Chapter 2
Marlow
“Wow, you survived your first night. Color me surprised.”
I rolled my eyes at my own reflection, my toothbrush sticking out between my lips while I wrestled for my phone from where I’d tossed it onto the counter the second the other line had picked up.
I knew he’d still be awake despite the ungodly hour I was calling at. Even on his off days, Silas was bound to his horribly short sleep schedules.
“Fuck off,” I garbled before leaning over and spitting into the sink. “I even have a cabin all to myself.”
I had to hand it to Austin Adventures, the place was fucking nice. The all-wood interior had the bedsheets and furniture seeped in the divine smell of cedar. There were two sets of bedrooms, both fitted with full-sized beds and a bathroom separating the walls from each other.
I had a small kitchenette with a water-stocked fridge and an entirely functioning stove unit, pots and pans having already been set next to it on the off chance I brought something back from the mess hall to cook.
There was an impressive stone fireplace that sat in the middle of the cabin, with pre-cut wood already in the log rack. Two sets of couches and a loveseat faced it, creating a cozy gathering place for the couples that were supposed to be staying here.
Lucky me that I got this entire place to myself.
“Who’s dick did you suck to get that?” he shot back, tone mildly bored like he was flipping through TV channels.
“Can’t it be chalked up to simply my luck?”
“Maybe with Avery. You? Not a chance.”
“The jealousy in your voice is overwhelming.”
All I got was a responding snort in return.
Finishing up my morning routine, I shut off the running faucet and headed back into my bedroom with my phone in hand. I tossed it onto the bed and grabbed my duffle, lifting the thing up onto the bed with a soft grunt.
I was curious to see how today would go.
Mainly with how Blake was going to solve this little oopsie of mine.
To his credit, he’d proven me wrong with my knee-jerk assumptions and had taken the problem—if you could even call it that—in stride.
Whatever poor staff member he was going to be forcing onto this hike with me today, I’d pray for them.
If only because I was a beast at cardio.
“So, what wilderness adventure are you going on today?” Silas asked.
“Wow, he’s actually curious?”
“I know. Crazy that I care.”
Sometimes it was nice to have the reassurance, as stupid as it was to search for in the friends I’d had for more than a decade at this point.
Against my better nature, there was still a small child-like part of me that craved praise, craved the positive attention I got from outside sources.
I’d gone into finance for that specific reason, making sure that honing my craft would give me the end result I needed.
The paycheck was just an added bonus. What I actually wanted was that slap on the back and a good old ‘atta boy.
Pathologize that fucked up part of me as much as needed—my ID and my ego were on the best of terms. There was hardly anything I got embarrassed over anymore.
“I’m hiking to a waterfall today.” Laying my clothes out flat on the bed, I turned to where I’d set my pair of sneakers and brand new hiking boots against the wall on the side facing the doorway.
The problem with last minute packing was now I was running into the fun little issue of having not broken in my footwear, a major misstep on my part. I knew better than to rawdog a three-hour hike and the uneven terrain that came with it.
Lucky me, I brought a fuck ton of socks.
“A waterfall?” He sounded skeptical. “Send a picture in the group chat.”
“I will if I have service, but no promises.”
The alarm on my phone chimed twice.
Shit.
I was late.
“Gotta go. I’ll text you when I get back to camp.”
Right as my thumb hovered over the ‘end call’ icon, Silas shot out a quick, “Don’t get lost picking daisies.”
I rolled my eyes before tossing my phone again. He’d eat his words. And I couldn’t wait to be the one to force feed the shit to him with a smile on my face.
I packed lightly, throwing a small bag over my shoulders with two water bottles I’d stolen from the fridge, along with a spare change of clothes on the off chance that this gorgeous sunny day somehow turned into a downpour.
The worst part wouldn’t be trying to trudge down a hiking trail with the slippery mud under my feet, but having to do it on top of being drenched to the bone in wet clothes. My second biggest pet peeve.
Number one?
Wet socks.
That shit drove me insane. There was nothing worse than a squelching shoe.
It didn’t take me long to get from my cabin to the meet up spot, a small overlook right on the camp’s lake.
It mirrored the size of the one we had back in Ellington Heights that separated us from Edgewood, with crystal clear waters reflecting the blue skies above.
