Tris's POV
After we drove for another two hours we finally arrived at the camping site. The guys started putting up the tents while the girls prepared everything for our late lunch. I still haven't heard back from Jack, but I guess he will call soon. As on cue my phone vibrates in my back pocket and I leave the camp and walk a few steps into the forest where I can talk privately.
"Hey, Jack" I say.
"Hi, Tris. You were right. They are up to something. Mr. Hamilton was very upset and so was your brother. He actually yelled a lot, but when I made it clear that their meeting was illegal and that my client would sue Mr. Hamilton and his firm for legal malpractice he backed off and made your brother see reason."
"Thanks. What about the bidding?" I ask.
"They weren't very happy about that, but I made it clear that it wouldn't work otherwise. Your brother insisted that he might lose that buyer and I told him that you are aware of that but are willing to take that chance. If that buyer is interested in the house he or she will wait a couple of more days. Oh, and your brother kept badmouthing you saying that it's unbelievable that you wouldn't show up even after he spoke to you. I asked him when exactly and he told me right after he found out, meaning on Tuesday."
"I figured he would try a move like that" I say.
"Don't worry. I told him that you assured me that you had no prior knowledge of this meeting. He tried to lie but I told him to not even try since your phone is required to record all your conversations due to your connection to the FBI" he tells me and I chuckle.
"That's not true."
"I know, but I hope you did what I told you" he says hopeful.
"Of course. Matt recorded every conversation."
"You mean there was more than one?" he asks confused.
"He kept yelling so I hung up on him each time he did."
"Good girl. Don't worry. We'll figure it out" he says reassuringly.
"Please make sure that they really hold a public bidding. You know I don't trust my brother" I say serious now.
"Don't worry. Karen from Real Estate will handle that part. However, if you change your mind please tell me."
"No, I want this. When is our meeting?" I ask him.
"Monday afternoon, at 4 p.m., Hamilton's office. But I would like to meet with you before at my office. It's not far, about a ten minute walk."
"That's fine. Would it be okay to bring my boyfriend, for moral support?"
"Sure. I'll see you then on Monday. Three p.m. sound good?"
"Yeah. Thanks. Have a nice weekend."
"You too. Bye" he says and we hang up.
I return to the camp and see that everything is ready and the girls started preparing lunch. The guys put up the grill we brought with us and help the girls.
"Was that Jack?" Matt asks coming close to me. Tobias sees us talking and stays away, but I make a sign with my hand for him to join our conversation.
"I spoke to Jack. He met with that attorney and Caleb. Caleb was furious and threw a tantrum. Jack put both of them in their place. He rescheduled the meeting for Monday afternoon, 4 p.m. but I'll meet Jack an hour before to discuss a few things" I tell them. "Matt, I'll need the recordings" I say and he nods.
"As soon as we are back I'll send them to you" he says and puts his large hand on my shoulder squeezing it a little. He then leaves Tobias and me alone.
"I wanted to ask you if you would join me during the meeting" I say looking up at him hopefully.
"Are you sure? This is a family matter" he says.
"I am. And as for family, Caleb stopped being family when he started those rumors about me."
"Alright, but only if you are sure" he says looking deep into my eyes.
"I am. You are very important to me and I need you there." He smiles and then kisses me.
"Alright. I'll talk to my boss to let me get off a little earlier on Monday. I'm sure it'll be fine. Do you want me to come pick you up?"
"No. Your office building is in the same direction as Jack's law firm. I'll come pick you up. But, honey" I say and he looks at me. "Promise you won't physically or even verbally attack Caleb" I say and Tobias frowns. "It's not because of him. I swear. I don't want you to get in trouble. Besides we need to be above him. He thinks he is the only one who knows how to trick people, but I've learned a thing or two over the years." Tobias looks at me with a curious expression on his face.
"Should I ask?" he asks amused.
"There's something I haven't told anyone. Not even Matt knows. The medical field isn't the only one I'm interested in. I'm very good at math and physics as well. A few years ago, after I turned 18 I was allowed to purchase stocks. About that time I found one excellent broker who managed to triple my investment in steady and low risk transactions within one trimester. The reason why I started investing money was primarily to help my parents and offer them a better life, but also to fund my research without having to go to all those fundraisers that I hate. Two years ago I had enough money to start a small firm. This firm is represented now by Jack Kang and his firm. They take care of the legal stuff for me. With the firm I'm able to buy or sell properties and I told Jack earlier today to make sure that the house can be publically bid on. This means, a representative of Candor will be there and bid on my behalf, well actually, my firm's behalf. I intend to buy that house" I tell him.
"Wow, that's a lot of information" he says and sits down on a log nearby. He looks into space for a while before grabbing my hand and pulling me on his knee. He wraps his arms around me and rests his face in the crook of my neck. "Thank you for sharing this with me" he says and I can feel his smile.
