officially popped your camping cherry.” As well as Eevie losing her virginity to me, she’d told me not that long ago that I was responsible for her first wet dream. As if that’s going to escape my nasty thoughts anytime soon.
“Aidan!” she says, and rolls her eyes. Her focus returns to the fire. “I can’t believe my brothers and I never got to experience this. Dad was never around. When I have kids, I’m gonna do stuff with them. Go on holidays, whatever, more than I ever got to.”
“What do you mean when you have kids?”
She shrugs. “Exactly that.”
“Are you plannin’ on goin’ somewhere?”
“No.” She frowns.
“Then don’t you mean when we have kids?”
Her mouth forms an O , as if she finally gets what I was trying to say. “Of course I mean we ,” she says. “I’ve just spent the last couple of years playing mother and father. I promise you, I’m not going anywhere.”
“Good.” I walk over and grab the fishing rods. Sitting down, I set about baiting the hooks.
“Okay, I’ll try it again, Aidan. Promise me, that one day, when we have kids, we’ll take them places. Be a family.”
“I promise.” And I mean it. When it happens, I’m gonna give our kids everything. I’m gonna be the father they deserve. I’ll be a father that’s present, full stop.
She smiles, and breathes slowly out through her nose.
“So, how many?” I ask, curiosity getting the better of me.
“What?”
“How many kids?”
“Oh, I dunno.” She shrugs. “Four is too many, but I couldn’t have just one.”
“I want at least two. I hated being an only child.”
“Okay … at least two. I can work with that, but, uh, not for a while. I’m enjoying my freedom, and I’m kinda into someone tall, dark and handsome.”
“Well, hopefully he doesn’t find out about us.” I wink at her. “Come on, let’s throw these lines in and get the swag sorted.”
We walk down to the bank, and after a few failed attempts, Eevie casts her bait in the perfect spot. I cast mine, and secure each rod in a rod holder.
Eevie nuzzles into my side, as we stroll back towards the fire. We shouldn’t have any trouble keeping warm snuggled close together, but like a caveman, I love a good fire. I unroll the swag, and open it up.
Eevie sits on the edge of the canvas, and takes off her gumboots. Gumboots, might I add, she didn’t own until yesterday. This girl’s gotta get out more. Get a bit more country.
She takes her jeans off, but gets in the swag with her underwear and jumper on. She purses her lips as if she knows exactly what she’s done wrong, and tries to disguise herself in the sleeping bag.
“Wrong,” I say stripping bare in front of her. Her eyes light up when she scans up and down my body.
She pouts her full bottom lip. “You need to undress me. It’s much more fun when you do it.”
“Okay, but don’t say I never do anything for you.” I take her hands and pull her to her feet, and peel her jumper and singlet top over her head.
“I’d never say that. You do all kinds of things for me,” she says, and grins.
Unable to resist, I tug her bra cup down and suck her tight nipple, grazing it with my teeth.
“Aren’t you worried someone will see us?” She juts her chin towards a light on the peak of the hill. It’s probably just a desperate fisherman.
“It’s just us, and the stars, baby girl. Don’t go all shy on me now. The light up there is probably a kilometre away. They’re not gonna see a thing. Don’t stress.”
“I just feel so out in the open.”
We both look in the direction of the light, and it disappears from sight.
“See? Gone.”
Her shoulders relax and I unhook her bra, and devour her other nipple. I take my sweet time, swirling my tongue around, enjoying every mumble coming from her mouth. The cool breeze blows at my back, the hairs all over my body protesting. I shuffle her backwards and we climb into the swag.
Eevie squirms beside me, rubbing her panties
David Levithan, Rachel Cohn