There were only a few clouds dotting the horizon—and thankfully, all of them were white and fluffy.
“There he is,” someone said when I slowed my jog.
“Uh oh. Don’t tell me I’m that fashionably late.” I slipped my thumbs under the straps of my bag, pulling just enough to alleviate some of the weight off my lower back.
Someone stepped away from the group to move closer to me—Blake, I realized once he slipped between a couple. He waved toward the front of the group, catching the attention of one of the staff members and shooting her a thumbs up to start moving our group onto the trailhead.
As Blake turned back to me, he said, “I was just about to send out a search party for you.”
His dry tone tickled me, making my toes curl inside of my shoes.
I loved a man who could banter. It was a rare quality these days, unfortunately.
Usually, men were quick to either grow dismissive of a conversation if there was no promise of sex at the end, or—in a straight man’s case—the threat of emotional vulnerability was on the line.
There was probably some kind of pathology as to why I clung to Silas so heavily, considering he was the one that played with me the most. Avery was a touch on the sweet side, our emotional peach that needed to be handled tenderly in order to keep from bruising his pretty and delicate emotions.
I blamed that shit on his father, though. Getting beat down your entire childhood had to do wonders on the internal psyche.
The only silver lining was how well Brandon seemed equipped to cater to his boyfriend. That’s what I liked about him the most.
“Hope you had a K9 unit on standby. I hear these woods can be quite tricky.” I flashed Blake a grin.
His eyes narrowed slightly, the corners of his mouth fighting to remain flat. “I’m glad to hear you actually paid attention during the welcome ceremony.”
“Would you believe me if I told you I took notes?”
He spun around on his heel. “Glad to hear you’ll be passing my quiz, then. ”
With the last couple finally heading up the trailhead, I had to wonder what that meant for me.
Were we waiting on another staff member to snag me and escort me up the trail themselves?
Or was I going to be put on something else entirely?
Not that I’d mind, but I was kind of looking forward to seeing that waterfall.
“While we walk, you can point out all of the plants you recognize. Especially the poisonous ones.”
His answer had me stopping dead in my tracks. “Wait, you’re coming?”
He glanced at me over his shoulder. “Yep. Come on, don’t want to fall too far behind.”
I forced my expression to remain neutral while I shifted into walking behind him.
Interesting.
I didn’t hate the idea. Far from it, actually.
If Blake could entertain me until I found someone else to attach myself to for the rest of this vacation, why not lean into the offer?
He seemed more than willing to rib me in a weirdly professional way that kept me on my toes and my brain firing on all cylinders.
Out of anything, that was the one thing I missed about work. I was constantly challenged, forced to find new ways to beat the system all the while gambling with someone else’s wealth that could cost me a pretty penny in replacing if I fucked up.
Finance had just enough gambling and strategy to it to satiate that addict side of my mind that craved more, more, more no matter how often I tried to feed it something healthy like puzzles and Sudoku.
The high that came with winning was unmatched in the worst of ways.
“Let’s start with the poisonous plants.” Blake’s voice ripped me out of my thoughts.
“Oh, you were actually serious about that.”
He whipped around to shoot me another look. “You ignored the welcome packet I painstakingly put together.”
“My apologies, Mr. Director.” I jogged up the incline to catch up to him. My breathing picked up a bit from the action. I was used to running on a flat incline. Walking up something that had any kind of ascent was bound to get my heart pumping. “So, you actually own this whole place?”
He laughed, the sound flipping my stomach as he turned back around to face the trail.
He didn’t seem at all affected by the rapidly warming weather or the gradual ascent from where we’d started back on flat ground.
Barely a hair was out of place on that pretty head of his.
“My granddad did. I’m the lucky nepo-baby who inherited it. ”
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-eight.”
Jesus, and I thought I was accomplished at a young age.
To inherit such a large property and run it successfully—or at least from the looks of it, that’s how it was doing—was a feat in itself.
I’d had my fair share of accolades throughout the years, starting at the ripe old age of twelve when I’d won our private school’s mathletes tournament for the first time.
That was my first real taste of recognition over an accomplishment.
Since then, I’d been chasing that same high.