We were hiking up into the mountains an hour later, the sun shouting its way across the sky as Doug was shouting behind me, “I f*****g hate you, kid!”
“Almost there,” I yelled over my shoulder as I bounded over the rocks and mountainous debris.
“Really?” he panted.
I shook my head. “Nope, but just keep telling yourself that.”
Doug was about to object, or perhaps throw a stone at my head, when we were suddenly interrupted.
“Um,” squeaked Simon, which was a sound that clearly didn’t suit him any more than a grin or a laugh did. “I, uh, I think we have company.”
I turned. My boss and his boyfriend stood frozen, looking as if Medusa had smiled upon them. “Brother!” I shouted, just as the wooly beast leapt into my arms. “Guys, look! It’s my family!”
We were surrounded in moments. “We see
