He set the cooler on the table next to Kyle, glared at the cat, and then at me.
“Why are you in my cabin?”
I hung Kyle’s dripping life jacket over the back of one of the chairs and turned to face him. “Well, we know each other. We’re friends. You’re in Cabin One, I’m in Cabin Two. Don’t you think we should spend some time together? Honestly, I’m a little insulted, Aaron.”
He ignored me and started putting groceries into the fridge.
“You’re not really going to turn down Kyle and I’s company, are you?”
The fridge slammed shut hard enough to rattle the freezer shelf. “Why the hell did you name a cat Kyle?”
I shrugged. “What was I supposed to name him?”
The vein in the side of his neck gave an angry throb. “I don’t know, Fluffy? Fucking Mr. Whiskers? Something normal? Kyle sounds like a frat guy, not a cat.”
I laughed. “Funny you say that. I found him during my travels, and the first thing he did when I brought him inside was knock over my energy drink. Besides, he just looks like aKyle.”
He rubbed his temples. “Looks like a Kyle, for fuck’s sake.” He took a deep breath. “Fine, Kyle, whatever. It doesn’t matter since you and I,” he punctuated his words by gesturing between the two of us, “are not going to be spending time together on this trip. I’m here to relax and you two are spiking my blood pressure.”
I threw my hands up. “How exactly am I raising your blood pressure?”
He raised a brow. “Are you kidding me? I’ve already had to save you and your cat from the lake.”
I rolled my eyes. “We’ve already covered that. There was no saving involved. If you’d saved my camera—”
“—nowhere in my search and rescue training did it say ‘save a camera, then a cat, then the human last’.”
His rage level was a little too high for me to ask him for a favor, but I did need one.
“And are you going to get dressed or what?” he asked, rounding on me.
I looked down at my bathing suit. “What’s wrong with this?”
Color crept into his cheeks.
Interesting.
He and Cliff had met when he’d joined Strawberry Hill Search and Rescue. They’d only known each other a few years, but they were close. Which meant the way he was looking at me was probably against some dumbass code of bro ethics.
Which meant I was going to push my luck. I shouldn’t, but how could I help myself? It was so easy to get a rise out of him.
I stepped a little closer with a teasing smile on my face.
“What’s wrong, Aaron? You got a problem seeing a pretty lady in a bikini?”
He scoffed. “I just don’t want you to get a sunburn or whatever. I brought a first-aid kit and knowing you, you’ll have used up all my supplies in the first twelve hours.”
“Yeah, the first-aid supplies. I’m sure that’s the concern.”
He glared again…or still.
“Fine. I’m going back to my cabin. I’ll see if I can fix my camera. While I’m there, Kyle and I will get dried off and dressed. Just to keep our stuffy neighbor happy.”
“I’m not stuffy,” he called after me as I grabbed my cat and looped my camera around my neck.
“You are actually the Emperor of Stuffy,” I called over my shoulder.
He either ignored it or grumbled his reply so low that I didn’t hear it.
