Breath of Fresh Air Ch. 01

Katie's face burned and in her confusion she couldn't think of a suitable response so they fell into silence as they hiked the last quarter mile to the campsite.

They both stopped at the edge of the clearing and stared. There was no firewood, but one tent was set up and the clearing was scattered with coolers, chairs, and half-unpacked bags.

"Where do you think they went?" Katie asked, her question immediately answered by a throaty moan from inside the tent. "Oh."

"Well," Mike said, surveying the mess around them, "at least they got one tent up before giving in to their baser urges. I admire their restraint."

A loud cry startled them and Sarah's voice rang out through the clearing, "Oh god Caleb, I'm gonna come!"

Katie flushed deep red and she turned away in embarrassment, quickly walking back down the trail. "Should we give them a minute? Maybe grab some wood?"

"Grabbing some wood sounds like a really good idea." Mike said, nodding seriously as he followed her.

Katie realized what she'd said and started giggling, clapping her hand over her mouth in a failed effort to be quiet. Not that it was necessary, the noises from the tent easily drowned her out.

"In fact, if you're looking, I've got some wood that could use a good grabbing," he said with a totally straight face.

Her giggles evolved into snorts and Mike couldn't help laughing with her. She put her finger over her lips and shushed him, which made him laugh even harder. They were both still standing there giggling like fools when Sarah and Caleb emerged from the tent a few minutes later, straightening their clothes and smoothing their hair.

"You finally made it! I was starting to think you guys had gotten lost somewhere," Sarah said, totally unabashed at having been caught. "What's so funny?"

Katie dissolved into more giggles at the thought of trying to explain the joke to her friend.

"She's delirious," Mike claimed. "I totally wore her out with the hike and now the idea of getting some wood just sent her right over the edge."

At this point Katie had tears running down her face she was laughing so hard and she couldn't catch her breath.

"Okaaaay," Sarah said quizzically, looking at Katie like she had two heads. "I'm gonna go find some wood. Why don't you sit here and calm yourself for a minute, Katie." She walked off into the trees and, once he got his shirt tucked back in, Caleb shot a grin at the two of them and went jogging after her.

Katie wiped the tears from her face and took a deep breath. She looked back at Mike and had to suppress the urge to laugh again at the comically innocent look on his face.

"It sounded to me like she already found some wood."

That pushed her over the edge into another spasm of giggles. "You are so bad," she finally said when she'd calmed down enough to speak.

Her cheeks were pink and her eyes were sparkling bright after her laughing fit and one look at her was enough to steal Mike's breath away. It took him a moment to regain his composure. "You have no idea," he said in a low voice.

The rest of the night passed in a festive blur. The tents went up and the fire was lit and even Katie had to admit that there were benefits to camping with a Jeepload of supplies. Caleb had brought enough beer and chili dog fixins for all four of them and they soon had bellies full of roasted hot dogs and macaroni salad.

They all drank and laughed and joked together, enjoying the fire and the beer. After a while Caleb went rustling around in his tent and came back with a guitar. Katie laughed and shook her head at the idea of trying to backpack with a guitar, but soon found herself singing along loudly with the others, trying to remember the words to all the golden oldies they could think of. It was getting late and they were all pretty buzzed when Caleb set the guitar down and drained his beer.

"I'm wiped. You ready to go lay down, babe?" Caleb asked, giving Sarah a significant look. She smiled back with a slow grin, bit her bottom lip and nodded. He stood and pulled her to her feet and they stumbled off together toward their tent.

"Night you guys!" Sarah tossed over her shoulder as she crawled into the tent. She shrieked as Caleb pinched her butt cheek and flipped over and pulled him into the tent. One of them had enough presence of mind to zip the door, but their giggles and grunts were barely muffled. Katie glanced sideways at Mike, who was taking a long pull from his beer.

"I'm gonna go to the little girl's...um, tree," Katie said with a giggle and ducked out of the circle of light the fire provided.

"If you're not back in five I'll send a search party after you."

She laughed quietly as she stepped out of the clearing and into the surrounding woods. It was cold out here away from the fire and the darkness was dense under the cover of trees. She took a moment to breathe in the night air, looking up to try and see how many stars were visible above the treetops.

