Page 96 of Crazy for You

Ethan shrugged. “Simple enough to fill it in afterward.”

Ryan lunged upward to grab an overhead branch, swinging for a moment before jumping back onto the trail. “You got a spot in mind?”

“Maybe the field behind the ropes course.”

“Yo, we paid Artful Blooms to reseed that field for us a couple of months ago. Not a good investment to dig it up.”

“Oh yeah.” Ethan looked thoughtful.

“Could use the area behind the second zip-line platform,” Mark suggested.

“That might be perfect,” Ethan said. “It’s mostly mulch, and it tends to get muddy anyway.”

“I like it,” Ryan said. “We definitely need to switch some things up this year, keep the course interesting and unpredictable.”

“I agree,” Ethan said.

They spent the next hour walking and talking, coming up with new ideas and deciding which bits of last year’s race they could repeat. They headed back toward the main building just in time to get ready for their next zip-lining group.

“So you’re really going to let Emma move to Georgia next week?” Ethan asked, smiling like a cocky bastard.

“Let her? It’s not my job to tell her what she can and can’t do.”

“No, but don’t you think you guys ought to have a chat? You know, about feelings and all that mushy shit?”

Ryan wanted to punch the cocky grin right off Ethan’s face. “Feelings?”

“Bro, you can’t just let her walk away without fighting for her.”

Ryan tripped over a tree root and almost fell flat on his face. “Of course I can. This thing between us was always short term. It’s just casual.”

“Just casual, huh?” Ethan glanced at Mark. “You hear this shit?”

“Seem to recall having the same conversation with you not so long ago,” Mark commented drily.

“That’s true,” Ethan said. He turned to Ryan, his expression gone serious. “There are photos on Gabby’s phone of Emma in a wedding dress.”

Ryan damn near fell on his face again. “Say what now?”

Emma spent Saturday evening finishing up the summer landscaping at Off-the-Grid. She’d brought in several lavender asters to brighten up the walkway area and the flower bed beneath the sign. They were hardy and should flower on and off all summer long.

The guys needed low-maintenance, especially after she left town. Another wave of homesickness hit her as she imagined someone else here tending their landscaping, adding new flowers to the bed she’d built.

But no matter. They were just flowers, after all.

She’d just finished up and put her tools back in her car when she spotted Trent headed down the path toward the ropes course, cell phone in hand. She jogged after him. “Hey, Trent.”

He turned, swiping a lock of hair out of his eyes with a smile. “Hi, Emma.”

“How’s it going? You made any plans for the summer?”

“Iris is going to LA to try her luck. There are a lot of opportunities there, DJ’ing and music and all that.” He looked over at Emma, a defiant look in his eyes. “I might go with her.”

“Have you talked about it with Ryan or your parents?” she asked cautiously, knowing Ryan would hate this idea. His parents would, too.

“I mentioned it to Ryan. He’s not a fan,” Trent said with a shrug.

“Well, you’re old enough to make your own decisions, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t listen to some advice, too.”

---