Never Will I Ever by CE Ricci

Author:CE Ricci [Ricci, CE]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Deserted Press LLC
Published: 2025-02-17T00:00:00+00:00

Nineteen

Avery

Week Five — July

In the days that have passed since our excursion to Veil Falls, Kaleb and I have found ourselves falling into a bit of a pattern. Spend the day wrangling the kids, stealing glances and secret smiles whenever they’re all too busy to notice. And then every single night, long after the kids are tucked in for the evening, I find myself in Kaleb’s cabin.

In his bed.

Sometimes, far later into the night than we should.

The amount of time we’ve spent learning each other’s bodies has been well worth the lack of sleep. Though, in the moments where I have to tap into my outdoorsiness, sometimes I think I could use those extra hours of shut-eye.

Right now, as Kaleb and I set up today’s weird geocache-style scavenger hunt for the kids, would be one of those moments. One, because we had to get up two hours early in order to finish placing all the items in time. And two, because I’m trying to navigate my way to the next location using only a fucking map and compass.

Kaleb’s idea, not mine.

I let out a frustrated sigh and look over to where Kaleb is watching me with barely contained laughter.

God, he looks good with his stupid, grown-out beard and his stupid lumberjack flannel and that stupid hat sitting backward on his head. And let’s not forget the stupid, mirthy smirk on his face.

“Need help?”

“Yes,” I grumble, hating that I need his assistance. However, I’ve learned not to let my stubbornness get in the way of asking for help, and that has to count for something.

Kaleb steps closer and looks down at the map in my hand before checking the instruction sheet in his own. His brows draw down as he compares the two, only to look up and gather his bearings. The lightbulb flicks on almost instantly, and I watch in awe as he takes about thirty steps off the trail, pulls a small container that looks eerily like a rock from his backpack, and nestles it in with some other real rocks.

What the shit…

“Okay, next one,” he calls as he makes his way back to the trail.

I glance back at the map and compass before looking back at him. “Tell me again why we’re doing this?”

“We’re double checking the instructions the kids will get when they start hunting. If we hide anything in the wrong place, they won’t be able to find it.”

“No, I meant with this shit,” I say, holding up the tools I’m fucking useless with.

He chuckles and plucks them from my grasp. “It’s meant to be a fun way for the kids to learn how to use them, along with landmark bearings, to navigate when they’re hiking. There might come a time when they need the skill, so practicing is a good idea.”

“Well, I’ll make sure to tell Colin his little game isn’t very fun for the ones who have to do the hiding.”

“I’m the one who came up with the geo-hunt, actually.”

I blink, not sure if

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