Chapter 13

Rob was so excited about Ethan coming to visit tomorrow that he didn't even care about his paltry breakfast. The cafeteria was serving scrambled egg whites with slices of avocado and grilled peppers again, and the boot camp participants were only ever allowed to have only water or black coffee as an accompanying beverage. No fruit juices were allowed, of course. Ruud had drilled it into them that fruit juice was really just sugar water in disguise, so it was banished from the ranch.

"Ugh, egg whites," Marnie complained when Rob sat down next to her at the breakfast table. "Would it kill them to accidentally leave a yolk in there one day or something?"

"You know it just adds calories," Carlos reminded her, slurping his coffee before he nodded at Rob. "Hey man, what's up? You look happy this morning."

"I do?" Rob realised he was grinning from ear to ear. "Oh, you know I'm just in a good mood today."

"Because Ethaaaannn is coming to visit," Marnie teased him in a singsong voice, poking at the dimple in Rob's cheek. He laughed, nudging her hand away fondly as he tucked into his breakfast.

Carlos' face lit up in understanding. "Oh yeah, that's right. You excited, bro?"

"Very much." Rob still couldn't stop smiling like an idiot as he ate. He hadn't stopped talking about Ethan's visit ever since they'd confirmed it over the phone, and his friends had merely rolled his eyes at him. But at the same time, they indulged him in a good-natured way that Rob was really thankful for.

When he had first arrived at the camp, Rob had been rather terrified and nervous. He was always bad at making friends, and Ethan was always the more outgoing extrovert who helped to introduce him to other people and get Rob to socialise. But here at the camp? He was on his own.

So he was very pleased when he'd ended up making friends with Marnie, a Texan housewife in her 50s who was losing weight because she had a health scare with a minor heart attack. She wanted to be around and enjoy her grandchildren, so she and her husband had agreed for her to participate in the boot camp.

Carlos was a elementary school teacher in his 20s like Rob, and he was from Arizona. When he had first arrived at the ranch, he had been even heavier than Rob, and had trouble breathing - during their first introductory group sessions, Rob could hear Carlos wheezing unhealthily during moments of silence. But Carlos worked so hard that he had lost the most weight out of all ten participants during the first month, with Rob being a close second. Rob was full of admiration for him, and the two of them had started a friendly little competition amongst themselves.

As for the rest of the boot camp group, Rob did get to know some of them over the past month. After all, it was hard to be stuck on a remote ranch in Montana and not get to know the people he saw everyday. These people bled and sweated with him at the gym, on long daily hikes, during cooking classes where they learned about proper nutrition.

And of course, Ruud was their fearless leader.

Ruud was everything Rob wished he could be. He was an openly gay man who was very successful in his job, and he was very caring about the participants under his charge. It did seem clear to Rob that his trainer genuinely wanted everyone to get healthier and lead better lives. He was also blunt and outspoken, and never took BS from anybody. In a way, Ruud reminded Rob of Ethan's better qualities. Both Ruud and Ethan were the type of people who would stick up for Rob and defend him if someone was bullying him.

"Yo, Hutch!" Carlos' fork waving in front of Rob's face stirred him out of his reverie. "Where did you drift off to, man? I asked you when is Ethan coming?"

Rob blushed, a little embarrassed that he'd been caught daydreaming about Ethan. "Oh, um, tomorrow. He's coming tomorrow morning."

"He's going to stay in your room?" Marnie asked him, picking through her scrambled egg whites with distaste.

"Yeah, Ruud said it was okay." Rob speared a slice of avocado with his fork and happily savoured it. A month ago, he would have thrown up any vegetables he'd been forced to eat. "I can't wait for you guys to meet him."

At this, both Marnie and Carlos exchanged a meaningful look. "We can't wait to meet him too, hon," Marnie said kindly, patting his arm before sipping her coffee.

Carlos flashed him a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Yeah man, he sounds cool."

Rob ate the rest of his breakfast in puzzled silence as Marnie and Carlos started chatting about something else. What was that all about? He shook his head, forcing himself to focus on Ethan's imminent arrival. Rob had to get ready for his friend's stay, after all.