Pit Stall – This is the area along pit road where the car will make a pit stop during the race.

 

Jameson was asleep on his stomach when I made my way out of my bedroom. We had a long night.

It was now the Fourth of July and we’d planned to go camping up in Dayton Peak. For good reason, the Lucifer twins would not be attending this fun-filled event.

Aiden had flown in late last night and, walking past the guest bedroom they were currently occupying, I plugged my ears in case I inadvertently overheard something I didn’t care to hear.

It could happen and has before.

Spencer and Alley were going to come, but Lane still wasn’t feeling well so they stayed home.

Jameson was only in town until Tuesday afternoon and then he headed for Joliet, Illinois, for the race at Chicagoland Speedway. This only left us with two days after the stabbing occurred.

He kept his promise yesterday, too. I didn’t do anything but spread my legs. Though I’m not sure how, he never noticed my vajazzled bling pad while doing this. The Holy Grail had yet to be revealed. I had stage fright. I was actually getting a little nervous for her unveiling to occur.

What if he didn’t like it?

I wasn’t sure how easily that shit came off and the thought of it being ripped off seemed like cruel punishment that I was not going to allow. But, then again, I hoped eventually it came off. How would I explain this at eighty years old? Then I thought, at eighty, no one would have their head down there anyhow. So that dilemma had been solved.

Making my way to the bathroom, I splashed some water on my face along with some of my favorite Banana Boat After Sun lotion. Just the smell brought me back to our first summer together on the road, when sunburns were a daily occurrence. It was another memory of mine that made this all feel real.

Grabbing some pop tarts from the kitchen, I scurried back to my room before anyone saw me. I really didn’t want to see the Lucifer twins any time soon. They still tormented the fuck out of me, but ever since Jameson threatened to rip their arms off, they steered clear of him. I contemplated threatening them as well, but I knew they wouldn’t take me seriously.

Jameson had yet to wake up when I made it back to the bedroom with two cups of coffee and blueberry pop tarts. I kept myself busy while he slept off his pain medication that I had given him last night when he complained that his shoulder was killing him. The two things I needed to do today were pack for camping and cut down that tree. I must have woken up four times last night, envisioning that tree tapping on my damn window.

It had to go, that was all there was to it.

I heard footsteps behind me and turned seeing a naked Jameson making his way over to me. My eyes focused on his glorious camshaft as he approached me, watching it and then feeling like a complete pervert for doing so.

Jameson, of course, chuckled softly, wrapping his arms around me. “See something you like?”

“No,” I lied.

“You’re a horrible liar.” He dove in, kissing along my collarbone and up my neck, along my jaw until his lips met mine.

I kissed him back until the wind blew once more, the tree scratching against my window.

“How are you with a chainsaw, sport?” I asked, pulling back to look at him.

“Oh please,” he said dismissively rolling his eyes. “I can run anything with an engine.” His hand came down to my crankcase suggestively.

My eyes remained on his, pointing to the Poltergeist tree outside my room. “Cut that motherfucker down!”

He laughed. “You want me to cut down a tree?”

“Yes, lumberjack,” I mocked. “I want you to cut down a tree.”

“What did that tree ever do to you?” he looked at the tree and then to me with a touch of curiosity. “And how will I rescue you like your knight in shining armor without the tree?”

“Is that why you were so muddy?”

His eyes dropped. “Yeah, I fell.”

My reaction was to giggle hysterically, kind of like when he yanked that fork out. It was adorable that he tried, but also incredibly funny to me.

He growled and then picked me up, throwing me against my mattress. “What did I say about this giggling?” His body pressed against mine, trapping me.

“Not to,” I squeaked out between giggles, arms and legs flailing to get loose.

“Exactly,” he sat up, straddling my hips, his hands pinned mine securely, ensuring I wasn’t going anywhere.

Stuck underneath him trying to wiggle free, he only squeezed tighter, just as a python would, crushing his prey.

“Now what are you going to do?” Jameson asked in a husky voice. I could tell this little wrestling match was turning him on.

Struggling was pointless; Jameson had nearly a hundred pounds on me. “I’m not going to giggle anymore.” Another small giggle escaped my lips before I slapped my hand to my face.

