Chapter Three

~ Remy ~

Okay, hiking might not be that bad. Yes, the pack was heavy. Yes, I had more than a few bug bites. And yes, I was pretty sure my calf muscles were going to form a revolt. But being able to listen to Margot and Olivia freak out every time a twig snapped was the highlight of my day. These two women should not have come on this trip.

Cindy seemed to be taking it all in stride. Granted, she had dressed for the part just as I had, and that probably made things a little easier. Margot and Olivia had dressed to impress. Short shorts and strappy tank tops. Now, they were wearing boots, but those boots had three inch heels on them.

I almost cackled every time I heard Margot trip over air.

Yes, yes, my amusement at her expense was morally wrong, but come on. She knew we would be hiking through the woods. She was told to be prepared. Was it better to be prepared or to look good while you were dying?

"Braaad!" Margot whined. "Can"t we take a break? I"m tired."

Okay, maybe I could do without that.

"We just stopped a half hour ago, Margot," Brad replied in a gruff tone. "We"re not stopping again."

"But my feet hurt."

I pressed my lips firmly together to keep from snickering. Margot wasn"t even wearing her backpack. Brad was carrying hers and his. If anyone should be tired, it was him.

On the other hand, he had chosen to bring her along so I kind of felt like he got what he deserved.

Maybe this was why I was gay. I didn"t get women at all. A picture of Vanya appeared in my head. No, I was gay because I liked slick muscles and the feeling of being dominated.

God, if he wasn"t my best friend"s older brother I would have been all over him. Unfortunately, there were just some lines you didn"t cross. I"m not saying if he had offered I wouldn"t jump at the chance, because I would, best friend or not, but he had never offered.

I think it was the whole "baby brother"s best friend" thing. The differences in our ages didn"t help. Either that or he just didn"t see me like that, which would be truly epically sad.

Probably true though.

"I can"t believe I am going to ask this." I glanced at Yeri. "Are we there yet?"

Yeri snickered as he shook his head. "We"re close."

"Define close?"

A frown wrinkled the skin between Yeri"s eyebrows as he looked around. "Another thirty minutes or so I think."

"You think?"

Yeri gestured behind us with his head. "Depends on how many times she tries to get us to take a break."

"Ugh," I groaned. "I just want to sit in that swimming hole and soak my aching feet. Is that too much to ask?"

"We could be there in about fifteen minutes if we picked up the pace."

I glanced at him. "How fast of a pace?"

I"d be willing to put in the extra effort.

Yeri grinned as he wagged his eyebrows. "Walk faster."

I picked up the pace when Yeri did.

"Speed it up if you don"t want to get left behind," Yeri called out to the people lagging behind us. "Relaxation awaits."

Okay, so it took twenty minutes to reach the campground, but that was better than thirty. By the time the cabins appeared, I was pretty sure my legs were going to give out.

Yeri stopped suddenly. "Whoa."

"What?"

"Remember how I said my brother and his friends had come up and done a little work on the place?"

"Yeah." I glanced around to try and see what he might be referring to, but I wasn"t seeing it. Made sense since I had never been here before and had no idea what it might have looked like before.

"They did a lot."

"How so?"

"From what I can see without going into any of the cabins, they all have new roofs and windows. The porches have been repairs. I even see some solar panels on the roofs."

My eyes widened. "You mean we got power?"

"Maybe?"

Damn, that would be fantastic.

"Which cabin is mine?" I wanted to get this backpack off so I could explore, and maybe find that swimming hole so I could soak my feet.

There were six cabins in two lines of three with the communal kitchen and showers at the end and a fire pit right in the middle of everything. A smaller building sat behind each row of cabins, which I assumed by its size meant it was the famous outhouses.

Yeri pointed to a cabin on the end. "Take that one down there on the end. I"ll take the one next to you so I can put a barrier between you and the others."

That would be good.

"Want me to take your pack and put it on your porch?"

"Yeah," Yeri said as he slid it off his back. "I"ll get the others settled in their cabins."

"If possible, can you put Brad and Margot away from me?" I asked. "I really don"t want to listen to them going at it all night long."

Yeri"s eyes rolled. "Oh man, I"m putting them at the far end. I don"t want to listen to that either."

"What are you going to do about Cindy and Charlie?"

"I already talked to them and they are fine with sharing a cabin so I am putting them in one of the ones with the loft. Cindy can have the bedroom and Charlie can sleep in the loft."

"How many have lofts?"

"Yours, mine, and the one they are staying in."

Made sense.

"Okay, have fun getting them settled."

I walked over and dropped my backpack off on my porch and then started to head over to drop Yeri"s off, but the sound of Margot"s whining paused me in place.

That whine was way too close.

"I"m not moving!"

"Margot," Yeri was apparently trying to explain. "You and Brad get the end cabin by the kitchen. Levi and Olivia will be right next to you."

