Page 35 of A Little Campfire Blues

“I’d have loved having you for my older sibling, though it would make this hella awkward,” I declared, before leaning in and brushing a kiss across their lips that they immediately deepened.

Their fingers tangled in my hair, and a low moan escaped me. They kissed like they were trying to climb inside me and reclaim all the pieces that had always been theirs. Melting into it, I urged them to keep on kissing me until I no longer thought about my folks, my brother, or anything else but the feel of their body melded against mine and the lingering essence of the orange creamsicle soda they’d sipped on the way to the maze.

Chapter Fourteen

Roman

“It’s been awhile since I’ve done a climbing wall,” I admitted as we were getting harnessed into our gear.

“You’re not the only one,” Mackenzie said, inclining his head towards where Axis and Ezzy were staring up at the wall, waiting to be told they could start. “Something tells me they’ll be waiting at the end of the zipline for us, looking for some mischief to get into while we struggle to catch up to them.

“Ezzy, maybe, but Axis has never been a big fan of heights. I was pleasantly surprised when he decided to join us.”

“Really? I never would have guessed.”

“Don’t let the aura he tries to give off fool you,” I said. “His philosophy has always beenfake it until you make it. Only sometimes I wish he’d learn to fake it less and ask for help more. The one thing I hate more than seeing him struggle, is seeing him get hurt because he’s too proud to back down when he should.”

“Just remember, there is little chance of him getting hurt today. They’ve got an A+ safety record and experienced staff who will go up after him if he gets stuck and can’t work out the right path to take, or freezes because he panics at the height. When he makes it to the other end, and I have no doubt he will, on sheer stubbornness alone, we can all celebrate with surf and turf. I’ve got a huge bag of snow crab legs that are dying to be boiled.”

“That sounds delicious, but you don’t have to cook for us again.”

“Pup, you’re doing me a favor by letting me cook,” Mackenzie explained. “It’s something I enjoy and rarely indulge in since it’s no fun cooking for myself.”

“Ain’t that the truth.”

“Are you guys ready?” the climbing master asked.

“As ready as we’ll ever be,” Roman declared.

“Then up you go.”

Having the wall and the next handhold to focus on would be good for me and maybe help chase away the twisty feeling that had been tying my stomach in knots since the garden maze yesterday. Well, more specifically, since Axis and Ezzy had emerged with a reddish tinge to their eyes like they’d been crying. Both had offered assurances that everything was fine and had even been holding hands, so I’d let it go. Or at least, I’d tried to. It still bugged me not to know who and what had been the cause, but Mack was right, I needed to stop worrying about every move they made and trust them to discuss things in their own time, without pushing.

Shit. There I was, forgetting to focus again.

The handholds near the bottom were easier, but as we neared the middle of the wall, I started to notice a change in the degree of difficulty and the distance between them. Of course, this was the wall that had been set up for those who wanted to challenge themselves, while Axis and Ezzy were on the one designed for littles and newbie climbers.

Glancing over, I could see that they were already a little higher than Mack and me, while we were steadily keeping up with one another. Having time alone together yesterday had taught me that he was as big an outdoorsman as we were and enjoyed staying active, especially when there was water involved. When he’d started talking about jet skiing I’d found myself looking forward to that adventure, and the adults only night at the waterpark down in his neck of the woods, which I was excited to visit. Axis, Ezzy, and I were already planning a visit the weekend after we got back home.

Long distance would work out just fine while we were finding our footing, he’d assured me, and in just a short time I was coming to trust in the fact that he was a man of his word and a natural caretaker who enjoyed having others to look after.

Handhold by handhold, I made my way to the top and pulled myself over the lip to find that Axis and Ezzy were seated next to two other littles at the top of the platform, blowing bubbles and playing with squishy balls while they waited for us. A mama I recognized from the recreational center was seated next to them, calling encouragement down to her girl and pet, who were working their way up together.

“Whew, we made it,” Mack remarked as he pulled himself up over the lip less than a minute after me.

When he spotted our boys sitting on the mat playing just as nice as could be, he grinned and reached into his pocket, pulled out the treats he was never without, and passed each of them a slice of candied pineapple.

“You guys did an awesome job waiting and not getting impatient and moving along to the ziplines on your own,” he said, ruffling their hair before plucking a water from the big ice bucket beside the crate of toys they were seated near.

We each took a moment to hydrate, then the boys returned their toys to the crate for others to use and stood ready to tackle the next phase. There were seven ziplines of different lengths and heights awaiting us and Axis looked a little apprehensive. Before I could say anything, Mack wrapped an arm around him and pointed out the ladder leading down to the base.

“You can go down and wait at the bottom if you’d like, that’s perfectly okay,” Mack told him.

“I-I wanna at least try one,” Axis insisted. “But I think I wanna go first to get it over with.”

“There are ladders that go down from every tower,” the mama said, a kind smile on her face. “My pet was worried about the same thing.”

“Then I really wanna try,” Axis said, his eyes a bit wide as he said it.

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