Stepbrother With Benefits 11 (7 page)

It worked for the dog, so who am I to judge?

The bear lets out one last grunt, which is kind of a yelp, too, and then it turns around quick and runs back into the woods.

"Holy shit," my dad says.

I agree with him.  "Holy fucking shit."

The dog doesn't say anything, he just looks real fucking pleased with himself.  Tongue lolling out of his mouth, staring at us like we're his best friends.  You know what?  Yeah, I want this dog to be my best friend.

"You're kind of dumb, aren't you?" I ask the dog.  "You think that was smart or what?  You could have gotten eaten by a bear."

"Ethan, why are you talking to the dog?" my dad asks.

I don't know?  Because?  The dog barks at me like he's saying it's totally cool to talk to dogs.  This dog knows what's up.

"Yeah, alright, you can chase off bears, but how the fuck do we get out of the woods?" I ask him.

My dad thinks I'm crazy.  I think I'm crazy, too, but I'd rather be crazy and talking to a dog than stuck in the woods for the night.  There's fucking bears out here, man.

That's when it happens, too.  I guess this is a turning point in my life.  I don't know what it means, and I'm not sure what turned, but...

"Do you hear that?" my dad asks.

The dog barks.  He totally hears it.

"I'm not talking to you," my dad says to the dog.

The dog barks.  I don't think he likes my dad.  I guess I can't blame him, because sometimes I don't like my dad, either, but he's not so bad.

"Sounds like the river," I say.  "Maybe the lake?  I don't know.  It's water, at least.  That's a good sign."

"Yeah, let's see if we can find it.  We should be able to get back to the campsite then."

"Yeah, fucking... I hope so," I say.  "Sorry about swearing so much."

My dad laughs.  "I don't think I've ever told you this, but I kind of like it when you do.  Do you know how often I want to curse at people when I'm working?  I've got to maintain my composure and act professional, but sometimes people, they..."  He pauses for a second.  "They do really stupid shit and I want to tell them that."

I laugh.  This is new and interesting.  I didn't know my dad was a badass in the making.

"I envy you sometimes, Ethan," he says, smiling.  "Not always.  Don't get the wrong idea here.  You're young and free and a little reckless, but I think you can go far if you learn how to temper your willfulness sometimes.  Not too much, but you take risks that other people wouldn't even dare to take."

"Yeah, well, sometimes I fuck up really bad, though," I say.

"We all fuck up really bad sometimes," my dad says.  "It's a balancing act.  You can't always play it safe, and you can't always take risks.  That's why—"

He stops.  He just doesn't want to say more, I guess.  I think I know what he's going to say, and it makes me smile, but it's too dark for him to see it.  I think he's smiling, too, though.

"We'll talk about this in the morning," he says.  "Let's go home."

Home.
  It's not a building or an exact area.  It's the place where people are waiting for us.  It's where Ashley and her mom are.  Whether it's in the city, back in our mansion, or in the middle of these woods at the campsite.

That's where our home is.  That's where we belong.

Sometimes we fuck up, but we've got a safe place to go back to.  It's safe because of who's there waiting for us.

Yeah, I like that.  Let's go home, Dad.

It's dark now and they aren't back yet.  We haven't heard any more wolf howling, but that was at the lake, so it makes sense we wouldn't hear it at our campsite.  I'm not exactly sure how far away the lake is from the campground, but I think it's at least a mile or so.

Caleb stayed with us, and I guess I'm thankful, but I don't really know.  He started a fire for me and my mom and then he helped my mom make a quick dinner for all of us.  His dad stopped by for a little and said he'd call the forest ranger or something like that.  I don't even know how this works.

"Can they go look for them?" I ask Caleb.  I don't know who
they
is, but I just want someone to find Ethan and his dad.

"Searching in the woods at night isn't really useful," Caleb says.  "It's a lot harder.  Usually the search and rescue teams will just wait until morning.  It's really hard to see in the woods at night, especially when you have to be extra careful about where you're going.  They can cover a lot more ground during the day."

"I'm sure everything will be fine, honey," my mom says.

We made quick mac and cheese for dinner, along with grilling some chicken breasts.  My mom wrapped them in tinfoil and then put them on top of the grate that Ethan's dad brought.  They're nice and juicy, seasoned with a few local grown spices, and usually I'd love it, but...

