Camping Can Be Fun - 2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

After my meeting with Adam I watched him head back to his spot not too far away. There were two other guys there, one looked about sixteen, obviously Adams younger brother, the other was very hippy like and had longer hair.

I got on with unpacking the car, and eventually started chatting with Ste and Lisa who had somehow managed to separate their mouths. But Adam was still on my mind and I couldn’t help stealing glances over his way. He wasn’t doing anything interesting most of the time, just chatting and laughing with his companions, but even from this distance his smile and the way his face lit up when he laughed made me go weak.

I’ve never really had an instant crush on someone before. With Ste I had fallen in love with him over a long period of time, but with Adam I just wanted to rip his clothes off, a thought that both excited and terrified me at the same time. At least I had something to distract me from Ste for a while and surely that was a healthy thing, as this trip would turn out to be pretty shitty if all I could do was mope around feeling sorry for myself.

My thoughts drifted once again into fantasy and how the night was going to pan out. In an ideal scenario the evening would commence in a secret rendezvous where somehow Adam and I had escaped the clutches of our friends to be together. He would hold me and let his hands wander all over my body, all the while telling me that he’d wanted me from the moment he first saw me. We would kiss and make love to one another at the side of the lake under the stars and everything would be perfect. We would fall asleep in each other’s arms and wake in the same spot to watch the sunrise. He would tell me that he loved me and that he would keep me safe and that no one could touch us, that we were invincible together… ok maybe I’m taking this a bit too far - I don’t even know his full name. And although I would selfishly like to keep Adam to myself, it would be completely rude of me to not invite Ste and Lisa. I can’t very well just disappear, although they probably wouldn’t notice if I did.

I’m going to have to tell them about drinks tonight, but casually. I don’t want them to think I’m being weird about Adam.

“By the way guys, now that you don’t have your tongues down each other’s throats, we’ve been invited to hang out with a few guys tonight,” I called out, trying to indirectly address them.

“Who has invited us where?” came Ste’s reply

“One of the guy’s over there helped me pitch my tent.” I gestured over to where Adam was sitting. “His name is Adam and he lent me a mallet, ‘cos I couldn’t find ours. He said we should come over and have a drink with him, his brother and his friend tonight.”

“You should have asked me. I know where the mallet is.”

“Well I tried that, but you were otherwise engaged at the time. Anyway he seemed cool and he helped me out, so I said we might drop by.”

“Fine, yeah whatever. Is that ok with you babe? He asked Lisa in a sickly sweet voice.

“I don’t mind. I’m easy like a Sunday morning.”

“You were last night.”

“Steven!” She looked at him sternly, furrowing her brow.

“What? Oh come on, it was just a joke.”

“Yeah, well I’d appreciate it if you didn’t openly discuss our sex life in public and then refer to it as a joke.”

“Oh lighten up, it’s Danny, it’s not like it matters.”

Annoyed at the direction the conversation had taken I interrupted, “So are we going?”

“Why the fuck not!” Steven responded overenthusiastically. I left it at that.

Later that day when everything was unpacked and the tents were up, we got changed into the appropriate attire and ventured down to the lake for a swim. I also noticed that Adam’s group had headed down that way too, not so long ago and I assumed they would be enjoying the water. I was excited to finally get into the lake, but now I also had an ulterior motive to hopefully bump into Adam again.

I blew up my inflatable dinghy that I always brought and waded out with her into the lake. The sun was that hot the water didn’t even feel cold. It was rather inviting. I got her out far enough, then jumped aboard and started rowing out. It was such a beautiful day and the setting was completely idyllic - the water, the trees, the birds…Adam. Shit, Adam! Adam was indeed in the lake and had spotted me boarding my dinghy and was now swimming over to me. I felt myself starting to freeze up and didn’t know what to say or do. I just sat there in the boat and watched him swim closer and closer and…

“Hey,” he said as he leant on the side of the dinghy. “Nice boat.”

“Um… Thanks,” I said rather nervously.

“You ok?” he asked me looking puzzled by my lack of conversational skills.

“Yup.”

“Ok… are you coming over to ours tonight?”

“Yup, Ste and Lisa are coming too.”

“Oh… right… cool, um the more the merrier.”

I couldn’t help but notice there was disappointment in his voice. Perhaps he WAS into me? Maybe he was hoping I’d come alone?

“Right, well, I guess I’ll see you later then,” he said, making to swim off again.

Why the fuck is this conversation so awkward? I’m making him feel weird. Shit, what do I do?

“You can have a go if you want…of the boat that is.”

“Cool, really?” he said, looking excited. I smiled at his immature response.

“Sure,” I said before getting to my feet and diving into the lake.

It felt so good being engulfed by the water. As I said before it wasn’t even cold. It was the same feeling you get when you go to the local public swimming pool and dive in for the first time…just complete freedom. I rose to the surface and watched Adam drag himself into the dinghy. It was a rather nice view. His shorts were being dragged down by the water and his ass was beginning to show. His body looked amazing, especially wet. His skin looked so smooth and there didn’t seem to be an ounce of fat on him. He had the face of a model and the body of an athlete. He eventually scrambled into the dinghy and took his seat, still with that childlike grin on his face. He was unbelievably cute.