“That’s right.” He nodded haughtily. “Now, is that a blueberry pop tart over there?” His eyes motioned to my nightstand.

“No. T’s strawberry,” I lied knowing blueberry was his favorite.

“You’re lying.”

“No, I’m not. I only have strawberry.”

“Why does your breath smell like blueberries then?”

“I have blueberry tooth paste.”

Jameson scrunched his nose. “That’s... disgusting.”

“No, it’s not,” I smiled showing my sparkly white teeth, praying there wasn’t any blueberry pop tart in them. “It’s delicious.”

“If I find out it’s a blueberry pop tart, you’re in trouble,” he warned.

Once his grip on my arms was free, I ran. I ran for all I was worth. I heard his laughter behind me with the pop tart in his hands, but I kept running until I collided with Lucas in the living room.

“Oh... sorry,” I mumbled, helping him up.

He scowled, grumbling something along the lines of “watch where you’re going,” and plopped down on the couch with Mr. Jangles.

How rude.

“There you are,” Jameson grabbed me from behind wrapping his arms around me—I could smell the blueberries on his breath. “You’re in trouble.”

“Ugh...” Lucas grumbled. “Didn’t you two get enough yesterday!” He draped his blanket over his face.

“What was that, Lucas?” Jameson still hadn’t forgiven them.

Lucas didn’t say anymore, but pulled Mr. Jangles on his lap, for protection I assumed. It’s not like Mr. Jangles offered all that much protection these days. He may sit on you, but as far as defense mechanisms go, Mr. Jangles had none, other than his thirty-five pounds. Now if you were, let’s say, a mouse, you were shit out of luck, he’d crush you.

It took a really long time to get ready to go camping.

For one, Jameson did, in fact, cut the tree down, but when it landed on the red dragon, I cried.

I got that truck when I turned sixteen, and she’d treated me well. Yes, she would sometimes stop running on the freeway, and occasionally leave me stranded, but she loved me. We had some good times together. Those “good times” did not include the time I lost my virginity in it to Dylan Grady. Dylan was not my best decision, and one of those times I could really look back and say, “That’s where you went wrong.”

After destroying the red dragon, Jameson looked as though he was going to cry himself when he realized his lumberjack skills were seriously lacking.

“I’m so sorry, honey,” Jameson whispered in my ear, sitting on the tailgate with me. “So sorry,” his arm draped loosely over my shoulders.

The red dragon was junk now. The tree landed right across the cab of my primer red 1979 Ford F-150. Poor ol’ girl.

“S’okay,” I hiccupped as another cry broke through.

Jameson lifted me onto his lap. “How many more times am I going to make you cry?” Shaking his head in disappointment, his gaze was fixated on the broken branches surrounding us.

“Really Jameson—it’s fine. I needed to get another car anyway.”

“It’s not okay, Sway.” His head bowed. “I’m buying you another one.”

“You’re not buying me a car, Jameson.”

“You don’t have a say in this, it’s already done.” He pointed to the road at a silver car parked at the end of the driveway. “It’s yours.”

“Where’d you get that?” Squinting into the bright sun, I could faintly see a Subaru. “That wasn’t there earlier.”

“I rented it when I got here,” he told me. “When I killed red dragon, I called Subaru and bought it.”

“Why?” I looked up at his sad eyes.

He shrugged. “I can be an asshole, but I refuse to be an asshole all the time.”

“What is it?”

His eyes lit up. He loved talking car. “It’s a Subaru Impreza STI. Awesome on the dirt,”

“Are we taking it camping?”

“Precisely why I rented it, well, bought it, now.”

“Neato.”

I still hadn’t forgotten about the red dragon, but this was a nice distraction. And, let’s face it—I was easily distracted, just like my heathen.

We walked down the gravel driveway to the car that was parked under the birch trees. It was pretty, shiny silver, and had a turbo.

Running my hand over the hood, I thought of my pit lizard days on the hood of Jameson’s race car.

My eyes shot up to his when he chuckled.

Winking, he bit down on his lower lip and was by my side in a second. “As much as I want to try out this hood ... we need to get up to Dayton Peak soon.”

Damn him.

Loaded with tents, sleeping bags, more junk food than any one person could possibly need, and more beer than any one person could possibly need, we made our way through Shelton toward Dayton Peak.

