Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 75339 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75339 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
“Fox, you don’t have to do—”
“Just get the flower, Sam,” he said, the corner of his mouth quirking up into a smile.
I pulled in a breath. “If you say so,” I told him, taking a step forward. “Sorry if my shoes are coated in dirt and twigs.”
“Not afraid to get my hands dirty,” Fox said as I stepped into his hands. He pushed me up into the air easily, and I broke off the big, beautiful flower. He set me back down, dusting off his hands on the sides of his pants.
“Damn,” I said. “How expensive were those slacks?”
He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. You wanted the flower, you got it.”
“It’s not actually for me. It’s for Luke,” I said. “He’s a regular at the bar, and he’s totally in love with our cook’s brother. He’s obsessed with gardening.”
“You know that flower isn’t going to make it two weeks, right?” Logan asked, grinning at me.
“I don’t need your sass,” I said, smiling back at him. “I know. I’m going to press it flat and dry it out in a book.”
Fox was looking at me like he was mystified. “You’re so good to your friends, Sam.”
“It’s really not much,” I said. “But it made me think of Luke.”
“That’s the best kind of gift there is,” Fox said.
“Well, thank you for helping me grab it.”
He shrugged, looking back down to his pile of kindling. He picked it up and started off toward the campsite again. “No problem.”
I expected there to be some sort of punchline, some way that Fox would make fun of me within the next few seconds. But it never came.
“That is not how you build a fire,” Fox said from behind me as I crouched over the fire pit.
“It’s how I build a fire,” I replied.
“Your fire is going to last about two seconds if you leave it like that,” he said.
I turned and glanced up at him. His hands were on his hips as he looked down at me, his grey eyes fixed on the wood. He looked like some combination of a teacher and a boss.
I was used to being good at things. I’d always prided myself at doing whatever I did the best I could—whether it was making costumes for theater in high school, acting, or bartending at the Tavern.
But I had to admit, I was absolute shit at building a fire. And having Fox scrutinizing my work wasn’t helping.
“Fine. Tell me what to do,” I said. I got up, crossing my arms and standing at his side.
His expression was kind, even if he looked like he wanted to laugh at me. “Your structure is all wrong.”
I could smell the faintest whiff of his cologne radiating from his skin. I loved the smell, but right now it was driving me fucking crazy. It reminded me of being so close to him yesterday in the pool, the last remnants of his cologne mixing with the chlorinated water scent as we’d kissed.
I’d assumed that as the day went on, I’d forget about last night’s kiss. But instead, the memory had only gotten more intense, flashing back into my mind any time he was near me.
Completely annoying. Distracting. Sure, he was the only hot guy around me right now, but the last thing I wanted to be thinking about was Fox’s lips.
Because that was going to make me hard. Another thing I really didn’t need.
I looked back down at the fire pit, exhaling and trying to focus on learning to build a fire.
“What’s wrong with it?” I said, fixing my eyes on the pile of wood and twigs. “It looks great.”
“You don’t put the kindling on top of the logs,” Fox said, a sly smile on his face. “You have to nestle it down inside the log structure.”
“He’s right,” Logan said, coming up beside Fox.
“Oh no, not you, too,” I said. “You’re taking his side?”
Logan looked amused. “When he’s right, he’s right.”
“Sun’s going down and we need that fire!” Greg called out from a few paces away. They had all of the food laid out and ready to be prepared.
“Here,” Fox said, crouching down beside the fire and grabbing a wad of kindling, shoving it into the little space between the logs. “This’ll work great.”
“Never in a million years did I think Fox would be better at starting a fire than me. You know what I’m good at? Starting fires on Instagram. My pictures are hot, at least.”
I reached in my pocket for my phone instinctually before I remembered that we had no service. I grabbed it anyway, taking a picture of Fox next to the fire pit. Even if my phone didn’t actually connect to anything right now, I could at least still take photos.
Within another few minutes, Fox had started the fire. It grew healthier and healthier over time, orange flames licking up into the air. We got started cooking dinner. By the time it was done, all of us were ravenous, and we ate burgers and roasted veggies like kings, throwing Cocoa any scraps we had.