Chapter 70
Aiden
The sound of the small crackling fire is soothing. So is the gentle heat of it, the sight of the dancing flames, the smell of charred wood. Our bellies are full of flame-cooked sausages, foil packet vegetables and cast iron hand pies. Moira has her guitar out, and while initially this was for the purpose of everyone singing a few ditties around the fire, at this point all three of the Ignacios have left to check out the hot tub, so she’s just idly strumming some gentle chords in the quiet night air.
Evie’s cuddling up in my palm as I softly massage her back. She’s been a little extra clingy this evening - not that I mind. She’s attempting to offer me a light massage in return, pressing her toes into the skin at the base of my fingers. As time progresses, though, her movements are slowing down.
It’s hard to make out some of the details in the darkness, so I lift her closer to my face to try to suss out the state she’s in. In reaction to the change in elevation she slowly flips onto her back, blinking up at me curiously with heavy-lidded eyes.
“You’re looking pretty sleepy,” I remark with a smile, “Want to head to bed?”
“Noooo, not yet,” she whines, “You’re just too comfy, give me a sec… What time is it?” She pushes herself to a sitting position in my palm, stretching her arms out.
Moira had set her guitar down once she noticed we were talking, and she checks her phone now. “It’s just before nine.”
“See? Plenty of night left!” Evie beams up in my direction and wonders, “Think it’d be dangerous for me to check out the hot tub?”
I ponder this before answering, “Ask Diego what he thinks about the temperature, but I don’t think it should be a problem? As long as we don’t lose you in the water, obviously.”
“Ooo I have an idea,” says Moira before crawling over to some of the supplies that haven’t been cleaned up yet. She returns with a white styrofoam bowl, holding it up for Evie to see. “This should float, even if we put some of the water and you in it. Want to try?”
“Yeah!” The tiny woman in my hand doesn’t seem so tired anymore. I playfully dump her into her new tub, and she giggles as she slides against the styrofoam and the static makes some of her hair stick up.
“Are you not coming?” Moira asks me, though she’s mostly keeping her attention on the bowl and friend that she’s now holding.
“I will, I just need to put out the fire. I’ll catch up with you guys.”
It takes me a couple of minutes to get things wrapped up - once I’ve doused the flames, I prod at the remains with a fire poker to make sure there aren’t any smoldering coals left. I rather enjoy the glowing red of the parts that survived, so I linger as those last little bits die out. That’s when I hear the rustling of leaves. I look up to see a figure coming my way, hard to make out as they’re backlit from the light of the cabin. But a few seconds later I recognize Camila.
“Why’re you all alone in the dark?” she calls out to me, unnecessarily loud. I briefly frown at her demeanor when I notice she’s got a slight stumble and what might be a beer can in her hand. We’ve all had a bit to drink, but I’m thinking she’s had a bit extra.
“Making sure we don’t burn the forest down,” I call back with an amused smile. She looks so out of place in her fluffy bathrobe.
She plops down right next to me on the log to watch the glowing coals. I try not to laugh at how intently she’s staring at them. But I’ve taken long enough on this task, and I’d honestly rather be with the others. I reach down for a nearby water bottle so that I can finish the job and we can all regroup.
I startle at a sudden tugging at the hem of my shirt. I turn back to look at Camila and then go rigid as she abruptly leans towards me to rest her head on my shoulder. She shifts closer, so that the side of her body presses against mine. At first I naively think that maybe she’s just feeling dizzy or something from the drinking. But then she wraps her arms around mine with obvious intention.
"What are you doing?” I ask stiffly, too taken aback to move away.
"I can’t stop thinking about you,” she mutters, pulling me in tighter.
Fuck. There’s a sinking feeling in my stomach and the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. My mouth feels dry as I try to think of what to say. "Listen… I’m sorry but–”
"Are you truly happy with her?” she interjects.
This creates a spark of irritation amidst the alarm. I’m able to answer with a much more steady voice. "Yes.”
She squeezes my arm, fingers digging in hard, and mumbles, "I don’t get it.”