Once we hit the dirt roads, Jameson stopped the car letting the engine rev a few times. His eyes darted over to me when he changed the song playing on his iPod to The White Stripes, “Icky Thump.”

“Hold tight, guys,” he warned, revving the engine twice before slamming it into first gear, his head bouncing to the beat.

The back tires spun spraying gravel and dirt over the surrounding pine trees.

Emma screamed, Aiden laughed, and I was in carnal lust, naturally. Watching everything he did—it was hard not to be turned on.

Just like in his race car, the way his agile hands maneuvered the steering wheel, the quick movements his feet made shifting gears, the muscles in his forearms that flexed with each shift. All a turn on. As we went sideways drifting around the corner, he belted out a verse from the song.

I laughed out loud, Emma screamed again, and Aiden laughed.

Driving the way he did a sprint car, he pushed the car to the very edge of each corner before throwing the wheel the opposite direction.

I could tell by the smirk plastered across his face that he missed this. He loved racing in NASCAR, but Jameson would always be a dirt track racer. It was in his blood. His grandpa had raced. His dad raced. It was all he had ever known.

It didn’t take long to reach Dayton Peak with Jameson driving.

Unloading the car, Emma was trying to carry the beer over to the fire when she dropped a few.

Aiden had his arms full so she looked at Jameson, who was peeing on the side of a tree.

“Jameson, I need help!” Emma yelled from behind the car balancing boxes. “Please.”

“No,” he answered. “Leave me alone. You stabbed me.”

“He holds grudges, doesn’t he?” Emma looked at me.

“Not really, but you did stab him.”

Though it took some time, we eventually got everything unloaded. The night fell into our usual laughter we found around the fire. Aside from a few instances of sibling spats regarding a recent stabbing, everything went well.

The storm from the other night still lingered, making for a rainy, windy night but that didn’t stop us from having fun.

From our campsite there was a spectacular view of the Puget Sound area. It was the best place to watch fireworks on the Fourth. From Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma, and Olympia, you could see it all.

Jameson and I sat on the other side of the campsite from Emma and Aiden. Jameson wanted no part of being next to Emma or hearing them make out, which they were doing frequently.

“Do you remember the last time we were up here?” Jameson whispered in my ear. Nuzzled behind me, his warm arms wrapped around my chest waiting for my reply.

Snuggling in, I clutched the blanket around us as a breeze blew through, the crisp Northwest wind encircling us. “Yeah, we were sixteen.”

Jameson chuckled lightly in my ear, his two-day scruff tickling my cheek. “You were so beautiful that night.” His arms squeezed me once. “The way your hair shined against the fire, the way your green eyes looked almost black with the night.”

“Did you get that from a Hallmark card?”

“No, I was trying to tell you that I loved you longer than I’ve realized.” He exhaled, kissing my ear, his warm breath scorching my cool skin.

“You had feelings back then?”

“I didn’t know it, but I remember wondering what it would like to be with you.” He cleared his throat. “That sounded bad ... I uh ... I’ve always been ... very attracted to you. From the moment I first saw you, I may have been eleven, but I’ve always thought you were the most beautiful girl who I’ve ever met.”

I laughed. “Really, you have?”

“Yes.” He nodded. “I guess I didn’t realize the attraction went beyond physical attraction. I’m slow.”

We watched the fireworks die down, but one thing led to another and we were no longer watching fireworks, but creating our own.

The passionate, gentle Jameson was out tonight. He was affectionate and tender with touch and words. His actions were dawdling, ardent and attentive.

Once inside the tent, everything turned erotic.

There was something about being in the dark. I couldn’t see him, but I heard his movements, his sexy whispering, his steady strained breathing, and soft grunts as we continued where we had left off outside.

Slowly, he began sliding my panties down my hips. Though I couldn’t see him, I felt his tongue against my inner thigh and then at my crankcase.

“What the fuck?” Jameson yelled jumping back. “My... lip is bleeding.”

Shit!

I wasn’t even thinking, clearly, or else I would have recalled my trip to the mall before I let Jameson go down on me in the dark—bad idea. I guess I should have thought about the sharpness before I went and ripped out my beaver pelt to add bling.

