Page 37 of Since Day One

Abi ogled the shirtless man who stole my phone and eventually asked to be returned to me. Gunnar winked as he handed me my phone. Sitting down on the foot of the bed, my eyes tracked him as he disappeared from the bedroom.

“Sooooo, snowed in with a deliciously hot cowboy,” she began, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Abi, he can hear you,” I warned, but all she did was grin wider.

“So, I’m going to assume that my best friend finally knows what a man’s junk feels like. Do tell me what you think.” Laying face-down on the bed, she propped one hand beneath her chin as I stared in embarrassed horror.

Gunnar snorted quietly from across the cabin.

“This is a very tiny cabin, so hush,” I said through gritted teeth and then lowered my voice. “But no, I don’t know what it feels like. Nothing has happened.”

Abi pouted in disappointment and then suddenly raised her voice. “Hot cowboy! My best friend has never touched a man’s private parts!”

True. I was drugged the one time I’d even come close.

“Abi!” I hissed, trying to cut her off, but she continued shouting into the phone.

“You should let her touch your privates!”

I groaned and begged her silently to stop.

“She’s just an innocent, curious woman and won’t judge you even if it’s small,” she added.

I closed my eyes, mortified. “Abi, I’ve never said I’m curious,” I seethed.

“Anyway,” she continued to yell, ignoring me. “Her best friend would really appreciate it and would owe you a massive thank you! That’s all!”

I planted my forehead against my palm as silence enveloped the entire cabin. Another moment passed before I could hear Gunnar doing everything possible to refrain from laughing out loud in the living room.

“Are you done?” I asked sarcastically, and she nodded with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“My work is finished; that is all I can do. And you can deny all you want, but every girl is curious about how a man’s goods feel.” She grinned as I shook my head.

“You’re unbelievable.”

“But you love me.”

“Yes, I guess I do,” I answered with a smile, and she batted her lashes at me.

“I’ll call the hot cowboy’s brother so he can eventually rescue you two. Happy Thanksgiving! And don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” she said with a cheeky wave.

“Wait!” I quickly called out, stopping her before ending the call. “Could I talk to Sally really fast?”

Abi nodded, her eyes lighting up, and then she darted out of her room. The screen glitched, blurring as she hustled down hallways toward loud chatter. Voices that settled a soft blanket of comfort over my shoulders as Denny laughed, Kurt mumbled some words, and someone else snorted. Shutting my eyes, I leaned my head back against the mattress and clutched my phone a little tighter.

Home. I missed home.

“Now, Abi informs me that you’re snowed in? And I may have heard something about ‘someone’ else being there?” Sally’s tender voice came through the phone. Quiet, as usual, and I opened my eyes. There she was, her beautiful, thin face, weathered from the sun with eyes that glowed so brightly staring back at me.

I hesitantly nodded but said nothing.

A gentle smile pulled her lips thin. “I see. What’s his name?”

“Gunnar. Is that not cliche?” I whispered, staying as quiet as possible so he couldn’t hear me this time.

There was no giggle, no gossip-filled sentence that followed. Just a small tip of her head, her gray hair tucked behind an ear billowing with the movement. “How intriguing.” That was it.

“I told him. Well, he kind of pried it out of me, but he knows, more than I’ve told anyone before.” My bottom lip trembled, confusion coursing thick through my veins. “Why would I do that?”

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