Page 13 of A Little Campfire Blues (Pride Camp 2025 #10)

Chapter Eleven

Ezzy

“I caught one; I caught one!” I declared, dancing so much my foot slipped and my toes got wet as I started reeling in my fish.

“Ohh, fishy, fishy!” Axis declared, several feet away and dancing now too as his bobber was yanked under.

Smelly old fishes started swimming towards each other while we reeled, and soon we were all tangled up with flopping fishies on both lines, tails sending water all over us.

“Big fishies!” Axis declared, holding on to his pole and only reeling when Roman told him to.

“Big fishies and an even bigger mess,” Roman said as he finally gave up trying to untangle our lines from the shore, kicked his shoes off, rolled up his pants legs, and waded in to try and fix things in the water.

“Need a hand?” a voice called.

“Our fishies got tangled up,” I explained to Mackenzie.

“I’d love a hand,” Roman replied as he waded towards our thrashing captives.

Soon Mackenzie had his shoes off too and waded into the lake in board shorts to help Roman get our fishies untangled.

“You boys just hold on to your poles and don’t reel until we tell you to,” Mackenzie declared.

Working together, it didn’t take him and Roman long to get our fishies untangled and our lines separated. Roman held Axis’ fish in his hands, while Mackenzie placed mine back in the water for me.

“Now you can reel,” Mackenzie told me, so I did.

Slowly, carefully, inch by inch, I brought my floppy fishy to the shore with Mackenzie wading out behind it. Only after my fishy was safely on shore with Mackenzie helping to get the hook out of its mouth did Roman lower Axis’ line back into the water so he could reel his in too.

“Are we cooking or tossing back?” Mackenzie asked, with a firm hold on my fish.

“He’s big, so he’s gonna be dinner tonight,” I said, carefully pulling my phone out of my backpack so I could take a picture with it first. “Will you take a picture with me?”

“I’d love to, little one,” he replied, grinning as he went to one knee next to me so we were almost the same height and held my fish up in front of us while I took a couple selfies of us.

“Thank you, and thank you for helping to untangle him.”

“It was my pleasure,” he replied before straightening up while I skipped over to the cooler and opened it to show him the other four fish already swimming around inside. “Wow, you guys have done a great job already.”

“We turned some tiny ones loose after we took pictures of them, but Roman’s gonna cook the big ones while we blow bubbles and chase fireflies,” I blurted, proud of our fishies.

“Sounds like you have a fun evening planned.”

“Uh-huh. We’re gonna catch more fish too if you wanna have dinner with us.”

His eyes widened a little at hearing that, and he glanced from me to where Roman and Axis approached with the big one Axis had caught.

“Are you sure that’ll be okay with everyone?” he asked.

“I think we’d like that a lot,” Roman said, while Axis nodded, paci in his mouth, which he sucked on while he held his fish.

“After a conversation we had earlier, we realized that we were all still on the same page about wanting someone who wanted to have a relationship with the three of us. We agreed that if you found us and still wanted to spend time with us, then we’d happily take you up on the offer and see how things went from there. ”

“It’s not too late, is it?” I asked, folding my hands beneath my chin and staring up at him.

The bark of laughter that followed made his eyes look all sparkly where the sun fell across his face.

“Not in the slightest. I’d love to join the three of you for dinner, fireflies, and bubbles.

In fact, I have a bubble cannon in my cabin that I’ll pick up when we’re done here.

I think you’ll enjoy playing with it and chasing all the bubbles it makes. ”

“Ohh, yey, yey, yey,” I declared, hopping about, then catching Axis’ hands so he could hop with me.

Giggling, he joined me in dancing around Mackenzie and Roman, who shook his head at our antics.

“Alright, you two, if we’re going to have a guest for supper, then you’d better catch a few more fish,” Roman said, doing his best to look stern, though I saw the corners of his lips quirk up a little as he held back his laughter.

We stopped and unlinked our hands so he could step out of the circle we’d made and find the container of squirmy worms we’d been given at the start of the derby.

Axis and I stood still with our poles in our hands while Mackenzie attached one to my hook and Roman did the same for Axis, who wrinkled his nose and looked away when the hook pierced the side of the worm.

