Two weeks later, on the Saturday before Halloween, I ran around the apartment in a panic as I tried to finish packing for the camping retreat with Braden. Daphne and Eloise had volunteered their services on what I should bring, and I shot down almost every single idea.

“You’re bringing your bikini, right?” Daphne asked with her head stuck in my closet.

“What for?” I pulled out a piece of fabric from my duffle and wrinkled my nose as I tossed it back onto the bed.

Daphne scoffed and turned around, holding out my swimsuit to me. “Because you’re going on a camping retreat to a lake. I can’t imagine you’re not going to swim.” Her lips twitched into a knowing smile. “Unless you’re going to not be wearing anything to swim.”

I swatted her with my arm. “I’ll be wearing a swimsuit, thank you very much. Toss it in.”

“When’s Braden supposed to pick you up?”

I glanced at the clock. “He said ten. It’s only about a thirty minute drive to get to the campsite.”

“Alright then we better keep moving.” She stood with her hands on her hips, assessing the duffle bag. “Do me a favor, wear your suit under your clothes today. It’s mild for October—finally—and you never know when you might take a dip.”

“Smart idea.” I nodded and went to change, adding a cropped plaid shirt and booty shorts to complete the look.

A few quick beeps from a car horn sounded through the walls. When I went to the window, Braden was outside leaning against the driver’s side of his car. It wasn’t his usual car—this one was a forest green jeep with open windows.

“He’s here,” I breathed out. My heartbeat quickened.

Daphne squeezed my arm. “Remember to have fun, okay?”

I nodded then went to find my sister. “El, he’s here!”

Eloise came out of her room, her eyes shining with mischief. I expected her to make some sort of comment but all she did was wrap me into a hug.

“Have fun and be safe,” she whispered.

“Thank you,” I whispered back.

Daphne handed me my duffle and I tugged a cap over my hair before rushing out of the apartment to meet Braden. He grinned when he saw me, opening the trunk to the jeep.

“You ready for the best weekend of your life?” he asked, his blue eyes catching the early morning sun. He looked really good today, wearing a simple Metallica t-shirt and shorts.

“Absolutely!” I climbed into the passenger seat, waving to my sister and best friend who were watching from the apartment window.

Braden put the car into gear and we headed out. He cranked up the music and together we sang along, laughing and letting our responsibilities wash away like the rain.

“I’m really excited to get to spend the weekend with you,” I said. Gravel crunched beneath the tires as Braden pulled the car to a stop at the campground parking lot. There were two other cars lined up beside ours.

“Me too.” Braden parked the car and walked around to the back to open the trunk. “I want to give you a warning, though. My friends…well, they can be a bit intense. And since my breakup with Linda, they’ve been hesitant to let in someone new. I got them to make an exception this time around.”

“So what you’re saying is to expect some hazing.” I lifted my bag from the trunk. “Braden, I’m a big girl. I can handle a little old school hazing.”

“If it gets too much—”

“I’ll tell you, I promise.” I leaned up and kissed him. The taste of cool ranch doritos lingered on his lips from the road trip snack we’d shared earlier. “So, just for clarity purposes, what sort of things do you typically get up to on these trips?”

Braden scratched the back of his head. “We’ve been doing this for several years and we can definitely get up to some racy stuff.”

I raised an eyebrow as my lips twitched into a smirk. “Like what?”

He lifted his duffle out and slung it over his shoulder. “Well, let’s just say I’m the reigning champion of ‘strip, drink, or dare’ six years running.”

“I see.” I lifted my duffle over my shoulder. “You should know something about me too, then.”

“Oh yeah?” He smirked. “What’s that?”

I leaned in close. He swallowed, his gaze dipping down to my lips. “I’m not a stranger to strip games.” With a wink, I turned around and walked toward where a group of four others—two women and two men—were waiting for us.

The red haired guy waved, calling out in our direction, “Braden! Long time, man! And you brought your girl!”

Braden chuckled, jogging to catch up with me. He exchanged a complicated handshake with the guy. “Been too long, Blake. This is my friend, Amelia.”

Blake raised his eyebrows and heat rushed to my cheeks.

Please don’t ask if we’re dating.

He stuck out his hand toward me. “Pleased to meet you, Amelia. What did Braden have to say to get you out here?”

I laughed. “He was just his charming self.”

The other guy, sporting black hair and a diamond stud in one ear came over and slung an arm over Braden’s shoulder. “This guy a charmer? Never heard of it.”

“Shut up, Logan,” Braden said with a laugh, pushing his friend playfully. “Alright, let me introduce you to the girls and then set up our tents.” He walked me over to the two women, both of whom sported similar outfits to myself.

“Hey, stranger!” the girl with a purple pixie cut greeted Braden. She stood up from where she was pitching a tent and gave him a hug. “Good to see you, B.”

“You too, Sierra.” He nodded in my direction. “This is Amelia, she’s joining us for the weekend. That’s Sierra and her girlfriend, Millie.”

Sierra broke out into a grin. “Nice to meet you, Amelia! I hope you’re ready for a weekend of crazy shenanigans.”

