A Vine Mess (Love on the Vine #4)

11. Liam

I’d done a lot of research before making definitive plans for this trip, and when I ultimately decided I wanted to see the Badlands, I really wanted to immerse myself in the experience. So when I came across this campground tucked among the rock formations, I knew it was the perfect stopping point for this leg of the trip.

Our site was nestled between two towers, the layers varying degrees of grey, beige, and that signature clay color. It felt protected somehow, like no harm would befall us with the rocks standing sentinel at our sides.

I also knew, thanks to my research, that the campground was spread out across a few square miles, the sites mainly situated like this one, with enough separation for privacy but close enough that someone would hopefully come running if you screamed for help.

Once we got settled, Ella and I changed into sturdier shoes and clothes and set off on a winding path through the formations. The land was mostly flat, but both of us were having the time of our lives scrambling up the sides of the towers, perching as high as we could while the other one captured our toothy, carefree smiles in photographs.

Before we headed back—I didn’t want to be caught out there in the dark—we paused for a moment, content to bask in the stillness and quiet.

“This is…breathtaking,” Ella said.

She stood on a narrow patch of grass that had inexplicably sprouted up between the rocks, a hand shielding her eyes as the sun began to dip below the tops of the formations. It set everything in a bright, fiery orange, deepening the color of the clay to a rich red.

But I only had eyes for Ella, her hair pulled back into two French braids, shorter purple locks falling free around her face. She wore a blue athletic top, so dark it was nearly black, and matching leggings with her hiking boots. Her expression was completely relaxed, arm hanging loosely at her side while the other shaded those gorgeous green orbs. I couldn’t resist lifting my phone to take a picture, wanting to remember this moment forever.

When I didn’t respond right away, she glanced at me over her shoulder, a soft, serene smile on her face that didn’t fade when she noticed my phone held aloft.

I snapped another shot.

My eyes never left hers as I said, “Yeah, Wildflower. It is.”

We both knew I wasn’t talking about the scenery.

“Howdy, neighbors!” a jovial male voice greeted us when we trekked back into our campsite.

Ella and I turned toward it to find a man and a woman perched on a nearby picnic table. Both had long, frizzy hair, some indeterminate shade between grey and white, their skin tanned and rough, eyes sharp. The woman’s fingers were decorated with silver jewelry, and charms dangled from her bracelets. His long, Gandalf-esque beard reached nearly to his waistband, was braided, and tied off with a piece of pale purple ribbon. They were dressed similarly in simple, well-worn pants, boots, and layers of shirts and sweaters.

“Hello,” Ella said warmly, walking toward them and extending her hand. “I’m Ella, and this is my friend Liam.”

I followed her over and accepted handshakes, surprised by the heartiness despite their apparent frailty.

“We’re Gertie and Corm,” the woman said.

“Nice to meet you,” I told them.

“Would you care to join us for dinner? We’re having hot dogs and potato salad, and we picked up fixins for s’mores and a pan of my special brownies for dessert.”

Gertie winked at us, and I could easily imagine what exactly was in those special brownies .

“That sounds amazing,” Ella breathed, dropping heavily onto one of the picnic table benches, her stainless steel water bottle clinking loudly on the surface in front of her. “I’m starving.”

Gertie and Corm seemed to be the community grandparents of sorts, and they must’ve made the rounds to other campsites in our vicinity earlier, because as soon as Ella set herself up at the table, chatting animatedly with Gertie while Corm fired up the little camp stove, more campers began appearing until a group of ten of us were gathered around.

Conversation was fairly surface level as dinner was prepared, each of us getting the lay of the land and each other with softball questions about where we’d come from and where we were headed.

When Corm finished grilling up a mountain of hot dogs, and plates were loaded with buns, salad, and chips that Ella and I contributed to the feast, we pulled up chairs and gathered about the fire.

I found myself seated between Ella and a woman traveling on her own from Texas on her way to Winnipeg. When Ella was roped immediately into conversation with the man on her other side—D’mitri, he said his name was—I silently ate my meal and listened to the conversation floating around me.

I loved traveling for a number of reasons, but one the biggest was the people I got to meet along the way. This group was ragtag, Gertie and Corm certainly hardened from what I now knew was years traveling around the country, never staying in one place for longer than a few weeks, but they all had interesting stories to tell.

Except for D’mitri, who was getting on my last nerve with the way he was making Ella giggle like a schoolgirl.

“If you get cold later, you can crawl into my tent with me,” he told her, and I darted my gaze in his direction in time to see him waggle his eyebrows at her. “I have a solar powered space heater to keep us warm.”

I barely withheld a gag at his words.

Surely, Ella could see through this guy and his smarm, right?

Wrong.

