Page 94 of Drama Queen

Glamping With the Guys – Eliza Jonas

One

KARA

Zeke rollshis eyes again when he hears Troy complaining about the snacks for the tenth time. I heft the last plastic container into the bed of my truck and smile. You’d think by now that Zeke is aware of Troy’s drama, but our resident “dad” still lets it get to him. Troy wants more chocolate snacks for the drive to the campsite, and I just shake my head at him. There’s a surprise stash in his backpack, but Mr. Drama hasn’t thought to look in there yet. I know what he likes, and chocolate on road trips is a must.

The campsite is only around four hours away, so even though we’re not driving cross country, there are rules to follow. For instance, my own snack stash is salty; I prefer chips and pretzels to the sweet stuff when driving. Which I usually do, so it stays pretty consistent. Zeke moves to the other side of my truck bed, and we work together to get the Tonneau cover closed and locked down.

“You know there’s a stash of chocolate in his bag, right?” I tease Zeke.

“Obviously. This happens every trip. He always complains about the lack of chocolate and you always put a stash in his bag. Why doesn’t he just check there first?”

“Tradition,” I shrug.

“We need a new tradition. One that doesn’t make my eye twitch,” Zeke grumbles as he moves to hop in the front passenger seat.

Dan and Flynn are sealing up their own truck full of gear and look like they’re ready to go. They make quite the sight together. Both are well over six feet tall, Dan with his black hair and Flynn with brown, but they both have gorgeous blue eyes. After their muscles, their matching eyes were the first thing I noticed about them when we met all those years ago. Can’t blame a girl for looking. I doubt anything would ever happen, though.

“You boys got everything?” I ask, standing with my car door open, boosted on the running board.

“Of course we do!” Dan says in his weirdly chipper way.

Even when he’s mad, Dan is chipper. When I first met him, it freaked me out. I mean, I saw him beat someone up for being an asshole and borderline assaulting me, and still he smiled. He even offered to help the guy up. He just doesn’t get mad. It’s been years of getting used to him, though, and it’s just how he is, and we love him for it. Flynn looks over at me, a mischievous smile taking over his face.

“I’d say last one there is a rotten egg, but if I have it my way, we’ll be taking a break or two on the drive. Need to keep ourheadstogether,” he offers with a wink.

“We don’t need to know!” Zeke yells from inside the cab.

I laugh, enjoying the banter. Flynn and I both know that Zeke doesn’t really care, but the game is fun to play. Dan and Flynn have been hooking up on and off, and we’re all just waiting for them to make it official. At least I am; I’m not sure if Troy or Zeke really care. I’m happy they find comfort in each other, butI’d be lying if I said I wasn’t jealous. They’re both gorgeous and so damn masculine that I’m embarrassed to admit they’ve been in a fantasy or two.

Am I drooling? I hope not.

“You don’tneedto know, but I know youwantto know!” Flynn shoots back.

Zeke laughs and flips him off, causing a round of laughter from Flynn and Dan. Once we’re all buckled, I pop on a playlist from my phone before backing out and hitting the road. Zeke immediately leans back in his seat and closes his eyes. Most of the time he ends up sleeping on trips longer than an hour, so for a while he offered to sit in back since he’s useless as a navigator, but Troy loves the space of being the only one in the back. Either way was fine by me. I’ve got my GPS, so I don’t really need a navigator. We tried switching up the passenger arrangement once, but when Zeke almost took Flynn out for pretending to be lost, we decided those two should be separated.

I take one more glance at Zeke, appreciating how he looks so boyish with his messy blond hair when he’s resting. His green eyes typically hold so much responsibility, so I appreciate seeing him so relaxed. Part of me wants to brush some of the hair off his forehead, but I remind myself we’re friendsandI’m driving, so I keep my hands to myself.

Around twenty minutes into the drive, I finally hear the excited squeal I’ve been waiting for. This happens every trip, so at this point I think it’s just part of the joy of our trips for him. He never checks his bag before we leave, and he always waits twenty minutes into the drive before looking.

“Kara, you’re the best!” Troy exclaims.

“I know I am.”

“So modest too.”

I laugh and shake my head. “Glad you still like them.”

He holds four boxes of Bunch-A-Crunch candies in his arms as he surges forward to the front, placing himself on the console between Zeke and me. Before I realize what’s happening, he’s planting a kiss on my cheek.

“I appreciate it,” he whispers to me.

I can’t help smiling and I even hear Zeke huff before peeking over at him to see a small smile on his face.

“Anything for you guys, you know that,” I remind them both.

TROY

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