Chereads / The Gap Between / Chapter 18 - Chapter 18

Chapter 18 - Chapter 18

Morning came quick, and Raina was aroused from sleep by angry voices. Followed by the sound of the side by side starting. Raina slowly moved to the opening of her tent to see what was going on. She wrapped herself in her blanket, realizing she was only half dressed. Looking out the gap of the door, she could see that Ashley and Clarissa's tent was down, and the two girls were now driving off in the side by side, followed by a horse. Wait...who was on the horse? It was not Leon. Asher?? Or wait, Luke??? Raina still squinted, trying to see who it was as she felt a tug on her blanket, and then it was out of her hands. Raina turned and squirmed backward into the tent, trying to see who took her blanket. All she could see was the bottom of a pair of boots since they had now covered themselves with the blanket. Raina reached for the blanket and yanked it! She stared in a shock, Leon?! The blanket fell from her hands. Leon began to mumble something along the lines of her being a blanket hog as he felt around for the blanket, still half asleep. What in the world had happened??? All she remembered was...was...dear lord. Her face turned hot. The last thing she remembered was Luke heading to his tent after the woods, so how was Leon now in her tent?? She looked at him, now sound asleep again. Staring at him, she found herself lying back down by him. There seemed to be a gravitational pull between them. Suddenly, she felt his hand slide around her waist and pulled her close. Now, she realized his shirt was off. Raina lifted the blanket out of curiosity. She felt halfway disappointed to see he still had his jeans on. Raina shook her head. What in the world was she thinking??? Last night, she had made out with his brother and now felt shameful that she had wanted more. Rubbing her head, she racked her brain as she tried to remember how they ended up here. It did not matter how hard she tried. There was no memory of what happened. No longer able to hold back anymore, she tapped on Leon's arm.

"Leon? Leon?!" she whispered. He showed no sign of waking. "Leon!?" she tried again as she began to push on his chest. Leon's hand landed on her waist. Wait, she had not quite thought this through. All she had on was her bra, underwear, and booty shorts. "Shit..." she whispered as she looked from down at her body to his now opened eyes. "Ummm...heh. What...what the hell happened???" Raina asked. Leon let out a sigh as he pulled away from her and sat up. Then, he averted his eyes from her. Raina quickly pulled the blanket to herself.

"Well, what is the last thing you remember?" Leon asked as he rubbed the back of his neck. Raina paused for a minute. She tried again to remember anything at all. There was nothing else that she could remember. She also debated on whether she could pull off, saying she remembered nothing after they started drinking. This would get her out of the weird situation she was now in with Luke later on. But could she be that cruel?

"Last thing I remember was getting into my tent..." Raina answered honestly. She decided that she would think more about the Luke situation later and be honest. For a split second, Raina thought she saw Leon's facial expression turn sad. Leon rubbed his face with his hand.

"Well, you were having a night terror. I could hear your screams and cries from my tent. I came over to check on you, but I couldn't wake you. You kept screaming for Trina... Then, when I thought I finally had you awake, you puked all over yourself and me. Your body then fell limp against me. I was able to strip off your shirt that you puked on and mine as well outside of the tent. Then I came back just to cover you up. However, you ended up wrapping yourself around me like some damn animal clinging to a tree. I had planned to leave once you let go, but you never let go, so I fell asleep." Leon answered. Raina sighed. She felt bad she had caused so much trouble for him... again. On top of that, Trina's name was brought up. She stared at the ground as if her soul had left her body.

"I'm sorry for everything. All I seem to do is bring you trouble... I'm sorry." Raina said, still hanging her head. She felt his warm, rough hand land on her cheek. Raina could not help but close her eyes and nuzzle into his hand, which she hoped he did not mind. Then her eyes snapped open. "OK, but then there's still the deal of this morning? Looked like the girls were mad and left?" she asked. Leon seemed to pause.

"The kiss with Ashley pissed me off last night. I wasn't thrilled about playing that children's game in the first place. However, I went along with it. I wanted to let you have some fun. Then that happened. I couldn't take it, I told her off. Told her there was nothing between us nor would there ever be... and that I thought it was best if she left in the morning. I'm guessing she made Clarissa follow suit." Leon said with a shrug.

"OK, that explains them, but what about Luke??" Raina asked. Leon gave her a questioning look that faded, and he gave another shrug.

"Who knows why he does what he does?" Leon answered. Raina nodded as she dug through her bag for her clothes. Leon headed out of the tent as she got dressed. When she came out of the tent, she saw Asher packing up the horse he rode out.

"Where ya going??" Raina asked. Asher looked at her, then back to what he was doing.

"The tequila has me reeling..." Asher said. "My head kills, and I wanna get out of the heat."

"Why did Luke leave??" Raina asked. Asher got on his horse and then pointed to Leon, who was making coffee.

"Cause prince charming over there beat him to the punch to save the damsel in distress... Prince charming also made it clear for Luke to stay clear or else. It's been a while since you've dreamed of Trina..." Asher answered. He stared down at the horse. He did not want to upset Raina, but the return of the nightmares was a concern. Raina stared at the ground.

"I don't remember it..." she answered honestly. Her eyes moved to Leon. It was clear he was completely against Luke and her becoming an item. But why? "Ride safe, Asher. Text me when you get back."

"I will... Raina, please promise you'll get help if it starts to get bad?" Asher asked. Raina nodded in answer. Even though she had no intentions of seeing a shrink again. "Alright, I'll text ya when I get back!" Asher said as he sent the horse into a gallop. Raina waved at him, then turned toward Leon, who was sitting by the fire drinking his coffee. She walked over to him, and he passed her a cup. Raina nodded in gratitude as she sat down beside him.

"Then there were two..." she said as she swirled the coffee in her cup and blew on it. Leon nodded in response. Raina glanced over at him, seeing he still had no shirt on. "Put some clothes on, would ya? A man shouldn't walk around like that in the wilderness with a woman." Raina said with a giggle. Leon gave a side smile.

"Yeah, yeah. Well, if said woman wouldn't have puked on my shirt, I would still have one on. Wouldn't I?" Leon asked sarcastically. Raina turned her head and let out a whistle.

"I'm just saying... I don't think you understand what the wilderness does to a woman's heart. Makes us throw all caution to the wind and give into our more... animalistic traits." Raina said as she stared at Leon's chiseled body. Again, Leon gave her a nod in response.

"Ain't that the truth..." Leon said under his breath. Raina still heard it, though, and the tone behind it.

"Explain?" Raina asked. Leon pursed his lips harder and seemed to be wrestling with his thoughts. Suddenly, it was like something snapped inside him.

"I saw you! Ok? I saw you and Luke! And I don't know why I'm so angry about it!" He began as he stood up. "I keep telling myself it's because I just don't want him to hurt you. But...it's just not right!" Raina stared up at Leon in confusion. What exactly was going on here?

"I don't like Luke!!" Raina blurted out. "Well, I... that's not necessarily true. I'm confused now on what I'm feeling! That aside, you can't control who I decide to be with! If I date your brother, I date your brother! Why does it matter to you? I know you're looking out for me out of pity or whatever, but you can't control me. Or your brother!" Raina yelled. Leon threw his hands in the air and then on his hips. He bit his lip and stared at the sky.

"I'm not doing all of this out of fucking pity!I care about you, Raina!" Leon turned and moved closer as Raina opened her mouth to speak.

"Then why.." Raina's sentence was cut off by Leon's lips landing on hers. Everything melted away from them. Raina felt his strong arm pull her in closer.