“Hoist me up!” Marcus looked over his shoulder then back up at the tree he was standing in front of. He held a bright yellow rope and extended his arms above his head to show he could almost reach.

“What are you doing?” Jesse asked, raising his eyebrow.

“I’m trying to string this rope. What does it look like I’m doing?” He tried tossing it over the branch again and failed.

“You know it’s not going to rain, right?” Jesse was in the process of pulling the tent from the bag across the campground.

Marcus looked baffled at the question. “This is Vancouver! It doesn’t matter what weather they’re predicting, we need to put up a tarp, just in case. I do not want to be doing this in the pouring rain if a storm rolls in.” He stood on his tip toes to try again.

“Okay, fine.” Jesse dropped the bag of tent poles at his feet and joined Marcus next to the tree. He noticed several nails remained imbedded in the tree from campers past. “But, you know I can just reach, right?” He took the rope and strung it over the branch. He looped it through the grommet on the tarp and then walked across to another tree. “This one?” He asked.

“Yeah! That should work,” Marcus confirmed. “You sure you don’t want to hoist me?” He asked with a mischievous smile.

After stringing up the tarp and pitching the tent, the two boys went about setting up the rest of the camp in companionable silence. Marcus filled their bed mats with air, unrolled the sleeping bags and fluffed the pillows. While Jesse started prepping the fire, which for now, actually just meant he was scanning the woods around their site for sticks. It didn’t take long for him to disappear into the woods. Later, once dinner was made and the fire was burning, he’d in his chair slowly taking the bark off a thick walking stick with his knife.

When Jesse emerged from the trees, Marcus was curled up in his favourite camping chair with a light blanket and a book. “Comfy?” Jesse asked.

Marcus raised his eyes and laughed at the number of sticks Jesse was carrying haphazardly. “I am! You hungry?”

“Not yet. But, I need to tell you about my adventure.” He let the sticks clatter to the dirt and pulled up his chair next to his partner.

“Adventure? You were gone _that _long.” Marcus closed his book and tucked it into the pouch of his chair.

“You’re right, but there is a single man in the camp right next to ours.” He pointed toward the trees at the north end of their site. “No one usually camps there and it doesn’t look like he has that much stuff with him.”

“How do you know he’s single?” Marcus smirked.

“Hilarious.” Jesse slapped Marcus’s knee. “I meant he is camping by himself. But, I do hope he’s single. He’s hot.”

“Should we invite him over to our fire tonight?” Marcus asked with a smile. Jesse just shrugged and turned back toward his pile of sticks to investigate their walking stick quality. He started with the most interesting, the one that looked similiar to yoga’s staff, crooked with a strong looking handle.

Marcus turned in his chair and looked toward the trees. He couldn’t see the site from where he was sitting, but he wondered what the man looked like. If they were in the city, he could almost bank on him being a redheaded twink, but out here he wasn’t so certain. Somehow he didn’t see that kind of man being out here in the woods, especially by himself. But quickly he realized that he thought himself a twink and he loved it out here, it was one of his favourite places to escape the city.

“I know you like to play with your wood, darling. But are you going to chop any for the fire?” Marcus laughed. Jesse looked up and scowled. “I’ll start dinner,” Marcus offered. Really, he just wanted to watch. There was something so incredibly sexy about chopping wood. The way his partners large hands curled around the axe, the bulge of his biceps, the satisfying crack of the wood.

Jesse wore an atheletic shirt that was snug against his broad chest. His shorts were just short enough to show off his thighs and said _I might be a little gay. _

…

Jesse kneeled beside the fire pit stacking the thin pieces of kindling as the sun began to sink behind the trees. Before too long the wood was cracking and popping and small flames fluttered in the evening breeze. Marcus clapped with enthusiasm. The fire was the best part of camping. This is why they always tried to get out at least once or twice before the province initiated the fire ban. That did mean it would get quite cold once the sun had fully disappeared, but it was worth it. And usually, at that time of year they only met other outdoor enthusiasts not the partyers you’d get in the middle of summer.

Slow country music played as they stuck marshmallows onto the sticks Jesse sharpened earlier. They played name that tune while the flames slowly turned the marshmallows golden. They both had a different approach to roasting. Jesse took his time. He slowly and consistently rotated his marshmallow over the flames with patience. While Marcus roasted his hard and fast, stuck the end of his stick as close to the hot coals as he could and watched the sugar sizzle before quickly turning it to the other side. This approach was risky, he had lost a few marshmallows to the coals and others burst into flames, but it was fun and meant he could eat his treats much faster.

The next song started and Marcus knew it instantly, but he was terrible at song titles and even worse with artist names. His mind hurriedly flipped through songs it could be, but Jesse interrupted Marcus’s thoughts with “Should I ask him?”

