July 31, 2008
"Oh crap, where are my shoes? Veronica, what did you do with the flashlight?"
A sleepy grumble sounded beside him. It's not like he could see her, in the pitch black of the tent, but she definitely sounded grouchy.
He couldn't really blame her, it was probably three in the morning, but he needed to pee, and he did not find the idea of plunging off into the Shenandoah River in the moonless night to be a good way to end what had otherwise been a very nice day. Rafting with Sam and Mady and the rest of the gang from last year's wilderness trip, a surprisingly tasty dinner over the fire, and then naked time with Veronica in their tent, which he'd deliberately set a ways off from the fire pit to ensure a little privacy. Nope. With all that going for him, he was not gonna go out and take a wrong step. Which meant...
"Baby, I'm sorry, but I need the flashlight." He finally put a hand on one of his shoes, slipping it on, and then felt around for the other.
"Why are you asking me?" The voice was still grumpy, but more alert.
"You had it last." He slid the second shoe on, and turned to face her, on his knees, feeling around in the bulky double sleeping bag. His hands found Veronica easily, they always did, but when he patted around her, he came up with nothing.
"I put it down right inside the door so it would be easy to find. Now stop mauling me unless you mean it."
He leaned down to kiss somewhere near where her voice was coming from. "I'll be right back in and then I'll maul you in all your favorite ways."
"I hope your aim's better when you get outside. That was my eyeball."
"I'll do my best." He crawled over toward where he knew the door was, feeling as he went for a cold metal cylinder. His head had brushed into the nylon of the tent wall when he finally found what he was looking for and flipped it on.
"Ugh." The flash of light was bright in his eyes, but he flipped the illuminated end down and reached for the zipper that was now easy to find. As he stood, he heard Veronica snort a laugh.
"What?" He swiveled to shine the light toward her, taking care to not shine it directly in her eyes. She was sitting up, snickering, her hand over her mouth.
"You're going out there like that?"
"What?" he repeated, frowning at her. "I didn't want to go out barefoot and step on something sharp."
"But you're fine going out there naked?"
He glanced down, with a half smile. "Yeah, why not? No one else should be out there and I don't need clothes for what I'm going out to do. I'll only be a minute. And once I'm back, I don't want to have to waste any time getting undressed again before I can get to the mauling."
She shook her head, still grinning. "Okay, if you say so. Flash who you want."
"Like you'd be saying that if you really thought that would happen." He struck a ridiculous pose for her, while shining the flashlight over himself like a roving spotlight. "I'm well aware this sight is for your eyes only."
She nodded, giving him a lascivious up and down, and he laughed, then turned back toward the door. "Back in a flash."
"Like you said, you better hope not."