“I got... vajazzled,” I replied softly, relieved it was dark so he couldn’t see how completely embarrassed I was about this whole situation. Just in case he had night vision, I flopped my arms over my very flushed face.

To make matters worse, Jameson turned on the lantern beside the air mattress. “You vaj... what?” He looked at me with confusion, wiping blood from his upper lip. Dropping his eyes to the bling, he positioned the light to observe my masterpiece.

Slowly, a smirk appeared.

“You... I... uh...” The smirk grew wider leaning down between my legs for a closer look. His fingertips softly grazed over the vajazzled crankcase bling. “Is that a number nine?”

Nodding was all I could do. I was too embarrassed to speak—didn’t stop the giggles, though.

“When did you do this?” Still hovering above me, his voice was a soft whisper in my ear. “And I love it, by the way. It’s sexy as hell.”

Oh God, there’s that whispering again.

“Tuesday... when Emma and I were at the mall.”

“How did I not see this yesterday?” he wondered.

“You were a little preoccupied.”

Grinning, Jameson recalled the amount of align boring that took place yesterday. “Well, looks like I need to show this...” his fingers brushed over the flag, “some attention. After all, you did go to the trouble to... um... get my number.”

Turning the lantern off, he went back to work.

I couldn’t take much more of it and within a few minutes I was frantically yanking him up my body. Willingly with a growl, he was exactly where I wanted him to be.

It must have been the illusion of privacy, or the darkness providing obscurity, but everything seemed heightened. I didn’t last long at all, but just as I reached my release, Emma screamed.

“Jameson...” Just speaking was difficult let alone getting him to focus. His hips continued to meet mine with erratic movements. “We should see... what that was.”

Jameson grunted in response, his hands moved from around my shoulders to my ass letting me know he had no interest in stopping. “Oh God, Sway... so close...” his gravelly voice confirmed my theory.

Emma screamed again. “What the fuck is that, Aiden?”

Did Jameson stop then? No, but he did increase his pace again.

“Jameson... we should... stop.” I pushed again on his chest only to have him shake his head. “Emma might need help.”

Apparently, he didn’t like that answer because rose up on his hands, but he didn’t pull out. “I do not fucking care,” he snapped, and then leaned back down to continue his movements.

I could tell by his gritty voice that he was beyond annoyed that she was interrupting us when he was so close.

“Hey, Jameson, you might want to come out here,” Aiden warned.

There was something unusual in Aiden’s voice that drew Jameson out of his sexual stupor.

“Son of a bitch,” he pulled away reaching for the lantern. “Why does this always happen? I can’t even fuck my girlfriend anymore without someone wanting something from me.”

I snuck a glance at his face, throwing my clothes on. Flushed with anger, he was breathing heavy and he still had a big... problem.

I giggled. Naturally.

“Nothing about this is amusing, Sway,” he snapped, unzipping the tent. “Stop laughing.”

Yes, it was funny.

Once outside the tent... you couldn’t help but laugh. Aiden and Emma were standing on the roof of the Subaru while a skunk hovered around their tent.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Jameson shouted at them throwing his arms up. “You called me out here for a goddamn skunk... unbelievable!” He turned to go back inside the tent. Only problem was Pepe Le Pew’s girlfriend was now making her way inside our tent.

Before I even realized what was happening, Jameson was dragging me through the woods, away from the campsite. We didn’t go far, partly because it was so dark you couldn’t see and the other, well, Jameson needed something and he needed it now.

He wasted no time at all in removing my jeans, picking me up with one arm and wrapping my legs around his waist. Carrying me forward until my back pressed against a tree. Frantically, his other hand fumbled with the button of his jeans.

I shivered in anticipation. This was so incredibly sexy.

His face was set in a scowl, the light from the full moon defined his flushed cheeks.

His movements were nothing as they were watching the fireworks, or in the tent. They were rough and aggressive, it actually almost hurt, but I wasn’t complaining. Not that I was into the S & M shit, as discussed, but I could get down with the aggressive press forging.

Wrapping his arm securely around my waist, he pressed me rather hard against the tree trunk. His hands were everywhere, all at once, as was his mouth. Desperately kissing, sucking, and biting every inch he could reach.

