Floodwater Zombies (9 page)

“Oh my God, I did not need to see that!” Rachel laughed, shielding her eyes with a hand.

“Woody, you didn’t tell me you were related to Tommy Lee!” Kate exclaimed, her hand covering her wide grin and nothing else.

Ashley giggled, making her boobs bounce. “Well, what’d
ya
expect? He’s like ten feet tall!”

“Is it always that big or are you just happy to see us?” Kate smiled, studying Woody through impressed blue eyes.

“That’s up to you to find out,” he said, pounding the rest of his beer, tossing the can into the fire and dashing for the shoreline.

Ashley and Kate squealed with laughter and gave chase, kicking up brown sand as they raced to the water’s edge. Rory tried not to gawk at the way their boobs and butt cheeks bounced with each step they took, but the beers delayed his plan to turn away.

The girls splashed into the warm water and screamed, their nude bodies glistening in the moonlight.

Rory smiled from ear to ear. “Wow!” he laughed lightly, turning to Rachel.
“Your turn.”

“Are you crazy? I’m not going in there after that toxic waste spill.”

He threw his head back and laughed. “You’re still on that kick? That was ten years ago!”

“Well, I don’t see you going in.”

He took a deep breath and grew silent, returning his attention to the water. “Yeah well, I’m not big on growing a third nipple, so I think I’ll pass.”

She laughed, watching the others dunk one another with wild splashes. Their erupting screams splattered the rolling hillsides, dotted with tall pines and oaks.

“They’re crazy,” Rory said, offering her the joint.

She held up a hand and shook her head.

Rory poked the ground with the joint until it stopped smoking and left it sitting under his chair, the silence between them becoming as oppressive as the fire’s heat. His mind scrambled for something to say, something that wasn’t about the weather or the price of gas or how long it had been since they had last seen each other. He got up from his chair and took the one next to her. She smiled warmly and turned to watch the others frolicking in the water like excited puppies. Rory refrained from asking her how she had been and convinced
himself
he didn’t really want to know.

“So, how long have you and
Clutch
been going out?” he asked instead.

She chuckled and dropped her forehead into the heel of her hand, hiding her face like he had just found a neon green vibrator stashed inside her glove box.
“A few weeks.”

“He seems like a good guy,” he lied.

“He’s better when he doesn’t talk.”

Rory snorted. “And when is that?”

“Never!”

Their laughter faded. The popping fire and croaking frogs grew louder.

“I’m sorry he was so rude.”

Rory shrugged his shoulders. “It’s my fault. I should’ve just let him tell the damn story.”

“Holy shit!”
Clutch yelled in the distance. “There’s something in here!” He went under with a violent splash. Ashley and Kate screamed, backing away from where he vanished.

A light breeze pushed the fire’s wispy smoke Rory’s direction. He squinted as it floated through him like a ghost “He doesn’t seem like your type.”

“He’s not.”

He turned to her and regretted how fast he had swung his head around. “No?”

She swallowed a long drink of red wine and hesitated before saying more. “He’s pretty much a complete idiot.”

“Really?
I hadn’t noticed.”

She laughed lightly and grew serious. “In fact, this camping trip was pretty much the last straw.” She turned to him in the flickering light. “I told myself that if he does anything…” She trailed off and dropped her gaze to the glass in her hands.

Rory swallowed dryly and returned his attention to the lake. He tipped his beer can back and stole a glance of Ashley.

“He can go and show his little wiener to everyone in town for all I care.”

Rory snorted and spit beer out his nose. “Wow! That is really some crass language.”

She met his glazed over eyes and tried on a smile that didn’t fit. “The only reason I went out with him in the first place was because I hadn’t know him since the third grade.”

Rory twisted uncomfortably in his seat and rolled his neck, making it pop. Yet another reason she should have come with him to Charleston and it pissed him off. If she hadn’t been such a chicken-shit, she wouldn’t have had that problem. He shook the thought off, refusing to go down that dark road again. He had slogged that muddy path a thousand times after moving into his new apartment in Charleston when he should have been out enjoying his new digs. How many times had he turned down dinner or drinks with people at work during those first few months?
Too many.

Rachel stared at him for a moment and turned back to the lake. He was about to change the subject when Clutch exploded to the surface.

“Good Lord! Something’s got me!” he bellowed into the night, his arms flailing wildly.