I take her hands to pull them off me, gently but firmly. She doesn’t resist and I’m able to get away from the heat of her body and slide a couple of inches to the side. Once I’m sure that she’s sober enough to hold herself upright, I pull back further and turn to face her. In the dim light that’s coming from the cabin, I look at her intensely and say, "You don’t have to get it. But I’m going to ask you to respect it.”
I walk away. Maybe that’s wrong of me to leave her alone like that. But I can’t think straight. It’s uncomfortably tingly at the spots where she touched me, almost painfully so where she dug into my arm. I feel nauseous. I knew there was a chance Camila might still have feelings for me, and she made that more and more apparent this whole trip, but I didn’t expect this, I didn’t expect her to try and make some kind of move, especially so suddenly like that…
I burst back into the cabin and have to catch my breath. It feels like the room’s spinning, the light inside feels too bright. Ugh, how the hell am I going to handle this? Do I just pretend that didn’t happen? Should I go back out there and make sure she’s alright? I just want to find Evie, I just want to see her–
“Aiden?”
I jump at the sound of Diego’s voice. He’s just stepped inside on the other side of the living room, through the door that leads onto the back patio. His shirt is damp in places and his hair’s still dripping, clearly from having just come out of the hot tub.
“You alright, man?” he asks, frowning.
I snap back into my composure, hoping I sound convincing when I say, “I’m fine. Did Evie and Moira…?”
I trail off and he nods, his brow still furrowed. “Yeah, they’re still out there. Moira didn’t want to go in the hot tub, but I think Evie still does. You should go see her. What did Camila do?”
He figures it out so quickly that I can’t suppress a twitch. He’s walking towards me now, confusion getting replaced by concern. I just stand there in silence, still trying to wrap my mind around the past few minutes.
“Come on, bro. I’m not an idiot,” Diego insists, “She’s been making everyone uncomfortable as fuck since we got here."
I look down at my feet for a few seconds as I try to breathe and think. I’m not sure what the right thing is, but all I know is I can’t bring myself to go back out there. Not right now. Maybe it’s alright to lean on my friend a little bit.
“Yeah, can you go check on her?” I finally say. “She seemed pretty tipsy.”
Diego claps both hands on my shoulders, bending down to look me in the eye. “I’ll talk to her. You go spend time with your girl, okay?”
Yeah. That sounds pretty good right now. “Okay.”
He straightens back up and grins widely before he walks past me and says, “We’ll be up in the loft after this so you’ll have looots of privacy.”
“Wh–” before I have time to say anything, he’s out the front door, making his way towards the campfire remains. I shake my head at him trying to be a wingman at a time like this. But he did succeed in making me feel just a little bit better. I’ll figure the rest out… later.
I go out onto the back patio to find the girls standing just outside the hot tub, and Star waves me over. “There you are!” she says, “Look, this works great!”
Once I step closer I can see what she’s talking about. It seems that Evie got the okay from our medical experts, since she’s currently drifting along the edge of the tub in her little styrofoam bowl. She’s dressed in her intricate red and white swimsuit, her hair fanned out over the surface of the water that’s also in the bowl, and she’s looking absolutely adorable half submerged in her contained little puddle.
“I can still feel the heat in here, but it’s not too much!” she yells once I’m close enough. “Want to come in?”
“Please,” says Star as she shivers profusely, “It’s really cold once you get out.”
“Yeah yeah, I’ve got her, you two get inside,” I tell them and they both scamper away.
Thankfully we’d thought ahead and I’m already wearing my swim trunks under my clothes. I begin stripping down, pulling my shirt off as I keep a close watch on the tiny boat.
“Look at you, little sailor,” I say with a laugh, “That looks fun.”
“I’m on the hunt for some sea monsters,” Evie responds matter-of-factly. “This lake’s kinda empty though.”
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” I chuckle as I finish yanking off my pants.
