Amy looked at Mark with love as he pulled the tent bag out of the trunk. She could see the stress from work piling up every day since the start of the summer. A nice, relaxing break from the city was exactly what the two needed to transition into fall. Before they knew it, it would be Thanksgiving, and they'd have to deal with the chaos that comes with it, then Christmas, and so on.
The camping trip was the one real time where they could feel alone and together. Isolated but with great company.
Amy snapped out of her daydream and started pulling the rest of her gear out of the jeep. They camped on a secluded lake a few hours north of the city. It was public land, and you weren't supposed to camp there, but they never had any issues in the past, and at worst, they could pack up and leave.
"Same spot as last time, babe?" Mark asked and ran his hand through his short black hair.
"Yeah, if we can find it." Amy surveyed the ground around them. Every time they went, it looked as if centuries had passed; the overgrowth made everything a little unfamiliar, making every trip unique.
The two set off through the woods, searching for their lovely beachside site. Despite being in great shape, Amy was a little shorter, and Mark often had to slow down so that she could keep up with her little legs. He teased her the whole way there, it felt like ages since he had been playful with her. She happily endured it.
Amy had lived an adventurous life before settling down with Mark, her years in university proved to be more of a playground than a school. Her busty petite figure and small-town naivety made her perfect prey for other students, her most memorable point was being forced to suck the rival school's top athlete off in front of the whole team. Some under-the-table bets were made, but Amy didn't care to know the details. Her cheer coach told her to drop to her knees, and that's all the submissive girl needed to hear.
Mark knew about Amy's past; it wasn't something he asked about, but he did think about it quite often, and the more he thought about it, the more the jealousy turned to curiosity and then to arousal. It wasn't long into their relationship when he started to imagine her on her knees before the entire hockey team, blowing them one by one as if she were the team cum dump.
*Amy, of course, was oblivious to the depths Mark's depraved mind would delve. To her, Mark was a nonjudgmental man who understood that the past is best left in the past. She felt safe and comfortable with him, and while it wasn't as exciting as her college years, she was content.
After about an hour of walking, the two found a gem of a camping site. The land was dry and elevated; it had enough space for them to comfortably light one of their burners without worrying about forest fires. The trees were sturdy, so they could easily secure the food on a pulley to keep them safe from any potential bears.
Amy was rummaging through one of the packs as Mark set up the tent, "Honey?"
"Yeah?" Mark replied while threading a pole through the canvas.
"You have your phone, right?"
"Yeah, of course, love. Service is spotty, though."
"I forgot the battery pack," Amy confessed through a cringed smile.
Mark chuckled, "Well, that's fine, no point in walking back now. Why don't you just turn your phone off? That way if we need it, we can turn it on."
*Amy smiled. There he was, the patient man she fell in love with. "Sounds like a plan," she pulled her phone out of her shorts and put it into sleep mode.
*After the campsite was assembled, the two changed into their beach outfits and started the trek towards the lake. Mark was in swimming shorts and a shirt, with a towel tossed over his shoulder. Amy was in a blue two-piece and carried a small beach bag with sunscreen and water.
*To the couple's surprise, as they neared the beach they began to hear a party. Mark pushed through the trees and stepped onto the golden sand. Down by the lakeside, Mark saw a group of five men accompanied by one woman. They were quite a distance down, but it was still peculiar that they'd see people this far.
He turned his head back at Amy as she stepped out of the tree's shade, "There's some people down the ways a bit."
"No way," Amy said in disbelief despite hearing the music with her ears.
"Yeah," Mark paused, "you wanna head back?"
"Well, if we're not supposed to be here, neither are they? I'm sure it's fine, love," Amy spoke with confidence, hiding the disappointment that they won't have the lake to themselves.
*Mark stroked his trimmed beard, "All right, you're right, babe."
Mark and Amy threw their towels down and relaxed. With fall approaching, they were apprehensive about swimming, but they took advantage of the high sun while they could.
