When Hugh Mathews decides it's time to get out from under his tyrannical father's thumb and away from the life he's been living, he does it in a big way. Packing what he'll need to survive in the wilderness, and with only his dog, Orion, for companionship, he heads into the mountains. When they find a abandoned cabin, Hugh begins the arduous task of repairing it, as well as hunting for food and everything else they'll need to stay alive.<br><br>Soon after, Ansel Jeffries, a nature photographer, arrives at Hugh's cabin, seeking an abandoned mine he wants to photograph. After talking with him, Ansel sees the potential for a story in what Hugh is doing -- and why.<br><br>Ansel convinces Hugh to let him tell it, meaning he'll be living at the cabin with Hugh. When he moves in, will what becomes friendship between the two men grow into more?

Off the Beaten Path

“I could have brought along my e-reader, but honestly it never occurred to me,” Ansel responded. “The battery would probably be dead by now, even if I had, which would be terminally frustrating.” He had said—when he’d returned after filing his abandoned mines story—that he’d left his laptop and phone behind in the trunk of his car for that very reason. “Giving new meaning to living rough,” he’dadded with a grin.


They had left the sleeping bags together, rolling them up to make a decent seat in front of the fire whenthey weren’t using them for their intended purpose, which, as Ansel had put it, “Was to get some sleep…or not.” ‘Or not’ won out twice by the end of the week, the second time by going down on each other. As Hugh had laughingly pointed out when they finished, “At least we don’t have a mess to clean up this time.” Neither one of them missed anal sex. Or, at least Hugh didn’t. He decided Ansel must not either—or if he did, he didn’t say so.


Chapter 35