Behind Blue Eyes

Chapter 9

Matt reached into the cooler for another beer. He straightened up to look across the inlet to the lake where the other half of their camping group were still in the process of setting up tents for what had become the group's annual end of summer camping weekend. He waved to Lynn who seemed intent on getting a campfire started before it got dark.

"Should I expect to see a sock on the outer zipper of our tent at some point over the next three days?" Mark said from the chair next to him.

"Huh?"

"Lynn. Rumor has it she's interested in you."

"I don't know..."

"It's okay. I can sleep in the truck if I have too."

"It's not that just..."

"It's hard to start a new relationship when the old one is still hanging around?"

"Well there is that, but technically I'm a client so..." Matt shrugged and stood up to walk down to the water's edge. Sharbot Lake was small but nice. The bottom, at least along the shoreline, was sandy and the water clear. Matt watched as several small fish darted about in the shallow water. He didn't know what kind they were; fishing was never something he'd ever had an interest in.

"We need to start broadening your social circle," Mark said, joining him. "What's the point of being a stud if you can't ask anyone out because of the client thing. We need to hook you up with some fresh faces."

"You sound like a pimp."

Mark laughed. "What about that girl you were with at the Blue Fusion concert? You told me she seemed interested."

"We had a moment, but she lives in LA and we don't move in the same circles."

"You don't move in any circles. But you liked her."

"Yeah. Quite a lot actually."

Mark sighed as he draped his arm around Matt 's shoulders. "Look her up on social media and get in touch with her. Or detour to LA the next time you're out West. But just do something."

"Why are you suddenly so interested in my love life?"

"If you can't succeed what chance do the rest of us have?"

"I'm pretty sure it doesn't work that way." Matt looked across the lake again. Lynn still didn't appear to have managed to get a fire going. He suspected the wood was damp. She was a camping enthusiast, and Matt knew she hardly needed his help. He walked back to their chairs and pulled two beers from the cooler, shoving a can in each pocket of his cargo shorts. "I'll go see if she needs some help," he said heading toward the trail that led to the other campsite.

"I didn't mean right now," Mark called after him.

Matt laughed. "Don't worry, we've got three days in which to get drunk together."

When he got to the site, he could only see Lynn and Kevin.

"Hey there. Come to lend a hand?" Kevin shouted above the whine of the small air compressor he was using in the rear of his truck to blow up air mattresses.

"I think you'll win in the end. I thought I'd help Lynn out with the fire."

"I bet you did," Kevin said sarcastically.

"Where's everyone else?" Matt asked.

"James decided we wouldn't have enough alcohol so he and the girls have gone to the LCBO and Beer Store in Perth. Andy went to take a shower. He's already complaining about how humid it is, and to be honest, he's doing us all, especially me, a favor by showering before dinner."