Page 42 of Hammer and Hops

“Maybe you should take him camping.”

I wrinkled my nose. “Not my thing.”

“Maybe not, but it is his thing. He likes fishing and hiking and all that.”

“Right. And this is about him, not me. Gotcha.”

He nodded. “It would be a nice surprise.”

“Uh, how could I even get him there? If I ask him, he won’t come.”

“You’ll need help, and I know just who to ask.” He grinned like a loon. But crazy or not, I was totally going to take him up on all the help I could get.

Chapter thirty-six

Camping? Cameron

This camping trip was supposed to cheer me up, but I wasn’t feeling it, despite the fresh air and sunshine. The campgrounds were between Goat Mountain and Lover’s Butte, above the lake. There were small rivers great for fly fishing, if you were into that. I’d done it before, but it wasn’t really my thing. I preferred sitting on the bank, tossing in a line, then bullshitting with a good friend while we waited for the bobber to go under. If it never did, I didn’t care either way. It was more about the company, but I wasn’t fit company for anyone right now. Particularly, Brock and Eddy, who were loading camping equipment into the back of Brock’s truck.

Eddy scowled at me. “Hey, I’m not exactly excited about this, so maybe you can come and help?”

“I guess. Yeah, sure.” Normally, I was the first to jump in, but I’d been more about wallowing in my pain the last few days. Pitching in would at least get my mind off of him.

Eddy handed me a couple of fishing poles and a tackle box before grabbing a cooler and stomping off to the truck. We worked together and once the truck was loaded, I crawled into the back seat, with Eddy in the front and Brock driving.

“So…” Eddy turned and looked back at me with one eyebrow cocked.

“So what?”

“Leave him alone, Eddy,” Brock added.

Eddy snorted. “If I’m being dragged out to Mount Goat-butt, I think I deserve to know.”

“Goat-butt?” I asked. Where had he come up with that from?

“Eh. Goat Mountain plus Lover’s Butte, but my version sounds better.” He stuck his tongue out at me.

I almost smiled. “Goofy.”

“Whatever. Now spill.” He made grabby hands.

“Spill what?”

“What is going on with Everett Lundy?” he huffed. “And you?”

I sighed. “All I ever did was try to help him, and he accused me of gaslighting him.”

“Isn’t that over?” Brock asked. “Thought you had already made up about that.”

“Me too, but I guess it’s still bothering me. I’ve never done that to anyone.”

“Your feelings are hurt?” Eddy looked more sympathetic now.

“Yeah. And he’s like a yo-yo. A grumpy-scowly yo-yo.”

Brock shook his head, but Eddy wasn’t leaving it at that. “What do you mean?”

“One minute he likes me, the next he doesn’t. Then after telling me he’d hooked up with the asshole doing all this, he thanks me for saving his life with a blow job. A blow job! Can you believe that?”