"Of course I'm sharing this with you. I trust you and I care for you very much. I think first and foremost you are my best friend. I know I can talk to you about anything and everything without being afraid that you would judge me. You don't expect me to be someone that I'm not and you never pressured me to do anything I didn't want to" I say.
"I would never do that" he says pulling away just enough for us to lock eyes. "You are a wonderful person and I'm fascinated by you every day. You surprise me every day and I still can't believe that you chose me" he says a little emotional.
"Well, I was always attracted to mysteries and you were a mystery, a puzzle that I felt I needed to solve. But the more I get to know you and see the real you, that you don't share too easily I might add, the more I'm fascinated by you. We both had, let's say, at least strange childhoods but somehow we made it through and here we are today. I'm glad that we are. And while some things in our pasts are painful and we would want to forget them, those events made us who we are today. You are a wonderful, caring, honest, brave, intelligent and dedicated man and I'm lucky to be your girlfriend" I say emotion thick in my voice.
"I love you" he says and I stop breathing. I look at him shocked. Did he just say those three little words I've been thinking? I know we haven't been together for long, but somehow it feels we were.
"What did you say?" I ask incredulous. He smiles brightly and repeats.
"I love you. You don't have to feel like you have to say it back. I just wanted you to know. I think I fell for you the moment I saw you and since that day I fall in love with you more and more. You are the most beautiful, kind, loving, compassionate, passionate, honest woman I've ever met. I know it's soon in our relationship, but let's face it, our relationship is anything but ordinary. We are so far from ordinary that our own friends mock us and tell us we are boring" he says with a chuckle which makes me chuckle as well. I look into his dark blue eyes and I feel tears gathering in my eyes. A few of them roll down my cheeks and Tobias immediately wipes them away.
"I love you too" I say chocked up. He looks at me and then smiles, but it's just a half smile as if he doesn't believe me. "I'm not just saying it. I would never lie to you, especially not about something as important as this. I wanted to tell you too, but I thought it was too soon. But Tobias, I love you" I say and he crashes his lips over mine and kisses me passionately.
We kiss for a long while before we part and smile at each other. I'm wrapping my arms around his neck and hug him close to me. I don't know what I did in this life to deserve him, but I'm happy he is here, in my arms and that he loves me back.
"Hey, lovebirds, we wouldn't mind if you would help us here" Matt yells and we pull apart laughing.
"We're coming" Tobias responds.
"Come on, let's go before they get upset with us" I say and get off of his knee. We walk back to the others who have done quite a bit. The meat is almost done and the girls set the table. Tobias and I offer to clean everything up afterwards.
We eat our meal, clean up and join the others near a pond not far away from our camp site. Tobias and the others were here before and told the rest who wasn't to bring bathing suits. I already put mine on at home and only get rid of my shorts and tee shirt and jump inside the warm water. We swim for a while and just have fun, forgetting about all our problems. Tobias keeps chasing me and even though I'm a good swimmer he soon catches up with me pulling me close to him every time and doesn't release me until he kisses me thoroughly.
"Okay, okay, enough" I say to him when he attempts to tickle me again. I've laughed so hard these past couple of hours that my jaw hurts. We finally get out of the water and lie down on the towels we brought with us. I know I should have put some sun screen on before jumping into the water but I had so much fun that I forgot. Tobias helps me cover my back and I do the same with his.
"Wow, that's one big tattoo" Matt says noticing Tobias's back tattoo. He saw a glimpse of it but never the whole thing.
"Yeah, got it when I moved to Chicago. Tori actually tattooed me" Tobias says.
"Really?" Matt asks smiling and looking at Tori. I think he has a thing for her. I've noticed he smiled a lot today around her.
"Yeah" she says smiling shyly.
"What does it mean?" Matt asks.
"Well as you can see these are flames" Tori points toward them "and these along the spine are representations of certain personality traits. This one on the top, the flame, means bravery, the joined hands means selflessness, the unequal scale means honesty, the eye means intelligence and the tree means kindness. The flames all around mean that he both possess and yearns them with all his being."
"That's quite a lot" Matt says.
"It is. It took Tori months to complete it" Tobias says.
"Lie down so that I can rub your back" I tell him and he obliges, but not before whispering in my ear, so that only I would hear him.
"You can rub every part of me." I blush violently but fortunately the others are too focused on whatever they are doing. Tobias chuckles and I smack his shoulder lightly.
"That wasn't funny" I say. I sit on his buttocks and pour some sun lotion into my palms and start rubbing it into his back. While doing so I massage him and elicit the occasional moan from him. I smile a little. When I'm done I place a kiss on his cheek and get off of him and he groans. "What?" I ask.
"I liked you there" he says with his eyes closed.
"Maybe I'll return later" I say cocky and he opens his eyes and grins.
