Falling for You

“Well.” I lean against the counter and bite my lip.“I’ve never been to a bonfire, but I do like it being just you and me. Your call.”

Josh hooks his finger through my belt loop and pulls me into him. “We’ve got all weekend together. Hattie will chew me a new one if she finds out you’re here and I kept you to myself Let’s go to the bonfire. It should be fun.”

I don’t know what I expected when Josh said we’re going to Sprocket Pond.

An actual pond maybe?

Nope, it’s a large clearing with no grass, no trees, and no vegetation. Just a bunch of dirt with a huge muddy puddle in the middle of it.

Between the people on four wheelers and the trucks riding through the mud, pretty much everyone is dirty. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed. I try to hide my shock, but my expression must have given me away.

Josh and I park a few rows behind the circle of trucks surrounding the bonfire. The gang must have gotten here early. Both Landon and Sam’s trucks are in that circle.

Josh slips his arm around my shoulder as we walk toward the fire. “You okay?”

I nod, looking around, taking everything in.

Sam sits on the roof of Landon’s truck, his feet on the toolbox, and asks me the same thing. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Just a little bit of culture shock. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Colson and I went to a mud festival once, but that was different. Trenches were dug for people to drive through and there wasn’t a speck of dry dirt for miles. People drank and listened to music while riding around. It was fun.

This… this is like we took a party at Landon’s house and moved it outside.

Josh kisses my temple and squeezes my hip. “You’ll be alright, I promise. Have a few beers and relax. It’ll be a good time.”

I climb into the bed of the truck and wave at the girl beside Sam. Every time I’ve seen him, he’s got a new chick on his arm. Sometimes, two in one night. He reminds me so much of Colson it hurts.

Speaking of Cole, he has dodged my calls all week. Sometimes letting them ring until voicemail. Other times cutting the call off with the F-you button after the first ring, you know, the ignore button. He never calls me back, doesn’t return my text messages, and has blocked me on Facebook.

“This is Caymi,” Sam says.

The girl beside him smiles brightly and extends her hand. I shake it but don’t commit her name to memory. Hattie pokes her head out of the back-glass window and waves before disappearing into the cab. The truck rocks, and we all pretend that them screwing is no big deal.

“Are you gonna be alright if I say hi to some people?” Josh hands me a Mike’s Hard Lemonade and I nod. He grins then disappears into the crowd of people by the fire. I stay with Sam, making idle conversation until my drink runs out.

I hop off the truck and meander through the swarm of people by the fire, looking for Josh. We lock eyes at the same time. He waves me over, and tosses an arm over my shoulder.

“Guys,” he says, “this is my girlfriend, Layla.”

There’s a few polite hellos and then the conversation continues like I’m not there. Josh and his friends reminisce about high school and talk about how the town is changing. Topics I can’t contribute to.

The hours pass at a snail-slow rate. I follow Josh while he talks to more people than I can keep up with. As people I don’t know approach us, he introduces me. Even with the title of girlfriend being thrown around like money at a casino, a few girls try to slide between us and stake a claim to Josh. He sets them straight, every time by telling those girls to fuck off and crashing his lips against mine.

After a few hours into the night, I’m tired. I slip out from beside Josh while he’s talking to one of Bret’s friends and head for the truck.

No more than five steps away, Josh takes my hand. I turn and see a puzzled face with glossy eyes staring at me. “Where are you going, babe?”

“I’m tired, I’m going to go lie down in the truck.”

“Alright. I’ll be there in a few minutes. Want to come with me to say goodbye?”

“Tell them for me. I’m exhausted.” I fish Josh's keys out of his pocket. He smirks and leans in, pressing his lips against my forehead before turning to his friends again.

The air is colder away from the fire. I cross my arms and zig zag between haphazardly parked cars. Josh is going to have a hell of a time getting out of here.

“Hey!” a female voice yells from behind me. I turn and look over my shoulder. The girl draws nearer, stopping a foot away, fists on her hips.