Rhett nods, a slight grin on his face. “I’ll take note of that.”
“If I fall down, just let me go. It’ll be the best thing for everyone.”
Rhett grins now, and it makes my heart sing.
“Let’s go, we’re nearly halfway.”
I get to my feet.
And we keep going.
With every step, I pray for no snakes.
C’mon, good lord, be kind to me.
6
Rhett is right, the top is spectacular. I expected it to be this giant mountain top with just a sheer cliff edge that you could look down from, but it’s not. It’s like we have walked into a whole different world. Up here, the land also stretches for miles, only it’s cooler and far more spread out. There is one huge river that is shallow but stretches quite a distance both sides of us. You can see the stones beneath the crystal-clear water. In the background are some pine trees, which really give it such an incredible look.
Otherwise, it’s just random boulders and you can see the mountain itself continues higher beyond those trees. It’s almost as if you could just go for days and days. I suppose on a property like this, you could. This ranch is huge, and I have no doubt there are parts of it that are entirely untouched. I put my pack down, take off my boots, and then walk over to the water, putting my feet in.
It’s cold, but so incredibly refreshing. I end up sitting down, not caring that I’m wet, and I let the water trickle over me. It’s the most incredible, pristine place I’ve ever been to in my life and Rhett was right, what you see up here is most certainly worth that hike. It’s not like we were going directly uphill anyway, a good majority of it was flat.
This is heaven.
“How god damned perfect is this place,” Kara says, sitting down beside me, emerging herself into the water, too. “It’s absolutely spectacular. You need to marry Rhett so I can come here whenever I want. I need that. I’ll probably put a cabin up here and never leave.”
I laugh. “While I like your idea, I’m not certain Rhett will go for it.”
“Honey, that man is so into you it’s making me jealous. I told them we’re camping up here, because you’re going to make a move on that fine ass cowboy and get the most out of our money and time here.”
I blink at her, then look to make sure no one is listening. “I’m not going to make a move. God, can you imagine if he rejects me and I’m stuck up here with no way out? I don’t think so.”
“Trust me, you’re going to. He’s the perfect man to take your virginity, babe. He’s hot, he would fuck like a god damned rabbit, and the man is so damned fine that even if he was a dud in bed, it wouldn’t matter because you’d get that body all up in your space for an entire night. Tell me that doesn’t sound good ...”
It sounds good.
God, it sounds amazing.
I exhale. “So we’re staying here?”
“Way to change the subject,” she laughs, “but yes, we’re staying. Everyone quickly agreed, I was coming to ask you but I’m fairly certain you’re going to say yes. They have tents, the guys are going to pitch them now. Then we’re going to light fires and do all the awesome things. I can’t wait.”
I must admit, that does sound really, really good.
“I hope we get to pitch our own tent; I’ve always wanted to do one,” I say, excitedly.
It’s not something I’ve done before, but I want the whole experience.
“Let’s go and find out.”
We both stand and walk over to the group of guys who are all discussing the tent situation. Enzo is directing, his hands waving around as he talks. Rhett is standing, arms crossed, and when we approach, his eyes move to mine.
“We’re here to help,” I say. “Just tell us what you need.”
“You two ladies can lay out the tents, side by side. We’ve got enough for four in each, you girls can stay together. Put yours over there, furthest away from the water.”
We do as we’re instructed, taking the tent bag which is remarkably small, and was attached to the tops of the guys hiking bags. God they must be strong, carrying all of this as if it weighs nothing. I don’t even know what’s in our bags, I only took the water from the side, but I’d guess we’ve got some sort of sleeping gear in each. Very well packed, I must say.
Kara and I lay out our tent, and then laugh and talk the entire time we set it up. It’s actually super easy and we move quickly onto the next one.
It only takes us just over half an hour to set them all up. Rhett tells us that our sleeping bags are in our packs, as well as any other clothes and items we might need. Kara and I take ours to our tent and unravel the sleeping bags, which have an built-in pillow that kind of inflates when you roll them out. Genius. We have just a basic pair of clothes to change into, some food, drinks, a flashlight, bug spray, and a couple of other basics.