“You didn’t have to get out you know, we would have both fit,” he said smiling down at me.

“Barely,” I laughed. “Nah it doesn’t matter, I fancied a swim anyway. Go on then - take her for a spin.”

And off he went, rowing away, mostly in circles as he struggled to get the hang of it.

At least I salvaged the situation. It’s a bizarre feeling to freeze up like that. It’s basically fear. The only thing I can compare it to is being a kid and your mum catches you red handed doing something you know you’re not allowed to be doing, or breaking something you’re not supposed to be touching. You just freeze up or say something stupid that generally makes the situation worse. How am I going to get closer to him or even become a friend if I can’t even talk to him properly?

I swam around for a bit and then headed back to shore where Ste and Lisa were sunbathing. I grabbed a beer from the cooler we brought with us and joined them. It wasn’t long before Adam turned up with my boat.

“Ahoy there land lubbers!” he shouted in a rubbish pirate impression that made him sound more Irish than anything else. Regardless, his immaturity and fun side made me smile.

“Having fun?” I asked him as Ste and Lisa looked up a little confused. “This is Adam guys, Adam this is Steven and Lisa.”

“Nice to meet you both,” he replied politely in his normal accent as he got out of the dinghy and waded to the shore. “I tell you what; it’s a lot harder than it looks, this sailing stuff.”

“You weren’t sailing, you were rowing. I suppose you want that beer now?” I asked reaching for the cooler.

“Don’t mind if I do,” he said, taking the bottle of Bud from me. Our hands touched slightly as we made the exchange and he looked me right in the eyes. “Thanks pal,” he said with a smile.

“So you guys are coming over to our pitch tonight then?” he asked Ste and Lisa.

“Yeah, if that’s ok?” replied Steven, unsure of what to say. Steven was never really good at meeting new people, possibly the reason we’ve been friends for so long. He never found anyone else. Me too, I guess. We never really needed more than each other, which is a nice thing I suppose, but since Lisa came along I have sort of been wishing I had another friend to hang around with sometimes.

“Of course it is. You need to meet my brother and my friend Karl, They’re just over there,” he said pointing to another spot along the shore. “Have you guys eaten?”

“No not really,” replied Steven.

“Well why don’t you guys eat with us. We’re going to have a barbeque and we always bring way too much food. We’ve got burgers, hotdogs, the usual. It will only go to waste.”

“Sounds nice, I’m starving,” piped in Lisa, before Steven could answer.

“Well that settles it then. We’ll be heading back in a little while and by the time we get a fire lit and the barbeque going…shall we say let’s meet at our pitch in about an hour? I’m sure Dan knows where it is,” he said as he slyly winked at me, and dare I say it, flirtatiously?

“Sure thing,” said Lisa smiling at Adam as he left to speak with his group. She obviously thought Adam was a nice guy too.

What the hell did he mean by ‘I’m sure Dan knows where it is’? Does this mean he knows I’ve been watching him? Is he flirting with me? Is he gay? Does he like me? Does he think I’m gay? Shit! What if he isn’t gay, but has worked out I am? Arrghhhhh!

“You make friends quick don’t you?” said Steven.

I didn’t answer; I just stared out at the lake, half excited and turned on by the possibility that Adam might be into me, the other half scared to death that someone might have just found out my deepest darkest secret.

An hour had passed and I was dried, changed and walking over to Adam’s pitch with Ste and Lisa, carrying enough booze to kill a man, or perhaps just paralyze him enough to make a move on him and have him forget by the next day. I was wearing jeans and a tight black t-shirt in an attempt to show off whatever muscles I had. I also didn’t want to look like I was making an effort and thought that the combo seemed casual enough to pass.

We were welcomed once again by Adam in his usual friendly and polite manner. He introduced us to his brother Joey who seemed very shy and just nodded as he was introduced and then he introduced us to Karl.

“Yo,” was his response.

“Nice to meet you guys,” I said breaking the ice. “We brought beer and lots of it.”

“Sounds good to me dude.”

Karl lived up to his hippyish appearance and was very outgoing with a lot of interesting knowledge and crazy theories about the world. He was very easy to talk to and kept the conversation flowing as Adam cooked away on the disposable barbeque singing to himself. Joey started to come out of his shell a bit as the evening went on and he realised that we were a nice enough bunch. The barbeque was delicious and nothing got burnt, which is usually the case at most barbeques I have attended.

After we had eaten and had drunk a few beers we all sat round a small fire Adam had lit. There were a few fold-up chairs and some large logs for us all to sit on. The sun was setting behind us over the surrounding hills and mountains and the sky had changed to purples and pinks. It was getting cooler now and the warmth of the fire was welcoming, plus the smoke kept insects away. Karl fetched his acoustic guitar from his tent and treated us to a few songs. It turned out that Adam and Karl were in a band together and Adam contributed by adding in harmony lines here and there. It would have been the perfect romantic setting, the lake so close, the sunset, the fire, the music, but there was the slight problem of the extra people.

