Page 7 of A Little Campfire Blues (Pride Camp 2025 #10)

Chapter Seven

Ezzy

“Man, I could lay out here all day,” Axis murmured, his voice a bit sleep-slurred as I cracked an eye open to stare across the inflatable island at him lounging on the edge of the center hole where we’d dangled our feet earlier.

The thing was huge, easily fitting the three of us with space for at least another person, maybe two with the way it was designed. The inflatable seatbacks had made relaxing chairs, while the flat section allowed sunbathing and easy access to the water.

“We have,” Roman grumbled. “And it shows. Look at the sky.”

Clearly, Axis hadn’t realized how close to the edge he was lying, one hand dangling in the water, which he promptly fell into the moment he rolled to try and do as Roman said.

He came up sputtering, laughing, and splashing water all over us as he sunk beneath the surface.

He popped up on the other side of the raft and rolled, floating on his back with his feet lightly kicking beneath the surface.

“Damn, when did the sun start going down?” I asked, no longer having to shield my eyes when I looked up.

Reddish orange streaked with hints of pink, it was an amazing sunset, backlighting the tree line on the other side of the lake.

“Shit, aren’t we supposed to go to that campfire welcome thing?” I asked as I straightened up from where I’d been slumped against the arm of my seat, rolled my shoulders, and slid to sit on the floor of the island with my feet in the water.

“Yup, which means we’d better tow this thing in and shower off before we head down there,” Roman said. “Guess we all lost track of time this afternoon.”

“When have we ever been together and not lost track of time?” Axis asked, lazily kicking his feet as he floated around the inflatable island.

“Never,” Roman shot back, sitting up now and brushing the hair out of his eyes.

Giggling, I slipped into the water too, enjoying the cool feel of it against my skin after the long bask in the sun. Of course, Roman had insisted upon slathering us in sunscreen on and off all afternoon, especially me, since the two of them were as tanned as ever.

He dove off the island with a splash that sent water all over me, grabbed the tow rope, and started pulling the island in with Axis and me trailing behind it.

I still couldn’t believe he was here, that we were here together with Roman in this amazing setting.

I’d pinched myself twice when they weren’t looking, just to be sure it was real.

There had been a moment of awkward silence once we’d gotten everything put away.

It had been clear that none of us were ready for words or a long, drawn-out conversation, so when Roman had mentioned the raft Axis had brought, we’d all jumped at the chance to swim, float, and settle whatever emotions had gotten stirred up in the kitchen.

“Where the hell did you find something this big?” Roman grumbled as we neared the shore and his feet could finally touch the bottom.

That just meant Axis and I had to swim a little further before we could stand without water over our heads.

“Got it when the band was still together,” Axis admitted as he stood and dipped his head back, smoothing stray strands of hair out of his face so it trailed down his back in a heavy, sleek curtain when he straightened back up.

It looked as thick as ever, and at least seven inches longer than the last time I’d seen him, the longest strands reaching his waist.

“Wrote quite a few songs on it back when we were still on the same page,” Axis said as he helped Roman tug it up onto the shore.

“Let’s get it up on the deck,” Roman suggested. “We can bracket it in with the coolers and use the tie rope to tether it to the railing in case the wind picks up tonight.”

“Good idea,” I said as I hurried to help them. “Even with the air pump, it took a while to get all the compartments blown up.”

“Yeah, it is a bit much, but I always loved being out on it.”

“I can’t believe it had a compartment for ice and drinks and everything,” I said.

“Like the boys and I would have been caught dead floating around without beverages and something to snack on.”

“Okay, you’ve got a point there. I remember how much Duce and Bowie could pack away.”

“You should have seen them when they started packing on muscle,” Axis said. “Duce is a complete beast now. Bowie I haven’t seen in years, but he was pretty jacked the last time I laid eyes on him.”

“How long has it been?” I asked, unable to keep my curiosity in check.

His relationship with his band had never interfered with the relationship he had with us.

In fact, his three band brothers had frequently joined us on camping trips, amusement park visits, and trips to the waterpark, never failing to engage with Roman and me whenever we were all together.

Duce told me several times how much they appreciated us coming to the shows and even manning the merch table once they’d had stickers, keychains, and other small things to sell.

“Almost four years,” he said, his tone holding a pained note that was impossible to miss.

“Is that when the band broke up?”

“Nah, that was a little over two years ago, not too long after Roman had his accident.”

“Damn.”

We carried the inflatable island up onto the deck, bracing it with coolers and the coolers with the deck chairs, before tying it to the railing. Rocking it produced little motion, but by the time we had it secured, I had another question for him.

“Did Bowie quit?” I asked, stepping up to the railing where Axis was leaning, staring out at the ever-deepening red streaks across the sky.

“Not of his own choosing.”

“Oh.”

“We should shower and get changed,” he suggested, sighing as he pushed away from the wooden railing to head inside.

There was so much more I wanted to ask, but he was right; if we were going to get to the campfire, we needed to get moving.

“You’re bringing your guitar down tonight, right?” Roman asked as Axis moved past him.

“Yeah, I’ll bring it. I can’t promise that I’ll play, but I’ll take it along.”

And with that, he disappeared into his room, leaving Roman to stare at the closed door he’d vanished behind.

“I take it that’s still a sore subject?” I asked as I paused beside Roman, who draped an arm over my shoulders and tugged me against his side.

“I think so, but when we talk, he deliberately avoids saying much about his music at all, just that he still plays coffee houses and bars a few times a week. Most of the work he does now is voice recordings for audiobooks and short instrumentals for people doing podcasts and product trailers, that kind of thing.”

