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“No thanks. Two is just great.”
He sighed and got to his feet. “I’m off to bed. Breakfast’s at seven. What time are ya’s leaving?”
“We’ll probably head out by eight.”
“Sounds good.”
He said goodnight to the two stargazers, and figuring they’d be studying the stars for a while yet, I left them to it and went into our tent.
It was real nice. One of those fancy glamping tents with white canvas walls and roof, two single beds, a small bathroom, and a little table and chairs. I’d thrown my single duffle bag onto the closest bed, and Jeremiah’s bag and big black box were neatly placed at the foot of his bed.
He’d called it his equipment crate. It weighed enough, looked heavy-duty and waterproof, and I had to wonder just what kind of equipment a lightning scientist had. I also had to wonder how he was going to carry it around for his stay. The Jeep would get us most places, but there were some roads too impassable even for me.
It was the beginning of the wet season, after all.
I took a shower, changed into my sleep-boxers. Which were more professional than my sleep-briefs. Or my preference to sleep-naked.
I was pulling back the bedcovers when Jeremiah came in. He stopped when he saw me, averting his eyes away and blushing.
Well damn.
“Oh,” he said. “Sorry. I should have knocked.”
“It’s fine. You should be grateful I put clothes on at all,” I joked, but not really. His gaze cut to mine before he hurried to his duffle bag. “I normally wear my birthday suit to bed. Thought I’d dress up a bit for ya.”
“Oh well,” he said nervously. “I should be grateful. Thank you.”
He still wouldn’t look at me, so I got into bed and pulled only the sheet up. It was too hot for anything else. “Might wanna take full advantage of the proper shower,” I suggested, folding my arms behind my head. “Be the last one for a while.”
He gave a nod and took his toiletry bag into the bathroom. I was half asleep when he came back out. He was quiet in the dark as he slipped into his bed, wearing proper sleep shorts and a T-shirt that clung to his chest perfectly. He smelled good, too.
Shaking that thought out of my mind, I settled into sleep.
I absolutely did not dream of harmless fun. Though I did think a jerk off in the shower before breakfast was a good idea. I couldn’t risk Jeremiah seeing me with a raging hard-on our first day.
Christ.
This was going to be a long week.
* * *
After breakfast,we loaded up the Jeep and went on our way. We had jerry cans of fuel, canisters of water, food supplies, emergency gear, and his equipment crate. The weather would be pretty good up until lunchtime when the humidity and storms would kick in, so we needed to be at our destination by then.
Jeremiah shook hands with Paul and Derek, and with an excited smile, he climbed in. “I’m looking forward to this,” he said. He wore more sensible shorts and a looser T-shirt today. I couldn’t tell if it was supposed to be expensive vintage or if it was just old, but I got the feeling the outfit he travelled in yesterday was hisgood clothes. I wasn’t entirely sure why. His shoes, maybe. They were sensible hiking boots, but not the expensive kind that rich people bought to look the part. His were the kind that poorer people splurged good money on.
I didn’t mean that in a bad way.
It’s just the Jeremiah who got in my Jeep today seemed like a different Jeremiah to the one who got in yesterday.
The drive was slow going, the road accessible by four-wheel drive only. It was all narrow track, trees and ferns brushing the side of the Jeep, on uneven surfaces, and going very downhill.
“Ugh,” he moaned, holding onto the oh-shit bar as we went over a particularly big bump. “You know how I said I was excited to get underway today?”
“Yep.”
“I take that back.”
“The road’ll flatten out some when we get down the ridge,” I said.