She was having a good time. A surprisingly good time, given the way the trip had started. Mike was funny and nice and...pretty damn hot. She shook her head at herself, looked at the silhouette of his broad shoulders against the fire and sighed.

Finally she couldn't hold it anymore and flipped on her flashlight just long enough to locate a convenient place to squat. Turning off the light, she shimmied her jeans down to relieve herself. When she was done she walked back toward the fire where Mike had picked up Caleb's guitar and was softly strumming it, singing quietly.

Katie picked the song up right away, it was one of her favorites, and as he began the chorus she sat down next to him and joined in with the harmony. He looked at her, surprised, and smiled, singing a little louder,

"Mull of Kintyre, oh mist coming in from the sea, my desire is always to be here Oh, Mull of Kintyre"

They sang the whole song together and she beamed at him as they finished, saying, "That's one of my favorite songs."

"Mine, too," was all he could manage to say. He was inordinately pleased at the way she joined in. When she had sung that first note in harmony with him it sent a jolt through him and he'd had to cover his stumble by pretending to have forgotten the words.

He caught himself staring at her, hypnotized by the way the reflection of the firelight made it look like she had tiny flames dancing in her eyes. Her tongue darted out to wet her bottom lip and he watched it disappear back between her soft pink lips. He was leaning toward her before he even knew what he was doing, but a sudden loud grunt from Caleb and Sarah's tent made them both jump. Mike turned to look in the direction of the noise and when he looked back he gave Katie a sheepish grin.

"I should probably get to bed if I want to be in any shape to hike tomorrow," Katie said.

"Yeah, probably a good idea."

"Yeah."

"All right then."

Katie got up reluctantly. She'd thought he was going to kiss her a moment ago, but before she could decide whether she wanted him to kiss her or not, they'd been interrupted. Which made her all too aware how badly she did want him to kiss her. Then to break the awkward silence she'd spoken without thinking and immediately wanted to call the words back.

Since that wasn't a viable option she climbed into her tent, quickly changed, and crawled into her sleeping bag, squeezing it tight around her willing it to warm up. She rolled onto her belly and looked out of her screen door to watch Mike pack away the guitar and pick up a few stray beer cans. He stood for a long moment looking in her direction and she held her breath wondering if he could see her watching him, but then he turned and went to his tent. She closed her eyes and fell immediately to sleep.

The next morning came too soon. Katie woke chilly and slightly hungover, groaning as she felt around her tent for her water bottle and took several long gulps. She could hear Caleb's incessantly cheerful voice chattering away just outside her tent and scowled until the smell of fresh coffee wafted in on the morning breeze. She was up and dressed quickly after that, Sarah handing her a warm mug almost as soon as she emerged from the tent.

"Thanks, this smells heavenly."

"Just wait until you smell the crepes," Caleb said, studiously mixing a bowl full of batter. Katie smiled and sat down near the fire feeling vaguely guilty for not offering to help, but not guilty enough to actually make the offer. She sipped on her coffee and slowly returned to a more human state of mind as the sights and smells of the woods inflated her mood. By the time her mug was empty she was smiling and the crepes were almost done. Just as she was about to ask what she could do to help she heard a tent zipper and turned to see Mike emerging from his tent. Her voice froze in her throat when she realized he was shirtless.

He rubbed his eyes and stretched his arms, the muscles rolling under his skin on display for all to see, though apparently she was the only one looking. And she couldn't stop. Her eyes devoured his chest that seemed to go on forever, the muscles well-defined and covered in a scattering of light curls. the tiny brown nipples beaded up in the morning chill. His skin was pale, but the tops of his shoulders were covered in freckles indicating he spent a lot of time outside. A pair of loose sweatpants hung low on his hips and she couldn't help but wonder what kind of exercise a guy would have to do to result in such seriously cut obliques. The two lines pointed down in a V shape, drawing her eye to what must be hidden only a few scant inches below the waistband.

She shook herself and turned away, but not before Sarah caught her eye and gave her a significant look. She rolled her eyes at her friend, but couldn't help another glance back at Mike as he wandered off into the trees, presumably to find a place to relieve himself.

