Owen. Seriously.

“Nothing’s going on. We’ve just become friends. That’s all.”

He was quiet a beat. “Friends? You and Reese Forster? The ball player, right?” His disbelief was evident.

I didn’t know how to answer that one. Yes, to convince him, or yes, to defend myself?

I started forward again. I hadn’t gone to my own cabin for two days, and the times before had been just to dash in, my nose plugged, as I grabbed what I could and dashed back out.

When I got to my cabin, I waited. I couldn’t talk and not breathe at the same time, so I sat on the front porch, my feet dangling off the side, facing the lake. It was just beyond the tree line and a dip down to the edge, which was lined with rocks. The nice beach area was on the other side of the island. Still, it was pretty. The sun was shining, a sparkling line clearing right through the trees and making the water look like it was glistening.

I hadn’t taken the time since coming here to appreciate the island. Most of my time had been spent avoiding things or being busy. Or with Reese. Sitting here, with Trent quiet for a moment, I took it all in.

A piece of me settled. Calm.

“I thought you went to camp to get away from another guy situation?” Trent said.

“Technically, I was fired and dumped, but let’s be honest here. Lucas and his grandpa weren’t really anything, and neither is Reese. Friends, Trent. Like you and me. Friends.”

I might’ve been lying a tad bit, but that was between me and the fish smell.

“What were you thinking about doing?”

Shit. Not that I was making much money, but that meant I was losing four days of wages. That could’ve covered a weekend of laundry.

“I don’t know. Some of the others aren’t far away. I was thinking we could do a road trip. Janet mentioned having a new house. We could go there, see her. Dinner. You know, just spending time together. She has walking trails by her place too.”

I glanced to the left of my cabin. There was a better walking trail right here.

“I don’t know. You know I don’t get along with Janet.” She was one of the gossiping friends. I’d melted out of the scene so she couldn’t talk shit about Damian. Though she didn’t know that. So maybe the whole not getting along was more on my end, but her tongue could be razor sharp when she talked about her ‘friends.’ I’d heard more than I needed to. Why let myself be a target for her?

But Trent, he loved her. Trent loved everyone.

“Charlie.” His voice dipped. We were going real talk here. All these people in my life, all they wanted to do was converse seriously about things. What was the fun in that? Could we not adult in other ways?

“You said yourself that you need to reconnect with people. Janet’s the glue in the group. She’s the only one who talks to everyone else, besides me. If you want to convey a message to the group or an apology, it’s smart to go see her.”

That made my decision. The words apology and message were enough. “You know, now that I’m remembering, I had a call from my last boss. She wanted me to come back and see her. Maybe I could get my job back.”

“You’re lying.”

I was. I didn’t care. “Have you really never heard Janet talk shit about people? You do know that’s what she does.”

“She’s not that bad.”

“Because you’re a guy. She loves you. With girls, it’s another thing. She’ll talk shit about who you’re dating, but she won’t talk shit about you. If you have a vagina, you’re fair game to her.”

My phone buzzed, and pulling away from my ear, I saw a text.

Reese: Just landed. Coach said we’re doing lunch there. I brought you a shirt from the airport.

“Hold on a second, Trent.”

Me: What airport?

Reese: Congratulations. It says you’ve visited New York.

Me: Always wanted to be a New Yorker. One second. On the phone.

He buzzed through again, but I was speaking once more. “Hey.”

Trent’s voice twisted. “So you’re going to lie and avoid more camp people?”

I sighed. “Janet and I were never close. And you don’t get it. You don’t know what I went through…”

“Because you won’t tell me. I’ve been gone for two weeks, and you’ve not once called or even texted. I thought you wanted to change, reconnect with the group, but you’re still avoiding us.”

I tried to be gentle. “Look, seeing you, coming here, reconnecting with Owen, Hadley, Grant, and you—that’s been huge for me. And it’s all I can handle right now.”

I didn’t get why he was upset. When he’d gone through his divorce—the main reason he’d become a motivational speaker—Janet had ripped his ex to shreds. I mean, that’d been around the time I began leaving the group, but I’d seen the emails. She’d been vicious. Yeah, she’d been talking about his ex-wife, but Trent had loved her and married her. I knew he wouldn’t have been okay with what she was saying.

He was silent, and I didn’t know what else to say. “Maybe we can talk more when you get here? When do you arrive?”

“I’ll be coming in tomorrow evening. You’ll be free?”

“Depends on the time, but should be. I’m usually at the courts till I close down.”