Page 103 of The Quit List

Husband.

Nope. That word doesn’t feel so bad either.

And that’s how the four of us—plus Rick—end up trudging to the spot I’ve marked on the map for camp tonight. The whole way, Holly chats amiably with the pair of Vikings, even as her hand is loosely intertwined with mine. She seems so at ease in her skin out here. Has taken to the wilderness like a duck to water.

Well, maybe something more graceful than an ordinary duck. A blue-winged teal to water.

At our base for the night, the group goes to find firewood in the surrounding forest while I stay back and assess our gear. There’s a creek for water nearby and I have enough filtration tablets for tonight, as well as a couple of extra meals. And as for the…

Well, crap.

I didn’t think about the sleeping situation.

I’m frowning, looking down at the tent bags, when Holly and her Viking friends return, arms full of wood. Holly must sense what I’m struggling with because she looks at me with a question in her eyes.

“Oh, isn’t that lucky!” John chirps all excitedly, chainmail clink-clanking. “You and the missus brought two tents!”

We do have two tents, each designed for one person. We also only have two sleeping bags and two ground mats. It gets cold here at night, and Tweedledee and Tweedledum don’t look to be wearing much more than their chainmail.

I’m unsure what the protocol is here—we completed a module during the course that focused on emergency how to’s when coming across an individual or group that isn’t prepared for the conditions. But that particular lesson did not include pretend Vikings in dad sneakers.

Holly lifts her head towards me, and when our eyes meet, I realize that everything is going to be okay. Everything will be fine because I have this woman here with me.

“Isn’t that lucky,” she repeats with a twinkling grin.

I have to smile back at her, because tonight, I’m clearly the lucky one. I’m going to get to hold her all night, just as I’ve wanted to do for a long time now.

And if there was ever a silver lining to coming across two lost idiots in the woods, this is it.

“So, Phil.” I turn to the burly Viking with the first smile I’ve sent his way. “I hope you don’t mind spooning…”

36

JAX

Dinner is a quick affair and it consists of two bags of dehydrated chili split into four portions, to which I add the rest of my pepperoni stick snacks for extra protein. Holly, the Vikings and I end up chatting—they aren’t the worst, it turns out—around the fire until nightfall, when the temperature drops and our LARPing friends start to shiver.

As unlucky as I feel that we came across them, Phil and John are genuinely lucky that they found us. Tonight is much colder than the previous nights we’ve spent on the trail. They would have been frozen if they’d stayed out in the elements.

Soon enough, we’re bidding good night to an exhausted pair of Vikings.

And let me tell you, they create quite the show as they try to cram their huge bodies into one tiny tent, tripping and falling over one another.

Holly and I watch them for a moment, bemused, before walking across the clearing to our own tent. We stand outside it, looking at each other in the darkness. Holly seems almost shy, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she assesses the one tent we’re going to be sharing.

“Let’s get you inside before you freeze.” I unzip the tent and turn back to her. “You sure you’re okay with this? I can sleep?—”

“Where?” she asks with a teasing laugh. “Outside? Even Rick would be cold out here.”

I snort, unable to keep myself from teasing her back. “I’d find a way to keep warm.”

“I have no doubt you would. You’re basically a man-shaped hot water bottle. Which, now that I think of it, sounds like something Aubs would totally buy on Amazon.”

I have to laugh at that. “Whatever makes you comfortable, Hol. You want me outside, I’ll sleep outside. You want me in there with you, I’ll do that. You want me to go join Tweedledum and Tweedledee, I will… yeah, I will not be doing that,” I correct myself as my mind paints a horrifying picture of my being squished between two snoring Vikings.

Holly just smiles. “You make me comfortable.” Her eyes dart sideways to the tent at the other end of the clearing, and yup, right on cue, I’m hearing snores. She lowers her voice anyway. “With those weirdos, I need you in the tent with me for personal safety reasons. Obviously.”

“Obviously,” I repeat with a smirk, then give her hip a little slap. “Now get your cute butt in the tent before we both freeze to death.”