Kate and Ashley screamed and high-stepped through the water to take cover behind Woody, who was more than happy to provide protection by wrapping his long arms around their slick bodies.

“Yeah, not a lot to choose from around here,” Rachel said dully.

Her statement hit the same nerve, now strung tighter than a tightrope inside a peppermint-colored circus tent. Charleston had been a whole new world.

“Then why’d you stay?” He regretted the question as soon as it slipped from his lips. It didn’t matter now. After all, he had failed in Charleston and ended up right back where he started. Plus, he already knew the answer.

She turned in the chair to face him and smacked her lips. “Do you really want to go over this right now?”

He took a mighty chug off his beer and swallowed with a grimace.
“Nope.”

She nodded and swung her glassy blue eyes to the skittering flames.

“I already know you were scared to leave this place.”

Clutch’s booming laughter pounded the night. Woody yelled something about a sea snake and the girls squealed again.

Rachel’s eyes narrowed. “I was not scared!”

He arched an eyebrow at her.

“Well, of course I was scared,” she said curtly.
“Knowing that I couldn’t see my family anytime I wanted to would’ve made me feel like I was suffocating.”

“That’s just being homesick, but it goes away after awhile,” he replied.
“For the most part.”

“I know,” she surrendered, taking a deep breath and releasing it. “I just wasn’t ready and…I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize. Obviously, things didn’t end up working out so hot anyway.”

“Oh yeah, like things worked out so great here,” she laughed. “I’ve finally landed the perfect barista job!”

The cynicism dripping from her words made him chuckle. He turned back to the fire and let his eyes space out on the dwindling flames while the others laughed and splashed in the background, filling another round of silence that fell like rain.

“I’m sorry they cut your column,” she said in a hushed tone.

He kept his blank stare fixed on the burning logs. The pity in her tone made him fidget. “Something better will come along,” he said, sounding about as confident as an accountant diagnosing a heart problem.

“I know it will.” She placed her hand on his, sending a shockwave rippling through his arm. “You’re so smart and talented. Your reviews always made me laugh and they were always so right on.”

He turned in his chair to look at her. “You read my reviews?”

She squeezed his hand. “Of course I did. I read them online.”

Rory grunted and turned back to the fire, letting his eyes blur with the wavering heat. “I should’ve kept in better touch.” He cringed, wondering why he had just said that. He didn’t really mean it.

She smiled warmly, her face a bright orange in the fire’s glow. Her mouth opened for a moment before she decided to close it and drop her gaze to the glass in her hands.

Rory nonchalantly pulled his hand from hers. “So how are things at the coffee shop?”

“I hate it,” she said flatly, taking his hand again. “I just want you to know that…I’ve always regretted not going with you.” She paused. “Not being with you.”

He met her gaze and tried not to show any emotion.

“And,” she continued. “I’m glad you’re back.” She squeezed his hand and smiled that smile he could fall down into and get lost inside forever.

He squeezed back.
“Me too.”

She paused before continuing. “And I’m sorry that things didn’t work out with Diane.”

“Danielle.”

She laughed lightly. “Danielle. I’m sorry.”

He responded with nothing more than a soft nod, his gaze firmly fixed to the dying campfire. His plans to bring Danielle to Minot to meet his family and friends this coming August slipped through his mind. At the time (last month), she had been so excited about the trip and they had discussed the different places he had wanted to show her. The Pointe of View Winery in Burlington, the Roosevelt Park Zoo, the
Riverwalk
, the childhood home where his dad had buried his St. Bernard, named Wendy, beneath an old maple tree in the backyard. But mostly, he wanted to take Danielle wherever Rachel was going to be so he could rub his newfound flame in her face. A combination of guilt and humility wormed through him. “We should probably go find some more wood,” he finally said.

She bent over and gently plucked a small stick from her flip-flops. Rory tried to stop his eyes from diving down her gaping neckline but quickly found himself nestled between two lacey, red handfuls of soft bosom. When she came back up, he forced his eyes back to the flickering fire.

“So…how long had you two been seeing each other?”

His eyes jerked back to hers. He shrugged. “Eight months, something like that.”

She nodded slowly and turned to the fire. “Did she find out about your gay porn habit or something?”

His face wrinkled and she broke into laughter, gently resting a reassuring hand on his knee.