I like mac and cheese, too.  There's still some more keeping warm on the edge of the cooking grate, but I don't want to eat it.  No one else does, either.  It's kind of an unspoken agreement that it's there for Ethan and his dad when they come back... if they come back.

"What could happen to them?" I ask.

I'm not sure who I'm asking.  Caleb, I guess.  My mom knows as much about camping as I do, which is, um... not much at all.

Caleb doesn't answer, and I don't like the way he looks over at me.  I don't want him to look at me like that.  I don't even want him to look at me at all.  I think he's nice and all, but I should be here with Ethan.  We're supposed to be enjoying a family camping trip, but he's not even here.  Seriously, what a jerk!

I'm angry, but I don't want to be angry.  I'm angry at myself, I guess.  I'm angry that I didn't just tell Ethan's dad about us this morning when I was in the shower.  I could have.  I could have told him any number of times before now.

It's stupid.  We're stupid.  Why did we think this was a good idea?  We tried to hide it, but look what good that did us?  Maybe if we'd just told his dad right when he got home, everything would have been fine.  I don't know.  Even if it wasn't fine, at least we'd be safe.  I'd rather Ethan's dad be mad at us than for him and Ethan to be...

No, I can't think like that.  They're fine.  I'm sure they're fine.  It's just...

I watch my mom, and I realize I'm angry at her, too.  She could have told Ethan's dad.  She said she would when they were on a trip together.  She said that she'd tell him before they came home, but then she didn't.

Maybe this is stupid, but I'm really mad at Ethan, too.  He didn't tell me he liked me before.  I don't even know if he did.  He says he did, says he's liked me for a long time, but then why didn't he ever tell me?  Why did he wait until just last week to sort of admit it.  He didn't even admit it, though.

What would have happened if he never admitted it?  If we did our stepbrother with benefits thing for the week and then stopped and went our separate ways?

This is stupid.  I'm projecting or something.  I'm trying to find a place for my anger, but I'm not even really angry, I'm...

I'm scared.  I'm so very scared.  I hope they're fine.  I really really hope so, but there's nothing I can do and no way I can tell, which just makes me more scared.

I hear someone coming towards our campsite, but I don't bother looking up.  It's probably Caleb's dad coming for him.  It's not like Caleb can stay here with us.  We don't have a tent for him.  He has his own place, too.  He's got his own home, and his own family, and his own...

"Fuck, man... is that chicken and mac and cheese?"

"Looks like it's still warm, too."

Um... Ethan?  And my stepfather?

I look up to see them both standing there.  For some reason, there's a dog with them, too.  The dog stares at us: me, my mom, and Caleb.  When he sees the leftovers on my paper dinner plate, he runs over and starts licking it clean.  I don't even care, I can't take my eyes off of Ethan.

He looks at me, too, but then he looks away, kind of shy or embarrassed?  His dad elbows him, nudging him forward, and Ethan takes a step towards me.

I'm done.  I lose it.  I jump up and run across the campsite to Ethan.  He looks confused at first, but then he's smiling.  I leap into his arms and he catches me.  I wrap my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck and he squeezes me close and holds me tight, his arms around my butt.

We're practically standing right next to his dad, but I don't even care.  I kiss Ethan.  I shower his face with kisses, my lips touching every inch of him that I can find.  There, there, there... his nose, his cheeks, his eyes.

His lips.

He kisses me back, too.  This is getting, um... it's kind of hot, which is kind of awkward, because we're just right out in the open.  Caleb is staring at us, wide-eyed and open-mouthed.  Ethan's dad goes over to my mom and hugs her tight, whispering something to her.

When Ethan and I finally stop kissing, he glances over at Caleb.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" he asks.

"Uh...?"  Caleb blushes and looks away.

"Ethan, be nice," I tell him.  "Caleb was worried about you, too, you know?"

"Oh yeah?" Ethan asks, brow furrowed.  "You weren't flirting with Ashley, were you?"

"N-no!" Caleb says, flustered.

I whisper to Ethan.  "Caleb has a crush on a girl named Scarlet.  I thought we could help him, maybe?"

"Uh... what?"  Now Ethan looks confused and sort of flustered.  It's kind of cute and makes me laugh.

"I'll explain later, but right now you need to eat!  I think your dog friend is going to eat it all if you don't."

The dog keeps eyeing the chicken wrapped in tinfoil and the pot of mac and cheese over the fire, trying to figure out a way to get to it without burning himself.  I'm pretty sure if we leave him like that he'll figure out a way, too.  He looks like a smart dog.

