Chapter 1

One

KARA

Zeke rolls his eyes again when he hears Troy complaining about the snacks for the tenth time. I heft the last plastic container into the bed of my truck and smile. You’d think by now that Zeke is aware of Troy’s drama, but our resident “dad” still lets it get to him. Troy wants more chocolate snacks for the drive to the campsite, and I just shake my head at him. There’s a surprise stash in his backpack, but Mr. Drama hasn’t thought to look in there yet. I know what he likes, and chocolate on road trips is a must.

The campsite is only around four hours away, so even though we’re not driving cross country, there are rules to follow. For instance, my own snack stash is salty; I prefer chips and pretzels to the sweet stuff when driving. Which I usually do, so it stays pretty consistent. Zeke moves to the other side of my truck bed, and we work together to get the Tonneau cover closed and locked down.

“You know there’s a stash of chocolate in his bag, right?” I tease Zeke.

“Obviously. This happens every trip. He always complains about the lack of chocolate and you always put a stash in his bag. Why doesn’t he just check there first?”

“Tradition,” I shrug.

“We need a new tradition. One that doesn’t make my eye twitch,” Zeke grumbles as he moves to hop in the front passenger seat.

Dan and Flynn are sealing up their own truck full of gear and look like they’re ready to go. They make quite the sight together. Both are well over six feet tall, Dan with his black hair and Flynn with brown, but they both have gorgeous blue eyes. After their muscles, their matching eyes were the first thing I noticed about them when we met all those years ago. Can’t blame a girl for looking. I doubt anything would ever happen, though.

“You boys got everything?” I ask, standing with my car door open, boosted on the running board.

“Of course we do!” Dan says in his weirdly chipper way.

Even when he’s mad, Dan is chipper. When I first met him, it freaked me out. I mean, I saw him beat someone up for being an asshole and borderline assaulting me, and still he smiled. He even offered to help the guy up. He just doesn’t get mad. It’s been years of getting used to him, though, and it’s just how he is, and we love him for it. Flynn looks over at me, a mischievous smile taking over his face.

“I’d say last one there is a rotten egg, but if I have it my way, we’ll be taking a break or two on the drive. Need to keep our heads together,” he offers with a wink.

“We don’t need to know!” Zeke yells from inside the cab.

I laugh, enjoying the banter. Flynn and I both know that Zeke doesn’t really care, but the game is fun to play. Dan and Flynn have been hooking up on and off, and we’re all just waiting for them to make it official. At least I am; I’m not sure if Troy or Zeke really care. I’m happy they find comfort in each other, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t jealous. They’re both gorgeous and so damn masculine that I’m embarrassed to admit they’ve been in a fantasy or two.

Am I drooling? I hope not.

“You don’t need to know, but I know you want to know!” Flynn shoots back.

Zeke laughs and flips him off, causing a round of laughter from Flynn and Dan. Once we’re all buckled, I pop on a playlist from my phone before backing out and hitting the road. Zeke immediately leans back in his seat and closes his eyes. Most of the time he ends up sleeping on trips longer than an hour, so for a while he offered to sit in back since he’s useless as a navigator, but Troy loves the space of being the only one in the back. Either way was fine by me. I’ve got my GPS, so I don’t really need a navigator. We tried switching up the passenger arrangement once, but when Zeke almost took Flynn out for pretending to be lost, we decided those two should be separated.

I take one more glance at Zeke, appreciating how he looks so boyish with his messy blond hair when he’s resting. His green eyes typically hold so much responsibility, so I appreciate seeing him so relaxed. Part of me wants to brush some of the hair off his forehead, but I remind myself we’re friends and I’m driving, so I keep my hands to myself.

Around twenty minutes into the drive, I finally hear the excited squeal I’ve been waiting for. This happens every trip, so at this point I think it’s just part of the joy of our trips for him. He never checks his bag before we leave, and he always waits twenty minutes into the drive before looking.

“Kara, you’re the best!” Troy exclaims.

“I know I am.”

“So modest too.”

I laugh and shake my head. “Glad you still like them.”

He holds four boxes of Bunch-A-Crunch candies in his arms as he surges forward to the front, placing himself on the console between Zeke and me. Before I realize what’s happening, he’s planting a kiss on my cheek.

“I appreciate it,” he whispers to me.

I can’t help smiling and I even hear Zeke huff before peeking over at him to see a small smile on his face.

“Anything for you guys, you know that,” I remind them both.

