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Cold, fresh, real water.
Nothing has ever tasted this good.
Gulping down as much as my body demands, I allow the creek to nourish me. To heal me from everything I didn’t realize was broken.
When at last my body and mind are satiated, I take one last inhale from my water bed, open my eyes to the blue sky, and smile.
The rest of the afternoon passes as we settle into camp. Rafael has been a little aloof, but that’s okay. He’s giving me peace and quiet to read on my Kindle next to the babbling brook while he… What is it he’s doing now?
He’s mumbling to himself—again—as he stokes the fire.The sun hasn’t quite set, but we’ll have to make dinner soon. I’d rather prepare dinner while we still have the light.
Uncrossing my legs that have been covered back up with pants, sans panties, I make my way up the slight incline to where Raf is milling about. “Ready for dinner?” I ask.
“Uhhh, yeah,” he says, barely able to make eye contact with me. “I have the stir fry stuff right here.”
Grabbing the pan and placing it over the cooking tripod he’s set up, I then walk up next to him where he’s digging through the food bag. “I’ll take the veggies first and throw them in,” I say, extending my hand to him. He looks up at me with what appears to be panic with the way he’s breathing.
My eyes narrow on him. “Raf, what’s going on with you? You seem…untethered.”
“Nothing,” he says quickly. “You’re having a nice time, right? You’re…comfortable, right?” His eyes shoot to my chest for the briefest of seconds.
Oh.
I look down at my shirt and back at him. “Raf, do you want me to put my bra back on?”
“No,” he says, an octave too deep. “It’s wet and that would make you uncomfortable so don’t worry about it. Hey, look, a teriyaki packet. This is going to be a great stir fry.”
Deciding to hide my real reaction to how weird he’s being in fear that he’ll become weirder, I wordlessly grab the raw chopped veggies, sauce packet, and ready-made rice pouch. “Okay,” I smile. I saunter back to the fire. “You’ll let me know if it makes you uncomfortable, right?”
Standing, he wipes his hands on his pants and reverts to mumbling huffs, where I think I catch a yeah somewhere in there.
“Hey, Raf?” I ask, pouring the bag of veggies into the pan.
“Yeah?”
“Why don’t you take a turn relaxing near the water. I’ll make dinner and let you know when it’s ready. Okay?”
“Do you need any help?” he asks.
“No,” I say lightly. “I got this. Go connect with the water.” When I cock my head in his direction, he nods to himself, then make his way to the creek. I plug in my phone to the little speaker we brought, and Donna Summer’s Bad Girls plays first.
I love this song.
When dinner’s ready fifteen minutes later, he’s already making his way back. “Smells good,” he smiles, and I can already tell he’s settled back into himself.
Handing him the collapsible bowl piled with hot veggie stir fry and biodegradable spoon, he takes it. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Finding a downed tree near the creek’s edge, we both take a seat and dig in.
“Whoa,” Raf says after his first bite. “This is better than I expected.”
“I think it’s that added fire flavor that really enhances it,” I smile.
“Everything does taste better over an open fire.”
Memories pop up like a hot spring. “Oh my god,” I groan. “Like when we made kettle corn over the fire on that camping trip before graduation.”
