Page 27 of Sass in the Grass

“Oh, well, it’s only a night, and I’m sure some bags have water, too.”

“Well, anyway, I always see you with Mike and Kathy. I just met her, but I’ve known Mike for a while. We go to the same gym. He’s the one that suggested I come up here.”

“Remind me to thank him,” Jovian said mockingly.

“You’re funny,” Alan said with a laugh. “Listen, when we get up there, if you start the fire, I can go forage for us. You’re probably right. They probably have water in some. If not, I’ll share mine.”

Jovian looked at him like he was crazy. “Why would you do that?”

“Like Coach Dixon said, if you’re lucky enough to be out in the woods with another person, you share the work and the food and water.”

Jovian realized he hadn’t paid attention to a bit of it. “Yeah, sure.”

They started off again, and it was only a few steps before Jovian felt his legs want to give out. Why anyone hiked for the hell of it, Jovian would never understand. Of course, he didn’t understand most of what people did outdoors. The sun damage alone made him cringe.

If he got out of the camp alive, he swore to himself then and there he would never do another outside activity as long as he lived.

“How much farther?” he asked Bernie, who’d been a constant companion for him, being he was behind everyone else.

“Not far, Jovian. Another mile.”

“Another mile? Where the hell are you taking us?”

“Oh, to one of the prettiest places on earth. Once you get up here, you’ll see for miles, and every mile is more beautiful than the next.”

“So, in the middle of nowhere,” Jovian snarked. “Great, nice to know. Do you bury us or just leave us for the animals?”

“Oh, you, Jovian, I’d feed directly to a bear,” he said as he passed him, laughing. “Come on, keep up! My pet bear is hungry.”

“Ha. Ha.”

When they finally arrived, Jovian pulled the blanket from his pack and threw it down haphazardly, then he climbed onto it, staring up through the tall trees at the little slivers of sky he could see. “This is torture.”

“It’s not bad. My thighs are killing me, but this is way better than the gym.”

“How do you figure? There are bugs and animals ready to eat us, and dirt! Ugh, I’d much rather live in a gym than ever do this again.”

“Good to know,” Dixon said as came to them. “You guys doing okay?”

Again. Again, Dixon was seeing him uncute and hearing him saying things Jovian would rather he hadn’t heard. He sat up, blood rushing to his face. “We’re good. Aren’t we, Alan?”

“We’re good, coach. Just a little sore.”

“It’s good for you,” Dixon said, laughing. “If you join the big one, you’ll feel that one for days.”

Jovian heard him that time. Well, at least a few of the words. Big one and feeling it for days. Man, did that get his mind working overtime.

“You like Coach?”

Jovian’s neck hurt with how quickly he turned his head to glare at Alan. “What?”

“Wow, you like him. It’s all over your face.”

“The only thing all over my face is sweat, unfortunately. And you do too!”

“Me? Not me! I have a guy. He’s in France for this work thing, which is why I came here. I thought I’d have fun while he was in Europe.”

The shock of Alan’s words hit him harder than the hike had. “You don’t? I could have sworn. Wait! Why wouldn’t he take you with him? I’d be fucking everything that moved if my boyfriend left me behind to go to Europe!”

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