Spin

Thirteen

[RORY]

"I haven't a clue where this goes."

"Is that an A, a B or a C?"

"English, please."

"Well there are different types of poles, Finn. See, the manual has pictures."

"They all look the same, Rory."

"Well, no...see, A is a little longer than B and B is...not C."

Shockingly, my comment was not perceived as helpful as Finn gave me a blank stare, extending his hand. I passed him the crumpled booklet, watching a single droplet of sweat slip from his hairline and trickle down his face. He narrowed his eyes in frustration, using the back of his wrist to wipe his forehead.

"How bloody hard is building a tent meant to be?" he grumbled, mainly to himself. He tossed the instructions on the ground so he could use both hands to tug his shirt over his head. "It's boiling."

I caught the discarded cotton, unable to hide my smirk as I shamelessly checked him out.

"It's summer in Southern California."

"Yeah but we're in the mountains, I thought it would be cooler up here."

While it was true I'd never been camping before so I couldn't be certain, I did have a feeling building a tent wasn't meant to take two people over an hour. Thankfully, the universe decided to give us a little break, conveniently sending us our very own guardian angel.

"Howdy, you guys doing okay?"

I glanced up at our unexpected company, pleased to see a park ranger. I offered a wave as he slowed his golf cart to a stop, having recognized my grumpy partner-in-crime.

"Well this is pretty cool. I'm a big fan."

"Thanks, man," Finn politely responded, clambering to his feet as the ranger walked over to us. I had to bite my cheek to stifle my laughter, watching Finn confidently place his hands on his hips in complete contradiction to the flattened tent beside us. "It's a hot one, innit?"

"Standard for this time of year," the ranger nodded, extending his hand to us both. He was giddy, grinning at Finn. "I'm Jackson. My colleague thought it was you coming in earlier but I didn't believe him."

We fell into a comfortable silence as Finn toyed with his hair, glancing around the campsite.

"Mate, where are the restrooms?"

"Unfortunately on this side of the park, the nearest is about a quarter mile away. For the sites on this end, I usually just recommend heading up the trail a bit. It's less populated and you can get some privacy over there, there's more brush."

I had to turn away to hide my displeasure, leaving Finn to his own devices as he cleared his throat.

"Right," he slowly responded. "Right, right. 'Course."

"Oh nice, Coleman," Jackson pointed at our tent and gave us an easy smile, as if the comment was supposed to mean something to us. Based on context clues, I assumed it was a good thing. "They're top notch."

"Yeah, the best."

I gave in, laughing under my breath at Finn's far-from-convincing act. He smirked over at me but it disappeared as quickly as it came as Jackson took a few steps to his right, bending down to look at the heap of nylon on the ground.

"Oh, I think you've just got a few of these poles in the wrong place. Mind if I...?"

"Be my guest," Finn scratched the back of his head, avoiding looking over at me. He was watching intently as Jackson began easily swapping out some of the poles. "The instruction packet is right over there if you-"