She was eating by the time he returned and was distracted enough by the delicious breakfast that she successfully avoided making a fool of herself when he sat down on the ground next to her. Sarah handed him a mug of coffee and he nodded his thanks through a wide yawn.

"Not a morning person, huh?" Katie teased.

"Need coffee," he replied, taking a long sip and moaning in pleasure.

The sound sent a shock through her, taking her completely by surprise and triggering a blush so deep she could feel the heat of it creeping up her chest into her face. The bite of crepe she'd just taken stuck in her dry throat and she choked, taking a long drink of water to recover. She looked up to see Sarah giving her another of those knowing looks.

"You alright?" Mike asked, looking at her strangely.

"Yeah. Rogue blueberry on a suicide mission," she joked, glad the choking had covered the blush.

"Gotta watch out for those," Mike said, nodding seriously.

After they'd all eaten the girls walked down the hill to the nearby stream to rinse off the dishes, leaving the boys behind to start breaking up camp.

"So what do you think about Mike?" Sarah asked as they rinsed off their dishes in a nearby stream.

"He seems like a nice guy."

"He's pretty hot, huh?"

"You aren't supposed to notice things like that about your boyfriend's friends."

"Whatever, Caleb doesn't care if I look as long as I don't touch. But what do you think?"

"He's alright, I guess."

"You're so full of shit. I saw you checking him out this morning, you were practically drooling."

"I was drooling over the crepes," she said. After a pause she grinned and continued, "and his abs."

"I knew it!" Sarah laughed. "He is cut. And he's a really good guy, too. He just moved here a few months ago from North Carolina or somewhere like that, but they've become really good friends already and I've hung out with him several times. We've been talking about setting you guys up for a while."

"Sarah, I really wish you wouldn't do that. You know I hate it. It makes things all weird, like there are...expectations. I don't like feeling pressured like that."

"There's no pressure, I promise. We just thought you two would get along. And we were right. So when you start planning the wedding, just remember who introduced you.

Katie looked up in shock, but realized when she saw Sarah's face that she was teasing. She splashed her with cold creek water and Sarah shrieked and splashed back. They were so busy dousing each other that they didn't hear the cry of pain from the campsite and had no idea anything was wrong until Mike appeared at the top of the hill calling for them.

"You're going to want to try to stay off it as much as you can. It's not a bad sprain, but it will heal faster if you let it rest." Katie told Caleb as she finished wrapping his ankle in an ace bandage.

"So no hiking?"

"Definitely no hiking," she agreed, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice. She knew Caleb hadn't stepped into that hole on purpose, but she couldn't help being irritated at having to cut short their weekend before it really got started.

"Damn, I'm sorry guys. I've ruined everyone's weekend."

"No you didn't, baby," Sarah crooned, cradling Caleb from behind, hugging him tight to her chest. "We had a great time last night, didn't we guys?" She looked up at Mike and Katie expectantly and both readily agreed with her. "And we don't have to go home, we can camp here again tonight and have just as much fun."

"Yeah, I guess we could just stay here," Caleb said, cheering considerably.

"Sure we could," Katie agreed, trying to reconcile herself to not hiking.

"It's a bummer we didn't get to hike more, but I'd rather stay here than go home," Mike threw in, speaking Katie's thoughts better than she had.

"You know, there's no reason you guys couldn't go hiking just for the day. Or even go ahead and hike up to the next camp tonight and then meet us back here tomorrow," Sarah said. "There's a gorgeous overlook up there, isn't there Katie?"

Katie nodded in agreement and they all fell silent for a moment before Mike said hesitantly, "I'd be up for that. If you want to go, Katie."

Katie thought about it for a minute. She was excited about the idea of hiking, but didn't want to jump too eagerly. She was a little hesitant about setting off alone with Mike, but he seemed like a nice enough guy. As big as he was she hadn't felt the least bit threatened when they had hiked alone together the day before. In the end the mountains won out. She wanted to get out there and move.

"Okay. Let's do it," she said, smiling at Mike. She suppressed the little bubble of nervousness that inflated in her belly when he smiled back and turned to pack up her gear.