Once he’d stretched the kinks out of his back, he had to admit the woods were gorgeous in the soft morning light. Birds chirped from the heavy blanket of tree limbs above them and every now and then, something rustled the few beds of dried leaves on the ground from the small groups of dying trees. He’d read that a fungus of some sort had invaded the park, but it looked like only a few trees had been affected.
He was kind of looking forward to their hike to higher ridges.
Still missed his damn coffeepot, though.
Rowe had the fire going already and he’d laid out breakfast makings. Snow’s stomach growled, so he strolled over to help.
“Most of the trails are going to be too much for Ian. He’s still…healing.” Rowe swallowed hard as placed bacon strips on the skillet over the fire. “There are a few easier ones we could try—Chimney Top or maybe Sky Bridge. Or we could split up for part of the day. Once everyone is up and fed, we can decide.” He nodded at the bacon. “Lucas will be up as soon as this scent fills the air.”
“He will,” Snow agreed as he cracked eggs into a bowl and added pepper. He frowned, hating the sad note in Rowe’s voice, wishing he could do more to help him. Then something Rowe said struck him. The only thing that kept Lucas lounging in bed was sex and it was way too quiet for that to be happening. He stared at the tent. “Surprised he isn’t up already. The man lives for bacon.”
“Yeah, well, I’m pretty sure he lives for Andrei as well.” Rowe smirked. “You weren’t the only one having sex last night. Lucas and Andrei managed to do it much more quietly, though. Jesus, Snow, what the hell was Jude doing to you?”
“You want details?” Snow stopped stirring the eggs and grinned at his friend. “Because I’m happy to share.”
“Yeah, no.” Rowe frowned and picked up a can of biscuits. “Ian is going to flip when he sees the canned biscuits so we’d better hurry and get them on.”
Ian sleeping in made sense. He normally worked long hours into the night and made up his sleep in the morning. Still…Snow frowned at the tent again. A rustling in the leaves pulled his gaze away and he watched the woods a moment, hoping for a glimpse of something like a deer. He’d seen several on the drive in. When nothing moved, he shook his head. Even exhausted and sweaty from his long night, he was having a better time than he expected. He wiped sweat from his forehead with his shoulder and glanced at Jude. He’d spread the map out on a large boulder and had squatted in front of it. He looked sexy in his black shorts and brown tank, his hair in wild tufts around his head and sweat already shining on his shoulders.
He briefly played with the idea of tackling him…
“We could do partial trails,” Jude said, not pulling his gaze from the map. “Maybe hike out to Jump Rock and swim awhile. I’ve always wanted to try that ledge.”
“Sounds good,” Rowe agreed. “I need butter.” He frowned and stalked over to Ian’s coolers and started digging through the first one. “Holy shit! Ian brought a lot of food.” He pulled out a container and pried off the lid. “This pasta salad smells fantastic.” He closed it, put it back, then pulled out another container. “Beans, tomatoes, peppers, corn…I don’t know what this is, but I wanna fucking eat it.”
“It’s cowboy caviar,” Ian yelled from inside the tent. “It’s for tonight! Put it back!”
Snow snorted.
Rowe grumbled, quickly grabbed a spoon and shoveled a massive bite into his mouth before he hurriedly fastened the lid back on the container and placed it back inside the cooler. His eyes rolled back into his head and Snow half expected him to choke. That bite was huge.
“So good,” Rowe mumbled after he swallowed. He looked down at the cooler with regret. “Hey Ian, we’re only here a few days. Are all the coolers full like this one?”
Ian came out of the tent, stared at Rowe a moment, then reached out to flick something off the corner of Rowe’s mouth. He scowled, looking so damned endearing, Snow bit his lip. The younger man’s shorts and T-shirt were wrinkled, his hair was flattened on one side, and he had the imprint of a stick on his cheek. How he got that with an air mattress wasn’t a mystery. Ian sleep crawled. He sleep rolled. Hell, he probably sleepwalked. Snow had seen him fall asleep on Lucas’s couch and wake up on the floor in the kitchen. Muffled laughter sounded behind him and he glanced back to find Jude quickly turning away.
“What other salads are in there?” Rowe asked, eyeing the cooler again. “Are there others in those?