“Why don’t Ezzy and I take a few steps this way, and you and Axis can take a few to your right, so there is less of a chance of them tangling their lines again?”

“Good idea,” Roman said. “I’d have had them spread out more, but it was easier to keep them close so I could help one without taking my eyes off the other.”

“I’d have done the same thing without an extra set of hands,” Mackenzie said.

The look they shared made Roman smile, which made me happy too, but there was one thing that really surprised me.

“You’re gonna fish with me?” I asked, shooting a look over at Axis ‘cause I’d have figured Mackenzie would wanna help him so they could talk about music.

“I sure am, as long as you’re okay with me helping you.”

“I am, I am, I really am,” I said, clapping, squealing, and dancing around so much I dropped my pole.

He picked it up and handed it back to me, then adjusted my cap, which had tumbled forward, making it difficult for me to see when it was crooked and half over my eyes like that.

“Ready to catch another one?” he asked.

“Uh-huh! Uh-huh!”

“Alright,” Mackenzie said, moving around to my side. “Let’s see you cast it wayyyyy out there!”

Giggling, I showed him just how far I could cast, having to tip my head back a little to watch my lime green bobber, which was shaped like a lime too, sail through the air until it finally plopped down with a splash.

“Here, fishy, fishy, fishy,” I encouraged, giggling when he laughed.

“Look, we’ve got a beautiful boulder right here; why don’t we get comfortable and wait for your fish to come?” He suggested, stepping up onto the mostly flat rock and holding a hand out to me.

My shoes slipped a little and lit up a whole lot as he helped me up there beside him, but I was happy to sit ‘cause my feet had started getting sore from standing on the rocky shoreline.

“Ezzy, can I ask you something?” Mackenzie said as soon as I’d stopped squirming around to find the most comfy spot, wishing I’d brought my blankie ‘cause the rock was hard on my tush, which was a little sore from sitting on the log last night.

“Uh-huh.”

“Which pronouns do you prefer?”

Squealing, I wiggled happily. “They—them!”

“Okay, I’m glad I asked; I didn’t want to ass and accidentally hurt your feelings.”

“Ohhhh, thank you. People try to guess all the time. It never hurts my feelings, but it does hurt when someone asks why I don’t just pick one.”

“You have; it’s they-them, the same as she-her or he-him is picking one,” he declared.

I’d never thought about it like that and turned to stare up at him watching me with a kind smile on his face.

“I’m gonna say that the next time someone tells me to pick.”

“Good for you. Always stand up for yourself. Never let anyone dull your sparkle.”

“Do you like sparkles?” I blurted.

“I do; I like them a lot,” he said, leaning close. “Can I tell you a secret?”

“Yay, secret, secret.”

“I don’t just like looking at sparkles; I like wearing them too,” he whispered. “I love a bit of bling on the pockets of my jeans, belt buckle, and hatbands too.”

“I love shiny, pretty things. Wearing dark colors makes me feel sad, like it’s raining on my head, like Eeyore.”

“Well, we wouldn’t want you to feel like that, especially not here at camp where you get to have fun, make messes, and do all the giggle dances you want to.

In fact, I think a fishy is just about ready to give you another reason to get your squiggles in,” Mackenzie said before pressing a finger to his lips, then pointing out where my lime bobber was bobbing, bobbing, each time going under a little more.

It was hard, hard, hard to sit still, hold on, and wait for the fishy to yank it under and start running away with it, but with Mackenzie beside me, I managed, despite how many times my fingers flexed on the pole as I got impatient.

“Fishy!” I squealed when it was finally time to reel. “Ohhh, big fishy, he’s heavy.”

“You hang on to him now, sparkle butt, and don’t let him get away.”

Sparkle butt?

Oh my gosh!

I wiggled as I reeled in my meanie of a fish, who fought me the whole way to shore.

“Hang on to him. Keep reeling,” Mackenzie encouraged.

Never once did he reach for my pole or offer to reel him in for me, though I got the impression that I could have asked for help at any time and he’d have done so without taking over. I knew I could get my fishie in myself; I just knew it.

