I jolted awake, choking on shallow breaths, surrounded by sounds I didn't recognize. I couldn't see, couldn't smell—my nose was stuffy—and my head ached something fierce.

It took me a few moments to remember where I was—near the hot springs, in the desert, in my tent. On a camping trip with my best friends, and joined by a group of rowdy but not unkind guys.

I sat up and blinked at the darkness engulfing me, then tipped forward to grab my phone by my feet. It was three AM, and I'd only been asleep for a little under two hours; I remembered sneaking into my sleeping bag at around one. No notifications flashed on my screen, so I set the phone down, leaving it unlocked so it would illuminate my tent.

Soon, the sounds I'd been frightened by started to make sense. The first was a deep, guttural snort, soft yet piercing through the quiet desert. Snores. From the direction they came in—to my left, across from the campfire—I assumed it was Jenny snoring, unleashing all the effects of her copious drinking and the drugs drowning in her system. I'd never spent the night with her or Millie, yet something told me Millie wasn't the type to snore.

The second noise seemed to mingle with the third. Both were grunts, but some were distant, coming from the hills surrounding us. The others came from feet away, accompanied by the subtle squeaking of a flimsy air-mattress and the swish of covers on skin. I quickly dismissed the remote grunts as burros braying; but the others had a human-like nature to them.

Torn between shock and amusement, I angled forward, eyes directed towards the third sound, as if I could see through my tent's linings. Soon enough, I heard a groan, followed by a subdued moan—a feminine moan.

"Millie?" I covered my mouth and giggled at the realization of what was going on. "But... who is with her?"

An gloomy sensation woke in my gut, and my smile faded as I got to my feet, crouched, and padded over to the zipper.

Had Aaron returned? Had Rob found his way into Millie's dilapidated tent? Or had Jay lied to me?

As quietly as possible, I tugged the zipper up and poked my head out. Relief flooded my lungs as I caught Jay, asleep in his chair, arms crossed and head lulling to one side. There were still two options for who was fooling around in Millie's tent, but at least I knew Jay wasn't one of them. He hadn't concealed his intentions beneath a cute grin and a cheerful disposition.

A brisk breeze blew through the clearance, and I hugged myself for warmth. I grimaced; I couldn't imagine how uncomfortable poor Jay was. His t-shirt was paper thin, his feet exposed to the elements in his grandpa sandals, with no pillow beneath his curls and no blanket to keep him safe.

I pressed a hand to his shoulder and shook him. "Hey." He didn't budge, so I gripped him tighter, shook him harder. "Hey, Jay... wake up."

A chorus of "oh my God, oh my GOD!" echoed in the background, and I tried my damndest not to guffaw as Jay came to.

"Huh?" It was hard to read him in the dark—the camp-fire had long since gone out and my phone's light didn't reach out here—but he recognized me. "Rose?"

I nodded, but again, unsure if he could see me, I instead squeezed his shoulder. "Yeah, hey. You fell asleep."

He stretched, his hand brushing past my back. "That was the intention, silly. Well," he chuckled, "to guard your tent was the real intention, but I must have been more tired than I thought. Are you—"

"Fuck, fuck!" moaned Millie, interrupting Jay's question.

We remained silent for a second, as she continued to moan and the squeaking noises grew faster, louder. Then we exploded into a fit of cautious, quiet laughter, hoping the two love-birds wouldn't hear us. I wasn't sure about Jay, but I knew if Millie was aware I'd been listening to her, she'd be embarrassed and awkward for the next few days.

"Who is that?" Jay whispered as he stood up, sliding an arm under mine.

I pulled him close, fearing he was cold; I, having been snug in my sleeping bag, was warm and toasty. "Pretty sure it's Millie. Jenny is snoring." Sharing my body heat with him I half-lidded my eyes and relaxed, unused to being in someone else's space, or someone being in mine. But it was comforting, and he didn't pull away or stick his hands in any inappropriate places.

He stilled, as if waiting to hear the slumbering Jenny—and when she let out a low snort, he cackled. "Ah, that's nuts. I would have thought she'd get some, with how Rob circled around her."

"She wasn't interested in him, remember?" I sniffed in his scent; the camp-fire and outdoors and meat aromas still emanated from his shirt. "Plus she was really high, and more into her theories and conspiracies than his not-so-subtle flirting."

A few more groans escaped Millie's tent, and Jay chortled again. "Ah, that's definitely Rob."

I spun to glare at him; why would he know what his friends sounded like during sex? I opened my mouth to ask, but then thought better of it. I wasn't sure I wanted to know. "So he gave up on Jenny and... cornered Millie, instead?"

Jay shrugged. "It wouldn't surprise me. I told you—he means business. I'm glad I stayed near you, otherwise he would have tried to woo you, too."

I scoffed. "Wouldn't have worked." Jay slid his fingers between mine and I rested my head on his torso. His heart throbbed in his rib-cage, a steady rhythm in my ears that kept me grounded, soothed, satisfied. "I wonder if he knows she also had sex with Aaron, earlier?"

"Whoa, what?" Jay yanked his arm away, but grabbed both my upper arms as he faced me. "She and Aaron? Oh... oh yeah, I guess that makes sense, now." From his outline, I noticed he was shaking his head. "That's why he went to bed so early; he'd had his fill, got what he wanted. He's more of a one girl at a time kind of guy."

