But no. It wasn’t.
Decency.That word stuck on Alexei’s tongue, bitter. A word he’d been raised on. Indoctrinated on.It’s not always a sin to have indecent thoughts, he’d been taught. Over and over.Only a sin to act on them.
But Ben and Alexei hadn’t been doing anything wrong.
And meeting Ben was the most thoroughly decent thing Alexei had ever done.
He shook his head. “I mean, it’s not. But we were getting ready to go anyway.”
Leslie nodded.
“I’m so sorry that happened to you.”
Alexei looked at her. Her face was full of freckles. Her eyes were green. Her T-shirt had a picture of a bear on it, hugging the state of California.
It was a simple sentence, what she had just said.
But it made the world tilt anyway, just a bit. Like it was showing Alexei colors he’d never seen before.
“Are you going to be okay?” he asked. “I don’t want them to retaliate against you.”
Because one thing he did understand was the mind-set of those two guys. Who were currently in a heated discussion with the other folks who had joined the fray. And he knew the way Leslie had just talked to them was not going to change their hearts and minds.
“Shit.” Leslie sighed, adjusting her hat. “I did fly in pretty hot there, huh? I tend to do that when I see dumb shit. My boyfriend hates it.” She looked back at the arguing crowd. Which, to Alexei’s chagrin, seemed to be growing by the minute. “But don’t worry. There are more of us than there are of them. And we come here all the time. Forest rangers are always coming through here. If they try to start shit, we’ll report them for trying to start a wildfire or something.”
Against all odds, Alexei laughed. He looked back at Ben. He was almost ready now, struggling into his shoes, but he still looked unsteady.
“Please don’t do that,” he told Leslie. Wildfires here were no joke. She sighed again.
“Fine. My boyfriend would probably be pissed if I lied to law enforcement anyway. But hey.” Her voice turned sincere again. “Sorry if my yelling put you on the spot.” She glanced back at the group, worrying her lip. “Didn’t mean to call attention to you like that, or talk over you, or anything. Just couldn’t keep my mouth shut. Like I said, it’s a problem sometimes.”
“No.” Alexei shook his head. “You were fine. You were great. Thank you for being here.”
Ben stepped next to him, poles in hand.
“Try to forget them, okay?” Leslie said to both of them. “They’re just dumbass losers.”
Alexei laughed again, even though, again, it seemed out of place, after what had just happened. But there was something so playground trash talk about Leslie’s phrasing, and he couldn’t help himself. He imagined Leslie on a baseball diamond, spitting out a wad of tobacco before throwing a no-hitter.Dumbass losers, she’d say from the mound.
“Thanks, Leslie,” Ben said, and Alexei’s laugh faded as he heard the shake in Ben’s voice. Still, he couldn’t help but smile at Ben with fondness. Still remembering the names of every stranger he ever met, even now. “Maybe we’ll see you around the trail.”
“We’re locals, but hey. Take care of yourselves, okay?”
With one last serious look, Leslie turned to join her friends.
And Ben and Alexei did what they always did. The only thing to do. They walked.
With each step, the chatter of the crowd at Deep Creek Hot Springs faded behind them, until it grew quiet. Until it was only the crunch of their feet on the ground, the gentle hustle of the wind.
Alexei wanted to reach out a hand. Rest it on Ben’s shoulder. Take his palm in his.
But he could sense Ben’s anger, Ben’s unease, and gave him space.
Alexei focused, instead, on settling his own lingering adrenaline.
After fifteen minutes, Ben stopped.
He stepped a foot off the trail. Stared out at the golden hills that surrounded them everywhere they looked, endless patches of chaparral.
