Fearless (Less Is More Book 2) Read online

“So,” Cody says, handing me a bottle of water, “I have a surprise for you.”

  “Is it in your pants and nine inches long?”

  “No,” he says, smiling, “it’s a trip next weekend, just you and me.”

  “Oh,” I say, excited now, “are we going to Vegas.”

  “No,” he says. “I thought we’d go camping.”

  “Oh…”

  “I know you’ve never been because you haven’t experienced anything ever, and I want your first time to be with me.”

  “I don’t know, Cod,” I say. “No showers or toilet paper - that just isn’t my thing.”

  “We’ll bring toilet paper,” he says. “And there’s a little stream where I’m taking you so you can bathe if you must.”

  “Only if you wash me down,” I say.

  “Of course, my love.”

  I kiss him on the cheek and make my way to the bathroom. I leave the door open, take a piss and say, “Where’s it at anyway?”

  “My brother used to take me there when we were younger.”

  I stop for a second and continue. He’s never told me anything about Nathan other than the fact that he didn’t see his mom before she died.

  “How far is it from here?” I ask him.

  “Two hours, probably.”

  “Okay,” I say as I flush the toilet.

  “Trust me,” he says as I make my way back into the living room, “you’ll love it.”

  “I doubt it,” I say. “But I love you, so I’ll give it a try.”

  “The things we do for love,” he says.

  Chapter Eight

  Cody

  W HEN I WAS YOUNGER, MY brother would bring me to a pond about an hour from our house. We lived outside of the city, in the country, and we had nothing else to do other than go camping on the weekends. My brother was like a father figure to me, since my dad had died before I really got to even know him.

  When my brother left to go to Texas, I felt like he was abandoning me. When he didn’t come home to see my mom before she died, that abandonment turned into hatred. The fact that he’s moving to Chicago soon leaves me with nothing, but questions and annoyance.

  “You know where you’re going?”

  “Yes, Ethan,” I say, smiling.

  I turn the volume up on the radio and put my sunglasses on as I gaze out onto the road and all of my memories from being here flood into my mind. There was never a bad time when we would come out here and go camping. It was always fun and we always caught fish.

  “Do a lot of people come out here?”

  “Not really,” I say. “No one really knows about it I don’t think besides the people that live around here. My dad used to take Nathan when he was little and then dad died before he could take me, so Nathan took me instead.”

  “So,” he says, “you were really close to your brother then once?”

  “Once,” I say.

  I pull onto the old dirt road that dead ends out at the pond. The holes in the road have grown deeper over the years and Ethan grabs onto the side of the door as the truck bobs up and down. I laugh as we pull off to the side of the road, in front of the small campsite by the pond, and Ethan sticks his head out of the window.

  “What are you laughing at?” he says.

  “You in nature,” I say. “I still can’t believe you’ve never been camping before.”

  “My dad was a suit and tie kind of guy,” he says, shrugging. “He would always be inside watching a movie or TV rather than being outside and breathing air that didn’t come through the air conditioner. We were city people, I guess.”

  “You missed out on a lot.”

  “You don’t even know,” he says.

  Ethan gets his bag out of the backseat while I make my way to the trunk and get the tote filled with all the camping supplies.

  “You go set that up and I’ll grab the rest of this shit,” he says. He has his hat on backwards and he looks like a kid fresh out of high school with his cut off shirt and knee-high basketball shorts on.

  God, he’s beautiful.

  I make my way over to the flattest part of the ground I can find and set up camp. I look over at the rusted fire ring and remember the countless hotdogs my brother and I roasted on it. I remember grilling the fish we would catch on occasion and my brother telling me stories until the fire went out and I fell asleep.

  “I have been fishing before,” Ethan says, setting down the fishing poles I brought. “Elliot took me a few times our freshman year and then we both got overwhelmed with school and we just didn’t go anymore.”

  “So,” I say, “you at least know how to toss it out and reel it back in?”

  “Basically,” he says. “I’m glad you brought me out here.”

  “We’ve only been here for twenty minutes,” I say, beating the first stake into the ground to secure the tent.

  “And it’s been an amazing time so far,” he says, laughing. “Did you lie to me about this stream?”

  “No,” I say. I point over behind me where the stream is, over and down the hill. “It’s over there.”

  Ethan makes his way over to it and puts his hands on top of his head.

  “Doesn’t look very deep,” he says.

  “That’s why it’s called a stream.”

  “Oh well,” he says. “You said you’d bathe me, anyway.”

  I look back at him and smile as he walks toward the fire ring and circles around it.

  “Should I go get some wood or something?” he says.

  “That would be great.”

  He walks into the woods next to the campsite and I beat in the last stake. I brought a full-size air mattress to blow up, instead of sleeping bags, because I knew he wouldn’t be comfortable sleeping on the floor and I really want him to enjoy this weekend and get his mind off of everything else going on in his head.

  I will never be able to experience what Ethan went through, nor do I want to, but I know his life hasn’t been easy and I know that it hasn’t been easy for him to let me in the way he has. After he told me about his past, my first thought was to kill the guy who did everything to him. Instead, I’ll take all of that anger and channel it into giving him getaways like this one that may, or may not, make him see just how beautiful life can be.

