Another shrug. “The world’s greatest mystery. Where does confetti really come from?”

Suddenly his eyebrows went flat. “You guys went drinking.”

“The booze oozing out of my pores indicates that. I thought we were past that.”

“No. I thought you camp people stayed here all the time.” He shook his head, rubbing his jaw as he looked around the room. “What kind of shithole do you stay in?”

He took in the fishing net that made up a chandelier, scanned the wall of fish hooks turned upside down. He wrinkled his nose. “This place smells too. Holy fuck.” He took a good whiff. “What is that?”

“It’s the old fishing cabin. I barely notice it now.”

“Because it’s on you.”

“What?” No! “Take that back.” I hit him in the arm.

“Who put you in here?”

“My boss.”

“Your boss who’s a dick?”

Best friends, this guy and me. I felt a good kick in the nether regions. Not good, though.

“You can’t do things like that,” I told him.

“Like what?”

“Like be on the same page as me.” I motioned to my groin. “Makes the he-girl happy down there.”

He groaned, but asked, “Your vagina is male? That’s where you’re going with that?”

Of course. Made perfect sense.

He rolled his eyes. “You can cut that shit. I’ve been watching you all week, and I know your deal.”

That didn’t sound good.

A knot was forming inside me. I felt its tentacles starting to wrap around. Okay. It was more of an octopus inside me, but it would harden and knot. All knots.

He sounded impatient as he picked up a bag of mine. “This whole crazy charade you’re putting on is just that. It’s a facade. You’re not a real stalker. You’re not even half a stalker.”

“I am too.”

He opened my bag, and I let him. I don’t know why, but I did. He dumped out some papers I had stuffed in there and began looking around. He went into my bedroom and grabbed some of my shirts. Putting them into the bag, he reached for more clothing.

“It’s an act,” he informed me. “Yeah, you might have weird tendencies, and you might be a fan, but that’s it. You’re not a groupie. You’re not a fanatic. If you were, I would’ve needed to kick you out of my cabin five times by now, and you’ve not once come over.” He shoved more of my clothes into the bag. “I asked you one question, and you folded. Someone truly nuts would be convinced I was asking you to marry me. She’d have horrible boundaries, and you are really all about boundaries. Jesus. You told me to back off after one personal question. You closed up and flipped the switch. You’re not even super friendly anymore.”