His Naughty Lessons-Chapter 295: Surprise and Surprise

** Eli **

In the dimming blue light of dusk, they found a small clearing among the shrubs and rolled out their picnic blanket. Eli unpacked the simple meal he had assembled on the last-minute whim — bubbling lemonade, roasted corn, lobster rolls that thankfully stayed fresh and chilled in the cooling compartment of his backpack — and set it out in a family-style arrangement.

"What, no wine and cheese this time?" Harper teased him as she reached for the supplies to make her sandwich. "Oh how I miss Hawaii."

"No seagulls either to steal your lobsters though," Eli reminded her with a smirk.

"That was not a seagull. There are no seagulls in Hawaii, I looked up the animal facts after you told me chickens are not their state bird."

"..." Eli almost did a spit-take on his lemonade.

They dug into their mountain-top dinner, taking their time just like they did on their hike. It was true that the simple preparation wasn’t as exquisite as their beach excursion in Hawaii, but it served a good purpose, reminding them of the family picnics they had shared so many times in the past. The two of them reminisced about those lovely memories as they ate, taking turns laughing or wishing to bury themselves in embarrassment from the almost forgotten anecdotes. freёnovelkiss.com

"Hey, I was not afraid of heights the first time we got up here!"

"You so were. Remember the picture that all of us took together at the summit lookout point? You wouldn’t even get close to the edge to pose, and you claimed the rock was too slippery so we had to stand on the grass farther from the cliff for that picture instead."

"False story. Should I remind you kindly then that you were the one who got scared by a squirrel climbing up your legs the first time we picnicked?"

"That is a lie."

"Oh that is not. You even threw your granola bar ten feet away so it could go chase it and leave you alone!"

"..."

Eli loved these conversations with Harper. Some might not find them textbook romantic, but these were the things that made them laugh without a care in the world, something that he couldn’t do with anyone else around. These were the things that made time stop whenever he looked into her eyes, anchoring him with that comfortable sense of home only she could understand.

Harper didn’t seem to mind it either, and they got so lost in the chat that when they finally finished the last bite of their food, almost two hours had passed.

"Goodness, it gets dark so quickly at the top of the mountain." Harper glanced around as they packed everything back up. "Has it really been that long since sunset? It felt like only a moment ago, but the sky is already—"

She paused mid-sentence when she looked up to confirm that the sky had indeed turned fully dark.

It had. The colorful canvas of pink and purple was nowhere to be seen now, replaced by an expanse of deep indigo and twilight blue. Stars had started winking into existence one by one, claiming their reign across the endless dark dome with twinkling glows, and the enormous Big Dipper was shining brightly right above them, distinct against the velvety backdrop.

"Oh, this really is starting to look like Hawaii ..." Harper marveled. "Since when can we see the stars so clearly from here? You think the Milky Way might be visible as well?"

She craned her neck and spun in a slow circle, searching for the flowing river in the sky that had taken her breath away the first time she saw it.

Eli chuckled. "I think you’ll see it once it gets a little darker still. That is the second surprise for you — it’s a new moon tonight, we should have much better visibility than usual and see much farther."

He held her in his arms, turning them toward the direction he wanted her to face, and the girl waited patiently in his embrace. An evening breeze brushed through the mountain top, carrying the faint scent of night flowers, fluttering her hair as she leaned comfortably against him.

Anytime now—

"Wait, did I just see a shooting star?" Harper suddenly exclaimed. A delicate hand shot up in front of him, pointing straight ahead. "I think there was a— Oh, another one! And over there too!"

Ah, and there it was.

To their east, in the direction where the city’s hazy glow didn’t reach, flashes of bright light had started dashing across the sky, blazing with shimmering trails of silver and gold before vanishing into the night. One, two, three ... The streaks of light were sparse at first, tumbling like hidden jewels out of the ether, but they quickly became more and more frequent, dancing across the constellations in dazzling arcs that went on and on. The sky came alive in a glittering cascade, a river of stardust falling through the vast darkness like heaven’s own fireworks.

As Harper kept gasping at the unexpected sight, the truth finally occurred to her. "Is there a meteor shower today?!" She turned around in his arms, eyes gleaming with all the stars reflecting in their beautiful depths. "You knew this was coming?"

Yep, and that was the second part of that second surprise.

Eli smiled. "Got to keep up with our old traditions, right? A magical evening is not complete without those shooting stars." He brushed his lips over the top of her head. "Time to make your wishes, love. I think we’ve fully earned another round of it, especially after these past two weeks."

Harper laughed, nodding in enthusiastic agreement. Turning back once more in his arms, she clasped her hands together, eyes locked on the sky for the brightest shooting star to whisper her wishes upon.

And when she closed her eyes at the perfect moment, Eli’s own hand reached into his pocket.

That ... would be the third and biggest surprise waiting for her tonight.