  By the time I get the air mattress blown up, Ethan makes his way back with a handful of random sticks and small logs. He puts them beside the fire ring and makes his way over to me.

  “You can triangulate them or whatever they do to get it started,” he says. “An air mattress? Thank, God.”

  “I thought you’d prefer it to the ground.”

  “You thought right,” he says, bending down and kissing me on top of my head. “Anything else you want me to do?”

  “I’m almost done here,” I say. “Then we can go down and find a good spot to fish.”

  “It’s peaceful out here,” he says. He looks out over the pond and sticks his hands in his pockets. “I can think out here.”

  ***

  The pole bobs up and down and Ethan yanks it up, attempting to catch whatever was biting.

  “What the fuck?” he says.

  “You yanked on it too early,” I say, laughing. “You have to wait till you feel it jerk while it’s in your hand.”

  “Oh,” he says. He reels it back in and baits it back up. He attempts to cast it back out into the water and it immediately falls down and smacks into the water.

  “Forgot to press the thing,” he says. He casts it out into the water again and this time, it goes far out.

  “Good job,” I say.

  “Flawless casting.”

  “If there was an award for casting with no fishing experience,” I say, “you’d win - no doubt.”

  “Do I get a prize or—“

  “A blowjob?” I say.

  “And…?”

  “A nice rim?”

  “That sounds perfect,” he says, smiling. “But let’s catch a fish first.”

  Ethan gets a beer out of
the cooler and says, “You want one?”

  “No,” I say, “but I’ll take a water. And one of those bags of chips.”

  He hands me a bottle of water and a bag of chips and sits back down in his chair, watching the end of the fishing pole.

  “I can’t believe I missed that,” he says.

  “You’ll get the next one.”

  “So,” he says, “how often did you and your brother come here?”

  “He started taking me when I was in elementary school and then we went every weekend during the summer,” I say, “until he graduated high school and then this is the first time I’ve been back. Him wanting to become a fighter ruined things.”

  “I didn’t know your brother was a fighter.”

  “He wrestled a lot in high school and got a scholarship to a school in Texas. I hated the fact that he left, but I accepted it because that’s what people do. He dropped out after two years and got into MMA. He got pretty close to making it big, but then he got hurt. I like to think of it as karma.”

  “For not seeing your mom?” he says.

  “Your pole!” I yell, watching it bob up and down.

  He grabs ahold of the pole and I watch him hold it, waiting for the fish to bite again. It bites and he yanks back on the pole, hooking it this time.

  “Got you this time you son of a bitch,” he says, sticking his tongue out.

  “Beautiful,” I say, as he reels it in and lifts the fish up to where he can grab a hold of it.

  “Take a picture of me,” he says.

  I snap a picture and realize that this is the first time I’ve seen him this excited about something as small as catching a fish. This is the first time I’ve seen him not have a care about anything in the world. In this moment, he’s fearless, and I’m in love.

  ***

  “I can’t believe I caught six fish and you didn’t catch any.”

  “You found a lucky spot,” I say.

  “Or,” he says, “I’m actually the true fisherman here and you’re not as good as you think you are.”

  “You know,” I say, putting my arm around him and hugging him into me, “that may just be it.” I kiss the top of his head and look down into the fire.

  “I’m surprised that no one else has came around since we’ve been here.”

  “That’s a good thing and a bad thing,” I say.

  “Why both?”

  “A good thing,” I say, “because I have you all to myself, and a bad thing due to all the animals out here.”

  “Did you bring any weapons?”

  “Yeah,” I say, “my shotgun is in the trunk.”

  “Maybe you should go get it.”

  “Shit,” I say, “I forgot to bring the shells.”

  “Guess we’re fucked then, huh, boyfriend?”

  “I’ll fight off the bears while you jet to the car and make a quick getaway.”

  “God,” he says, turning towards me and grabbing my face with both hands, “I love you.” He smiles and kisses me as the flames reflect onto his face. “That water is going to be cold tomorrow.”

  “It shouldn’t be too bad,” I say.

  “I hope not,” he says. “Are you about ready for bed?”

  “I’ve just been waiting for you.”

  He makes his way to the tent and stops. He kicks off his shoes and socks and turns around. He slowly unbuttons his pants and kicks them off, making his way to his shirt and throwing it beside the tent as well. I see his smile in the flame’s light and he goes into the tent.

  “I’d like part one of my reward,” he says. “If you wouldn’t mind.”

  I stand outside the tent and strip down, running my hand down my stomach as I make my way to my underwear. As my underwear drops down, his come flying out of the tent and fall right by my feet.

  My cock is hard as I stroke it back and forth and Ethan grabs my hand, pulling me into the tent. I fall on top of him and he instantly sticks his tongue in my mouth, his cock jabbing me in the stomach. It’s hard as hell and all I want to do is stick it in my mouth.

