Page 40 of Eco-Activist’s Mountain Men (Mountain Men Reverse Harem #4)
"But we won't know for sure if he's here."
Jack looks annoyed at this, but he concedes the point.
"That's about the long and the short of it, yes.
Luke's right. He might not come up one of the tracks; he might simply head through the forest. That's what I'd do, if I wanted to come here to…
murder someone." He tails off, looking down at his food, not really wanting to say that last part, perhaps to spare my feelings in case it disturbs me. It does, but I try not to show it.
After dinner is over, I make a suggestion that's been on my mind throughout the meal, though I'm still not quite sure exactly how best to express what I'm feeling.
"Look, guys," I start. They turn to listen, and I flush a little, finding it awkward to choose my words to express what I really mean without sounding either melodramatic or just plain stupid.
"I don't want to turn this into a crisis, or anything, but right now I need to feel loved.
Perhaps we all feel the same. I'm suggesting that tonight we all stick together. "
"Oo. a love-in!" Toby grins. "I'm in!"
"Yeah, I guess that kinda is what I mean.
" I smile. "If I'm going to die tomorrow— I know, I know.
" I hold out a hand to forestall all the inevitable protests.
"It's unlikely to happen, sure, I get it.
But if I do die tomorrow, I'd like to die smiling, with a memory of tonight on my mind. How about it, fellas?"
"Yeah, why not?" says Jack. "One consideration, though. We've already planned for Luke to push his bed next to yours, but there won't be room in any of these small bedrooms for more than two beds, and two beds won't be enough for the five of us."
"How about the briefing room?" suggests Luke.
"The briefing room?" I ask. "What the hell's that?"
"Nothing special," Jack explains. "Just a room, really.
It's way bigger than any of the bedrooms, and it doesn't have any larger a radiator than the bedrooms have, so it gets chilly in there outside of the summer months, which is why it doesn't get used much.
When there are more of us working here, like mid-season June and July, for example, we sometimes go in there if there are too many to fit comfortably around the kitchen table, and we need to decide what to do next as a group, or to hand down instructions from Pat, or do some team training… stuff like that."
"We could all drag our mattresses in and make an Uber-Bed," suggested Eric.
"Great idea. Let's do it."
"Okay, shall we go look at the room?"
"Go on, guys," says Luke. "Take Luna to see the room. I've seen it before. I don't mind staying to watch the cameras."
The remainder of us file out of the kitchen and down the hallway a couple of doors before heading into a room I'd never been in before.
Just as promised, it's large and airy, with plenty of space for all our mattresses, so long as we stack up the chairs that are currently scattered around the place.
We get to it, and within thirty minutes or so, we have the chairs stacked in one corner and our mattresses neatly laid out one next to the other in a row.
"Perfect for roly-polies," I say, and try it out, laughing as I execute what I modestly consider to be a perfect forward roll and standing exit at the end. As a young girl, I'd been mad about gymnastics. Until I'd discovered horses and mountain climbing.
"Graceful as an elephant," Toby mutters under his breath. So I jump on him.
Within a few moments, Jack, Eric, Toby, and I are all playfighting. Armed with just pillows and with shoes off, we all gang up on Toby, who puts up a strong defense at first, but ultimately, he's overcome, and he surrenders. We all collapse in a giggling heap, panting heavily from the exertion.
"Hey, what the fuck are you guys doing in there?"
"Oh Jesus, it's Luke, he's still in the kitchen," Jack exclaims.
"Best leave him there. Teach him a lesson for being so huge," suggests Toby, sniggering.
"I'll go get him," offers Eric, and heads out the door in the direction of the kitchen.
We pass the evening in bed together, a line of us, all huddled up into a stack of bodies, leaning against each other, and propped up against walls and pillows.
Eric is rubbing my feet, whilst I play with Toby's long hair.
The laptop is set up just out of reach but within easy watching distance, and we all keep an eye on it.
At one stage, the moon rises, and the image floods with extra silvery light, revealing a couple of deer in the idle distance—perhaps ten yards away or so—grazing delicately on a bush that presumably tastes better than all the others.
We watch them until they move on, slowly moving left to right across our field of vision until they gradually exit our view entirely as they step back into the gloom of the surrounding forest.
We talk.
We tell each other stories about our pasts, our childhoods, our parents, and families.
We talk about our ambitions, our fears, our secret crushes when we were teenagers.
We argue good naturedly about music genres—Jack swears blind that nothing good has been produced since the Seventies and that no one will ever come close to Elvis as a performer.
Luke turns out to be a bit of a heavy rock guy, with Metallica being his favorite band.
Eric surprises us all with his eclectic knowledge of all types of music, from reggae to jazz, and from hip-hop to Motown soul.
As for Toby, he just likes a catchy tune and says he's more than happy listening to anything that comes on the radio, from the Beach Boys to Katy Perry.
I educate them all on the beauty of Lo-Fi artists such as Joji and Powfu.
Eventually, one by one, snuggled up warm and comfortable in each other's arms, we close our eyes and drift off to sleep.