Waiting on the Sidelines (Waiting on the Sidelines #1)(93)

“Reed, maybe I should call my dad? I think he was thinking I’d be home by 9 or something?” I said awkwardly.

Reed just shot me a huge grin, his green eyes lit by his deep dimples. “Not a problem, already got it worked out,” he smiled. “See… you’re spending the night at Sarah’s tonight. She worked this whole thing out with me.”

My mouth was open as I stared at him. Was I really spending the night with Sarah? I didn’t think that was the case, but I was a bit thrown off my game by not being in control of my own destiny.

We drove for more than an hour south to the outskirts of Tucson before Reed exited on a side road and started to wind through the cactus-dotted desert hills outside the city. His Jeep climbed the mountains quickly and I could tell we were gaining altitude when I looked back to see the sun barely kissing the horizon and the lights of Tucson starting to glimmer a bit on the desert floor.

Twilight was setting in when Reed finally pulled off onto a dirt road and wound through a pine forest grove. It always amazed me that you could climb the desert mountains and find a forest revealed.

He stopped his Jeep and hopped out with gusto, pulling a large pack from his Jeep back and started to set up a tent. Oh my god, we were camping! I had never been camping, ever!

I sat there watching him, grinning like a child, until he startled me with his voice. “Are you just going to sit there, or are you going to help me set up camp,” he teased, the rods for the tent flinging in every which direction.

“Oh! Yes, sorry. I was just taking it in,” I grinned, ear-to-ear. Reed dropped the tent pieces for a minute and lifted me up, looking at my face as his spun me around slowly.

“Happy birthday, Nolan!” he was proud of himself. He did good, and he knew it.



We had the tent set in a few minutes and Reed was already working to get a fire going and setting up our site a little. I was just sitting on his sleeping bag that he had laid out for me, holding my backpack and watching him in wonder.

“What’s up?” he smiled at me, wanting to know my thoughts.

“I was just thinkin’,” I smiled.

“Yeah, I get that,” he rolled his eyes. “Whatcha thinking?”

“Well, I get the clothes, and the toothbrush. And the flashlight?” I furrowed my brow a little.

“OH, yeah. Thanks! I’ll need that. I don’t have one of those,” he grinned, grabbing the light from my backpack and pushing it in his back pocket.

“But, why my music?” I asked.

Reed stopped what he was doing and reached for my hand, pulling me into him tightly, kissing my lips lightly. “Duh, so I can dance with you under the stars,” he shook his head like I was slow for not getting it, always teasing me.

“OK, OK. But…orange crayon?” I pulled it out of the bottom of my backpack and held it up and Reed just started laughing, so hard he had to hold his knees to catch his breath.

“Damn it,” he yelled to the sky. I scrunched my forehead at him, pinching my brow, confused. “Oh, it’s nothing really. I just owe Sarah $20.”

I was still confused, and he could tell.

“She said you’d pack anything I told you to, and I didn’t think you would. You know, because you’re so pig headed,” he pulled at my hair a bit like a fifth-grade boy. “I threw that on the list as a test, and she won!”

He went back to work, building a spread of sandwiches and fruit slices. “I could just sort of pretend I didn’t bring it, you know,” I smiled, willing to do what it takes for my boyfriend to win $20.

He just shot me a huge smile and shook his head, taking the crayon from my hands and tucking it in his other back pocket. “No, that’s ok. I don’t go back on my bets,” he touched his thumb to my lip and then sat down next to me, handing me a paper plate with half a sandwich on it.

We ate our picnic spread and cuddled close to stay warm in the cooling air. The temperatures at this height were so much nicer than the desert campgrounds near home. When we were done eating, I pulled on a sweatshirt and followed Reed down a short trail thanks to my flashlight to a small lake. It was small enough to see the other side of the shore in the moonlight, but the stars still reflected beautifully along the surface.

We took turns picking up flat stones and trying to skip them across the water. Naturally, Reed was much better at this than I was. When I finally felt defeated he gave me a lesson, and he celebrated when I finally skipped one with three bounces.

We kicked our shoes off and splashed water at each other at the shoreline, the water freezing cold. When my feet started to go numb, Reed picked me up and let me wrap my legs around him as he held me to his chest and kept me close, kissing me over and over until my cheeks hurt from the constant smile spread on my face.

He carried me and my shoes all the way back to our small campsite where he set me down on the sleeping bag he had spread out. He lay sideways, propping his head up with his elbow, while I sat and stared straight up at the stars. There were millions and I could never take them all in up here.

“So, do you want your present?” he said, sounding more excited to give it to me than I was to receive it. Honestly, I hadn’t expected anything else. Just this night was enough for me.

“OK,” I said, closing my eyes and holding my hands out like Reed had done for me on his birthday. I felt the folded up paper in my hand and I opened my eyes. Squinting, I stared at the plain, lined paper with notebook shreds along the side and then looked back up to Reed, not sure what to make of it.