Page 47 of Do-Over with my Ex

“There’s no rain in the forecast for the next week and a half,” Gino said.

“It should be okay, then,” Scott said before he looked at us. “Just don’t stay out all day.”

“We won’t,” Lorenzo said.

God, I hoped not.

Lorenzo beckoned to me to follow him to the tent, and we put on hiking gear. Or rather,hedid. I put on the only pair of shoes I had since we’d left my suitcase with shoes behind, and I tied my hair into a ponytail, and I was ready.

“Take a jacket,” Lorenzo suggested.

“It’s warm,” I said. I was wearing a boob tube with a loose top over it that created colorful layers.

“Just put it in the bag,” Lorenzo said and pointed to a backpack we were bringing along. “It won’t add a lot of extra weight, and you never know.”

I nodded and did as he asked. He also packed a thin blanket he could roll up into the smallest parcel, a pack of trail mix, two water bottles, matches and a knife.

“That’s a lot just for a walk,” I said.

“You can’t be too careful out here,” Lorenzo said. “You never know what you might need.”

“A hot shower would be nice,” I sighed.

Lorenzo chuckled. “That’s not something we need right now. In fact, it’s better we have a day’s stench on us.”

I groaned. “That’s a horrible way of saying it.”

“It’s true, though. If we smell like soap, predators will pick up our scent a mile away and we’re an easy target.”

“You have a knife,” I pointed out.

Lorenzo blinked at me before he burst out laughing. “I’m not going to be able to fight off a mountain lion or a bear with a pocket knife.”

I stilled. Mountain lion… bear… what!

“Should we rather stay?” I asked, feeling small.

Lorenzo shook his head. “It’s just precautions, we’ll be fine. We won’t go far, and this area is safe. We’ve been here before.”

I nodded. Right. I had to trust Lorenzo that this place was safe. I’d never been camping. This was the first, and it would be the last, even if it was safe around here. This whole thing was bullshit, in my humble opinion.

“Let’s go,” Lorenzo said, and we left the others to another day of fishing and drinking before walking into the trees.

It was cool between the trees. As we walked, I recognized a few of the things Lorenzo had pointed out on our hike yesterday. I wasn’t a fan of wildlife and nature, but recognizing something and knowing what it was called was a good feeling.

“I didn’t think you would want to come out for a hike,” Lorenzo said after we’d walked in silence for a while.

I shrugged. “I have all kinds of tricks up my sleeves.” I looked at my bare arms. “Sort of.”

Lorenzo chuckled. “Well, this is nice.”

Again, not exactly what I would have called it, but Lorenzo was enjoying himself and that counted for something. He was still distant and shut off from me, though.

“Look, about yesterday…,” I started.

Lorenzo glanced at me. “What about it?”

“It’s not that I don’t know what’s going on, you know.”