My bare ass was rubbing against the tree, causing not-so-friendly chafing and splinters, but I didn’t care, this was hot. The only noises that were coming from Jameson were a stream of grunts and heavy panting. Within minutes of this starting, it was apparent it was ending soon.

“Oh God, Jameson... that’s so hot...”

“Are you? I... need... please...” Jameson grunted in my ear. Before he even finished his incoherent words, I could feel every muscle in his body go rigid.

He held me in place for a moment and then slowly let me down.

“Ouch,” I whined when the splinters made themselves known.

“I’m sorry.” Jameson reached out running his fingers lightly over my cheek, his eyes searching mine. “I wasn’t very gentle, was I?”

“I liked it,” I admitted with a giggle, but stopped when I heard leaves crunching and branches breaking. “What was that?” I asked in a whispered voice, reaching for Jameson.

He must have heard it, too, his grip around my waist tightened and he pulled me hard to his side frantically, looking for the source of the noises.

When we spotted it, I nearly pissed myself.

Jameson’s head tilted to one side, his eyes on mine. “Great,” he muttered, turning back to the animal.

“Jameson...” I frantically breathed in his ear.

“Sway,” he whispered back. “Do not move.”

Standing in front of us, not more than a hundred feet away was a cougar. Not just any cougar. This was a hungry cougar... looking for food. Crouched down in the hunting position, I was sure he was currently looking for Jameson and Sway food.

You know that predatory look an animal gets when it was getting ready to attack?

We were getting that look right then, fierce glowing eyes, and that intimidating crouch.

“Sway, stay still,” Jameson warned again.

I didn’t think I was moving, but apparently, I was.

I was shaking. But could you honestly fucking blame me?

“I’m trying!”

“Now is not the time to argue.”

“I was trying to point out that I was, in fact, trying to remain still, but there was a cougar looking directly at us like we’re his next meal.”

“Stop talking,” Jameson turned to glare at me. “You’ll attract him.”

“Don’t tell me to stop talking. I was explaining myself. And if you haven’t noticed,” I gestured to the animal, “he’s already attracted to us. He’s getting ready to eat us.”

Jameson opened his mouth to say something more than likely just as irritating, but stopped, turning his attention to the cougar. Leaning his head contemplatively to the side, his eyes remained on the cougar. “You attracted him with your moaning. He wants you,” he accused with a cocky smirk I didn’t appreciate.

“Me?” this time I shouted, “Maybe it’s a female, ever think about that? I wasn’t the only one moaning,” I snapped. “By the way.”

“Really?” He challenged, raising his eyebrows in question. “You’re going to argue with me when there’s a two-hundred pound predator looking to make a meal of us?”

“I will when you don’t make any sense. I’m not to blame for it hunting us.” I remained glued to his side through the entire argument. “You were the caveman dragging us out here. This is your fault.”

“I could have finished in the tent, but no, Emma and Aiden were scared of a fucking skunk and now look.” He waved toward the cougar that was now sitting, no longer in a crouched position.

I giggled. It was clearly not the time to be giggling, but our arguing has caused a deadly animal to stop, mid-hunt, to watch. That was funny to me.

Jameson gave a quick glance at the cougar and chuckled softly, then leaned down near my ear. “Start walking backward toward the car, but keep up the arguing. It’s distracting him.”

“Her! It’s a girl. Look at her, she’s eyeing you.”

“Stop it,” he gave me a repulsed scowl, “talk about something else.”

“Like what? Is there actual protocol for what to discuss when your life is threatened by a vicious animal?”

“No, but I don’t want to talk about a cougar looking at me like it wants to mate with me. That’s disgusting.”

“You know,” I stepped over a log with the help of Jameson. “Some men like cougars.”

“Sway,” he glared over his shoulder. “Change. The. Fucking. Subject!”

“No.”

“Goddamn it, why are you always so stubborn?”

“Because it’s funny to me that you’re freaked out that you attracted an animal with your bestial noises.”

By then, we were almost at the car. I could see Aiden and Emma sitting in the back seat. “I wasn’t making bestial noises, was I?”

“Yes, not that I’m complaining... I’m just saying that’s why the animal came out to play.”

“All right, that’s enough.” He smacked my ass. “Get in the car, slowly.”