  I make my way from his mouth to his neck and he moans as I move both his hands to behind his head and take his right nipple in my mouth. I make my way down his stomach and my cock surges as my face brushes against the small hairs along the ridges of his abdomen. He widens his legs as I make my way down and stick the tip of his cock in my mouth, kissing it and teasing him. I kiss my way to the bottom of his cock and he leans onto his elbows as I suck, forcing him to let out a series of quick, heavy breaths.

  I smile and make my way back to the tip. I lean on my knees and I can feel a small warmth from the fire as I motion up and down. He sticks his hand in my hair, and rubs my head, as I punish his cock with my tongue.

  He sticks his hand under my chin and pulls me towards him, sticking his tongue in my mouth again. He flips me onto my back, and I sit up on my hands, as he sticks my cock in his mouth. I lean my head back as he soaks my cock with his saliva. He lets off and grabs a small bottle of lube out of his bag.

  “I didn’t even know you brought that,” I say, smiling.

  “You can pretty much guarantee I’ll always have lube when I’m somewhere with you.”

  I laugh as he lubes up my cock and then makes his way to his ass.

  “I don’t want to be gross,” I say, “but you sure that thing is ready.”

  “I tried out the stream when I peed earlier,” he says. “You think I’d let you in if I weren’t ready? Come now, Cody, you know be better than that.”

  He sets one hand on my shoulder, and the other around my cock, as he slowly sits himself down on top of me. I moan as he pulls out and back in, finally taking all of me in him.

  He lets out a soft moan as I move my hips up and down, smacking into him. He wraps his hands around my neck and locks my mouth in for a kiss as he speeds up his motions and mine with them.

  I can feel myself edging closer as I start kissing his neck and his moans grow louder and more frequent.

  “Fuck,” he says, as I kiss him under his chin and make my way back to his lips.

  “I’m close,” I say, feeling it getting closer and closer.

  He speeds up and locks my head against his chest as I unload inside of him. I lean back and jerk his cock back and forth. He moans as he unloads all over my stomach and I fall back, catching my breath.

  He lies down beside me and says, “We need to go camping more often.”

  I laugh and say, “I told you that you’d have a good time.”

  ***

  “Thanks for this weekend,” Ethan says, running his fingers along the back of my neck. Day two offered double the fish, and double the sex, and as we make our way back down the old dirt road, we’re both exhausted and just want to get back to civilization.

  “Anytime,” I say. He locks my hand with his and rests it on his thigh.

  “I almost don’t want to leave,” he says. “Being out here, I don’t think about anything. My anxiety and all the thoughts that have been worrying me disappear because none of it seems to matter.”

  “That’s good,” I say. “That’s why I like it out here, too.”

  “I know that everything is going to be OK,” he says, “but I wish just saying that was enough to make it all go away.”

  “Healing takes time,” I say.

  “I’ve been healing for awhile now, though,” he says. “When is the day going to come where I’m fixed and don’t have to heal anymore?”

  He looks out the window and rests his chin on his hand. I look back to the road and tighten my grip on his hand.

  “We’re gonna be OK,” he says, “right?”

  “We’re gonna be OK,” I say.

  Chapter Nine

  Ethan

  “I ’VE NEVER IMAGINED CAMPING SEX to be hot, personally,” Sam says. We make our way down the chip aisle at the grocery store and he stops, deciding on which bag of Doritos to buy.

  “You have never had hot sex in general,” I say. “So, I couldn’t imagine
you imagining it.”

  “Touché,” he says.

  “Sorry,” I say, “I know I say things without thinking.”

  “It’s OK,” he says. “I mean, you’re right. One day I’ll be able to imagine it, hopefully.”

  “You’ll find the right dick, Samuel. I just know it.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” he says. “So, the trip went well then?”

  “It was nice,” I say. “Getting away was good, I mean.”

  “You don’t seem as nervous as you were.”

  “I’m not,” I say. “I still think something bad is going to happen, but I’m ready for it.”

  “Everything’s going to be fine, Ethan.”

  “Let’s hope.”

  Sam pushes his cart down the ice cream aisle, and I laugh, as he stands there with his arms crossed.

  “I don’t understand how someone can eat stuff like this and look the way you do.”

  “The benefits of working out,” he says. “I don’t understand how someone can drink beer the way that you do and still look the way that you do.”

  “I don’t know how either, “ I say. “But I’m happy with the fact.”

  “So, would you be down for another weekend getaway?” he says. “Just you, me and El?”

  “Where to?”

  “Madison,” he says.

  “Wisconsin?”

  “Yeah,” he says, “my sister is moving here for school and she needs some help.”

  “Didn’t school already start?”

  “She’s going next semester,” he says.

  “Where’s she living?”

  “With me,” he says. “I’m moving into that new two-bedroom and it will be nice to have her around me so I can keep an eye on her.”

  “I take it Elliot found a house?”

  “They’re looking today at one,” he says. “Our lease ends this month, anyway, so he’s been moving stuff over to Will’s.”

  “So, this coming weekend?”

  “Yeah,” he says. “We’ll leave Saturday morning and be back that night most likely, if not sooner. Elliot already said he’d go.”

  “Fine,” I say. “Buy me this.” I toss a small pint of gelato into his cart and he rolls his eyes as we make our way to the checkout counter.