Page 29 of Strictly Curious
“Right, right? That sounds like a good plan,” Dad said as I went to help Ty get up so I could get him across the street to our campsite. It was probably best to make him try to use his foot, but if I could take some of the pressure off, I would.
I moved into position to allow him to climb on my back again. He climbed on without question and I carried him across the street. Ava tried to follow us but Lucy held her back. When we reached the tent, Tyler slid down my back.
I grabbed two fresh water bottles from the cooler, and when I got back to the tent, Tyler already had it opened and sat just inside. I handed him the water bottles before I sat next to him and took off my boots.
“Well, I think I just ruined this camping trip,” he sighed as he motioned to his ankle.
“Nonsense. That was an accident and wouldn’t have happened had I not walked off on you earlier. This is more my fault than anything.”
Tyler shook his head and scooted closer, wrapping his arms around my neck. The front of our tent was still open so I wouldn’t allow him to do much more. “Don’t you dare take the blame for it. I shouldn’t have run after you and just left you to brood.”
“I don’t brood.” I shrugged from his embrace and zipped up the front of the tent so we couldn’t be seen from across the street anymore. Tyler didn’t let me be away from him for too long before he wrapped his arms around me once more.
“You do brood, but I like you anyway.” He kissed my cheek before his lips trailed around to mine. I kissed him quickly but pulled back.
I’d dodged his questions earlier, but we really needed to talk about us, and what we were doing. I talked to him a little bit about this, and while it wasn’t enough, I felt a little better that he didn’t freak out about me having thought of him sexually before.
“Ty…” I didn’t get the words out before he talked over me.
“I need to tell you something.”
I pulled his arms from around my neck and moved across the small space of the tent. We needed space if any actual talking was going to happen. We spent too much time getting wrapped up in each other.
“What is it?” I asked.
Tyler chewed his lip, taking a deep breath. “So, I have this secret.”
I waved him on to continue. He stalled another moment before taking another deep breath. “You know how I’m supposed to be going to Washington in the fall? I might have done something stupid.”
My eyebrows rose to my hairline as what he implied sank in. “Ty, please tell me you’re still going.” This wasn’t the direction I had seen this conversation going. He pulled his knees into his chest and stared across the tent at me. He said nothing, and I knew the answer.
“Oh shit. Ty? You haven’t told Mom and Dad have you?”
He shook his head but continued to not speak.
“What are you going to do? You’re supposed to pack when we get back from this trip.”
He shrugged and looked off to the side. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I hadn’t thought that far ahead, but I had this unbearable fear of what would happen to you when I left. You were staying here, and I was leaving. I hated the thought of leaving you behind.”
Well, fuck. Now not only did he know that I’d been having ‘thoughts’ for him for a while, but he’d been hiding something too. We were so messed up. It should have been more concerning that he was so attached to me, because he still didn’t know how I really felt and he was causing me all sorts of false hope about what this all meant.
The tent shook and my heart sank because who knew who was out there and what they overheard. Unzipping the flap a little I was relieved to see Lucy standing there. She held out a small bottle to me and I realized it was the pain relievers that had been suggested for Tyler. She winked, and I knew she wouldn’t tell anyone about what she’d heard. Lucy walked away, and I zipped back up the tent.
I tossed the bottle to Tyler, and he caught it with one hand. He twisted off the cap and dropped a couple of pills into his palm. He threw them into his mouth and took a sip from his water bottle to wash them down.
It was still pretty early in the day, but Tyler looked exhausted after that hike and his injury. I lay back on the sleeping bags, holding my arm out for him, and he quickly snuggled into my side. I didn’t know how to address that he was supposed to be moving in just a few weeks, except it wasn’t happening now.
“She won’t say anything, right?” Tyler’s concern was understandable.
“If it was Ava, I’d be more concerned. Lucy seems like she’s not for causing trouble.”
He nodded against me, and I pulled him close when his hand rested on my chest. I breathed in his hair still smelling like the shampoo he’d used in the shower last night and I kissed his head. Tyler let out a sigh before stilling. It was moments later that his breathing evened out, and I knew he’d fallen asleep.
I stared at the roof of the tent and debated what to do about our situation. We were so fucked. We were fucking around under the premise that he was leaving and he was just curious. Just his one simple admission that this no longer had an end date drastically shifted things, and I wondered how far I could push this before I completely freaked him out.
Tyler
Ihadn’tmeanttotell him my secret yet, but I had been desperate to let him know I was okay knowing that he’d wanted me for a while. I knew his secret, and he had a right to know mine. We’d napped late into the afternoon before they sent Ava to retrieve us. She’d just unzipped the tent and given us more crap for being wrapped around each other again.
