One Temptation

Wanting her (Chapter 45)

This chapter gave me butterflies

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We were all outside now, sitting around on the porch as the late morning sun warmed the air.

"Man, I can't believe we have next week off. No exams, no assignments... we should do something." Jake beamed.

Lia perked up. "Like what?"

"I don't know," Jake shrugged. "We already did a whole week at Gran Lizzy's, but I feel like we should go out again."

"I'm down for anything," Cole added, "Camping or whatever."

"Oh my God, we haven't been camping in forever," Em smiled. "Let's do it."

As the plans for the camping trip started to take shape, Lia's enthusiasm noticeably dimmed.

Em, on the other hand, was basically jumping with excitement, "Okay, so... we'll need tents, sleeping bags, marshmallows, bug spray, and definitely some extra flashlights."

Lia sighed. "Do we really have to do this?"

Everyone turned to look at her.

"Why?" Jake asked, raising an eyebrow. "What's the problem?"

"The problem" Lia said, leaning forward, "is the last time we went camping, I ended up covered in leeches, had a tent collapse on me in the middle of the night, and nearly got attacked by a raccoon."

A silence hung in the air for a second before Jake burst out laughing.

"Oh, c'mon, that was one time! And you were the one who left the food outside. That raccoon had a fucking buffet."

Lia glared at him, "The food was burnt, not safe to eat. It wasn't just the raccoon, Jake. I was also the one who had to save your ass from falling into the river when you tried to 'catch' a fish with your bare hands!"

"Okay, that—" Jake started defensively, "—was a valid attempt. I almost had it."

"Right, sure, the fish was totally about to surrender," Lia shot back. "I was literally holding onto your shirt while you flailed around like a dumb shit."

West laughed beside me, clearly amused. "I forgot about that. You were half in the river yelling for help."

"And don't even get me started on the leeches," Lia added dramatically. "I had to practically burn them off me while you guys laughed!"

Cole cleared his throat. "Okay, maybe it was a bit of a disaster, but we were, like, fifteen. We're better prepared now."

Em nodded, grinning. "We'll make sure nothing like that happens again."

Lia still looked sceptical. "You guys say that now, but I just know something's going to go wrong. After last time we swore we'd never do it again!"

Jake shrugged. "Yeah, well, I also swore I'd never trust Cole to light a campfire, but here we are."

Cole smirked. "Hey, at least no one died."

"Yet," Lia muttered under her breath, "None of us know how to light a campfire without setting something else on fire."

"Weren't you guys in a scout or something?" Em asked the guys.

Cole shrugged, "doesn't mean we know how to light a campfire."

"Doesn't Kaleb?" Lia asked, an eyebrow raised.

We all turned to him.

"I set Cole on fire when we were eight."