The Wingman by A. Poland
Chapter Nine
After what felt like the stiffest good night in history with Miles, knowing full well he would see him within the next three hours, Nathan climbed back into the tent beside Lorcan. Who, in Nathan’s absence, had sprawled out and somehow filled the entire space of the two-person tent with his outstretched arms and legs.
Too tired to even begin to feel annoyed, Nathan sharply kicked Lorcan’s hip in an effort to get him to scooch over a couple of inches. With a grunt, he obliged, and Nathan lay down in the small space awarded to him before Lorcan could roll back over to reclaim it.
For once in his life, Nathan was appreciative of his size. If he’d filled out like Lorcan had in high school—something Nathan had cursed him for at the time, when he’d left him in the dust with lanky arms and scrawny shoulders—and shot up beyond his current five-foot-nine stance, there was no way he’d have managed to find space.
That didn’t exactly bode well for Miles and Lorcan sharing a tent, and Nathan couldn’t find it within himself to feel bad about feeling pleased about that.
Nathan managed to snag an hour’s sleep before Lorcan started to shift around, the sun steadily rising. Once Lorcan sat up, Nathan knew he wouldn’t be able to hide inside the warmth and safety of his sleeping bag for much longer.
“Good morning, Nate!” Lorcan crooned not a moment later, his booming enthusiasm as annoying as any insistent alarm to Nathan’s exhausted head.
“Shut up,” Nathan groaned, trying to wriggle himself further down into the bag.
“That’s not the attitude I want to hear,” Lorcan tutted.
“Tough,” came Nathan’s sleepy huff from under the fabric. “That’s the attitude you’re getting.”
Lorcan chuckled, always the early bird between the two of them, and started to unzip Nathan’s sleeping bag. A move that, in another context, Nathan would have been completely fine with but resented deeply now. “Come on, you had a full night’s sleep. You should be ready to work today.”
Nathan didn’t have the energy to correct him.
“Do we have coffee?” he managed as the brisk morning air invaded the warm confines.
“Sure do,” Lorcan assured him, playfully ruffling Nathan’s hair before letting the sunlight stream in. Lorcan was gone before he could hear Nathan’s grunt of distaste.
“Have you been up long?” Lorcan asked someone, and from the soft-spoken reply, Nathan surmised it was Miles.
Right. Of course, they’re both morning people. A match made in heaven, Nathan thought, dismayed. He sat up and rubbed bleary eyes, then let out a garbled shout when he opened them to see Jordie perched right in front of him.
“Holy shit,” he wheezed, hand to his chest as his heart raced. “Wear a damn bell. Jesus.”
Jordie raised an unimpressed brow before making herself comfortable, sitting cross-legged on top of Lorcan’s bag as she got straight to the point.
“I’m going to take it last night didn’t go well,” she said, cutting Nathan off with a knowing look when he opened his mouth to object. Nathan closed it with a frown. It wasn’t as though he could dispute her assumption anyway. Last night couldn’t have gone worse.
And if it could have, Nathan would love to hear how. Maybe that would have made him feel better. But he doubted Jordie was here to heal his wounded pride.
“I heard Lorcan laughing, which I assume was at your attempts to seduce.”
“No one needs to be that blunt before 9:00 a.m. You know that, right? That has to be a violation against something.”
Jordie smiled slightly, amused, and Nathan would like to think that meant he was growing on her. “We’re going to the lake today. Try to rile Lorcan up then.”
Rile him up? Nathan furrowed his brow.
As in get him going? Get those juices flowing?
Nathan must have been the image of a deer caught in the headlights because Jordie’s expression quickly turned from amused to reassuring.
“It should be easier than last night. Everyone looks good wet,” she encouraged him, not that Nathan found her words very comforting in the slightest.
Lorcan had already seen Nathan in various states of undress before—pool parties, sleepovers, out-of-control not-pool-parties, the list went on—but Lorcan had never once indicated he was interested in seeing Nathan like that.
How was Nathan supposed to seduce him with his half-naked body if Lorcan already knew what that looked like? Then again, Nathan reassured himself, Lorcan could just be an incredibly good liar. He’d kept this whole bi awakening a secret for an entire year. It was completely plausible.
“Okay.” He nodded with newfound confidence. “I can do that.”
“Right,” Jordie agreed, but she didn’t look convinced by Nathan’s display of bravado. Leaving it at that, regardless, Jordie made her way back out to the others before they could question her absence.
Nathan took a moment to stretch, his spine popping in a way that mildly concerned him; smacked his cheeks a couple of times to wake himself up; and then ventured outside, trusty blanket draped around his shoulders.
“Hey, he’s up!” Lorcan rejoiced, as though it was nothing short of a miracle.
Which, okay, was true.
Nathan thrust his fist up in the air, like a victory fist bump to the skies, earning a round of applause from the trio and a zealous whistle from Lorcan.
The promise of coffee was fulfilled; Miles had brewed a pot over the fire. And as Nathan sipped from the metal cup and looked out over the forest, even he had to admit it was kind of nice.
The oatmeal Miles served up soured that experience a little, but Nathan was too hungry to politely decline the offer of breakfast. And when he polished off the bowl without a single gag, he determined Miles had laced it with crack.
Nathan might be a fan of most foods, but he had his limits with oatmeal and mustard.
After breakfast and two more cups of coffee, Nathan felt that he could at least pass as human by helping to pack up camp. He had no idea what he was doing, but it wasn’t as if he could go too wrong with putting things into bags and folding up the tent.
Everything tidied up and the fire safely extinguished, they set off on the trail again. This time, Nathan rejoiced, it would be all downhill.
