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Ian growled again, pulling Jude’s attention back to him. While he’d been cooking over the fire, he’d grown increasingly agitated, sweat pouring down his face until he’d finally stomped off into that massive tent he was sharing with Lucas and Andrei to change. He now wore cargo shorts and a thin T-shirt that looked too ratty to be his. Patches of sweat darkened the gray to near black in some places. He’d never seen Ian looking anything other than perfectly put together. It was cute.
“Hamburgers, hot dogs, beans.” Rowe ticked off the items as he held up fingers. “We’re supposed to eat camping food. Bags of chips and cookies. Marshmallows. Easy stuff. You made a sauce. A sauce, Ian!”
“It should have worked.” Ian pointed his beer at Rowe. “It’s an easy wine and rosemary sauce for the steaks. I make it all the time.” Ian held the side of his beer bottle against his cheek and closed his eyes.
“The steaks were excellent, though,” Jude added, hoping to make the young man feel better. He couldn’t believe Ian was so dejected over the failure of a sauce. “The rest of the meal was great. I’ve never had potato salad like that before.”
“The trick is to bake the potatoes in dressing first. Also, I made that ahead of time.” Ian opened his eyes and frowned at the massive coolers lined up near the tents. “Luckily, I made a bunch of sides ahead of time.”
“Then we’ll eat those,” Rowe said. “And I brought hot dogs we can just chuck into the pans to go with.” He made a tossing gesture with his hand.
“I hate hot dogs.” Ian glared at Rowe.
“I don’t.” Surprisingly, this came from Lucas. “Do we have chili and cheese?”
“Of course! Chili anyway,” Rowe said. “Canned chili.” He said the last with relish, smiling slightly as he blinked at Ian, obviously waiting for the backlash.
Ian didn’t take the bait. Instead a warm look passed over his pretty features as he stared back at Rowe, his expression softening. When Snow’s hand tightened on the back of his neck, Jude realized this was the first time that Rowe had actually participated in their usual teasing in a long while. He glanced around the fire to find Lucas obviously doing his best not to smile as he stared down at the spot on his arm that Andrei was softly stroking. The Romanian didn’t bother to hide his pleasure as he watched Ian and Rowe.
Rowe missed most of this as he still stared at Ian. He’d propped his back up on a huge duffel bag—one that probably held his canned chili. Firelight flickered over his face, highlighting the red scruff on his jaw and the black Maori tattoo showing on one arm. He was here, but as usual since his wife’s death, Rowe mostly just went through the motions. All his friends knew this and they understood, but their worry was so strong, Jude felt it in the air.
Especially when it came to Snow. Jude glanced over his shoulder to watch Snow stretching out, his head resting on his arms as he gazed at what sky he could see amidst the trees. He must have felt Jude’s gaze because blue eyes flicked to his and locked on. Snow gave him a lazy, sexy smile. Woods, hell. He had to look away because there was no way he was dragging Snow into the tent for sex this early with everyone sitting around the fire.
Songs from crickets and tree frogs rose around them, along with the catchy whirl of a whippoorwill as the light slowly faded. There were too many trees for them to see the sun setting, but he was glad they’d all sprung for backcountry camping permits. He preferred the privacy of their campsite over cabins, though Snow and Lucas wouldn’t agree. And hopefully, the night would bring slightly cooler temperatures.
Ian slapped his leg, grumbled under his breath, then went into the tent he was sharing with Lucas and Andrei. He came out with bug spray. The frown he wore now was so far opposite the excitement he’d shown earlier, Jude had to hold in a laugh. Disheveled and now grouchy—both new looks on Ian. Both equally cute.
Though he was sure Ian would not appreciate the description.
“Andrei, you ever see any black bears camping here?” Rowe asked, sending a quick wink toward Snow and Jude.
“Nah,” Andrei drawled as he sat up, slid his hand onto the back of Lucas’s head and slowly threaded his fingers through his hair. “You?”
“Once. It wasn’t anywhere near here, though.” The corner of his mouth came up as Ian sat down again. Much closer this time. “But I heard they’ve been steadily moving north from the Smokies.”
Ian handed Rowe another beer. “Stop trying to mess with me,” he muttered. “I sincerely doubt a bear would approach our camp. Not with this fire. Why do you think I asked for it to be so big?”
