Never Have I Ever
It had been a long day in the best of ways, but when the sun switched places with the moon, Derek welcomed the darkness with open arms.
His oldest ran around their campsite in the last vestiges of daylight, still topped off with the energy of youth that was wasted on the young. He sprinted away from another boy around his age who was giving chase with the vigor of a big cat on the Serengeti. Sitting around the fire he had just built, Derek and the other boy's mother, Sasha, clanged their glasses of bourbon together as they toasted to the first day of their trip in the mountains. After taking the inaugural sip, he looked around at their campsite which functioned as a home away from home for the three days they were away. Sasha sat close to Derek, probably a little too close for people who had taken vows, but the boys were too occupied with adolescence to notice, and he sure wasn't complaining about her knee rubbing up against his in the dancing shadows.
Sasha: You made me very nervous earlier.
Derek: Really? When was that?
Sasha: When you ate those berries on the trail.
Derek: Oh, pfft, you missed out, they were the best I've had in the wild.
Sasha: I'll just have to take your word for it.
Derek: When have I ever lied to you?
Sasha: I haven't caught you in one yet...(shakes her glass) but maybe after a few of these..
Derek: It sounds like you have something up your sleeve....do I have to wait to find out?
Sasha: I was thinking after the kids went to bed, maybe we could play a little game of truth or dare...
Derek: If there's anything you want to know, all you have to do is ask..
Sasha: If I had something particular in mind, I would...it's just something Phil and I used to do when we'd do things like this...and besides, I always choose dare..
Derek: Well then, in the name of nostalgia, count me in.
Their eyes locked in a stalemate of wonder and an almost undetectable spark of lust. The warmth that flowed through his body wasn't solely the bastard son of the campfire and bourbon. A primal urge rattled inside of him that he masterfully tranquilized with the love he had for his wife, Cara, but with the way Sasha's obsidian circles lingered in his direction after every sip, his mettle as a faithful husband was tested like never before.
After the boys ran out of imagination along with visibility, they joined their parents around the crackling flames. The skewers came out, as did the marshmallows, chocolate, and gram crackers. Everyone's fingers got sticky as their bellies got full, and after a round of ghost stories, the kids scurried off to their tent to watch a movie in an effort to get their minds off of the 'one-handed hitchhiker'. Sasha placed the remnants of the smores into plastic containers while Derek wiped down the metal spikes. Not a second passed without a wandering eye, he looked over at her, she looked over at him, and they both impatiently waited for the hiss of the zipper on the door of the other tent. With a layer finally between them and their offspring, Sasha sauntered up to Derek with a shit-eating grin, placing her finger on the corner of his mouth--
Sasha: I take it that you enjoyed those, you woofed them down like someone was going to steal them from you.
Sasha tapped the tip of her finger in place, she transferred the dab of melted chocolate from his upper lip to her own. She made a real show of it, licking and sucking on her index long after any trace of anything but skin was gone. A smirk spread between Derek's cheeks as he watched her provocative performance with images of a surrogate for her finger inundating his mind--
Derek: I blame it on the firewater, it gives me the munchies worse than pot.
Sasha: Is that so? It gives me a different kind of hunger.
Derek: And what could that possibly be?
Sasha: I guess you'll have to find out during the game, that can be your first question, unless of course I just keep picking dare...
Derek: I'll just dare you to answer the question..
They shared an authentic laugh as their voices echoed through the trees. Derek wanted to stay close to her at all times, he was naturally drawn to her, as he suspected she was to him, but he absconded into their tent momentarily so that he could fetch 'the greenery' as he called it. Sasha stretched her palms out toward the angriest element known to man as Derek deftly rolled up a joint. She took the last sip out of her glass with a mild cough afterward, a small drop ran down her chin, and her tongue caught it right before it had a chance to fall into the dirt. Derek watched with childlike amusement as she tried to look sexy while doing it. He sparked the end of the joint with a lighter as he puffed, the tip glowed orange as he filled his lungs with smoke, and he released it back out into the open air as he passed it to Sasha--
Sasha: (Looking over the joint) You're pretty nimble with your fingers, I actually never learned to roll, I prefer glass, mostly for convenience.
Derek: It's like most things, easy to learn, just takes some practice to get quick at it..
Sasha sucked down a cloud of marijuana as Derek stared at her wistfully. Her wavy black hair shimmered every time she leaned in closer to the fire. It seemed like she had a lot on her mind, and even more on her tongue, but it collapsed under the weight of the words that she intended to say before they turned in before she could get them out. The stars were on full display, and in between tokes, they tilted their heads upward as they took in the beauty of the void. As they did with their drinks, they took their time making the weed disappear--
Sasha: (Exhaling, passes the J) I wonder what they're up to.
Derek: Whatever they're doing, it probably isn't too much different than what we're doing.
Sasha: And what exactly are we doing, Derek?
Derek: You tell me, is it late enough to dare you to do things?
Sasha: I guess that depends on what they are.
Sasha's dimples showed as a frisky smile openly displayed her teeth. Derek killed the joint with a coup de grace pull before he flicked the roach into the mouth of the fire.
Derek: You remember that river we passed near the bottom?
Sasha: In my memory, it was more of a glorified stream, but semantics aside, yes, yes I do.
Derek: I've got a little mud on me from the hike, I was going to go wash it off. I dare you to come with me.
Sasha: You think the kids will be okay?
Derek: You know that story I told was made-up, right? And all the food is in our tent...if something furry and mean comes along, they'll have enough of a head start on it while it tears our place apart.
Sasha: Let me get us a couple of towels. Anything else you want to bring?
Derek: Nah. We'll get back into the whiskey when we return.
They zipped their tent up to keep it devoid of critters, Sasha handed Derek a big fluffy towel, and they made their way back down from the top of the mountain. Luckily, there was a rudimentary trail that they mostly stuck to. They were both good and toasty, and the THC kept them alert to every sound while also keeping them a bit clumsy. On more than one occasion, Sasha lost her footing and stumbled into the only thing keeping her off of the ground, Derek's arms--
Sasha: I hope we'll be able to find our way back, I don't know how you can even see where we're going.
Derek: Should be able to see the glow of the fire from the bottom, it had enough kindling to keep it going for a solid hour. Besides, if we get lost, at least we're lost together.
Sasha's heart thudded in her chest so loudly that it rung in her ears, she wanted to expand on his comment, but she chose to tuck it away so that she could bring it up again during a more intimate moment--
Sasha: You made a bitching fire. Where did you learn all this stuff? Were you a boy scout or something?
Derek: I got some of it from my old man, but mostly I'm self-taught. I can add making a campfire to the ever-growing list of things I need to teach you this weekend.
