“Enough, you two.” Fitzgibbon sighed, pulling up to a crossroads. “Ronan, where the hell do I need to go?”
“Go straight,” Ronan said. “You’re gonna turn left when you see a sign for campsites from 1000 to 1050. Should be your fourth right.”
“You just said left! Which is it?” Fitz asked, feeling more and more like he should have stayed home and waited for the disagreement between them to blow over in its own good time.
“Give me the map,” Jude leaned over Ronan’s seat and snatched it from him. “Okay, take the second right up here. Bare Creek Road, it’s called.
“There’s the sign I told you about,” Ronan said, sounding pissy.
Fitz took the turn, anxious to get to the campsite so they could set up their tents and get the lay of the land. He read the wooden markers as he drove, finally locating their site. “Okay, here we go.” Fitz parked the SUV and hopped out.
Opening the hatch, he started pulling out the camping gear. Jude and Ronan came to help. After several minutes the SUV was unloaded. All that was left to do now was to set up the tents and gather wood for a campfire. “Let’s get to work setting up camp.” When neither Ronan nor Jude responded, Fitz turned around ready to give each of them a piece of his mind. What he saw made him want to get back in the SUV and drive home.
Walking toward their campsite were three men, laughing and joking with each other. At first, the men reminded Fitz of himself and his friends, one was tall like him, another was blond like Ronan and the third was dark haired, like Jude, but that’s where the similarities ended. All three men were buck naked. “What the actual fuck is going on here?”
“I’m not sure,” Ronan said, with his mouth hanging open.
“Morning, fellas! Hell of a day, huh?” The tallest man asked.
“Sure is,” Ronan returned. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but…”
Oh Jesus, Fitz thought to himself. Ronan was going to open his big mouth and make enemies out of the three jovial men. The good news was that none of them were carrying weapons, unless of course they were concealed.
“Which way is the orgy?” Ronan asked, his usual snarky grin was in place.
“Orgy?” the brunette asked, laughing. “We’re coming back from yoga.”
“They have naked yoga here?” Jude asked.
“Everythingis naked here,” the blonde laughed.
“Oh, sweet Jesus, when we get home, my husband is gonna die. Slowly. Painfully. Naked as the day he was born,” Ronan muttered. “This place is a nudist colony?”
“What gave it away?” the tall man asked. “Anyway, we’ll catch you later. Ultimate Frisbee starts at two.” All three men waved and were on their way.
“I don’t even want to know what makes nekkid frisbeeultimate,” Jude said, with a shiver.
Ronan burst out laughing. Within seconds, Fitz and Jude joined in.
Fitz could have done with a different kind of ice breaker, one that involved fully dressed fellow campers, but at least the three of them were laughing together again.
“This explains why Cope packed a huge bottle of…”
“Lube?” Ronan interrupted, sounding like his usual snarky self.
Jude snorted. “No, sunblock.”
“You think they all knew what this place was when they booked the reservation?” Fitz asked.
“Fuck, yes!” Ronan said.
“Absolutely,” Jude agreed.
“All that’s left to do now is plot our revenge.” Fitz waggled his eyebrows and burst out laughing.
Jude and Ronan joined in.
Sharing a funny moment together wasn’t much, but it was a start in the right direction. The three of them were at their best when they worked together to confront a common enemy. Jace, Ten, and Cope weren’t going to know what hit them.