The cougar followed but made no attempt to chase us. I think she was more curious than anything, and attracted to Jameson.

Once we reached the door, we both jumped inside the car and locked the doors. Briefly, I thought, obviously a cougar can’t open the door. You never know though.

“Is that a fucking cougar?” Emma screeched from the back seat, climbing in Aiden’s lap. “Oh my God!”

“No, it’s a German Shepherd.” Jameson scrunched his nose and looked around. “What the fuck is that smell?”

It was strong and Jameson and I both immediately started gagging.

“Don’t be a dick!” Emma slapped his injured shoulder. “It’s Aiden, and it’s not his fault.”

Jameson spun around in the seat, his expression furious. “If you fucking hit me again—I will shave your head when you’re sleeping and burn all your clothes!” He looked at Aiden. “Why do you smell like that?”

Emma answered for him. “He was sprayed by Pepe.”

“Get out, you stink.” Jameson motioned for him to get out.

“There’s a fucking cougar standing outside!” Aiden yelled. “I’m not getting out.”

Emma slapped the back of Jameson’s head. “Don’t talk to him like that.”

Jameson started to climb in the backseat, as if he was actually going to attack his sister.

I grabbed his arm before he made it over the center console. “Christ Almighty, you two act like children.” Once he sat back down, I sat back drawing my legs up. I had a feeling we were going to be here a while. “Just stop it.”

“She started it,” Jameson mumbled, staring out the window at the cougar that was sitting outside.

I wasn’t sure when he said, “She started it,” if he was referring to the cougar or Emma. The cougar seemed to have some sort of predilection toward him. And Emma, well there were no words for her.

After a few minutes, I began to realize the smell was unbearable.

“Aiden,” I whined feeling as though I would die if I had to continue to smell him any longer. “At least take your pants off or something.”

“What?” Jameson snapped coldly, glaring at me.

“For the smell,” I explained quickly. “If it’s on his pants then maybe it won’t smell so bad if he puts them outside.”

“She’s right,” Jameson nodded, turning to Aiden behind me. “Take those fucking things off and throw ‘em outside.”

Aiden shrugged reaching for his belt. Jameson turned around and looked at me to see if I was looking.

I giggled again; I was amused that he would actually think I would want to see Aiden naked. He looked away and started the car so Aiden could lower the window.

“Leave the windows cracked,” I suggested as I fanned my nose. It really did smell that bad.

Aiden threw his pants out the window and quickly raised it back up, leaving it cracked for some much needed ventilation.

“We should leave. It’s like three in the morning now and none of us have gotten any sleep,” Emma whined.

“We can’t leave all that out there. It’s littering.”

I wanted to go home as well, but leaving tents, numerous beer bottles, and food in a national forest was not a good idea.

“Sway’s right,” Aiden said. “They could arrest you for something like that.”

I looked over at Jameson, who’d remained quiet during this. He was gazing at his pet cougar, which was staring right back at him.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he mumbled, refusing to look at me. “I want to go home.”

“Then get out, clean up the mess we made, and we can leave,” Emma suggested, kicking the back of his seat and jolting him forward.

“You get out and clean it up,” Jameson said quietly. “You don’t have a cougar giving you ogle eyes.”

We all started laughing, except Jameson.

Hours passed, and it became more entertaining to me that this was actually happening.

Here it was—five in the morning—we’d been in that damn car most of the night with a cougar right outside Jameson’s window and Aiden, who smelled like God knows what.

Another two hours later and we were still captives.

“It’s like it has some kind of obsession with Jameson,” Aiden said at one point. “It just stares at him. It’s weird.”

The cougar hadn’t moved. She just sat there, perched outside Jameson’s window, eyeing him.

Jameson, well, he was beyond annoyed with the whole situation. Not only was there a cougar sitting outside his door, but he had to pee, badly.

Emma, being the annoying sister she was, took every opportunity she could to make this worse for him by talking about water, waterfalls, running water ... anything with the notion of water, or the trickling of water.

I could tell he was moments away from whipping it out and pissing on her.

Emma sighed contently, propping her bare feet on the back of Jameson’s seat, bouncing her legs, and shaking his seat. “Ha, I got the last beer,” she announced cracking it open. “Sucks for you guys.”