“Hmmm?” Marcus answered not quite registering the intent behind the question.

“Remember? The cute boy. I have to walk by his site on the way to the bathroom. Should I ask him to join us?”

Marcus shrugged. “If you want.” He was much more of an introvert than his partner and could never imagine himself just waltzing into someone else’s campsite to start up a conversation, but he was intrigued by the man. They hadn’t talked about him since Jesse had returned to camp earlier and it was always fun to see what kind of boy Jesse picked.

“Okay, well I’ll be back.” He stood, grabbed his toiletries bag from the tablet and sauntered off into the dark.

“Don’t forget your flashlight!” Marcus said to his back. Jesse raised his right arm and flicked the flash light off and on into the trees.

…

Marcus was so mesmerized by the dance of the flames that he didn’t hear Jesse walk back up the gravel path. So when he placed his hand on the back of the chair he jumped.

“You need to pay better attention, my dear.” Jesse laughed. “We are out in the middle of nowhere. I could have been anyone.”

Marcus’s heart had jumped into his throat. He was unprepared for a stranger to say, “I could have been a murderer.”

When Marcus turned, Jesse said, “This is Trevor, by the way. This is his first time up in this neck of the woods.”

“Neck of the woods?” Marcus smirked, when did his partner start talking like that? He must really be attracted to this guy. “Where are you from?” He asked.

The first word that came to mind when he met Trevor’s eyes was soft. He was just about as tall as Jesse, but that’s where the similarities ended. While he looked like he’d have no trouble chopping wood, or trekking up a mountain, his body looked live in. Gorgeous, dark curls fell across his forehead and that smile. Jesse must have been reeled in by that smile.

“I’m originally from Halifax actually.” Trevor’s answer interrupted Marcus’s thoughts and he wondered if he could tell he’d been surveying his body. “But, I’m living in Vancouver now. Been here almost a year.”

“That’s awesome!” Marcus answered a bit too enthusiastically. “Come, join us.” He motioned towards the fire.

Trevor and Jesse walked opposite ways around Marcus’s chair and each settled into their own across the fire pit. It was impossible not to notice the curve of Trevor’s hips and the roundness of his ass, but he had no idea if this man was queer. He wore dark sweat shorts and a black t-shirt that fit him nicely but wasn’t overly tight. His sock feet were slipped into sandles, but at this temperature that could probably be forgiven.

“So, how’d you find this place?” Marcus asked. This camping area wasn’t on any of the typical maps and it was rare to see too many people out here in the middle of May. When he’d walked down to the little beach by the river earlier that afternoon, he’d only seen one other group in an RV.

“Honestly, I kind of stumbled upon it by mistake. And I’m glad I did.” He smiled and Marcus couldn’t help but wonder if there was flirtation in the comment.

“That surprises me,” Jesse says. “Typically, people don’t get this far down the gravel road. But, I see you drive a Jeep.”

“I do. It was always my dream to own a Jeep. I bought it six months after I started my first real job after college. I actually drove across the country in it last summer.” Trevor drummed his thin fingers on his knee as he spoke.

“That must have been an adventure,” Marcus replied. “My sibling actually went to school in Halifax and did the same thing. They didn’t plan a single thing and just let the road take them. That would have made me so anxious.” He laughed.

“It really was. The entire trip took me about a month and I did the same thing actually, I didn’t have much pre-planned, I just stopped when I felt like it and allowed myself to be pulled off the highway on any adventure that seemed interesting. It was a really cool way to see a lot of the country.” His eyes looked distant for a moment, like he was reminiscing on his memories from the trip. For a moment no one spoke. “Your sibling uses they/them pronouns?” Trevor asked.

“Yep.” Marcus answered, unable to hide the giant grin that spread across his face. “I use he or they pronouns by the way. Yourself?”

“He/him,” Trevor answered. And Jesse echoed the same.

“So, it really does sound like you’re an adventurer. That’s really cool. Have any favourite places on the west coast yet?” Jesse had grown up here, but always loved to hear what folks new to the area thought. And there was so much beauty here that it was easy to discover new areas to explore.

“I love Alice Lake, it’s beautiful and not that far out of the city. But, I’ve Garibaldi is on my list of must visit places. I just don’t know if I’m brave enough for that trek yet.” Trevor blushed. “I’m not really used to the mountains out here on the West Coast yet.”

“Ha! That’s fair,” Marcus exclaimed. “Both Jesse and I grew up in this area and neither of us have done Garibaldi.”

Jesse smiled across the fire at his boy, recognizing the flirtation in his voice.

“Maybe it’s fate that brought us together.”