I whipped out a hand, knocking it aside. “What’s your favorite sexual position—” I caught myself. “Please don’t answer that.”

She just pointed again and smiled. “We never do. We ignore your questions.”

Years of friendship here. We were past what was polite. It was like the eight-year absence never existed, and then I was laughing too. I mean, I was trying not to think about who was out there—and maybe now standing in the front office’s hallway—because if I did, it’s straight to the language of the Arguchamites.

“What’s going on?” came another voice from the kitchen. There was an attached doorway between the two.

I didn’t even look at Trent. He’d been in on it too.

“She found out who the campers are,” Owen reported.

“Oh.” Trent laughed. “That’s fucking awesome.” He leaned forward, resting his hands on his knees and raised his voice. “Can you hear me, Charlie?”

I glared at him. “If everyone was deaf, would anyone speak?”

“She started hyperventilating.”

I shot Hadley a dark look. I was still hyperventilating. There were birds in the room. Goddamn birds.

One of them flew through Trent’s head. He didn’t notice. It came out the other side.

A cocky smirk tugged at his mouth. “Live, Charlie. Live. Are you going to live? Do I need to give you a motivational talk on how to soothe your inner fan?”

I punched him in the stomach.

He dropped. “Oomph.”

Owen and Hadley started laughing all over again.

“Can animals besides parrots and elephants dance?” spilled out of me.

I couldn’t think about who was in the hallway. If I did, the walls in my brain started bending and everything flipped upside down. So therefore, we had normal, wealthy-prick campers out there. I was just here to waste some time, write a little for a novel I’d probably never finish, and deal. I was here to deal. That was it.

As I repeated that, I felt myself calm down.

I could breathe normally. My chest wasn’t threatening to cave in.

I started feeling my feet and legs again, enough where I could stand up.

My three A-hole friends all stopped laughing and moved forward, their hands out to catch me. I was tempted to flip them off. That’s the least they deserved for laughing at me in my moment of stupidity.

“You better now?”

Aw, Hadley. She was nice, and tenderhearted.

Trent snorted. “You mean is she more sane now?” He gently rapped his knuckles against my head. “Did you scramble these tonight?”

Hadley started laughing.

I take back the tenderhearted part.

Owen lifted his shoulder, knocking it back in place. I swear, that wasn’t even about his injury anymore. It was his “we need to get going” signal. That or his “I’m uncomfortable; let’s change the subject” signal.

I waited.

We all did—the two other A-holes quieted too.