Chapter 8 Sam
Chapter eight
Sam
After a sun-soaked, laugh-heavy afternoon at the pool, everyone was relaxed and ready for dinner.
Max manned the grill, expertly flipping burgers and sausages over the fire while Harper chopped onions and peppers to toss on next.
Liam played host, making the rounds, checking on drinks, making sure everyone had what they needed and was actually enjoying themselves.
He never sat still long enough for the night to catch up with him.
It’s what he did best, keep the energy up, make sure the night felt good.
Harper even called him the unofficial mayor of Queer Camping!
The meal came together in that perfectly imperfect way: burgers a little too brown, veggies slightly underdone, and the beers flowing a bit too fast. It was messy, sure. Definitely charred and uneven. But the mess felt exactly right.
Ezra, Avery, and Tess were locked into a spirited recap of all the cute guys they’d met in the pool, rating tattoos, flirting styles, and the general hotness scale of the campground.
Renzo spent most of dinner trying to convince everyone to agree to body shots later in the week, his pitch growing more persuasive with each beer.
Because, honestly, knowing this group? It was going to happen.
I leaned back in my chair beside Elliott, plate balanced on my knees, beer snug in the side pocket.
I was just taking in the hum of conversation, the flicker of the fire, and the occasional crack of laughter cutting through the early evening.
It felt good to be here. Really good. Not at the school grading, or worrying about lesson plans or student drama.
Just… here. Present. Sun-warmed and full.
My eyes kept drifting to him. Across the fire, Liam finally sat down and was telling some ridiculous story about the time he accidentally flirted with a straight guy on vacation and had to spend the rest of the night dodging his confused and mildly horrified girlfriend. Everyone laughed, myself included.
Liam was stretched out in his chair, beer balanced loosely in one hand, his attention already drifting, like he was tuned to a frequency no one else could hear.
His broad chest bare, still sun-warmed from the day and dusted with just enough hair to make him look effortlessly rugged.
His beard caught the firelight, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he smiled, lips wrapping around the bottle before he took another sip.
I looked away, taking a long pull from my beer to distract myself.
This was normal. Liam was always like this. Always the center of attention, always the one who made friends everywhere he went.
I looked up as two guys strolled into our campsite, pausing at the edge of the firelight. I wasn’t surprised when he was the first to greet them.
Liam raised a hand in greeting. “Evening, gentlemen.”
The first was stocky, solid, with a full salt-and-pepper beard and a chest that looked like he could crack open a walnut just by flexing. His dark brown eyes crinkled with good humor, and he had that classic bear energy: big, warm, and entirely at peace in his own skin.
The second was taller and leaner. Short-cropped dark hair, a couple of piercings catching the firelight, a tattoo peeking out from the edge of his tank top. He had the kind of presence that made you aware of him immediately, even though he didn’t seem to be trying.
“First time at Cedar Hollow?” the bear asked, his eyes sweeping over the group.
Renzo nodded, gesturing around the circle. “For most of us, yeah. Liam’s been here before, but the rest of us are still getting the lay of the land.”
Liam, of course, perked up immediately.
“Welcome, welcome.” The bear spread his arms. “I’m Jake, and this is my husband, Marcus. We’re doing our evening fruit loop, seeing what’s going on tonight.”
“The fruit loop?” Evan asked as he took a sip of his beer.
Marcus grinned. “That’s what we call it when we walk around the campground, see what’s happening. People drinking by their fires, playing music, heading to the play areas… it’s a good way to get a feel for the place.”
Liam leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “And who’s getting into what tonight?”
Jake chuckled, clearly entertained. “Well, the hot tub’s got a good crowd tonight. It’s still early in the week, so it’s not quite ‘bear soup’ yet, but by the weekend, it’ll be packed. Bodies on bodies, water tinged from sunscreen and questionable decisions, impossible to move around.”
Liam sneered like a wolf. “Sounds like a damn good time.”
Marcus lifted an eyebrow. “You should swing by. Things tend to get… warmer as the week goes on.”
Liam’s grin turned downright filthy. “I like warmer.”
I sipped my beer, staring into the fire instead of the conversation playing out right in front of us.
Liam flirted. That’s what he did. It wasn’t a big deal.
So, why did my stomach feel weird? Not tight exactly, but off. Like I was aware of something I didn’t want to be aware of.