"I'll hold you to that" he says and we both laugh. I lie back and let the warm sun touch my skin. While sun bathing Tobias and I talk about my firm and what I plan to do with it, as well as with the house.
"I'm not going to allow Caleb to sell my parents' house to some stranger" I say.
"Let's say you buy it, what will you do with it?" he asks. "Are you going to live there?"
"No. I could always rent it or sell it, but I would pick the buyer carefully, not because of the money, but because I want someone that will appreciate the home it can be. But I could never go back. That house wasn't my home for over ten years now. And since mom and dad are gone and Caleb and I are practically strangers it would feel awkward to live there."
"Okay. Whatever you decide I will be here for you" he says holding my small hand in his larger one, kissing every knuckle.
"I know, thank you for all your support" I say smiling.
"I love you" he says and leans in to kiss me.
"I love you too" I say when we part.
"You never told me what your firm does" he says after a while.
"I'm not comfortable talking about it here" I say tilting my head toward the others.
"Alright. Maybe some other time" he says.
"Let's take a walk" I suggest. We get up and tell the others we go exploring a little. They only nod.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to" he says after we got out of earshot.
"I know, but I want to. I trust you Tobias, but before I tell you, you need to understand that this needs to remain between the two of us. No living soul can know" I say.
"Are you in some trouble?" he asks concerned.
"No, but I could be. Do you swear not to repeat what I'm about to tell you?" I ask him serious and stare into his eyes. He is quiet for a moment, no doubt assessing the situation, but he smiles and nods.
"I promise nothing you ever tell me leaves my lips unless you want me to" he says. I smile and lean up to kiss him.
"Thank you. My firm or better yet I develop devices and gadgets for the government. It's not much, mainly in the surveillance area. But it's a government contract and they have a very strict "do not share information" policy. I can't tell you more. There are certain devices that I'm currently developing and store for the government. Right now I have only a trial run contract. If they like my products they will order more, if not they will let me present other devices in the future. In case any of my inventions are picked I will get funding which will allow me to rent a factory space to produce that product on a larger scale."
"Weapons?" he asks apprehensive.
"No, mainly surveillance. But a few of the items I thought about and even build are for defense purposes only."
"May I ask why?" he asks.
"Of course. You know about Tanzania. There are dozens of similar situations global wide and good men and women lose their lives protecting others. I want to help them make their work easier and safer. Of course, I can't guarantee it will always work, but at least I'll keep trying."
"You are amazing, you know that? No matter what life throws at you, you always look out for others, try to make it better for them. You are an angel" he says and kisses me gently.
"I don't know about that" I say after we part, with a blush on my face. "I'm just trying to make this world a better place. There are many people just like me and as long as I can I will help them."
"Whatever you need I'm here for you. Just tell me and I'll make it happen" he says smiling, but I can tell he is serious.
"Thank you."
We return a while later after just walking in complete silence. We join the others for another round of swimming before it gets to cold outside. We get dressed and return to the camp site where we prepare dinner. We eat our food and indulge in some alcoholic beverages, since we are staying here overnight.
"Let's make this trip fun" Uriah says.
"What do you propose?" Christina asks him while eating a marshmallow.
"Let's play Truth or Dare. We haven't played that in ages" he says. We all agree and he starts with the first question. "Truth or dare, Zeke?"
"Dare, of course."
"I dare you to sing a Taylor Swift song." Zeke starts singing the song, completely out of tune. By the time he is done we laugh so hard that we need a minute to calm down. He did a very good job in making a fool out of himself.
"Truth or Dare, Christina?" Zeke says.
"Truth."
"How old were you when you got your first kiss?" he asks,
"14" she answers. "Truth or dare Matt."
"Dare" Matt answers quickly.
"I dare you to kiss Tori" she says with a wide grin. We all look at them and I can tell this is very uncomfortable for Tori, but then Matt surprises us all by holding her right hand to his lips and kissing it.
"Done" he says.
"Hey, that's not what I meant" she says whiny.
"Her hand is a part of her, so yeah I did kiss her. It's not my fault you weren't specific enough" he says triumphantly. "Truth or dare Will."
"Truth" Will answers.
"How many girls did you bed before our lovely Christina here?"
"Two" Will answers and adds quickly "but they weren't special. I swear." We all burst out laughing. "Truth or dare Four."
"Dare."
"I dare you to play seven minutes in heaven with Tris" he says smirking. Tobias gets up and grabs my hand.
"What's going on? What's seven minutes in heaven mean?" I ask confused.
"I'll show you" he says and catches the car keys from Zeke. We walk to where the cars are parked and we get into the back of Zeke's truck. The windows in the back are blackened so no one can look inside, but we have a fairly good view on what's happening on the outside. "Seven minutes in heaven is a game in which a pair, boy and girl, get into a room and make out or more. Or nothing. It's up to them. Usually couples get dared to do this" he explains.
