Dmitri and Ray had been best friends since middle school. Now in their late twenties, both now respectable working professionals, albeit in the vastly different worlds of IT and baking, they still managed to get together at least month and month and enjoy each other's company over a movie, a friendly game of pool, or a late night beer session.
Dmitri's girlfriend of several years had suddenly dumped him and moved out of town recently, and he'd take it pretty hard. Even though it was late September and the weather forecast wasn't incredibly favorable, Ray managed to talk him into a weekend camping trip up at Linville Gorge. "Yeah, it'll be a little chilly and it's gonna pour buckets on Friday night, but the rest of the weekend's gonna be gorgeous and you know we'll have the whole place to ourselves. Perfect time to go out and get your head straight, right?" Dmitri protested, but only pro forma. Once Ray got an idea into his head, there was no dislodging it.
As advertised, on Friday night as the two friends set up their camp, the clouds rolled in thickly, whipped by gusts of blustery wind coursing through the mountains, bending the pine trees over at obscene angles. Fortunately, they were experienced campers and well-equipped for even a sudden fall storm like this one. They'd chosen a site off of the beaten path, staked down their oversized tent securely, and over-engineered the requisite drainage. As dusk settled in and the rain started down in earnest, they were just settling into their camp chairs in the front half of their tent for a final smoke before turning in for the night, when they became aware of a small voice calling from farther down the hill. "Help? Oh fuck. Help?!"
The friends exchanged worried glances, then threw on their ponchos and stepped out, calling back, "Up here! What's wrong?" A dim light flashed through the heavy rain a few dozen yards away. "Oh, thank fucking god." It was a woman's voice. The light grew closer, revealing itself as a small penlight being held in the grasp of a small, quite bedraggled woman. Her white t-shirt and khaki shorts were plastered to her cute, curvy form, leaving nothing to the imagination. Her long, dark red hair wetly framed her winsome face.
"Um, I am so, so sorry to throw myself on your mercy like this but... can we get out of the rain? I promise I'm not a fucking psycho killer or anything."
The friends exchanged a wry smile and ushered her into their tent, spacious for two, now a little cramped and damp. They threw their wet ponchos out, rummaged around for a towel and a large button-up shirt and a pair of flannel bottoms for their guest, and urged her to dry off and change while they turned their backs. Ray caught Dmitri's eye and gave him a salacious wink. Dmitri had a real thing for redheads. Dmitri blushed, rolled his eyes, and shook his head.
"Um. I guess I'm as presentable as it gets." Her voice was warm honey, amused and chagrined. "I can't believe how fucking stupid I am sometimes. Um, so I didn't check the weather before I came out this weekend which was pretty shitty, but my crowning achievement today was accidentally knocking my pack into the ravine. Tried to climb down and get it but when the rain blew in, I quickly decided that wet and miserable beats a broken neck. Thanks to you gentlemen, I'm not even that any longer. Oh, jesus, I haven't even told you my name: I'm Malory."
"I'm Ray and this is Dmitri. And hey, don't beat yourself up, we've done way stupider shit up here when we were younger. Remember the time when we were tripping on shrooms and you just had to climb up that ridge to catch the rising moon, Dmitri?"
"That was your idea, asshole. Hey, Malory, I, uh, it's nice to - uh, I mean glad we were here to help. Um. You can spend the night here, we'll help you get your pack in the morning."
"Oh, geez... I mean, thanks? Y'all're some fucking good dudes. Listen, I'll just like curl up in this chair here, you won't even know I'm here. I'm so sorry to barge in on you."
Ray snorted. "Do you have any idea what my mother would say if she heard that I let you do that? (And believe me, she's going to, we're going to dine out on this story for years.) No, Malory, you take my sleeping bag. I'm a fucking mountain boy born and bred, Dmitri here needs his beauty sleep, you're shivering like nobody's business. End of discussion."
Malory looked him up and down. "Dude. You're like 6'6", I don't even know how you'd fit in that chair. But okay, how about if we zip your bags together, I'll squeeze in between you. But maybe don't tell your mom about that part."
Ray and Dmitri exchanged another look, shrugged, and assented. Shortly thereafter, the three had settled in: Ray on the right and left facing away, Malory lying in the middle facing upwards. The two friends couldn't help brushing up against her as they'd awkwardly squirmed in and were trying their best to calm their raging erections.