The two joked about the insanity of the past summer, reminisced, and basked in comfortable silences. Doing their best to ignore the rowdy group of young men to their left.
Mark had his eyes closed and was startled to hear the voice of a young woman, "Hey!"
*Mark looked up. The woman was blonde, more tanned than either of them, with golden skin to match, and had a body that she worked for. Her face screamed upper middle-class businesswoman, and she looked to be in her early thirties.
"Hi," Mark replied, "What's up?"
*She smiled innocently, "My friends and I saw you come out. Are you two camping? We got a little RV out here," she pointed back at her friends, a few of whom were looking over at them and smiling.
"Yeah, we are, too," Amy answered, "we're just an hour walk away. We come out here every summer, but we've never seen anyone out here before."
"Really? We come out this same weekend every year; we work together, this is kind of our little work getaway," she responded.
It dawned on Mark that they had never come out this late into the season before, which is probably why they always missed each other.
*"You're welcome to join us if you want. I'm Evelyn, by the way," the woman stared Mark down as if she wanted to devour him.
The couple introduced themselves, and before Amy could shoot her offer down, Mark piped up, "Absolutely, we can drop by for a bit before we head back."
"Awesome," Evelyn responded, "see you again soon."
As she was walking away, Mark took in an eyeful of her toned ass; he looked back at Amy with a dumb smile on his face, only to be given a glare that could kill. Amy was less jealous about his ogling and more upset that he gave up the little bit of isolation they had.
*When the sun slipped behind the trees across the lake, the pair felt a cold wind. They quickly packed up their belongings and regrettably made their way towards their new friends. Evelyn was nowhere to be seen when Mark called out a friendly, "Hey there!"
*The oldest looking of the bunch, who looked like he was in his mid-thirties, replied, "Hey, you two. I'm Landon. This here is Chris, Steven, and Paul. You've met Evelyn, but she's with Ryan back at the RV," he pointed to each of them as he went around the group. They all looked somewhat similar, Amy assumed they were university students or members of a sports team. They were all well-groomed, physically fit, and in the same age group. She could easily admit they were an attractive bunch, with Chris being the exception; he was a little paunch, and his face looked weathered and cantankerous. Steve was the tallest and the slimmest, and Paul was black, bald, and tattooed. They reminded her of the men from her past. Athletic, successful guys who take what they want. She smirked.
Mark, on the other hand, had an immediate feeling of discomfort. He couldn't place exactly where it was coming from, but he introduced himself and his fiancée. Maybe it was the seclusion or the way they were eyeing up Amy, but it was a feeling in his gut that told him to turn around and leave. Run. However, the eager-to-please Mark just smiled back at the men, nodding along as they joked and made small talk.
Amy laughed and appreciated the subtle attention she was getting. She wasn't one for petty games, but she justified it by thinking if Mark could check out Evelyn, then they could check her out. A little jealousy never hurt, she thought.
"So, what brings such a gorgeous couple out to the middle of the sticks?" Paul asked while eying the busty young lady.
"It's kind of an anniversary tradition. We usually go on our actual anniversary, but Mark here recently got a promotion, and it's just been chaos back home," Amy said.
"Oh, a promotion! Congrats, big man," Chris said in a somewhat mocking tone.
Mark chuckled, "Thanks, yeah, it's honestly nothing crazy. I work with the hydro plant."
"That's awesome. We're all financial advisors, incredibly boring back at the office, so this is where we come to have some fun," Landon made a point to make eye contact with Amy for the word fun.
"Well, we won't get in your way with that," Mark responded.
"Definitely not," Amy heard one member of the group quip.
"It's been great getting to know you guys, but it's getting a little chilly, we're gonna head back and warm up," Mark said, putting his hand on Amy's back.
"Hold up now, you're more than welcome to come warm up in the RV with us," Paul said, taking a step forward.