"Oh, I get it. So, what do you want to do?" I ask him.
"We can just wait it out" he says.
"Well we can't have a quicky" I say and laugh a little "but we can kiss."
"I like the way you think, Ms. Prior" he says and cups my face before kissing me. We kiss leisurely for a few moments before he gently pushes me down the backseat bench. He lies on top of me, making sure not to crush me with his weight. Our kiss becomes more passionate and hungry by the minute. I know I said no sex, but if we keep this up I'm not sure we will be able to restrain ourselves any longer. He cups my left breast and starts kneading it while traveling along my throat and to my collarbone peppering kisses all over my heated skin, sucking, nibbling and licking seemingly all at the same time. The sensation is so intense and sweet that I can't help the moans that escape my lips. Tobias's hand leaves my breast and travels between us. He starts rubbing my sensitive spot through the fabric of my shorts and that's all that it takes for me to come. He kisses my mouth to avoid the others hearing my cries as I climax. When I finally come down from my high he suckles on my pulse point smiling against my skin.
"That was… wow" I say.
"I agree. I love watching you come. The way your face contorts in sweet agony right before your release is a real turn on for me. I am so hard for you, baby" he says breathless and I can feel the undeniable bulge that is currently pressing against me.
"I'm sorry, I didn't intend to turn you on" I say and try to get up, but him lying on top of me makes it difficult to move.
"Don't be, baby. You always turn me on, whether you want to or not" he says with a soft chuckle.
"But that must be painful" I say reaching between us and caressing his clothed manhood. He groans at my touch and crashes his lips over mine again. Unfortunately, too soon someone knocks on the window.
"Alright you two. Times up" Uriah says and we hear him walk away.
"We should go back" Tobias says breathless.
"What about you?"
"What about me?"
"You haven't come yet" I say and blush slightly.
"Don't worry. I'll just have to calm down before we go out. Rain check?" he asks smirking. I smile and nod. I kiss his lips and we talk about food and movies to distract him and make his tent go away. A few minutes later we emerge from Zeke's car, both smiling.
"I gather you had fun in there" Shauna says.
"I hope I don't need to sell the car now" Zeke says jokingly.
"Of course not" I say.
"Four, it's your turn" Marlene says.
"Alright. Truth or dare Tori."
"Truth" she says.
"Do you like Matt?" he asks and Tori blushes violently. "I'll take that as a yes." Tori drinks from her water bottle and avoids looking at Matt. Yeah, she likes him. And he likes her.
"Truth or dare Marlene?" Tori asks.
"Truth" Marlene answers.
"Do you have a tattoo and if yes where?"
"Yes, I have one and it's on my left butt cheek" she says blushing.
"Truth or dare Matt?" Marlene asks.
"Dare."
"I dare you to ask Tori out on a date" she says grinning. Oh, that's a good one. These two needed a push in the right direction.
"Alright. I know this is just a stupid game, but I actually wanted to do this for a while. Tori, would you go out on a date with me?" he asks and we look toward Tori to see what she is saying.
"Yes" she says almost shyly.
"Woohoo" Marlene cheers and the rest of us clap our hands or whistle our support.
"Okay, okay. That's enough. Tris, truth or dare?" Matt asks.
"Dare" I say.
"Oh, okay. Wasn't expecting this. Okay, let me think" Matt says and looks around seemingly trying to figure out what the dare should be. He stands up and walks a few feet and picks up a worm. "Eat it" he says.
"Yuk" the girls exclaim all at the same time.
"Uh, don't do it" Uriah says making a disgusted face.
"If you don't do it you will be forever known as a pansycake and you will have to take off a clothing item" Matt says. I stretch out my hand and he places the worm in my palm. I pick it up with my other hand, open my mouth, hold the worm above it and let it fall down. I close my mouth and swallow it. Everyone around me makes disgusted noises and faces.
"What? Insects are highly nutritious" I say and drink a lot of water.
"God, I'm happy you are not my girlfriend" Zeke says half jokingly.
"It's just a worm. People have been eating them for thousands of years" I tell them.
"Maybe, but I'm still glad I don't have to kiss you" he says sticking his tongue out.
"Really?" I ask.
"Yeah." I get up and move so quickly toward him that he doesn't have a chance to get away. I start kissing him lightly on the cheek and on the forehead until he manages to push me away. Not violently so that I fall backwards, but enough to make me stop. "That's gross, girl" he says but laughs loudly. "Four, get your girl off me" he says teasingly. Tobias comes over and picks me up.
"You can kiss me any time, even after eating bugs" he says laughing.
"Good to know" I join their laughter.
We continue playing until we all got called at least twice. We call it a night and head back to our respective tents. Tobias and I slip into our PJ's and lie down snuggling close together.