"Yeah," Ethan says.  "I'm starved.  Sounds good."

Chicken and mac and cheese is just chicken and mac and cheese, but seriously this is amazing.  Fuck, I wish there was more.  I split the rest of what's left over the fire with my dad, but it doesn't seem like nearly enough.  I consider making some more, since I'm sure we've got more somewhere, but it's late.

If I'm being honest, I kind of just want to cuddle the fuck out of Ashley right now.  I don't want to waste time making more food.  I can do that later, or eat some crackers or something.

Wait.  Holy fuck, we've got chips, right?  Aw yeah.  I sneak away under the guise of offering this weird dog my empty plate so he can lick it clean, but then I grab the bag of chips, too.  I go back to the fire, but this time I sit extra close to Ashley.  No one's complaining, so I put my arm around her and pull her close to me, too.  I take a chip and chomp down on it, then she steals one from me.

Yeah, this is nice.

"So, does anyone want to tell us what happened?" my stepmom asks.  "We were worried about you two.  We heard howling in the woods earlier."

"Yeah," I say, finishing off another chip.  "So..."

I clear my throat and start to tell the story.

"We were in the woods, right?  Pretty far, I guess.  No clue where we were, but we were being real fucking outdoorsman, manly as fuck, alright?  Then I heard something.  I turned to my dad, and he just looked at me.  It was at that moment that I knew something was wrong, but I couldn't place my finger on it yet.  We needed to investigate more.  The woods were dark, though.  It was like a bad fairytale or something, real fucking ominous."

My dad gives me a weird look, smirking.  Ashley and her mom listen intently.  Caleb looks doubtful.  Yeah, you know what?  What the fuck are you even doing here still, dude?  I don't know.

Still not sure if I like this Caleb kid.  Whatever.  He can listen to my story.

"I went in further and then I saw this goofy dog standing there.  He was surrounded by this vicious pack of wolves.  They were sizing him up or something.  I could tell this was serious.  It was like a sort of 'join us or we'll eat you' type of deal.  So I was like, man, I've got to help this dog.  I ran in without thinking and just rushed the wolf pack.  Fur was flying, a whole bunch of shit.  Not sure how, but I managed to escape unscathed."

"You fought wolves?" Ashley asks.

"Yeah, damn right, Princess," I say.  "That's one of my nicknames, you know?  Ethan the Wolf.  It's not just for show.  I'm the real deal."

"Ethan, no one's ever called you that.  You just made it up."

"Hey, how do you know?  Do you go to school with me?"

She rolls her eyes at me.  Yeah, that's what I thought.

Alright, so no one actually calls me Ethan the Wolf, but it's a cool name, don't you think?

"As I was saying," I continue.  "So we save this dog.  I was like, Dog, go and be free, but it just kept following me.  I understand, since I have that effect on dogs, especially when I save their lives."

Caleb interrupts me.  What a fucker.  "You've saved more than one dog's life?" he asks, skeptical.

"You going to let me tell this story or what?"

"It does sound like you're exaggerating a little, dear," my stepmom says.

I turn to my dad.  He knows what's up.  "Help me out here?" I ask him.

"Oh, I'm sure it happened exactly like Ethan's saying," my dad says, trying not to laugh.

"Yeah, see?" I say, nodding.  "So, we save this dog, and then we decide to head back.  All in a day's work, everything's good, except on our way back, we run into this massive fucking bear.  I swear it was thirty feet tall.  This is some serious shit right there, and I'm kind of scared, but then I remembered my training.  I trained with some of the best back in the day, so I know exactly what to do."

"Back in the day?" Caleb asks.  "How old are you even?  You're the same age as me."

"Look, kid, don't try and drag me down to your level."

"There's no bear that's thirty feet tall, either," Caleb adds.  "That doesn't even exist."

"Fine, whatever.  Twenty-five feet.  Do I look like I care?  I didn't bring a measuring tape with me.  Pretty fucking sure the bear wouldn't just stand there and let me measure him, too.  Listen, none of this matters.  I trained back in the day with some wrestler's from school, and they taught me the bear hug.  It's not just some fancy wrestling term, it's shit that lumberjacks use to fight off bears, so I rush the thing and just wrap my arms around it, squeeze hard, and you can tell the bear is like, holy shit what did I get myself into this guy is legit."