Fallen Crest Campout by Tijan

5

Samantha

Gender roles were reversed for this campout.

I had no idea how it happened, but I knew when it happened.

Logan had decreed that we needed better food. Not more food, better food, so off the guys went to the nearest grocery store. They were also tasked with stopping for more booze. (Not better booze, more booze this time.) And while they were at it, we put them in charge of picking up anything else miscellaneous we needed.

Bren asked for a knife.

I had no idea why, but Channing only stared her down before sighing. “Fine.”

I asked for hand sanitizer and toilet paper (since none of the campers had any).

Taylor handed Logan a list. Knowing her, it included all the items everyone else needed but forgot to request.

Heather asked for cigarettes, and Channing was back to doing his stare-off. He didn’t sigh this round.

Heather’s the one who sighed, gritting her teeth. “Fine. Just whiskey.”

The corner of Channing’s mouth curved up, but he ran a tattooed hand over his face. “She quit this year and still keeps asking for a carton.”

Heather lifted her shoulders in a helpless shrug. “What do you do? It’s reflex. People ask if I need something, I need cigarettes. It’s automatic.”

So Matteo, Nate, Logan, Mason, and Channing all piled into an SUV and drove away with Mason behind the wheel. I should note that Matteo had not greeted Mason or myself. He stayed beside Nate and Logan, and when all the guys were together, Matteo was quiet. I knew this because I watched.

Before the football weirdness, Matteo would’ve come over to give me a hug.

There was no hug.

I noticed this. Taylor and Heather did not. Neither was close to Matteo, but I knew all of the guys had noticed. So I was mulling over that because I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. Not that I had a say because Nate and Logan were friends with Matteo. He and Mason would be again, I was hoping, so that was my answer. I would be fine with it because everything would work out in the end.

Or I was hoping.

So the guys went shopping and the girls went to grab firewood.

I dropped my second load by the fire pit and glanced around.

Heather came up behind me, dumping her load.

“Where are your girl and her crew?”

She snorted. “Fuck if I know. Knowing them, we won’t see them until Zellman decides he’s hungry. Honest to God, that kid is the smallest of all of them and he eats the most.”

I grinned at her. “Who’s the tall one again?”

“Jordan. Cross is—”

“—the gorgeous broody one?”

She flashed me back a grin. “Yeah.”

Taylor approached with her third haul. There were small beads of sweat on her forehead.

She wasn’t alone. It was hot out and we all started to sweat a little.

I sighed, bending over. Locking my fingers, I raised my arms over my head, stretching. “I should go for a run.”

Heather eyed me, her hand resting on her hip. “You’ve started training already, right?”

I straightened and brought my arm over my chest, stretching it to the left and right.

I reversed and did it the other way. “Yeah, but it’s hard.” Training was a full-time job, and leaving Maddie to do my long runs was a whole other issue. “My trainer has been pushing me hard, but I just want to stay and snuggle with Maddie.”

Both Heather and Taylor softened.

“She’s such a cutie.” Taylor smiled.

I tensed, groaning. “You’re making me want to go back and say screw it to this weekend.”

Heather frowned. “Why don’t you?”

Because…

I had to remember the reason myself. “Because I need friend time, and I do. I really do…” But my voice hitched into a wistful sigh. Maddie. Gah. Maddie. I could feel her body in my arms already, her weight, her smell. She would wiggle around, searching, and then she’d sniff my neck and collapse into one of her long sleeps.

I just wanted to play with her, pretend to eat her little toes and fingers.

And her shrieks—I could hear them in the air.

“I bet Malinda is having a grand time with her.”

I shot Heather a grateful look. She was trying to make me feel better, and I nodded. “She was salivating over getting to keep her for the weekend, but I wanna go back now. I really wanna go back.”

Both girls were laughing.

It was obvious I wasn’t going to go back.

“Being a mom changes you.” I hadn’t known. I hadn’t been prepared. “You think you’re good and you got life going for you, and then bam. You have a little baby and everything tips upside down and your priorities totally change.”

Not that my priorities really had changed.

I loved Mason.

I loved my family.

But it was more.

Maddie made me feel more, love more. She just made me more.

The girls understood. Both smiled gently at me, and then suddenly Heather declared, “I want to get drunk. I know you’re having a mom moment, but I’m having a Heather moment and my moment is the reason we’re here. To cut loose and have fun. Let’s do a girls’ night. Fuck the guys, I mean, you know.”

Taylor was grinning, her eyes twinkling. “I’m for that. I love our girls’ nights.”

“Does this extend for our sleeping arrangements too?”

“We’ll stay over here and crash where we crash.”

Heather considered it and then nodded. “Yeah. Okay. I’m in.”

Taylor’s eyes got big. “The booze is on our side—the booze Logan already bought. I’m snagging as much as I can before they get back.”