“I’m glad he’s still making a living doing the thing he loves.”

“Me too, though I get the sense that he doesn’t love it the way he used to, and that’s a shame.”

“Yeah, it is; he’s always been hella talented.”

“You both are.”

“Let’s wait and see how talented I am once I actually get something production-ready.”

“Something tells me that you’ve reached that point, and beyond, already and are allowing nerves to keep you from sharing your creations with the rest of the world.”

“I dunno, there could be a shred of truth to that,” I admitted. “But I’ve done table readings on them a few times, and there’s just something missing. Figured I’d read over them while we were here and see if I can figure out what it was.”

“You could always read it to us.”

“To you maybe, but some of the stuff in it….” I glanced towards Axis’ door when I said it, thoughts whirling with the complicated feelings I still had for him.

“Needs to come out,” Roman insisted.

I couldn’t deny he was right about that, so I said nothing and grumbled when he messed up my wet hair, leaving it almost as spiky as it had been before I’d gotten into the water.

“See, it’s a done deal, no more protesting,” he said before turning me loose.

“There’s sure to be activities we don’t feel like doing and days when we’d rather it just be the three of us without a bunch of other people around, so we’ll plan for that, as well as the conversations we’re all dying to have.

For now, let’s get cleaned up and go enjoy ourselves.

I’m curious to see what they’re serving tonight around the campfire.

It’s been hours since lunch, and I’m starving. ”

“I see some things never change.”

“Nope.”

We parted ways, him heading to his room, me heading to the fridge to pour a glass of the iced tea we’d made before heading outside.

I drank half of it standing there in the fridge and the other half once I’d pulled a pair of shorts and a crop top from my bag before I headed to the shower, thoughts still whirling with the questions I wanted to pose to both of them.

Until Roman had admitted to not knowing anything more about Bowie or the band breakup than Axis had mentioned outside, I’d have assumed that there were no secrets between them, unlike the ones I’d been harboring all these years.

Only now it seemed like their friendship, while intact, was still a bit frayed and fractured around the edges, the same as Roman's and mine was. There were plenty of things I’d shared, but there was also plenty I hadn’t wanted to bring up during those video chats.

Emails and texts had always felt too impersonal for long conversations, so those were relegated to quips, jokes, GIFs, and memes, with the occasional grumbled complaint about something going on at work.

I tried not to dwell on any of the things I hadn’t told him while I took a quick shower and dressed, but it was hard when having the three of us back together again made me long for the chance to sink into the little world we’d always shared and stay there until we’d had a chance to fully catch up on the eight years we’d spent apart.

By the time I returned to the living room, Ajay stood there in holey black skinny jeans that clung to his legs and showed off glimpses of the tattoos that covered them.

I’d gotten a good look at the ones on his calves while we’d been swimming, as well as the full back piece and sleeves that ran down his arms, but some of the rips suggested that there were others hidden higher up, and a part of me was very curious to know what they were.

He wore a Megadeth T-shirt that was plastered to his back from the water that still dripped from his hair.

All this time and he still preferred to let it air dry rather than rub most of the water from it before he put his T-shirt on.

A guitar case leaned against the couch next to him, the same battered hard case he’d had back when we were in high school, though with far more stickers all over it.

Roman was in black jeans too, with a soft-looking light gray Henley, long-sleeved, as the temperature had already started dropping.

I’d opted to grab a light throw blanket to pull around me if I started getting cold, which was rare for me, since I always tended to run warm.

Figured I’d be cozy around a roaring bonfire and would probably just end up sitting on it.

“All set?” Roman asked.

“Yup. Which vehicle are we taking?”

“The jeep might be easiest, since Ezzy has the trailer hitched to theirs, and your car is kinda low for the ruts in the road.”

“Tell me about it,” Roman grumbled. “I bottomed out a couple of times and winced when something scraped against the undercarriage.”

“The Jeep it is,” Axis replied, fishing in his pockets for the keys.

Sure as shit, the moment he started the Jeep, we were all glad to have the windows rolled down all the way, as loud metal music blared from the stereo system, nearly deafening me.

“Sorry about that,” he said as he turned it down, a sheepish look on his face as he turned to look over his shoulder as he backed out.

At least the bonfire site was easy to find. The fire was already roaring as we pulled up beside the main lodge and found a parking spot between several other vehicles.

“Welcome,” A lady with perky fox ears perched on top of red hair said as we approached the group.

The tag on the front of her shirt read Staff , and she quickly pointed us to the buffet line and refreshment station.

“Help yourselves and enjoy the evening,” she said with a big smile.

“Thank you,” I replied as we strode past her to get in line.

Everything smelled delicious, and someone was already playing a tune on their harmonica while others ate around the bonfire, a few in adorable little onesies, clutching stuffed animals against their sides while they carefully balanced a pie tin of food on their laps.

A few were in pup gear too, headpieces having been removed so they could eat.

I hadn’t expected everyone to so freely display themselves on day one, but wow, did it feel good to know that I could slip into whatever I wanted when we came up here.

Tomorrow, I told myself as I picked up a pie tin and followed Roman through the line. I had a good idea of exactly which outfit I’d choose to put on. My little self did a squirmy happy dance at the thought of pulling on the cute shorts and crop top I’d found, along with a matching binky and cap.

Only, as I started to fill up my pan, a little thought wormed its way out, taking root front and center.

What the hell would Roman and Axis think when they saw me in it?