Page 22 of Grumpy Bear

Luke studied the tent around him for a moment before looking back at me. “We set up the tarp pretty good though, didn’t we?”

I scratched the back of my neck. “Ah… it could be a little better. I came out here thinking maybe we could make a few adjustments real quick before it gets too late.”

“Yeah. Sure. Absolutely. Thank you.” He jumped up and turned, revealing the slender length of his back. His shoulders weren’t enormous, but he still had an ideal masculine V-shape. The knit fabric of his briefs clung tightly to his ass, more rounded and bubbly than the asses of most men his size. He looked like he’d been put together from two different body types. He was a handsome teenage boy from the waist up and a muscular hairy runner from the waist down.

A satyr, I thought again. He totally looks like a satyr.

He stomped into his unlaced sneakers and stepped out, bending over to zip the door flap. Good habit. Kept unwelcome guests from slithering in.

I was used to guys on the property being in all states of undress. He was by no means immodest or unusual by our standards, and he looked more like an old school nudist from the sixties than anybody else around here did.

“Okay.” He turned to face me, tucking loose hair behind his ears. “What do you want me to do?”

I was grateful to abandon small talk for instruction. He helped me release two corners of the tarp and exaggerate the slant to protect the door flap and keep water from collecting directly overhead.

“Yeah. That’ll be a lot better.” He grinned at me, standing there in his sneakers and underwear, hands loose on his hips, stray hair falling out of his sloppy ponytail and catching a halo of dim light.

I mumbled a bunch of technical shit about wind direction and rain slant, repeating everything I’d already explained as we’d worked. I was recapping, for God’s sake. I sounded like somebody’s fucking dad, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself.

He nodded, politely listening.

Darkness fell while I babbled. The orange glow left the sky and the shadows shifted to a deeper blue.

We heard a muted shout followed by laughter. Lights glowed down the holler. You could see shapes passing across windows.

“That’s the pool complex bathhouse.” I assumed he was wondering. “The one with the steam room and the sauna.”

“Ah.” Luke’s lips pulled upward in a knowing smile.

“You can go down there and check it out if you want. It’s what all the horny boys come for.”

“Not me.”

“No? You came to a naked campground to read?”

He smirked, then his face opened into the earnest expression he’d worn when he’d talked about the book. “I really do need the job and a chance to think for a few days. Consider my prospects.”

“What are your prospects?” Was this when he was going to whip out his demo CD?

“Well, I’m not sure yet. I didn’t plan much beyond getting to Edgewood. Now I’m kind of waiting for inspiration or waiting to see what unfolds. I realize how naive that probably sounds.”

“I get it. Come be in nature. Clear your head. Reset. A lot of guys come here for that. For some of us, it’s not all about getting your rocks off.”

I needed to not mention anything sexual to him. Sure, he was technically an employee, but that had never shut me up before. The same casual comments I would make to any other guy without thinking about it felt… loaded with him.

He considered me for a moment. His smile was a little on the wistful side. “You know, I should have already said this, but I really appreciate you giving me the opportunity to be here.” He gestured toward the tent and the adjustments we’d made on the tarp. “I really can’t thank you enough for looking out for me, Coleman.”

For some reason, it embarrassed the fuck out of me when he used my first name. Sure, I wasn’t used to hearing it, but I liked it coming from him.

I looked away, smoothing down the hairs on the back of my neck. “If you need anything else or if it gets really bad out here tonight…” I trailed off. Was I seriously suggesting he come spend the night with me? I needed to stop talking.

I made a vague hand gesture—a wave, I guess—and fled back to the cabin.

A few hours later, there was a flash of lightning with a thunderclap like a mortar shell, and all hell broke loose.

I didn’t even notice the usual warning spatter of drops. In the space of a heartbeat, the sound of rain on the tin roof became deafening white noise like someone in the sky had thrown a switch.

A lot of times, when the rain started in the night after I’d fallen asleep, I’d wake up dreaming about the waterfall at the top of the holler.