Page 74 of Grumpy Bear

“Um…” There was a long staticky pause.

I huffed. Fucking spit it out, dude.

“Creek’s in the pool.” I could hear his wince.

I clenched my teeth. “Mother fuck.”

I heard him sigh. “Yeah.”

“Copy.”

Before I climbed in the UTV, I considered the depth of the mud around the back tires.

Trey—fucking Trey—appeared out of nowhere, the only person I’d encountered on the property who still somehow managed to look dry. “Need me to push?”

“I think I got it.” I hopped in, gunned it quick, and was free with minimal splatter.

But I couldn’t drive away because Trey grabbed the roll bar over the passenger seat. “Where you headed?”

Surely to God he didn’t think I was gonna give him a ride somewhere. “Swimming hole.” The tone of my voice couldn’t have been any less inviting. “Kind of in a hurry.”

He leaned in and his lips turned up in a coy smile. “Want some help?”

I snorted and slowly shook my head. “I think you’ve helped enough.”

Trey’s smile faltered. “What?”

“Yeah, man. It was really kind of you to recommend Luke for that audition.”

His eyebrows rose and he tried to project casual innocence. “I just told Brad I thought he was really talented.”

“He is. Super fucking talented. And if it works out for him, it’ll be because of that. And you better fucking hope it does, or—” I stopped myself from making some ridiculous caveman threat.

Trey released his hold on the roll bar as suddenly as if it had scalded him.

I shook my head at him in disbelief. “Did you really think if Luke wasn’t here anymore that I’d just automatically hook up with you again? That I’d choose you by default? Give you a full-time job? If that’s what you think about my ethics as an employer, you really don’t know me. So, let me be clear. Jim hired you. I didn’t choose to have you come back this year.”

Trey crossed his arms. For such a beautiful man, he gave me one of the ugliest looks I’d ever seen, smug and cruel. “And Luke chose to leave.”

It was intended as a gut punch, and it landed. Because it was true.

I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled through my nose. I tried to remind myself that real men don’t punch down. “You know what, Trey? You’re right. That’s on me. It’s probably what I deserve for using you like I did, considering I don’t really like you at all. But I gotta tell you, man, I’m worried for you. Because when you do this petty, selfish shit to somebody you think doesn’t matter, it curses you a little bit. It comes back to haunt you. Someday it’ll affect somebody who does matter to you. Somebody who actually has the potential to care about you a whole helluva lot more than I do.”

Trey frowned with a combination of condescension and confusion.

I wasn’t entirely sure whether I was giving him advice or just confessing my own regrets—probably a little bit of both—but I was certain of one thing: it was time for him to go. “So, are you gonna wait until tomorrow morning,” I asked conversationally, “or are you leaving tonight after clean up?”

Understanding settled behind his eyes and his face transformed into an emotionless mask. He didn’t say a word.

“Okay,” I said as if he’d answered. “In case I don’t see you again, thanks for your work this weekend. Good luck wherever you’re headed.”

I peeled out and took off up the road. I didn't think I ran over his foot. Unfortunately, it had rained too much to actually leave him in the dust.

Thirty minutes later, I was back to my life sentence, waist-deep in muddy water, stacking stones in the rain alone, feeling sorry for myself. Even though I spent every second thinking about Luke—the memories throbbing behind my eyes—I was amazed at how much it seemed like the last three days hadn’t even happened.

34

Luke