Although Adam was just adding in some backing vocals he had the nicest voice. Maybe I’m just being biased as I fancy the fucking pants off him, but either way I was captivated by him. Adam, Joey and Karl were on the other side of the fire to us and Adam sat directly opposite me. The flames were flickering on his tanned angelic face creating shimmers of light. He was beautiful and he was singing to me. He’s singing to me? Bloody hell he IS singing to me! There was no doubt about it. Whenever he came in with a harmony to back up Karl he would look directly at me. And not just at me, but to me. It was as if he was trying to convey some sort of message to me through the song. I looked around to see if anyone else had noticed, but their attention thankfully seemed to be on Karl and his guitar and lead vocals. I looked again at Adam and he was still staring at me. The song came to an end and Ste and Lisa clapped enthusiastically, but I maintained my stare with Adam. He smiled at me and I smiled back, then we both broke our gaze and I joined in clapping with Ste and Lisa.

I know I’m a bit of a romantic and I sometimes let my imagination run riot, but this time I was sure of it, it wasn’t some wild fantasy, we had shared a moment. The sensations that our little staring competition had stirred in me were unreal. I felt light headed and a bit dizzy, but at the same time I felt that I could take on the world. I lifted my fifth Bud to my mouth to take a sip to find that it was empty and suddenly I realised there maybe another reason for my delirious symptoms of love.

Time kept passing by and the beer kept flowing and before I knew it I was feeling rather merry. I was drunk, plain and simple. It didn’t help that Karl had galvanised his hippy status by passing round a joint or two…who’s counting? Eventually, as we were hitting the early hours of the morning, Ste and Lisa declared they were calling it a night. Ste put emphasis on the fact that he was going to ‘give her some sweet, sweet loving’ and for a change Lisa took it in jest. Truth is I know Steven, and the amount of beers he’s put away tonight will result in him falling asleep as soon as he gets in his tent.

They said their goodnights with hugs and kisses as though we’d all been friends for years and it made me happy to see everyone getting along so well. I, of course, not satisfied by my rate of consumption had decided to stay a while longer and break into the Sambuca I’d brought. We had to swig out of the bottle due to our lack of shot glasses, but no one seemed to mind. About a half hour later, I was completely fucked up. Joey had basically fallen asleep with his eyes open and Karl, passing up on the offer of Sambuca instead for another joint, was giggling like a school girl.

My head was swimming and for some reason I decided I needed to go for a walk, because that would solve everything.

I shakily got to my feet staggering all over the place and said, “I…I’m going for a walk. I need to sort my head out.”

Adam very quickly stood up too. “I’ll come with you.”

For whatever reason this made Karl burst out laughing. God knows what planet he was on.

“Hey, you,” Karl said coming round from his giggles and pointing straight at me. “You better be good to my Adam…He’s…He’s a good guy. He’s my best friend.”

“I will be very, very, very, very good to your Adam, don’t you worry,” I replied, staggering away from the camp and into the darkness towards the lake, closely followed by Adam.

We found what we believed to be the spot where we had spoken earlier and lay down in the grass together side by side looking up at the stars in the clear night sky. The moon was out and shining brightly down upon us and the lake. The light bounced off the water and cast rippling shadows across the banks and the trees. He was lying so close to me that our bodies were touching.

“It’s been a good night tonight,” I said. “I’ve really enjoyed myself.”

I closed my eyes as I lay there beside him in the darkness. Then I felt his hand touch mine. At first I thought it was an accident and expected him to move it back, but it lingered there, warm and gentle. Still feeling incredibly drunk, I debated in my head for what seemed like forever about what this might mean. I knew what I wanted it to mean, but I was so scared that I might be misreading things. The fear literally made me feel sick, but somehow amidst all that I found some blind courage, or maybe it was the Sambuca again, who knows? I gave in to my urges and took his hand in mine. I opened my eyes and turned to face him. The moonlight picked out his features beautifully. He was staring right at me. Then he rolled over onto his side and perched himself over me, holding himself up, one hand on the ground, one hand resting on my chest. I didn’t do anything and made no move to stop him. He took this as a sign of my permission and brought his face closer to mine. I still gave no sign of rejection so he came closer still. We were almost touching noses and he stopped. I wanted his kiss so badly and so I closed my eyes and leant in the extra inch. Our lips met ever so softly at first then our kiss became more passionate. I rolled him over and was now on top of him still entangled in our kiss. Passion took over and we let our tongues explore. My heart felt like it was speeding out of control. I’d never experienced anything like it; it felt completely, magically, perfect… my first kiss, the most perfect first kiss, with the most perfect boy in the most perfect place…and then it was over. We broke apart staring at each other, and then I opened my mouth to speak.