Tongue poking from between my lips, I cranked the reel, which was getting harder to turn.

“Hold him right there; let him fight for a moment,” Mackenzie said. “He’ll get tired soon.”

“Hope he gets tired before I do!” I huffed, keeping firm pressure on the handle of the reel, without turning it, while my fish zigged one way, zagged another, and flop, flop, flopped, making little waves all around him every time his tail smacked the surface of the water.

“Your fishy must have drunk a whole pot of coffee this morning to have this much energy,” Mackenzie joked.

“Silly daddy, fishies don’t drink coffee!” I blurted when a gasp off to my right alerted me to what I’d accidentally called him.

Mackenzie just flashed me a reassuring smile. “It’s okay; I am a daddy, and I won’t infer anything from you calling me that besides you enjoying yourself and the time we’re spending together. It’s all good. Now, see if you can reel him just a little bit closer.”

I did, pleased that mistakenly calling him that hadn’t derailed the whole afternoon. My fishy wasn’t fighting so hard now, and I could see the bright green of my bobber beneath the surface, getting closer and closer.

“Hehehehe, come here, fishy, you’re gonna get in my belly tonight.

Mackenzie’s big, booming laugh made me happy and shivery as he slid off the edge of the rock and back into ankle-deep water to pick him up for me.

“Whoa, he’s huge!” Mackenzie declared as he lifted him up to reveal another largemouth bass, the biggest of the afternoon. “Good job, sparkle butt.”

Fishy flicked his tail, trying to flop free of the hold Mackenzie had on him as he stepped back up onto our rock, but I could tell he was just about done protesting his fate. He was gonna be dinner once Roman cleaned him and cut off his head so he couldn’t stare at me when he was on my plate.

“Picture, picture,” I declared as I pulled out my phone.

Like before, he kneeled beside me, only this time I got brave and reached out, wanting to put my arm around him.

“Is it okay if I hug you?” I asked before I touched, ‘cause touching wasn’t okay unless you asked permission.

“Absolutely,” he said, holding my fishy in front of us as I scooted closer and wrapped my arm around him so I could lean against him while I took our picture.

He crossed his eyes and made a funny face, so I used my fingers to give him bunny ears and took several pictures of us clowning around before he added my fishy to the cooler.

By then, Axis had gotten another one and was smiling brightly around his binky as he watched us while Roman added another worm to his hook.

Each time I looked over at him, he had his Bluey binky in his mouth and was sucking away on it, even while he was waiting for something to nibble on his hook.

When he saw me watching, he waved, then Roman stepped away from his hook, and Axis happily cast it back out into the water.

I did the same after Mackenzie baited my hook with another squirmy worm, while the sun shimmered like sparkles on the surface of the lake, making everything look dreamy and magical.

Day two of Pride Camp, and I was already having the best time of my adult life.

“Are you getting warm? Do you have something to drink?” Mackenzie asked.

I shook my head because my little water bottle was empty. “I drank it all.”

“No worries,” Mackenzie said, taking off the backpack he’d lain on the rock behind us.

My curiosity almost got the best of me and made us knock heads as I tried to peer in and get a look at what he carried in there. I bet it was fun things.

“Do you like water, lemonade, or sweet tea?” he asked, removing a small cloth cooler that was full of…water?

“It’s all water,” I declared.

“It’s magic water,” he explained, winking at me before showing me the collection of squeezy flavors he had tucked beside the water.

“Can I have lemonade tea?” I asked.

“You sure can. Axis, Roman, would you like something to drink too?” Mackenzie called.

Axis had to pluck his binky out of his mouth to answer, “Yes, pwease,” before he shoved it right back in again.

He was a littler little than me, I could tell.

It was so cool, though. I couldn’t wait to play with the bubbles later and try to catch fireflies, though we wouldn’t put them in a jar, even with holes punched in the lid, ‘cause that would kill them. We just wanted to follow and see where they led us, the way we’d done when we were kids pretending they were will-o’-the-wisps come to guide us to fairy country, and maybe they did.

Maybe that was here.

The happiest, most magical place I’d ever been.