The hot water helps my muscles relax, and I lower myself down into it with a relieved groan. I rub at my still-tingling arm, feeling the urge to clean it, and then smile fondly as I notice my girlfriend gently drifting in my direction. I reach a hand out and touch my fingertips to the bottom of the bowl so that I can pull her in a bit closer. We decide to turn on a couple of the jacuzzi jets, on the lowest setting so that they’re not too loud and don’t jostle her around too much. But even this small amount of pressure against my back and my legs helps me unwind my tight nerves. I can almost pretend nothing out of the ordinary just happened. Almost.
I catch Evie shivering a tad, and I scoop a bit of water to carefully add to her existing bath in the bowl. Like a predator in waiting, she playfully latches onto my index finger as soon as it comes close enough and holds it tight. But… it’s a little extra tight. Just how she was being a little extra clingy earlier. A little extra quiet all day. I touch my thumb against the other side of her body, gently stroking its delicate curves.
“Are you doing okay?” I ask quietly.
She frowns. I guess this probably feels like it’s coming from out of nowhere. She leans her cheek against my hand, observing me for a moment. Finally she counters, “Are you doing okay?”
Welp. So much for pretending nothing’s up. I shouldn’t keep this from her anyway. I wasn’t particularly trying to hide it, it’s just that I haven’t sorted it out in my own brain yet. Evie and I have hardly had any time for just the two of us since we embarked on this trip - maybe we’re due for a little heart to heart.
I sigh. “Camila just came on to me.”
“What?” Her eyes widen as she lifts her head up. “Just now?”
“Yeah… I think she’s drunk. She didn’t, like, assault me or anything, she just got really touchy and… made it very clear that she still has feelings after all.”
Her grip tightens. “Any unwanted touch is not okay. I’m sorry, babe.” For a moment she tilts her head down, pressing her forehead against me instead, and laments, “Damn. This sucks.”
“Yeah, it definitely complicates things…” I mutter.
Evie lets go of me now, sinking herself back into the water. She pulls her legs up into her chest and gazes off into space before finally saying, “I have something to tell you about too.”
She recounts what happened this morning. About when all four of the girls had gathered to put on face masks and paint their nails. And about how Camila took an opportunity to misconstrue Evie’s offer of helping out and essentially shoved a foot in her face, knocked her down and laughed about it.
I grow more and more appalled. And I’m also increasingly angry. I’ve never been particularly close with Camila, but I’ve technically known her for a long time. Even though I didn’t consider her a best buddy or anything, I still would have referred to her as a “friend.” I’m learning a whole lot about her today.
I’m practically shaking by the end of the tale. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I growl.
Evie looks a bit spent as she hugs herself, legs still bent in, shoulders drooping. She looks so vulnerable in her curled up position. How can anyone bully someone who’s this harmless, this defenseless?
“The other two had my back,” she says, “Moira’s been awesome - she took me aside after we left the room to make sure I was okay, and she’s been staying close any time Camila’s nearby. I’m alright, but… I don’t think I really want to see her after this trip if I can help it."
“Uh, yeah, I don’t either. I knew she could be self absorbed, but I didn’t think she’d be capable of being so mean. That’s just unacceptable…”
My outrage is boiling more violently than the jacuzzi. Ugh, and here a part of me had been pitying Camila. I may not have ever understood why she was interested in me, but I did feel for her plight - unrequited feelings can be really hard to deal with. I’d been frustrated with some of her behaviors and really put off with how she approached me tonight, but I still couldn’t help feeling guilty about rejecting her.
That pity has evaporated. Now I’m more focused on the fact that she was hitting on me despite knowing that I’m taken. I’m remembering how dismissive she was about my girlfriend, how she said that she “doesn’t get it.” I know she said that while drunk, but… she doesn’t see Evie as a person, does she? What the fuck is wrong with her?
“Aiden, hold on,” my partner pleads, clearly seeing how restless I’m getting. “I don’t want any drama. Let’s just try to ignore her? We’re only halfway through this trip, I’d like to make the most of it. Not to mention that I’d rather not be on her bad side, not when she knows about my situation.” I look down and notice that the styrofoam bowl has started drifting away, its tiny passenger needing to raise her voice now for me to hear her. “It wasn’t that bad, she was just being immature. Hell, if we know she’s into you after all, then she’s probably just jealous, right?”
