Page 63 of Without Judgment

“Mick. Short for Mickey. He was from Alabama.”

“Roll Tide fan?”

He grinned. “Through and through. We gave each other a lot of shit about our football rivalry. He was a good guy.” He exhaled with a long breath. “I need to go see his family. I promised him I would if anything happened. But I, uh—I haven’t yet. I have no clue what the fuck to say to a mother who lost her oldest son.”

“Sometimes you don’t have to say anything. Simply being able to hug you would probably mean a lot to her.”

“Maybe. Um, dinner is ready. Or we can stay out here longer.”

He still hadn’t moved his hand from mine, and I found I wasn’t anxious to break the connection. “I don’t mind cold steak.”

“Me, neither.”

We stayed out there for a good while, quiet in our own thoughts, touching through our hands until I finally had to break the connection for an urgent matter. “Uh, where do we pee?”

His smirk was evident in the moonlight. “Come on. Let me get a flashlight and show you.”

A short walk later, and I thought, oh, hell no. Although Mason had assured me he’d checked in the small outhouse for bugs, I wasn’t convinced. Also, was it only me, or did other people have irrational anxiety about hovering over a deep hole and fear something might come out of it? “You’re, uh, going to stay there, right?”

He was grinning. “Sure thing, princess.”

“And talk to me?”

“Are you scared?” he teased.

“I’m only doing it so I know you’re safe and all standing out here by yourself.”

He chuckled. “Mm-hm. Look, if you want me to talk to you while you pee, then so be it. What do you want to talk about?”

“Um. Tell me a funny story of you and my brother from college.”

I went in with the small lantern he gave me and tried to breathe through my mouth. It wasn’t the best-smelling place even after he’d told me he put lye down the commode to help kill off the smell. “You’re not talking,” I yelled out, needing the sound of his voice.

“Okay, there was one time we went to a frat party, and there were these girls. One from Trevor’s economics class was flirting with him. They talked awhile. Then we go outside to get some beer. She follows a few minutes later. They start making out by the bonfire. Then a girl who looks just like her comes out and throws her drink on them. Turns out they were twins. He’d been talking to the other one earlier, and then made out with her sister outside.”

“Oh, shit.” I giggled, happy to be done. Whew. Survived.

I came out and grinned. “Thanks for the distraction. Do you, uh, need to go next?”

“Nope. Took care of things outdoors.”

“That was an option?”

“Wouldn’t you rather have the outhouse?”

“Not at night. No. Jesus. I have fears.”

We walked back to the cabin together. “Fears of what?”

“Monsters coming out of the hole. Straight up my hoo-ha.”

He stopped, doubling over with laughter.

“What? It’s not funny.” But it was, which was why I was grinning, too. “It’s a thing. I mean, I don’t know what’s down there. And not all fears are rational.”

He was wiping his eyes from laughing so hard. “Okay. Next time you can go behind a bush or something. I had no clue you were scared of an outhouse monster.”

I was smiling, despite the fact he was laughing at me. But, something else dawned on me. “Wait, where do we take showers?”

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