I wasn't sure how to take his words. Was he insinuating that Millie was easy? That she was some kind of slut? I prepared to put together some retort about how it wasn't his business to judge her, but another of Millie's long-winded moans moseyed through the air and silenced us both.

"Well, I'll have to high-five her in the morning. Or Rob. Or Aaron. Maybe all three." Jay hauled me into his embraced and sniffed at my hair. "That's impressive."

Okay, so he wasn't judging harshly, thank goodness. I deflated, letting my tension dissipate as he hugged me. We stayed that way for a while, accompanied by an eerie lullaby of burros, Jenny's snores, and Millie's high notes of pleasure.

When another gust of wind whipped at our skin, I pushed Jay away. "You should get into your car, or your tent, or wherever you're sleeping." I suppressed a chill. "It's late, and it's cold, and you need to warm up."

"I have a tent set up." His hand was freezing when he brought it to my cheek. "And I'm okay, but thanks for worrying. Will you be okay, though? Without me passed out on the chair?"

I smirked and set my hand over his. "I will. Their racket should keep me company for a bit, and I'll admit Jenny's snoring is somewhat comforting."

He leaned forward and pressed our noses together. The tip of his was cool, and it sent a flutter of shivers down my neck, my spine, my legs. I almost placed my palms on his torso to push him away, yet his proximity woke something in my gut and I had to admit... I liked it. A small fire, a few butterflies, a pinch—several sensations mixed into one and weakened my limbs, but I didn't hate how they made me weightless, worry-free.

"Rose..." His lips skimmed over mine, soft and swift, his breath hot and accentuating the tremors already tickling down my arms. "Is this okay? Can I... kiss you goodnight?"

My brain said no, don't do it. My heart quieted, having no opinion. And my belly gurgled, loading with more butterflies, prodding at me, urging me to let him kiss me once more. It didn't have to mean anything, it didn't have to lead to anything; just a guy wanting to bid farewell to a girl he'd spent an evening with. Nothing more.

"Yes."

I barely managed to let the words out before his lips met mine and the surrounding desert faded. We were in a bubble, no longer overwhelmed by snores or brays or the nearby love-making. We were one, our tongues entwined in a tango that made my stomach do back-flips and my thoughts cease. Whatever my brain had been screaming at me melted in the confines of my mind, and my limbs became limp as I shoved myself against Jay and indulged in his craving. My craving.

This kiss was more powerful, more telling than the one we'd exchanged earlier. It was the kind of kiss that could give you wings or tug you under the surface; the kind that made you breathless yet filled your lungs with oxygen. It was wild but sensual, simple but exquisite.

When we finally unglued our lips, our hands remained joined and our bodies pressed together as we regained our senses. "Wow," I said, unsure if I wanted to ever let go of him.

"Yeah... wow." To my dismay, he dropped my hands; but he ran them through my messy mane and plastered a quick peck on my forehead. "That will help me sleep, for sure."

A part of me almost wanted him to push, to try to undress me, to kiss me again; but his respect for my boundaries only made me like him more. "Me too."

"Goodnight, Rose," he said, shuffling off towards his vehicle. I waited until I heard a zipper—up, then down—to be sure he'd entered his tent, before reentering mine.

Once inside my sleeping bag, I cherished the momentary silence—before Millie and Rob got at it again.

"Shit, they've got stamina," I said to myself as I fluffed my pillow and lay on my side. I closed my eyes, but an onrush of disturbing images hit me so hard I had to reopen them.

Burros breaking into our campsite and barreling over Millie's tent, stampeding over her and Rob. Intruders sneaking into Jenny's tent and covering her nose and mouth to stop her snores. And something slithering into my tent, licking its lips now that Jay was no longer there to protect me, preparing to pounce and devour me.

Fuck. I'd been doing so well, stuffing the legends and disappearances and spooky tales far, far in my brain, focusing on Jay and his presence and his kisses. I'd even gotten a tiny bit turned on by Millie and Rob and their continuous fucking, a part of me almost jealous that they were having so much fun. For a few seconds, before finding Jay outside, I'd considered laying there and eavesdropping on their sessions, living vicariously through Millie and her escapades, as I said I would.

But it appeared I couldn't shut my bad thoughts off, couldn't shake the bad vibes. I hadn't quite forgotten the reason I'd wanted Jay to stay with me in the first place. The reason I'd stuck close to him in the springs, why I'd worried about Aaron wandering off, why my overactive imagination grew worse than usual.

Fear.

Something about this place unsettled me. Something about its ominous seclusion and its morose myths that Jay pretended not to acknowledge. And something about the warnings given by the trucker and the writing on the bathroom wall that Jenny saw and dismissed.

I doubted I'd get over it—this paranoia—and be my regular self again until we left the next day.

So as my heart beat to the tempo of Millie's cries of joy, and my temples throbbed with every burro's bray and each of Jenny's snores, I pictured myself at home, in my apartment. Far from this odd adventure, from the atmosphere that discomforted me, and staring at a giant pizza to cure my hangover.

Pizza, yes. That would do the trick. It always did. I smiled and salivated as I tasted the pepperoni on my tongue, and soon slipped into a fitful, albeit somewhat restful slumber.

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