I sigh deeply, like a deflating balloon. I reach my arms out to bring her back towards me again, and I carefully lift the bowl out of the water to bring her closer to eye level. “Alright,” I relent, “Let’s make the most of our time out here. But… Evie, if she pulls that shit in front of me, I’m not sure I can hold back.”
She nods. “That’s fair. Hopefully it won’t come to that.” Since I’m holding her this close I’m able to notice how dejected she looks. She puts a hand over her face and her voice quivers. “I just… God, I just wish she wasn’t so… hot.”
I freeze, completely caught off guard by this. “What?! Babe, there’s zero competition here.”
Evie’s using both hands now, digging the heels of her palms in against her closed eyes. “I know, I know. I’m sorry.”
This fun little boat is starting to feel more like a barrier. I run my fingers along the rim of the bowl restlessly in the ensuing quiet while neither one of us knows what to say. Finally I break the silence.
“Can I hold you?”
She lifts her head at this, her eyes red from the sting of unfallen tears. She smiles weakly and inches forward towards the edge of the bowl. I cup some water into my hand before gently tilting her into it, and I cradle her little body with utmost care, trying to make sure she’s neither too hot nor too cold. I lower myself further into the water, kneeling in the hot tub, so that it almost reaches the top of my shoulders. Tenderly I kiss my beloved on the top of the head.
“I wish I could properly express to you how much I love you,” I murmur.
Evie’s smile is weak but earnest. “For what it’s worth,” she says, “Despite all the weirdness, I’ve truly enjoyed most of our time here. Last night with the group was so much fun. The hike today was amazing. I didn’t think I could ever want to see such large flames after what happened at the lab, but this evening and the campfire has been so nice. I’ve loved spending so much time outside, and I look forward to that foraging class tomorrow and everything we have left.”
I lightly grasp her tiny shoulder between thumb and forefinger and suggest, “How about next time we go on a camping trip, we make it a couple’s one. Just you and me."
“Yes please. I really want to try camping in a tent with you one day.”
“Deal.”
She tilts her head back, silently letting me know she wants another kiss. I aim for her neck and then she turns to press her lips against mine. The warmth of the hot tub heightens the pleasure, and as the minutes pass, the tender intimacy helps me stay in the moment with her, distracting me from everything else.
The water creates enough lubrication that she slides with ease against my lips as she gets to her feet in my palm, and in the process I feel all of her curves against my mouth. I kiss her with a bit more force, tilting my head to cover her whole torso. Pure affection overtakes me, and I want to completely engulf her in it. I constrict my hands around her, folding my fingers over her body, and break off the kiss so that I can hug her instead. I tuck my clasping hands against the base of my throat, bringing my chin down so that I surround her from all sides.
For a while Evie welcomes the embrace. But then she takes some initiative and maneuvers her way between my fingers, until I feel her hands against my neck. She climbs onto my collar bone, and I slowly lean back to make the job easier, carefully regaining my seat and leaning the back of my head against the edge of the tub. I sigh and let my eyes close, savoring the feeling of my miniature girlfriend crawling around near the top of my chest. The tiny tickles are both relaxing and stimulating.
She reaches my shoulder and shimmies alongside it until she’s able to hoist herself up on the edge of the tub. Reflexively I bring one hand up to drip some water onto her frame, to protect her from the chill. She continues to climb up to my head, and I shiver indulgently as I feel her mouth against the edge of my ear. At this point I’m becoming short of breath and am covered in goosebumps from head to toe. I vaguely remember what Diego had said about giving us privacy.
“Aiden…” Evie murmurs, pausing to give my earlobe a little nibble that makes my heart skip a beat. “I’m not sure I can properly express how much I love you either. But… um… if you’re open to it, I… I’d like to try.”