TROY

I get it, you know, I’m a lot. I always have been, but I do really try to be grateful when my friends do things for me because I never want them to feel like I’m taking advantage of them. Of course I knew Kara was going to put chocolate in my bag, she always does, but it didn’t stop me from worrying about it when we left the house. Then I couldn’t bring myself to look for the first twenty minutes of the drive. Sometimes I worry they’ll get sick of me, but they never do, so I’m not changing a damn thing.

That’s probably why I surprise both myself and Kara when I surge forward in her truck and plant a kiss on her cheek. She always gives me a stash of chocolate on road trips, and while we’re not normally a super touchy-feely group, it felt right to thank her like that. She’s always willing to go with the flow and entertain my quirks. The kiss itself didn’t really surprise me. The fact that I did it without thinking, whispered in her ear, then wondered what else I could whisper did surprise me.

Kara is gorgeous. She’s tall, is not afraid of her bigger body, has naturally gorgeous blond hair, and brown eyes that one could drown in. She’s just… everything. This whole group almost revolves around her, and I don’t think she has any idea. Maybe I’ll talk to a couple of the guys this week about changing that. I’ll start with Danny boy; he’s always willing to do something nice. He might also punch you with a smile on his face, but I think I’m safe at this point. It’s been a few years, and he hasn’t taken a swing… yet.

The rest of the drive goes without incident and soon enough, we’re pulling into the campgrounds. Kara nudged Zeke awake when we got close, and now that we’re at the gate, he’s hopping out of the truck to get us all checked in. Thankfully, the line is small, and we get registered and to our site quickly. Once parked, I all but jump out of the backseat, walking around the site to determine the best spot for our tent. There is a nice, shady spot, but there are roots all over the place.

“How long do you think it will take him this time?” Flynn asks.

“I give him five minutes,” I hear Dan chime in.

“I vote ten,” Zeke adds.

“Definitely seven,” Kara bets.

“You’re all assholes,” I say, not looking at them.

A round of laughter follows, but finding the right spot is an art. If we have a site with no shade, I have to consider where the sun will rise. When there are a ton of trees, we don’t want to lay on roots. Once I find what I think is the perfect spot, I do another walk around it to be sure. It’s nice and flat, not a ton of roots nearby, and close to the firepit. I turn around with my arms wide and a grin on my face.

“Ta-Da! This is the spot!” I announce.

Kara holds out her hand. “Pay up, bitches.”

She snickers while the guys grumble and slap some cash into her open hand before hauling out the tent. We use the term tent, but if I’m being honest, it’s basically a blow-up cabin. I help the guys get it positioned while Kara sets up the portable air pump to blow it up. It inflates in all its beige glory, twelve feet deep, eight feet wide, and seven feet tall. For a couple of years we did separate tents, but we were always switching who slept where based on who was up late, so one year I splurged on this baby.

Of course I got teased for being high maintenance and dramatic about how badly we needed this thing, but it’s been absolutely perfect and nobody’s complained about it once since. How’s that for dramatic? I reach into the back of a truck to grab our tatami sleep mats, an upgrade that Kara found. They’re softer than air mattresses and are super comfortable. I lay out the mats toward the back of the tent, making a large sleeping area where we can just grab a sleeping bag or blankets and lay down when we get tired.

Kara helps Dan haul in our totes of supplies which include fairy lights to string up and a couple of small plush chairs to chill in if we want to be inside. They especially come in handy on rainy days. Zeke assembles the small bookshelf and adds the books we bring each year. It’s always a different supply, but it’s nice to have them handy for a lazy day. Suitcases get lined up near the sleeping mats and before you know it, our cozy cabin/”tent” is ready to go. Zeke makes the first ice run, and while he’s doing that, I sneak out my special surprise.

We’ve been doing this camping trip for five years this year, and it felt right to do something a little special. So, I grab the plastic champagne glasses and pull out a bottle of bubbly. I think I’m the only one who actually kind of likes the stuff, but it’s the principle of the thing. I had it pre-chilled and popped it in an insulated container before leaving, so it’s still nice and cool. All the other cooler items are safe, but there’s no way this bottle would have stayed nice and chilled rolling around with the food. When Zeke gets back with the ice, I’ll just pop the rest of the bottle in the cooler with everything else. It won’t matter if it gets warm after this.

Placing the glasses on the picnic table, I pour four sips and one full glass as Zeke walks back up to our site. Kara’s the first to notice, and she smiles at me before rounding up Dan and Flynn. She goes with the flow for just about anything we do, and it always makes my heart feel lighter when she supports my over-the-top touches. Zeke joins us a moment later, having seen us gather.

“Everyone take a glass! We need a toast to five years of camping together,” I proclaim.

“Hear, hear!” Kara shouts.

The guys all smile and knock back their glasses. Here’s to a week of fun.