I forced myself to look up, to focus on anything but the way Liam laughed, the way his face lit up and the crinkles on the corners of his eyes that formed when he made a joke, or the way flecks of red his beard caught as the fire burned.
I was being ridiculous.
“You coming to the hot tub later, Sam?” Avery asked, nudging me with his knee.
I snorted. “Hard pass.”
“Not a fan of bear soup?”
“Not a fan of sitting in a questionably filtered pool of dicks, no.”
Avery cackled, clinking his beer bottle against mine. “Fair.”
After dinner, everyone started splitting off into smaller groups, doing whatever they wanted with their first real night at Cedar Hollow.
Harper and Avery went off to check out the trails, Renzo, Evan, and Max were curious about the bathhouse, and most of the others had either wandered toward the bigger communal areas or called it an early night.
Liam was doing his own thing.
I wasn’t surprised.
He’d mentioned wanting to do a fruit loop, and honestly, I figured he’d end up wherever the biggest crowd was, chatting up strangers, making fast friends, maybe even finding someone to hook up with before the night was over.
I should have stayed at the fire, kept talking with Elliott, let the night roll on like it always did.
Instead?
I grabbed a fresh drink and found myself walking.
The night air was cool in a way that felt good after a long day in the sun, the scent of oak trees and campfire smoke thick around me. I didn’t have a destination in mind. Not really. I just needed to move.
The campground buzzed with a different kind of energy than it had under the sun.
There were campfires flickering through the trees, pockets of laughter filtering through the air, the occasional rustling of people moving along the dirt paths.
The big community fire pit was burning bright, and a group of guys had pulled out a guitar, singing some off-key version of a Fleetwood Mac song that somehow still sounded good.
A couple of guys passed me on the trail, nodding as they walked toward one of the play areas. I wasn’t ready to take up an invitation yet.
And then, before I even realized where I was heading, I was standing at the edge of the hot tub.
The water was warm, steam rising in the cool night air. There were only about six or seven guys in the water, spaced out enough that it still looked relaxing, not like the crowded mess it was apparently going to turn into by the weekend.
Plenty of room. I could have joined them.
Could have enjoyed the soak, let my muscles relax, maybe even made some conversation.
But then I saw Liam.
He was lounging against the edge, arms stretched out and relaxed. His broad chest glistened in the steam, his hair damp, his body half-submerged in the bubbling water.
And sitting extremely close to him was Marcus. The guy from earlier.
Marcus was leaning in, his body angled toward Liam, laughing at something he said.
And then, before I even had a chance to think about what I was doing, I watched Liam reach out and run a slow finger down the center of Marcus’s chest. A lazy, soft movement.
Marcus leaned into it, his own fingers skating along Liam’s thigh under the water.
And then, before I could stop myself, I saw Liam grin against the press of Marcus’s mouth.
I should have walked away. Should have turned back to camp, gone back to the fire, gone literally anywhere else. But I didn’t. I couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. I just watched, consumed in a feeling I didn’t recognize. My stomach felt like I’d just taken a step too far forward and lost my footing.
Not jealousy. I just felt weird about it.
It wasn’t even the fact that he was hooking up. I’d seen him do this before, been around him when he left the bar with some guy, when he showed up late to brunch looking entirely too pleased with himself.
It had never bothered me before. So why the hell was I standing there now, gawking and feeling this way?
I turned before I could analyze it any further and headed back to the campsite, back to the fire, to somewhere that didn’t make my stomach feel tight.
Back at the campsite, most of the group was still out and about.
Only Elliott and Ezra remained, sitting in their chairs, legs stretched toward the fire, drinks in hand.
Ezra lazily picked at his guitar, the soft strumming weaving through the night air, filling the spaces between the burning wood. It was quiet. Peaceful. Perfect.
Elliott tilted his head when he spotted me. “Back already?”
I sat down, grabbed my beer ,and took a sip before responding. “Yeah. Wasn’t really my scene.”
Elliott watched me closely. He knew me too well. Worked with me every day. He could read me like a book.
“You good?” he asked, voice casual, but his eyes were sharp.
I hesitated.
Because was I?
Before I could answer, Ezra looked up from his guitar, letting his fingers rest on the strings. “God, I hope Evan and Noah stay on the same page this week.”