Until they actually began the descent and Nathan realized it was somehow worse. Footing uncertain, Nathan held his arms out to the side for balance, akin to an out-of-practice trapeze artist, knees wobbling like jelly.
He had a few close calls with tumbling to the ground but managed to catch himself each time.
Until he placed his foot over a dislodged rock and plummeted to the ground with a painful thud. It took a moment for Nathan to register that he was on the ground and another moment for him to realize he’d definitely broken his ass.
Was that possible? Could you break your ass?
Whether it was or not, Nathan was convinced he was the first person to have done so.
Jordie was the first to see him fall, calling the other two back as she hurried over and knelt beside him, Nathan groaning.
“Can you move?” she asked as Lorcan appeared beside her, eyes wide with concern.
“Haven’t exactly tried yet,” Nathan shot back, earning a snort from Jordie, who determined that if he was able to speak, he was fine.
Miles then made his way into Nathan’s field of vision and put one hand on his elbow, the other held out for Nathan to grab. And because Nathan didn’t like the idea of lying in the dirt for much longer—with the rock that was responsible for all of this digging uncomfortably into his spine—he took it and grunted as Miles carefully raised him into a sitting position.
Gently, Miles cupped Nathan’s head in his hands, checking over his skull.
“Did you hit your head?” he asked, eyes intent.
“I hit everything,” Nathan replied before shaking himself free from Miles’s hold. “I think my ass took the brunt of the damage.”
“That’s implying that you have an ass,” Lorcan quipped, trying to lighten the mood.
No one laughed, Nathan noted with a sense of self-satisfaction. His ass was fine. Visually speaking, anyway. But right now, it felt the furthest thing from fine.
“I have a cooling pad that should help,” Miles told him, offering his hand again. “Want to try to stand?”
Taking a breath and nodding, Nathan grasped his hand and let Miles pull him up, pain flaring in his lower back. Lorcan lingered near on standby, hand out in case Nathan took another tumble.
“All steady?” Miles checked before slowly removing his hands from Nathan to rummage through his backpack for a first aid kit. Because, of course, he was a responsible camper.
Nathan always scolded Lorcan for not investing in anything more than a few Band-Aids for his own hikes, so at least he could take comfort in the fact that one of them had had the sense to bring a first aid kit. That is, if Nathan’s plans had been all for naught, and they hiked off into the sunset together, happily ever after.
Miles offered the cooling pad to Nathan, an odd expression on his face.
“So you, uh, put it on the…on where it hurts,” he fumbled. “I don’t know if you want help…” Miles trailed off, looking more and more flustered with each passing second.
It took longer than it should have for Nathan to understand why. He was asking if Nathan needed help putting the pad on his ass.
“I think I’m good,” Nathan said quickly, gesturing vaguely toward the trees. “I think I’m just gonna…yeah.”
Concealed behind a tree, with his pants down around his thighs, Nathan applied the cooling pad to his backside while three people waited for him, knowing exactly what he was up to. Bare-cheeked in the woods.
Yeah. Sure. Camping is such a peaceful activity. Way to sell it, Miles.
When Nathan emerged, no one mentioned a thing, and they resumed walking. In Nathan’s absence, they must have decided on a system to make sure he didn’t fall again. Lorcan walked ahead, knowing the way. Taking position alongside Nathan was Miles, with Jordie trailing close behind.
“I wonder if this is how celebrities feel,” Nathan joked, a little embarrassed about the whole thing. It wasn’t like he enjoyed being the weak link in a group.
“Probably.” Miles chuckled. “So soak it up.”
Nathan had to smile at that, ducking his gaze slightly.
*
It was around noon by the time they reached the lake. The fringe of trees disappeared as a large body of glistening water inched into view, so clear it didn’t look real. Okay, Nathan allowed, maybe he could get on board with appreciating nature. The lake was stunning and miraculously devoid of any other visitors. Nathan wasn’t sure if it was pure luck or due to Lorcan’s careful planning to avoid busier areas.
But there was no better time to arrive at the lake, the sun at its highest point in the sky, beating down in a dead heat. Nathan felt (and probably looked) like a swamp.
Everyone else must have felt the same as they made haste getting changed into their bathing suits. Or, well, apparently, they’d had the foresight to put them on that morning. All Jordie had to do was take off a couple of her layers, revealing a bright red swimsuit ready beneath.
Lorcan and Miles both started to take off their shirts, but Nathan was too caught up in the fact that he hadn’t thought to put on his trunks. In the privacy of the tent.
For the second time that day, he disappeared into the thick of the trees to take off his pants. This was becoming too much of a habit—starring in his own version of Naked and Afraid.
What if the opossum family had followed them and they were laughing at Nathan fumbling into his trunks?
Pushing the thought to the back of his mind because he had bigger things to worry about than an opossum’s impression of him, Nathan returned to the group. He spotted Lorcan already wading into the water, gloriously shirtless, muscular chest on display, swim trunks low-slung.
“All set?” Miles asked Nathan from the edge of the water, drawing his gaze away from Lorcan.
At first, Nathan was grateful for the distraction. But not a second later, he instantly regretted it.
Miles was also in a state of undress, and Nathan’s cheeks started to grow hot.
He could finally see how far Miles’s tattoos extended up his arm—along his shoulder and stopping right over his pec. Unlike Lorcan, his chest was mostly hairless, but with a light dusting of brown hair from his naval that disappeared under the waistband of his shorts.
Does hiking just hand people bodies like that?
“Nathan?” Miles asked again, bringing him to the realization he’d definitely been gawking. Great.
“Yep, all good.” He nodded, rubbing his hands together. “C’mon, can’t let Lorcan have all the fun,” he added, venturing out into the water.