Taking The Plunge (The Puppy Honey Series)

Khao Yai

"Here, pass me your bag."

Rome hands Pick his bag and the older male loads it into the back of his car. Porshe holds out his and Pick jerks a thumb, "Load it yourself. What am I? Your maid?"

"Asshole. This is the thanks I get for helping you reconcile with Rome-" Porshe grumbles and he places both his and Emma's bag inside before shutting the boot.

There were at five cars at the campus compound,club members split up, ready to set off for the drive towards Khao Yai.

Porshe pulled open the door of the front passenger seat and Pick stared at him, "What are you doing?"

"Getting in? What does it look like?"

Pick gives him a pointed look that practically screams, Are you kidding me?

"What?"

"Rome's sitting in front with me. You, my friend, should sit in the back with Emma." Pick explains patiently as if speaking to a five year old.

Porshe shakes a finger at his best friend, "I will remember this, friend. The unfairness of it all. Is this the treatment that-"

Emma pulls her boyfriend to the back and covers his mouth with a palm, "Just shut up and get in the car, P'."

x.x.x

"Have you seen Rome?"

Porshe shook his head, brows furrowing, "Isn't he supposed to be here with you?"

"You didn't see him? A first year tripped over a rock and cut his knee, so Rome offered to walk him back to the campsite to get first aid treatment. He said he'd be back soon. It's been thirty minutes." Pick glanced impatiently at his watch. "Can you take my place? I'm going to look for him."

Porshe nodded his head and squeezed Pick on the shoulder, "Have you tried calling those at the campsite?"

"Signal's bad. I can't get through."

He's alright. Maybe he's at the campsite tending to the junior.

Pick broke out into a slight jog and reached the start of the trail where the campsite was in just fifteen minutes. They had purposely stationed a couple of people there for first aid matters and Pick spotted the injured junior resting on a foldable chair, a bandage wrapped around his knee. Rome was nowhere in sight.

He approached the junior, slightly out of breath, "Where's Rome?"

"P'Rome? He left fifteen minutes ago, P'. He said he was going back to you." The junior answers.

If he was on his way back already, then I would have bumped into him on the way back.

Worry starts to gnaw at Pick and it settles deep in the pit of his stomach. He takes out his cell phone and swears when he sees that there's barely any signal bars. Fuck. It's close to eleven and the rest of the area which isn't the lighted trail was no doubt swallowed by pitch darkness.

Pick picks up an extra flashlight lying around and finds Emma and Porshe at the start of the trail with identical worried expressions on their faces.

"P', Rome's not with you?" Emma asks as soon as she catches sight of him, tone trembling with undisguised worry.

Pick shakes his head, "I'm going to look for him. He must have accidentally gone off trail. I noticed on the way here that the fork area wasn't lighted up." Once I find him, I'm going to tear the person responsible for setting up the lightsticks apart.

"I'll go with you." Porshe offers. "Emma can come with me." He knows his girlfriend well enough to know that she was too worried at the moment to sit still and wait at the campsite. "I'll tell Din and Nai to help settle the others first."