Page 11 of A Little Campfire Blues (Pride Camp 2025 #10)

“Sort of, though a couple of my bandmates really helped things along by making dumbass fuckin’ decisions.”

“That’s usually the way it works, though I can admit to making a ton of messed-up choices myself that contributed to the way things turned out.”

“Yeah, I’m sure I could have handled a few things differently, too.”

“Sometimes all we can do is live, learn, and pick ourselves up after we stumble, especially if we don’t have anyone else around to help us get back on our feet.”

“Roman helped, even if he doesn’t know just how much.”

“Then you should tell him. The people we love need to know when they’re doing the right things for us. That way they won’t give up or try something different.”

“At the time, he was going through way worse than what I was dealing with.”

“Struggle is struggle. You shouldn’t diminish your own by comparing it to someone else’s.”

“What you said last night, about wanting to spend time with us,” I began as I ran my fingers along the seam of my jeans. “Did you mean it?”

“I did, and I still do. But I respect the fact that you three have things going on you need to deal with.”

“Eight years ago we’d have jumped at the chance to hang out with someone who seemed like he was interested in all of us.”

“Lot of things can happen in eight years.”

“A lot of things did.”

“I bet.”

“Are you only into littles?”

“Nope. I’m a pet handler too, and I’ve always strived to live a poly-positive life when I could find partners who were on the same page with that.”

“Roman’s a pup. He rarely gets to explore it, though. He used to be in the Coast Guard, and now that he’s out, he coaches swimming, so he’s gotta be careful that none of the judgy people back home find out he’s in the lifestyle.”

“Where’s back home, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“We grew up in Eugene, but I live in Portland now,” I admitted. “Roman just moved back to Eugene a few years ago, and Ezzy’s moving back after camp, which is really cool. At least they’ll have someone to play with. Are you from Oregon too?”

“Yup, Klamath Falls, all the way down at the southern part of the state.”

“I know where that is,” I blurted. “We camped out near there once, when we were still in high school.”

“Oh yeah, where at?”

“The KOA.”

“Shit, I’ve stayed there a time or two myself, just to get away from my apartment and spend some time outdoors without having to go too far.”

“I liked it. We had fun. When I think about the best memories I have, it always involves one or both of them.”

“Sounds like you guys have been close a long time.”

“From elementary school until the night I fucked up everything and said shit I never should have said, then took off with my band without so much as a goodbye to either of them,” I admitted.

“And yesterday was the first time you’d seen each other since?” he surmised.

“It was the first time I’d seen or talked to Ezzy. Roman and I have been emailing, video chatting, and texting since a few months after I took off.”

“From what I saw last night, I don’t think Ezzy is holding any grudges.”

“Maybe they should. They’ve always forgiven me way too easily,” I blurted. “The last thing I deserved was a hug, but that’s what they gave me the moment I apologized.”

“Because they love you. I caught a glimpse of it last night. Wanna know what else I saw?”

“What?”

“That you positively love and adore them too. Doubt anything or anyone else would have gotten you to play until they hit you with those puppy dog eyes.”

“You saw that?”

“Hard to miss.”

“I didn’t wanna play.”

“I noticed that too,” he said, before inclining his head towards the guitar case between us. “What I don’t get is why you bothered to bring your guitar down to the circle if you didn’t want to play it.”

“I was on the fence, then I saw you, and my brain immediately kicked into hell no mode.”

“Why?”

“’Cause you’re Mackenzie frickin’ Redding.”

“First off, it’s just Mack to my friends, and I do hope that we can be friends,” he said.

“Secondly, I’m just another out-of-work musician, same as a lot of guys who have gotten to the top and fizzled out spectacularly.

I happened to have enjoyed your playing last night, and before you snark off with some bullshit, that’s not me blowing smoke up your ass, kid; you’re good.

You should be proud of that. You’ve clearly spent a lot of time honing your craft.

Running into someone who made it a little further in the industry than you shouldn’t make you afraid to show what you can do.

At the very least, you should view it as a challenge and see what the hell you might be able to learn from them along the way. ”

“Compared to where my band was at when we imploded, I’d say a little further is an understatement.”

“Why, because you hadn’t caught a break yet?” he remarked, chuckling a little and sounding just as bitter as I had earlier. “It’s all about luck, kid. Trust me, if you stick with it, you’ll get where you want to be.”

“What if I don’t know where I wanna be anymore?”

He chuckled at that too and shot me a look, the corners of his lips lifting into a small smile. “Then you should take all the time you need to be sure, so you don’t wind up regretting your choices, the way I did.”

Whoa.

“You regret being successful?” I asked, completely thrown by that.

“I regret the things I did to become successful and the person I became while I was doing them.”

“Oh.”

“Whatever you do, don’t compromise your morals or turn your back on people to claw and scratch your way to the top.”

“Pretty sure I fucked that part up a long time ago.”

“Good, then you’ve gotten it out of the way,” he said, his grin growing as he continued to study me. “Now you have all the time in the world to show how much you’ve learned and grown from it.”

Well, shit, when he put it that way, it actually sounded like a challenge I’d be willing to take on.