Page 21 of Grumpy Bear

Jesus. I guessed I was getting psychic vibes now too.

Maybe I should watch for Luke. Run over and at least warn him about the forecast. I went outside on my porch to see if he might be there, but I didn’t catch any movement or signs of life coming from his campsite.

He was probably getting his dick sucked in the steam room like any other red-blooded gay man who came here. He had come with Austin after all. That boy was the cruise director of a pornographic good time.

I went back inside and lay down to rest my eyes. I kept the radio low in the background. They kept repeating the storm information with more and more urgency. The reports mixed in my dozing mind, and I lurched awake with a sense of dread and immediately went outside.

A glow now illuminated Luke’s tent. He had found the lantern. I heard the tinny sound of an acoustic guitar being softly strummed.

I walked over, slowly and loudly, hoping the crunching of the leaves would alert him to my approach. He had the top third of the main door flap down with only the screen in place to block the moths hellbent on reaching his light.

He was singing, not in a full-throated voice but in the soft way people sang songs stuck in their heads. Or maybe he was working on something. It reminded me of the way Wayne used to sing when he was writing a song.

Luke must’ve heard me or seen my shadow. The singing stopped and he called out a tentative “Hello?”

“It’s me. Uh… Coleman.” My first name sounded like a lie to my ear. I wasn’t used to saying it, and I certainly wasn’t used to anyone using it to address me. A ridiculous heat flushed my face.

“Oh. Hey.” He sounded nervous. “Give me a second.”

There was the hissing rasp of skin rustling against the nylon material and then the zipper scraped down.

Luke squatted there in the tent, holding the neck of his guitar. He looked up at me, his lips parted. His hair was in a ponytail, and he was shirtless, wearing only a pair of Calvin Klein boxer briefs. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Great. We were up to four hellos in this conversation.

He laid his guitar in its case. It took up most of the free space in the tent. The thought crossed my mind I could offer to lock it up in the office, but he probably wanted to keep it with him.

“I was just, um, playing a little before bed. It helps me relax. Then I have to read for a little bit. I can’t sleep if I don’t.” He dug around and produced a book. “I found this in the lodge’s library. I hope it’s okay I borrowed it.”

I waved a dismissive hand. “That’s what they’re there for. Guests. Staff. Whoever.” Staff. That was wishful thinking. I doubted anyone on my staff ever read a fucking book. I chuckled.

Luke cocked his head, smiling softly. “What?”

“Nothing. Just, in all the time I’ve been here, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody who works here take a book from the library.”

“Really? There are so many good ones in there.”

“Well, I’m not entirely sure they can all read.”

He laughed out loud.

I suppressed a smile, a little too pleased my joke had landed. “What did you pick?”

“Um…” He turned it over as if he needed to check the title. “God Emperor of Dune.”

“One of the greats. Most people find it a little tedious, though, compared to the first three books.”

“Yeah. I love those. I’ve tried to read this one a few times and always get a little bogged down in the middle.”

“It’s not Star Wars.”

“It most definitely is not.” His expression turned serious. “If you ask me, Lucas totally ripped off Herbert’s concepts and watered them down for the masses.”

The comment and the conviction behind it… It was like a lid opened up above some warm, deep well I’d never expected to find here. The hair on the back of my neck stirred. “I agree.” There was nothing else I could say.

We smiled at each other, and the awkward beat of silence lengthened. He had deep laugh lines for someone his age.

I reached for the corner of the tarp and tugged on it. “So, I should probably warn you, the forecast is calling for some possible thunderstorms tonight.”