Missed Connections by Tan-ni Fan

like to come into human settlements," Charles said. "It's only cars that are parked out of the way for a long time. Some people put chicken wire or dryer sheets in their engine compartment to discourage them, but we don't have to bother down at the campsite."
    By the time they got back, everybody was tired and hungry and several, including Rob, were slightly sunburned even though they had all taken precautions. But they were all in pretty good moods. When they broke up for lunch, Charles said, "If I don't see you before then, you boys remember the bachelor party."
    "Gross, Chuck," Jack said. "You'd think the fact that you two have been living together for years would mean you'd let go of these stupid old traditions."
    "This is not like other bachelor parties," Charles said mysteriously. "You do not have to be worried about me subjecting you to strippers of either the lady or gent persuasion."
    At this point, Rob fled, seeking out a lunch meat sandwich and a tin cup of lemonade.

    Dinner break
    Stanny talked Rob into a couple of hours of cards, on the grounds that he had gotten through the whole morning without even one unfortunate idea and therefore Rob owed him some time that was not outdoorsy. Soon enough they both dozed off and then they were being rousted by Jaime to go do their dinner chores. Stanny got salad prep and Rob got table setup again. Jack had the same assignment, so Rob got to ogle him a bit when he bent over and reached down the length of the tables to place the condiment baskets. And then he had to pretend that he wasn't doing it when Jack straightened up. By the way Jack glowered when he passed Rob, Rob was pretty sure he had been caught. But he shrugged it off. He had to admit he'd rather make Jack smile than frown, but if he couldn't please the guy, at least he'd enjoy looking at him and not worry about the consequences.
    Then Rob got commandeered into the serving line and only got to sit down after most of the seats were filled. The closest one was right across from Jack. Rob eased into the space and mentally counted off the seconds—nine, ten, eleven—till Jack noticed he was there and his easy smile turned to a scowl again. Rob couldn't help laughing.
    "What?" Jack demanded.
    "I don't know what I did to you or when I did it, but whatever it was, I'm sorry, I guess," Rob said, shrugging as he shoveled food into his mouth.
    "That's a weird thing to say when you've been laughing."
    "I was laughing because it's kind of funny that I can make you frown just by sitting down. I wonder if I could make you smile by popping up and walking backwards away from the table."
    "Nope," Jack said, and to Rob's surprise he was actually smiling right now, "You'd have to be facing away from me."
    "That wouldn't be satisfying. I wouldn't get to see you smile. Your smile is one of the best ones I've ever seen. Which is why it's so sad I can't get you to do it for me."
    Jack's smile disappeared so quickly Rob could have sworn that it had never been there. Chastened, Rob looked away. His dinner was pretty interesting, and it wasn't frowning at him. "Sorry," he mumbled, almost as if he believed he was really at fault for Jack's ill temper.
    Jack apparently didn't think so. "Not really your fault," he said. "You haven't done anything wrong."
    "And yet, somehow, I always seem to be pissing you off," Rob said.
    "Yeah. Well, like I said, not your fault."
    "So now is where you tell me how I piss you off all the time if it's not my fault."
    "Well, no, but thanks for trying," Jack said. "It's really not your problem."
    "I do have a slight problem with being frowned at all the time," Rob said.
    "From over here it doesn't look like it bothers you all that much," Jack said. "Any more than anything else does."
    "Look, you don't know me, how can you judge me like that? Just because I didn't create a lot of drama in class? I thought that was a good thing, not something to get pissy about."
    "How about we drop this conversation so as to keep