All three of them said,“No!”
Alfonso said, “No, Andrea Catherine. There is no room.”
Isaak’s deep, French-accented voice teased, “I’m willing to share.”
Someone in the tent actually growled like a bear.
She unzipped the tent flap and stuck her head inside, shining the flashlight under her chin like she was telling ghost stories and then turning it on the men.
Their burgundy mummy bags piled on top of each other in the tiny tent, tangled, and they looked like a cup of nightcrawlers with men’s faces.
She said, “Jeez,guys.”
Maxence said, “We were merely adjusting.”
“This is crazy. This tent isn’t big enough for three grown men.”
“That is what I was saying,” Isaak said, grinning hugely. His bright blue eyes sparkled in the flashlight beam. “But if you have room in your tent—”
She sighed. “Yeah, one of you should bunk with me. Come on.”
“I’ll go,” Isaak said and started slithering toward the tent flap.
“No,” Maxence said, glowering. “Dree should choose. Who would you be comfortable with?”
She sighed. “Fine. I’ll take Deacon Father Maxence.”
“I’d be more fun,” Isaak said, still grinning. His fingers wiggled by his cheek, peeking out of the face hole of his mummy bag as he waved to her.
She told Isaak, “Yeah, but I need to get some sleep tonight. Maxence is an ordained deacon, so he’s harmless.”
The other two guys cracked up, their deep, masculine laughter ringing in the night.
Maxence glowered. “I’m not harmless.”
The two guys laughed as Maxence gathered up his sleeping bag and followed Dree into the night.
Back in her tent, Maxence kneeled and flipped his sleeping bag over the tent’s ground fabric. “Thanks for getting me out of there.”
“It’s okay. Sounded like there really wasn’t enough room.”
“We tried all sleeping on our sides, but Isaak rolled over and knocked Alfonso and me over like dominos.”
“I can see that happening.” She shucked her coat and boots, and then she wiggled back inside her sleeping bag. The fluffy bedroll was still warm inside.Ah.She placed her flashlight back where she could reach it and clicked it off.
The glare in the tent subsided, though Max’s flashlight still lit up the back wall.
“But you were right,” Maxence said, zipping his bag up to his chest. He reached out with one hand and extinguished his flashlight.
Darkness snapped into being, instantly filling the tent to the center peak. Dree couldn’t see her own nose, let alone if she’d wiggled her fingers in the dark.
She said, “Of course, I was right. What about?”
“That I’m the harmless one.”
She scoffed, “I’ve got four nights in Paris that say different.”
“That wasn’t really me.”