Margot huffed as she crossed her arms and sat down on the steps of Yeri"s cabin. "I want this cabin. It"s right in the middle."

Yeah, I wasn"t going to put up with her shit for the next week.

I stomped over and dropped the backpack on the porch behind Margot before glaring at her. "Move your ass, Margot. This is Yeri"s cabin."

She gave me a scathing look. "I will not."

"This is Yeri"s campground. He gets to decide who gets what cabin." I pointed to the cabin at the far end. "I believe your cabin is down over there."

"I want this one."

Spoiled little bitch.

"Too damn bad. You"re not getting it."

"I want to be in the middle," she insisted.

"Fine, take the one next to it. That will put you in the middle." If that was her only argument, it as easily solved. Unfortunately, I was pretty sure Margot was arguing because she wasn"t getting her way, not because she wanted the middle cabin.

"No." Margot tilted her face up as if she thought she was a regal queen and I was a mere subject beneath her feet. "I want this one."

I took a step closer and leaned over the stair railing. "Let me make this perfectly clear to you, your highness. Either you get your fat ass up and move to the cabin Yeri offered you or I will do it for you."

Margot gasped. "My ass is not fat!"

Seriously? That was what she was upset about?

"You get to stay in the cabin assigned to you. This one belongs to Yeri." I pointed toward the trail we had came in by. "If you don"t like it, your car is half a day"s hike that way."

Her nostrils flared for a moment and I knew she wanted to hit me.

I raised an eyebrow, daring her to do it.

Margot huffed and got up and started marching past me. "Fine, I"ll take this one," she said as she headed for my cabin.

I quickly moved ahead of her and stood at the bottom of the steps. "I"ve already claimed this one."

"Then move to the one at the other end."

"No."

"Why can you have it and not me?" Margot looked me up and down before sneering. "Just because you suck Yeri"s dick doesn"t mean you can have anything you want. You are not in charge here."

"And neither are you." I wasn"t about to touch the dick sucking comment. "Yeri is in charge. If you don"t like it, like I said, your car is about a half day"s hike back the other way."

I walked up the steps, grabbed my backpack, and let myself in. I shut the door firmly behind me and sighed as I set my backpack down next to the door.

I was ready to boot Margot back to the car parking area myself. I"d even carry her backpack if it meant I didn"t have to deal with her for the next seven days.

I was done dealing with Margot.

I gasped when I stopped fuming and finally got a good look at the inside of the cabin. I had been expecting something vastly different, like raw logs and a dirt floor.

This was not that.

Granted, the walls were raw wood, but they had been sanded down to a fine sheen, as had the wooden floors. Right when you came in you were in a great room with a living space including a river rock fireplace on one side of the room, small dining area in the middle, and a fully working kitchen on the other side. It was not a kitchenette.

Off to the right was a small hallway with two doors, one led to a bedroom, and, wonders of wonders, one led to a bathroom. A fully useable bathroom complete with shower, toilet, sink, and claw foot bathtub. I wasn"t sure how considering where we were located, but I wasn"t going to be upset over it.

It had a freaking bathroom.

There was also a small set of stairs in the hallway leading to the loft. Someone had turned it into a small office and reading nook.

I approved.

I walked back out into the main room and over to grab my backpack. I set it on the dining room table so I could unpack everything and put it away. When I went to put the food away, I was a bit surprised. Yeri had said the place was already stocked with food, but these shelves were full.

After putting my clothes in the bedroom and my bathing supplies in the bathroom, I headed back to the main room. I was grabbing my empty backpack to stick it in the closet when the front door opened and Yeri came in.

There was a big grin on his face as he said, "Man, Margot is pissed. She"s been screaming at Brad since you went into the cabin."

"Did she go to her assigned cabin?"

"Yeah, but Brad had to carry her there." Yeri started laughing. "It was epic, man. She was just screeching and screeching. Brad finally picked her up, tossed her over his shoulder, and just carried her away."

That made me almost admire the man.

I waved my hand around the great room. "Did you expect all of this?" I asked. "Did this place look like this the last time you were up here?"

Yeri took a moment to look around and then nodded. "Yeah, pretty much. A little cleaner, though."

My eyebrows lifted. "It looked like this before?"

"Well, most of it. The kitchen has had some work done on it, but the rest of it looks about the same."

Really? The cabins were this nice before?

"And the bathroom?" I asked.

Yeri"s jaw dropped. "You have a bathroom?"

I walked over to the bathroom door and pointed.

Yeri"s eyes rounded when he saw it. "That wasn"t here before. This used to be a storage room."

"Maybe this was the surprise your brother as talking about."

Yeri"s brow flickered. "I wonder if my cabin has a bathroom."

Before I could say anything, Yeri spun and raced out of the cabin. A minute later I heard a very loud, "Yahoo!"

Guess he had a bathroom, too.

Maybe this camping trip wouldn"t be a total bust after all.