, he decided. Anything else would be later. He set down the plastic containers, reached back into the cooler, and pulled out a large plastic bag containing a serving spoon, two thick paper plates, and a bundle of napkins. Next to him, Ash shifted, and when Cass looked over, he was gazing out ahead of them toward the water.

“The lake—which one is it?” Ash asked.

“Whiskeytown Lake.” Cass opened up the plastic bag and started removing the contents. “It’s much busier in the summer. We used to come here when I was a kid. There’s a spot a bit farther down the road where we’d camp. Sometimes my grandparents would visit with my uncle and bring their boat, and we’d go out on the water.”

“Fishing?”

Cass shook his head. “No, uh, they had this small speedboat, and they’d go waterskiing, tubing, that sort of thing.”

“They’d go?”

Cass grimaced and looked over at Ash again. Ash’s smile held a tiny bit of a tease to it, and Cass couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “Remember our conversation a while back about how I’m not a huge fan of being in deep water?” When Ash nodded, Cass continued. “Well, let’s just say this lake is the reason why.”

He stopped there, hoping to not have to tell Ash the whole story. An elbow nudged his side, however, and he knew he wasn’t getting out of it.

“Are you gonna tell me what happened, or do I have to guess?”

He laughed and shook his head. “It’s funny but also not, actually. Ah, I’ll tell you, but first . . .” Cass offered Ash one of the thermoses he’d pulled out of the cooler a few minutes ago. “Here. These both have hot tea in them—peppermint something. My mom recommended it. I honestly don’t drink hot tea much. But it seemed like a better choice than coffee.” He paused for half a second as Ash nodded. “Then I made chicken salad,” he continued, taking the top off the first container. “It’s a family recipe that uses an avocado mayo, red onion, and sun-dried tomatoes. My mom loves it. I wasn’t sure if you’d prefer to have it on a croissant or on bread, so I brought both. The bread is a locally made sourdough. I hope it’s okay.”

He knew he’d started to ramble, fueled by the bit of uncertainty he’d had over what food to pack and whether Ash would like it. But then Ash laughed lightly next to him, and Ash’s hand set on top of his, the warmth a contrast to the chilly night air.

“That sounds perfect,” Ash assured him. “I love peppermint tea, and I’ll have the sourdough.”