After stuffing a whole brownie in her mouth—a bold move, if you asked me; I’d savored mine—and chewing before washing it down with a swig of the Bitburger Radler Corm had produced for her, she said saucily, “I might just take you up on that.”

This time, I couldn’t hold back my noise of disgust as I rose from my chair, dropped my empty plate in the fire, and went in search of some alcohol of my own.

“You’re letting that girl slip away,” someone said from behind me.

I shot it straight from where I’d been rifling through a cooler and whirled to find Gertie.

“What girl?”

Gertie rolled her eyes in a move that made her look decades younger. “Don’t play dumb, boy.”

“Sorry,” I mumbled.

“I’ve been watching you two all night. You’re orbiting each other now, both on slightly different planes. But I can sense these things, and your paths are about to align. Remind me where you’re headed and how long you’ve been on the road.”

“We’re on day three of a two week trip to Portland.”

Gertie nodded sagely and reached for my hand, rubbing it between her palms. “You’ll figure it out well before your destination.”

“Not if she keeps flirting with that tool,” I mumbled under my breath.

Gertie’s tinkling laugh filtered into the night around us. “Do not worry about D’mitri, dear boy. He is not a threat to you or her.”

With that, she walked away, and her movements were so graceful despite the uneven ground that she appeared to be floating.

Was she right? I didn’t typically put stock in witchy woo-woo shit, so maybe I was only latching onto Gertie’s words because they were ones I desperately wanted to hear. I wanted to believe Gertie sensed something between me and Ella, that crackling energy I’d felt in the air around us since the day we’d met.

But as I watched D’mitri pull her chair closer to his and sling an arm around her shoulders, tucking her against his side as they laughed about something, I was having difficulty imagining Ella felt it too.

Later, after what felt like a few interminable hours of listening to Ella and D’mitri flirt, I’d had enough. The pot brownies combined with the two shots of tequila I’d taken earlier had settled warmly on my limbs, loosening them, and I could feel my tongue and my control loosening along with them. So I rose from my chair, folded it up and slid it back into its bag, then slung it over my shoulder and bid everyone around the fire good night.

My footfalls were heavy and heated as I weaved around smaller outcroppings toward our campsite, thankful I’d remembered to set my tent up earlier—and grateful I wouldn’t have to spend the night in her proximity.

I sensed shuffling footsteps behind me, and glanced over my shoulder to find Ella toddling after me. With the moonlight illuminating her face, I could see her eyes were glassy, and I was glad she’d at least remembered to bring her own chair back with her.

“Where are you going?”

“To bed.”

“But it’s early yet.”

I flicked my wrist to check my watch, the face lighting up to show me the time.

“It’s actually almost two a.m.,” I said flatly. We’d reached our campsite, and I crossed to the van, wrenching the door open and throwing my chair across the passenger seat.

“Fucking hell,” she breathed, and I heard her stumble to a stop. When I turned to check on her, I saw she had her phone out, squinting at the screen. She murmured, “How did this happen?”

“You were busy flirting with D’mitri .” I spat his name. “I’m surprised you didn’t follow him back to his tent.”

Ella gasped and yielded a step, her phone slipping from her hands and clattering to the ground.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”

“What is wrong with you?” she asked.

I drove my hand through my hair, pulling on the ends and willing the stinging in my scalp to shock some sense into my brain.

“Earlier, I told you I’ve had a crush on you for years , and you responded by openly flirting with some random guy right in front of me? That feels like a slap in the face.”

Ella reared back like I’d slapped her , hand coming up to cover her mouth.

“Sorry,” I said again.

“No, you’re absolutely right,” she said quickly. “I shouldn’t have done that. I guess…”

“What?” I prompted.

“I guess I just missed flirting with someone.”

A growl left me, and I moved fully into her space, grasping her chin in my hand and forcing her to look at me. Those glossy green orbs latched onto mine, pupils wide in the darkness.

“You wanna flirt with someone? You flirt with me .”

“I don’t know if I can,” she whispered.

I croaked out a laugh. “What do you think we’ve been doing this entire trip?”

“I don’t know!” she shouted, seeming to momentarily sober up as she stamped her foot against the hard packed dirt beneath her boots. It would’ve been cute if I wasn’t so goddamn irritated.

“I’m flattered, Wills,” she continued. “Truly. But maybe I’m not ready to accept what you’re offering. And maybe I can’t give you what you deserve in return.”

“Then I’ll wait.”

All the fight seemed to leave her, her shoulders dropping as she deflated. “I can’t ask you to do that.”

I gave her a soft smile as I stepped backward, treading carefully until I reached my tent.

“Don’t worry about me, Wildflower. I’ve been doing it for years.”

With a mock salute, I told her good night and disappeared inside.