Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 75720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“Oh yeah, that’s right. I still don’t know what happened to my underwear… or how he got that eight-pack.”
Eric and I chuckled. We took a turn down the road, sticking to the main path and avoiding any of the hiking trails that branched off into the woods. The mountain sloped downward at a steep incline, making us have to do a slight shuffle to keep balanced. There were a couple of cabins appearing through the thin trees, none of them as large or as modern as the one we were staying in.
“Seriously, though, you and Jake are a really solid pair. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this happy with someone,” Tristan said.
I shook my head. He was right—I’d never been this happy with any of the guys I’d been with. “Jake is special. I can’t even explain it. We just get along so well; it’s easy with him. I never have to second-guess anything or worry about what I’m saying or how I look. It’s not like with Franky, when he was scared to even be spotted in the same car as me in case people recognized us and started talking. That shit hurt. But I can’t imagine anything ever hurting with Jake.”
“You give me hope, man.” Eric put his hands into his shorts, the water bottle strap tight around his big wrist.
“What about me? I don’t give you hope?” Tristan asked with an offended glare.
“No, you give me fear. Fear for all the hearts you’re breaking.”
“I’m not breaking hearts. I’m healing them. With my dick. I’m basically providing a service and for free. I’m a saint.”
“Ah, yes, the patron saint of penis,” I said with a roll of my eyes. The guys started to laugh, and the question got tossed out: was there some kind of saint that overlooked sex? We joked around some more, the mood feeling infinitely lighter than earlier. This was why I loved these guys. We were able to turn any situation around into something positive, so long as the three of us were together.
Friends for life, brothers forever. I loved these two.
“Should we start heading back?” Eric asked as we reached the bottom of the gravel road before it turned into pavement, a large lake opening up in front of us. There was still a delicate cloud of morning mist hanging above it.
“Let’s do it,” Tristan said, clapping his hands. We turned to walk back to the cabin when Eric’s phone started to ring. He went to answer it, but the call dropped. Then Tristan’s phone began to ring. Weird. He answered his phone, but the service still wasn’t great, the call dropping before he could get a “hello” through.
Then my phone started to ring. Tristan and Eric both looked at me, worry knitting through the wrinkles in both their foreheads.
It was Yvette. I answered, and a couple of words managed to break through. “Come back—cameras.” And then the call ended.
“We have to get back. Let’s go.” The boys likely picked up on the fear in my voice. We broke into a run, fighting against the sloping hill, none of us sure of what the hell we were running toward.
28
JAKE PEREZ
The entire crew was gathered outside of the cabin, bags packed and frantic faces on each of them. Tia held Jess in her arms while Yvette walked in circles as she spoke rapid Spanish to someone on the phone, her words flying like bullets. Noah came right over to my side, looking like he’d just thrown on a pair of gym shorts and a T-shirt, his dark brown hair still messy from lying on the pillow.
“What the hell happened?” he asked, and I could tell he was already expecting the worst. Another threat made, another chicken head found, something else to fuel his endless night terrors.
“Yvette found a camera in her room,” I said. “And when we started to look, we realized they were everywhere.”
Noah’s jaw dropped, and the color drained from his face. “Seriously?”
“They were everywhere,” Jess said, her lashes wet and eyes red. “They were in the bathroom, Noah. In the vents.”
“Robby never said… what the fuck? What the fuck. What the fuck.”
Eric and Tristan went into the house, only taking a couple of minutes before they walked out with one of the cameras in hand. “Jess is right. These are everywhere. Jesus Christ.” Eric went to drop it on the floor and crush it with his boot, but Tristan stopped him.
“Hold on. If we save them, then we could possibly delete the footage. Even if it’s stored online somewhere.” Tristan grabbed the camera from Eric’s hand and pocketed it.
“Can he still hear us through that?” Noah asked, looking down at Tristan’s pocket as if a cobra were about to slip out of it and strike him at any moment.
“No, I made sure it was disconnected before I brought it out here.”