“Yeah,” I said, holding the phone between my shoulder and ear while pulling on my jeans. “She’s gone. Okay, I’m getting into the car right now. I’ll bring him some food and meds.”
“You’re the best. Thanks, Ade.”
I smiled at the phone. “Have fun. I’ll make sure Silas survives.”
EZRA
“Ade’s going to go check on him,” I updated Cole and Abel as I hung up my phone.
We were about to get totally unplugged, and I couldn’t remember the last time we’d done that together. It may have been on that old camping trip. It was a damn shame Silas couldn’t come, but there was no way we’d be able to drag his 250-pound body back to the car if he passed out.
I was strong, but I wasn’t that strong.
“Ade, huh?” Abel quipped. “Seems like you two have gotten nice and close with our session guitarist in the past week. So close, you could practically be inside her.”
Cole and I shared a look before turning to Abel.
“You jealous?” Cole asked, his voice taking on an edge.
Fuck. We weren’t supposed to be talking about this with anyone. We had promised Adeline. I had to divert the conversation before Abel managed to rile up Cole even more and get him to accidentally spill everything.
“Please, if I wanted some metalhead pussy, I’d be eating it for breakfast every day,” Abel sneered.
“That’s enough,” I snapped, leveling him and Cole with a look that said this needed to end now. If this was going to be how we started our day, there’d be no chance of a productive conversation later on.
“Grab your gear, and let’s get going.”
We had a two-hour hike and a one-hour canoe trip before we’d make it to the campground.
“I don’t like the look of those clouds,” Abel muttered when we stopped for a quick break about an hour in. He was sweating through his quick dry T-shirt after lugging the big canoe on his back together with Cole.
I wasn’t looking forward to switching in.
“When I checked the forecast, it said cloudy for today with a chance of rain tomorrow,” I reassured him.
“I wish we’d brought a guitar or something,” he added. “The fuck we’re gonna do all night?”
“I dunno, talk?” Cole piped in with an irritated voice. “Catch up? You know, that thing we haven’t done properly in ages?”
Abel adjusted the straps of his pack and gave Cole a dismissive look. “Fine. We can have one last hurrah.”
I let out a long breath and stepped toward the canoe. “It will be good to talk away from the studio.” A few moments later, the wooden seat was pressed against my shoulders, and we were on our way once again.
* * *
Abel flipped the canoe before we even had a chance to get in.
“Dude,” Cole said between gasping laughter, “you look like a poor man’s Aquaman.”
Abel was dripping wet, his hair hanging down in a stringy curtain around his head. Thankfully, he had taken off his backpack before attempting to climb in.
“How the hell did it flip?” he yelled at us from the water, shaking a fist in the air.
I laughed with Cole, and soon Abel joined us, his laugh a little hoarse.
The good mood continued for the rest of the ride, and by the time we had built a fire and settled in for the sunset, I was ready to broach the subject.
“How do you think the recording’s been going so far?” I asked, sipping on my beer.