I wasn’t sure if she was trying to bounce the pee out of him or just annoy him to the point of insanity.

“Emma,” I shook my head giving her a sidelong gaze of you’re-not-really-that-stupid-are-you?

“What?” She honestly tried to act as if she was doing nothing wrong, continuing to bounce her legs.

Jameson snapped.

He ripped the beer bottle from her hands, unzipped his pants and peed in the bottle. When he finished, he offered the beer to her with a grin. “Drink up.”

“That’s disgusting!” Emma chided. “I didn’t need to hear you pee.”

“I don’t fucking care. You’re lucky I didn’t piss on you.” Jameson laughed. “You would have fainted at the size of my d—”

Slapping my hand over his mouth, I said, “Jameson, stop.”

Another hour later and nothing had changed.

At one point, the cougar had licked the window taunting Jameson and creating quite the uproar from the rest of us.

Jameson quickly put an end to our amusement when he held up the beer/pee bottle and threatened to pour it on us if we didn’t shut up.

I had a feeling between the race, the stabbing, the red dragon, and now the cougar ... Jameson wanted to go home, as in Mooresville, far away from Washington all together.

None of us were really paying any mind to one another. Jameson was playing with his iPod, I was picking off old nail polish, and I had no idea what Emma and Aiden were doing.

“Hey,” Jameson looked around with a sudden zest to his voice. “Where’d the cougar go?”

We all glanced around the clearing only to find she was gone.

“Finally,” Jameson groaned opening his door, but quickly closed it when we realized what replaced the cougar. “Oh, Jesus.”

A black bear. Yes, a fucking black bear.

“OH MY GOD!” Emma shrieked in horror crawling on Aiden’s lap. “Drive away Jameson, drive!”

“We can’t leave, Emma,” he told her calmly. “Just be quiet. If we’re quiet, it’ll go away.”

“Not likely,” Aiden chuckled. “He found your Twinkies, dude.”

We both looked toward our tent to find it rummaging through our food and, more importantly, Jameson’s Twinkie stash.

“Oh, damn it,” he groaned in disappointment, resting his head against the steering wheel. “I’ve been craving those for like a year.”

The next two hours were spent watching the bear eating all of our food, listening to Emma scream any time it got close to the car. The bear sat on the hood of the car and then finally left when it smelled Aiden’s pants.

Good times.

Although fearing the arrival of more animals, we eventually got out.

Once the animal kingdom left, Emma and I packed up what remained without the help of Jameson and Aiden who were doing “man things” ... or so they said. This consisted of shooting beer bottles with the shotgun they brought, and lighting the rest of the fireworks, while it rained on us.

Too bad that shotgun was in the tent last night. It would have come in handy for the cougar, or the bear, or Emma, if Jameson had his way.

Finally, we were all piled back inside the stench-infested Subaru and were ready to get the hell out of this cougar-bear-skunk forest.

“Let’s get out of here.” I was wet, my ass had splinters, and I was cold. I wasn’t fond of any of those things and particularly not together. “I’m done with these animals and this rain.”

Jameson let out a sarcastic laugh and attempted to start the car. The engine clicked.

“Uh, the battery’s dead.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” I panicked. “What do you mean it’s dead?”

“What do I mean?” he laughed. “I mean the battery’s dead as in the battery is dead!”

“My God,” Emma whined from the back seat. “Why is it dead?”

We’ve all had enough, that’s for sure. At this point, I don’t know if I will ever go camping again.

“How can I explain this differently?” Jameson let out a frustrated sigh, leaning his head against the steering wheel. “The battery is dead, and a car needs a battery to start.”

I sighed frustrated. “How did this happen?”

Visions of being stranded up here flooded my brain. I imagined being one of those tree-hugging hippies and never shaving my legs or armpits again. Though never shaving again was alluring, living in the woods was not—especially after last night.

“Clearly, something was left on and drained the battery.” His gaze shifted to Emma.

“I didn’t think having one light on would drain the battery.”

Jameson and Aiden messed with the battery for a good hour, but no luck. It wasn’t starting without jumper cables and something to “jump” it with. Two things we did not have.

We ended up calling a tow truck, but had to walk down to the main road to help them back here; we were in the middle of fucking Deliverance.

