“Where are we going?” she asked as I passed my apartment complex. I knew she’d figure it out once she saw my parents’ house. My parents lived on the outskirts of town, where the rolling hills and the smell of the ocean were constant.
“You’ll see.” I started to wonder if I made the right choice by bringing her out here. Not because I didn’t want to camp, I did, but the weather out this way was getting worse, and she was going to get cold. If she got cold, it meant she could get sick.
I was starting to have second thoughts.
But a text from Evan told me it was a little too late. They had set everything up and had coffee, hot chocolate, food, smores, and a big fire going. Tonight, we weren’t going to be people that were afraid of what was happening in town. We were going to be people that lived their lives. After all, in the end, that was all that we could really do.
I turned on my blinker and took a right down a dirt path that disappeared into the woods. On either side of us, tall trees with thick canopies blocked out the snow from falling onto the road. It was peaceful out here, quiet, and dark. There was the occasional bear or mountain lion, which was why we carried tranquilizer guns. We never wanted to hurt the animal, but we did want to have the upper hand just in case we found ourselves in a situation where they thought we were food.
“Oh my god, I know exactly where we are. I haven’t been here since senior year,” she said, and the nostalgia she felt was exactly what I wanted to get her mind off things. “It’s more beautiful than I remembered.”
Probably because she was too busy hating me. I wasn’t about to bring that up. I’d be okay if she and I never spoke about the past again. It still gave me an uneasy feeling, what I did to her. I’d never forgive myself for it and the fact that she did, well, it spoke volumes about the kind of person she was.
She was way more than I deserved.
A few minutes later, the truck burst into the clearing near the cliff, and she gasped when she saw the huge roaring bonfire and a few tents set up. An ache in my chest bloomed when I knew Ethan wasn’t going to be here, but he would be, and soon. I had to have faith in that.
I slammed the truck in park and turned to her, taking her hand in mine. “We don’t have to be here. I know a lot is going on and there are a million places you could be right now. I just thought, for one night, we could do something we enjoyed before going back out in the real world. A little break from the chaos.”
Luna placed her elbow on the middle console and leaned across it, a stress-free expression on her face. Her eyes darted over me as if she didn’t know what to make of me or what I did. It made me a little uncomfortable being on the spot like that.
“What?” I asked, feeling a bit self-conscious.
“You’re a very sweet man, Easton.” Luna lifted her palm to my cheek and sighed, “And very handsome.”
Her compliment made me blush, an actual blush. I knew I wasn’t a bad looking guy. Women called me and my brothers hot all the time, but no one had looked me dead in the eye and called me handsome before. I gave compliments to her, but I didn’t know what to do with the compliments she gave to me.
“You’re blushing? Please, you know how attractive you are,” she giggled, rubbing her fingers down my face until she poked the dimple in my chin. An attribute all of the Moore brothers had.
I grabbed her wrist and pressed my lips to the smooth skin and inhaled, smelling those strawberries again. It was my favorite scent in the world and also my favorite fruit, so it only made sense that my favorite girl adhered to all of my senses.
“As long as you thin
k I’m attractive, that’s all I care about, baby. Your opinion is the only one that matters.”
She groaned and reached for the door handle. “How can you be so perfect? It isn’t fair.” It sounded like a moan of frustration, but I knew she liked it. She jumped out of the truck, and I followed suit, my boots crunching on the fresh snow covering the ground.
“Hey Luna,” Zeke greeted and then picked her up and swung her around.
“Well, hi to you too,” I teased my brother since he acted like I wasn’t even here.
“Oh yeah, hey to you too.” He jabbed my good shoulder with his fist.
“Asshole,” I grumbled lightheartedly and walked over to Ezra and Evan. They stood around the bonfire, drinking a few beers, and talking about the Hampton place.
Our place.
I was so excited about that. I couldn’t believe my brothers would do something so kind for me. I actually wanted to go explore the house when all this happening in town was over. I couldn’t wait to start building. I wanted the house to be renovated to what it originally looked like. It was too monumental to tear down and be forgotten.
“Any news on Ethan?”
Evan shook his head as Ezra took another swallow of beer. “No, mom and dad are with him, though. Doctors say he should wake up soon. I just want him home.”
I wrapped my good arm around Evan’s shoulder and squeezed. “Me too, guys. Me too.”
A snowball hitting me right in the face broke the moment. I was shocked. My face was freezing, and when I looked to see who the culprit was, Zeke and Luna pointed toward each other.
“Oh, it is so on,” I said, dropping to a low crouch and doing my best to roll a snowball. Another snowball flew through the air, nearly hitting me in the shoulder. There wasn’t that much snow to work with yet. One swipe and the ground could be seen.