“For sure. And it sounds like I have a record to beat.” I jutted my chin toward Braden.

Sierra covered her mouth with one hand and giggled as the other girl walked over to join. “Oh boy, I like her already. Shoo, B, let us have some time with Amelia and we’ll meet you at the lake for a swim in a bit, okay?”

“Don’t go too crazy with her,” he warned them, a tease lacing his voice.

Sierra waved him off. “We’ll be good, promise.” She grinned, turning to me. “I’m so glad you could join us, Amelia.”

I tucked my hair behind my ears and kicked the ground with the toe of my shoe. “Thanks, I’m glad Braden invited me.”

“C’mon, we’ll show you where the outhouse is and go over all the usual campout rules.” She started away from the tents, and I hurried to catch up.

***

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The day went by way too quick, but I had a lot of fun getting to know Braden’s friends. They were an eclectic bunch, very tight knit. I love the energy energy, reminding me of the summers I spent with Dex at the lake getting up to so many crazy things together.

Now as the sun went down, we sat around a crackling fire, warming up after spending the day swimming. The weather decided to finally get the picture that it was October, so as soon as the sun started to lower, so did the temperature.

We cooked hot dogs for dinner over the open fire. The flames crackled and let off sparks every so often, erupting the scene around us in an orange glow. Braden sat on one side of me as we ate. Logan and Blake sat next to us on the left, and the girls sat on the right.

Every now and again, I caught Braden looking over at me. In the fading light, his eyes turned a deep blue so dark it was almost brown, and the smile lit up his entire face.

“Having fun?” he asked.

I nodded. “More than I’d anticipated. Your friends are really great.”

Logan looked over at us. “What are you two plotting over there?”

“Nunya, Logan,” Braden replied, shoving his friend playfully. “Just enjoying a little time with my girl.”

My heart beat faster in my chest.

‘My girl.’ I’d never been called that before, and it felt good. He felt good.

Once the guys were done eating, they left us ladies alone while they went to set up the alcohol for the inaugural game of ‘strip, drink, or dare’.

“He must really like you,” Millie piped up when the boys were out of earshot, sipping from her cup.

“Why’s that?” Even with barely one cup of alcohol in my system, I could already feel the buzz.

“Because he’s never brought another girl out here before,” Sierra answered. She sloshed more beer into her cup. “Not even Linda—you do know about Linda, right?”

I nodded. I didn’t want to say too much for the sake of our ‘just friends who met at a bar’ cover and maybe it was the alcohol, but I felt a flutter in my stomach.

“...so you must be pretty special if he’s bringing you out here.” Sierra blinked at me. “Amelia?”

I tore my gaze from the guys who were now shoving each other off of the logs. “Mhm, yeah no I totally get that. We did meet at a bar, though.”

That much was true at least.

“I call bull,” Blake yelled out across the fire. He and Logan walked back over to us. “Braden isn’t one who just picks up a girl at a bar. Logan on the other hand—”

“Dude, it was one time!” His cheeks grew redder, and I could tell there was definitely a story I wanted to know.

“Anyway,” Blake said, rolling his eyes at his friend. “You allegedly met in a bar. And stayed sober? ‘Cuz there’s no way.”

“We did,” Braden replied, pulling me to my feet and slinging an arm across my shoulders.

“Dude!” Blake and Logan said at once.

The girls stayed silent. Something on their faces told me they still didn’t believe it either.

Then Sierra piped up. “Have you met Lucy yet? The ‘other’ girl so-to-speak?”

My cheeks flushed. They were really digging to see how much about Braden’s personal life I had learned so far. “Yes. She’s certainly her daddy’s girl.”

Logan spat out his beer. “So you’ve met the whole family then. Damn. He must be pretty serious about you.”

“Alright, let’s leave Amelia alone and get these games started,” Braden said, changing the subject.

Sierra clapped her hands together. “Okay! Braden, do you want to explain the rules?”

Braden cleared his throat. “Right, so since you’re new to the group we’ll give you more leeway if you want it. Basically the gist will be either you do the dare or you can take a pass, which means you can either take a shot or remove a piece of clothing. But you can’t take 2 ‘shot’ passes in a row, meaning if you pass a second time in a row, you have to strip. Make sense?”

I grinned. “Bring it on.”

Logan brought out a bottle and we relocated to a patch of grass beside the fire. “We play ‘spin the bottle style’, so someone spins first and chooses the dare for whoever it lands on. And as our VIP, why don’t you spin first?”

My fingers curled around the bottle and it spun round and round until it landed on…Logan.

“Alright. Um, your first dare is to have a staring contest with the person of your choosing. First one to laugh must strip,” I said.

Logan chuckled. “Easy peasy. I pick Braden.”

“Oh, I’m just getting warmed up,” I teased.

We watched as the two men sat and stared at each other. They lasted about a minute before Logan gave in and stripped off his shirt.