“Jesus Christ, Aiden, you stink!” Jameson grumbled downwind from him.

He had to put the skunk jeans back on because the bear ripped apart our other clothes as though he was a gerbil or something. Emma was very, very upset about that ... something about destroying a two-hundred-dollar pair of jeans.

Insanity if you ask me—Emma and the jeans.

“Don’t you think I know I stink, asshole,” Aiden walked a good thirty feet in front of us down the gravel road. “It’s on my skin. I can’t get it off.”

“I’ll get it off when we get back to Sway’s,” Emma assured him. “Tomato soup should work. I’ll wash you clean.”

I knew she was trying to provoke Jameson, and Emma knew damn well how to do it with twenty-one years of practice.

“Shut up!” Jameson kicked rocks at them. “I don’t need to hear that shit.”

It was at that point when I’d met my max with those two. They never stopped arguing all night and frankly, I was sick of it.

“Both of you shut up,” I gave my own childish kick of the rocks. “I’m not going to deal with any of your bullshit today, understand? We are going to behave like normal human beings!”

They didn’t behave like normal human beings, though. There was no way we could. We were, in fact, four people, who’d been forced to sleep in a car, inches from one another because of a cougar, a bear, and Aiden’s skunk. Normal was not an option.

Emma started in again, and I was about to pummel her tiny ass when Jameson’s phone rang.

Jameson looked down at the screen, his eyebrows furrowed. “That’s strange.” The phone twisted with his fingertips, he seemed to contemplate answering it.

“What?” we all asked eagerly, praying it was the towing company.

“It’s Tate,” Jameson told. “Hello... yeah...” There was a long pause and then Jameson started shaking his head with a smirk. “No... I’m sorry, but I can’t say I didn’t warn you this would happen... yeah, my senior year ... I walked in on her and my brother’s best friend.”

What?

Looking to Emma for answers, she shrugged and jumped on Aiden’s back.

A few minutes later, Jameson started talking again. “I appreciate the warning, but I can handle myself... okay, see you on Wednesday.” He hung up the phone and looked over to me, nodding with that smirk again.

“That was Tate.” He held up his phone. “He walked in on Darrin and Chelsea. Looks like the whore’s back to her ways.”

We all began walking toward the road again as Jameson continued talking, “He tried to warn me that he overheard Darrin talking to Frank about how he’s looking for revenge.” He shook his head.

“Jameson,” Reaching out to his shoulder, I stopped walking. “I think you should listen to them. Darrin is out of his mind.”

“Sway, I can handle it,” he assured me with that defiant stare I knew so well. “It’s nothing I haven’t dealt with before. I’ve been racing since I was four... I’ve been threatened before.”

“I know... I think there’s something more to it this time.”

His arm slung around my shoulder. “It’s adorable when you’re protective.” He bit down on his lower lip, and I knew where it was heading again.

“No,” I held up my hand, walking away. “I’m not doing it in the woods again.”

“There you go with the rules again.” He kicked at the rocks again. “So many rules.”

“I still have splinters in my ass,” I reminded him. “So yes, I have a fucking rule now. No trees. And did you forget what happened with the cougar?”

That shut him right up.

“Is that why you and Chelsea broke up?” I asked after a few moments of silence when my curiosity got the better of me.

He was quiet for a minute as though he was deciding what he wanted to say or maybe how to say it. “That...among other things.” His eyes focused in the distance. “We just weren’t right for each other.” I knew by the way he emphasized each other, he meant me.

“I, for one, am glad you guys broke up.”

“Me too,” he agreed, kissing my head.

It took a long time, but eventually the tow truck came, towed away the skunk Subaru and took us back home.

Jameson and I sat on the tailgate of the red dragon letting the Subaru ventilate and trying to avoid the Lucifer twins.

“We are definitely not buying that one.” He pointed to the car. There were scratches all over it, the hood was dented and it smelled. “That car is awful, if not for the smell, but the luck last night.”

“No doubt,” I agreed. I loved the way he said we; it made me feel like we were a real couple. Not that we weren’t a real couple now, but sometimes, I liked that little bit of reassurance that he was referring to us as we.

After all, we were going steady, and I was his Joanie.