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I pin him with a look. “A grill, chairs, tons of food, games…one year, my dad brought a telescope. When we were younger, Bishop would bring a hitting net and bat so he could get in some practice.” I shake my head. “This hike is executed with an almost militaristic efficiency.”
“Clearly.”
“How did Junie do?” Dad asks from his spot at the grill.
“She was a trooper,” Reid says, hoisting her off his shoulders and setting her on the ground.
Junie immediately races over to Briar and crawls into her lap, which makes my heart swell.
“Not surprising,” Mom chimes in. “She has more energy than any kid I’ve ever met.”
I laugh. “Ain’t that the truth.”
Glancing around, I take in the tent situation before pinpointing a spot for us to set up.
“Briar…” I start, but she waves me off, her arms wrapped around Junie, a tender look on her face.
“Do your thing. I got her.”
I smirk then look at Reid. “You know how to pitch a tent?”
He snorts. “Only been doing it every day of my life since I was in junior high.”
At that, I burst into laughter, and the two of us wander over to the empty spot near the back of the site to set up our tent. It doesn’t take long, but by the time we’re done, the sun has mostly set, and we return to where everyone is sitting in small clusters around the campfire, eating their hotdogs and chatting in a variety of different conversations.
Before long, it becomes clear that Junie’s energy has finally reached its max capacity, and I carry her sleepy body over to our tent, unzipping it and crawling inside to get her settled in her green sleeping bag.
When I begin to crawl out, she peeks her eyes open.
“Where Sinny?”
I glance over my shoulder, spotting the pup a few feet away, watching us, her tail wagging.
“Sinny!” she calls out, putting her hands in the air.
Ever the faithful girl, Sydney runs right in and snuggles up next to Junie, her head resting on her stomach. I chuckle quietly then finish crawling out of the tent, zipping it up before returning to the fire.
“Everything go okay?” Reid asks.
I nod. “Yeah. Sydney went right in and snuggled up next to her.”
He laughs and shakes his head. “Of course she did. I’m not even sure that dog belongs to me anymore,” he says before taking a sip of his beer.
“I think she belonged to Junie the minute they met.”
Reid glances at me then, his lips parting slightly like he’s going to say something, but before he does, Briar announces that it’s time for Earn Your S’more, and the entire group erupts in lively conversation.
“What’s happening?” Reid asks, glancing around as everyone chatters excitedly, adjusting their chairs into a full circle around the fire.
I grin. “Only the best game to ever come out of the Kilroy hike. If you want a s’more, you have to pay the price.”
“It was my claim to fame—you’re welcome—and I brought pens and scraps of paper for everyone.” Briar walks around to everyone, passing supplies out.
“I’ve been brainstorming mine for literal weeks,” Bishop says, instantly scribbling on his slip.
“Okay, so how it works,” Briar says, looking at Reid, “is you write down a task that someone in the group will have to complete in order to earn their s’more. It can be anything you want—within reason—but it’s something you have to be willing to do yourself because you might grab your own out of the pile.”
Reid rolls his pen back and forth between his palms. “Interesting. Very interesting,” he says, eventually jotting something down.