Braden, as the winner, spun next. He dared Sierra to flash a person of her choice. She opted for a pass and took a drink from her plastic cup. Sierra dared Braden next to keep his hand on the inner thigh of the person to his left: Millie. After her agreement, he easily took the dare, but a cloud of tension rose over the group.

In what I assumed was an attempt to ease the tension, Millie dared Sierra to spin and make out with whoever it landed on. But when it landed on me, I couldn’t hold back my surprise. Sierra tucked a hand behind my ear and pressed her lips against mine. She tasted like peach schnapps as her tongue slipped around in my mouth. Kissing Sierra was different than kissing Braden; she was a lot more rough than I’d expected yet with just the right amount of tenderness. I kept my hands planted on the ground beside me, feeling the heat rise to my cheeks before she finally pulled away with a smirk on her face.

Now Logan’s turn, he spun and dared Blake to use his teeth to take off the shirt of a person of choice within two minutes. Blake crouched in front of Sierra and her cropped button down shirt. However, he barely had the second button done when the timer went off, causing all of us to erupt in cheers which quickly turned to boos and splashes of alcohol when he took off his shoe, finally easing the tension from before.

The game went on for a while until we reached the final round with raised stakes: no drinking allowed.

Braden’s final dare was to do a body shot of his person of choice. He turned to me, desire flashing in his eyes as he took a small bit of alcohol and poured it in my cleavage. I fought back a gasp as his lips latched onto the skin by my bra, his tongue dancing over the lace as he attempted to lap up every last drop. Some of it dribbled beneath and down my stomach; Braden wasted no time trailing his mouth along my torso, drawing his fingers carefully across my sides.

I tilted my head back and my eyes fluttered closed. A soft moan escaped my mouth.

The second I felt Braden’s lips turn into a smile against my skin, my eyes flew open and I whacked his arm.

“Damn it!” I laughed. “Oh, you are so going to get it later.”

Sierra spun next, daring me to blow on Braden’s neck alternating between hot and cold breaths. If he moaned, he had to strip off a piece of clothing.

I straddled his lap, dipping my lips down to his neck and lightly blowing out small breaths of air. He grunted, his hands gripping against my hips lightly pinching the skin. I smiled against him, pressing my body closer and driving my mouth closer to his ear.

“Ohh, fu—dammit.” He chuckled when I pulled away and shrugged out of his shirt.

We were down to our last dare: Sierra, chosen by Blake. He dared Sierra to a chicken fight. She got to choose her partner and set of opponents, but whoever lost, their team both had to do a full strip and skinny dip.

Sierra chose Logan and had me and Braden pair up against them. We all ran out to the lake together. The water soaked through my remaining clothes as I climbed onto Braden’s shoulders. He wrapped his arms tightly around my legs.

“Don’t fall!” he yelled to me.

I laughed. “That would be the goal!”

We counted off. Sierra and I tried to force the other off of our opponent’s shoulders. I shrieked as my balance fumbled multiple times but managed to stay up.

That is, until Braden slid his hand up my thigh to the edge of the soaked fabric of my shorts. Sierra pushed my shoulders and I squealed as I fell into the water. When I sputtered to the surface, I splashed Braden.

“No fair! That was totally your fault,” I said, laughing.

Braden pushed my wet hair out of my face, a teasing grin spreading across his features. “Serves you right for earlier.”

I bit my lip as the adrenaline settled between us. “So, I guess now we strip?”

“Not unless you want to.” His gaze flickered to meet mine.

“I do.” Instead of shedding the rest of my clothing, I swam to the edge of the water and climbed out, beckoning Braden to join me. We locked fingers once out of the lake, and I led him back to his tent.

This, of course, earned us squeals and whistles from the rest of the group.

“It really is roomy in here,” he murmured, barely needing to duck beneath the tent flap to enter.

I grinned. “I know, I like that.” Reaching around him, I zipped the flap closed so we could have some privacy. “So, a promise is a promise.” My fingers reached around to unhook my bra.

Braden curled his fingers around my arm. “Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked.

“I do. And I’ve wanted to for a while now.” I tucked my hair behind my ears. “Ever since that night in your car.”

He grinned. “Yeah? Well, just tell me if we’re going too fast, ok?” Braden traced his thumb against my jawline. Then his fingers traveled along my shoulders, slipping the bra straps down. I reached behind my back and undid the hooks, tossing the fabric into the back of the tent.

Vulnerable and exposed in front of Braden on any other night would’ve made me terrified.

But I was ready.

We shedded the rest of our clothing, which wasn’t much because of how far we’d gone in the game. The tent filled with silence and the longing looks that danced across our faces, wishing that water made denim easier to strip from.

At long last,Braden wrapped his arms around my naked torso in the comfort and warmth of my sleeping bag.

“So I guess this means your streak is broken?” I teased, trailing a hand down his chest. “You know, I didn’t win either.”

“It’s just a stupid game,” he murmured, burying his head in my neck and nipping at the skin. “You’re still my winner.”

“And you’re mine.”

Braden let out a low growl from the back of his throat. He dove in, crashing his lips against mine as we let the world melt away around us.