Page 67 of Since Day One

“Your body smell isn’t gross like this alcohol smell is.”

“You find my man musk appealing, you say?” he teased, though he wasn’t entirely wrong.

“Not the same thing,” I reiterated, and he laughed, shoving his hat back on his head. We walked carefully toward the lodge where the lights still blazed. I shivered, feeling extremely cold because of the rapid change in temperature and my thin clothes.

“Gunnar?” I asked as we stepped onto the main road.

“Yes, Princess?”

“Do you think by chance you might be able to take me into town to get that warmer coat soon?” My teeth chattered as we walked along.

“Of course. But here.” He tried to struggle out his Carhartt. but I pinched my nose closed with my fingers. “Oh! Speaking of town, my family and I are leaving this Thursday afternoon for a few days to go watch my cousin’s play thing.”

“That sounds interesting,” I replied, a little confused why he brought this up.

He chuckled, seeing the look on my face as he opened the door to the lodge and ushered me in. “Since everyone probably already knows that I’ve got a crush on this girl from Texas, I was thinking you might want to come with me.”

I stopped walking and faced him. He quickly continued, beginning to ramble. “I totally understand if you don’t want to. I mean it’s a play or musical thing. We’ll have to watch it twice, too—once during school Friday and then once in the evening.” He ran a hand over the back of his neck as the door shut behind him. “Plus there’s the family dinner on Thursday evening and all the other times we will be with them. And they can kind of be assholes if they—“

“It sounds wonderful,” I said, cutting him off, and he stared at me. “What? If you’re not here, that means no training, right?”

He rolled his eyes. “So that’s the reason you’re saying yes.”

“No. But if it helps,” I answered with a teasing grin. He laughed and then gently grabbed my hand and led me up the stairs.

I lounged on Gunnar’s couch as the shower became silent, waiting for the cowboy who had somehow run away with my heart. Too much fighting what I’d known from the start, yet there was a twinge of apprehension in the air knowing that I was still going to be leaving, and fairly soon.

The door opened, and I tilted my head backward off the armrest I was leaning against to catch a glimpse of Gunnar. He was scrunching his damp hair with one towel, another one hung low off of his waist, and I felt myself heat up at the delicious sight. His body flexed and shifted as he walked straight toward me with narrowed focus.

“You’re going to get your carpet wet,” I quickly said as he neared.

“You said after a shower. It’s after a shower,” he replied, and I giggled as he stalked up to me and planted a full kiss against my lips while I hung upside down. He broke away, only to trail his mouth down my chin and onto my neck, leaving gentle brushes of warm breath against my skin.

“Just couldn’t wait for that, could you?” I breathlessly asked, and he shook his head.

“It took long enough,” he replied and slowly turned around, making his way back to the bathroom. “It’s your turn next.”

“I don’t have clothes here,” I said, resisting.

“But I do,” he answered and winked before disappearing inside the bathroom. Five minutes later, he was leaving the bathroom again wearing a pair of gray sweatpants. Absolutely unashamed and unfiltered, I looked at everything he was blessed with as he walked my way and grinned.

“Dirty girl,” he whispered, and I clicked my tongue but bit back a smile, returning to my lounging position.

“That wasn’t very nice,” I bantered in reply, scrolling mindlessly through my phone, waiting for Abi’s reply to my latest text.

Gunnar appeared above me, placing one hand on either side of my face. “Yeah, but you liked it.” He leaned forward and gave me a gentle kiss against my lips before gesturing toward the empty bathroom. “If you want to stick your hand in my pants, I expect cleanliness, Princess.”

Rolling my eyes, I pushed myself off of the couch and walked to the bathroom. Right before I closed the door, I spun around and stuck my tongue out at him. He laughed, taking my place on the couch as it clicked shut behind me.

Steam still clouded the mirror as I began to undress, taking extra care to fold the clothes and place them on the edge of the white countertop. I let the sink run for a moment, water pooling in the beautifully clear bowl before splashing some on my face and gently removing the makeup.

Gunnar’s bathroom was immaculately clean. Simple, but clean. A long counter stretched to the left of the doorway, one sink in the middle with a large mirror hanging on the wall, in front of shelves cut into the wall. The dark brown cabinets below paired nicely with the beige tiles. A simple white toilet sat next to the counter and a large walk-in shower was straight across from the door.

He had generous racks along the right wall with fresh, fluffy white towels hanging from them, waiting for me. I stepped into the shower and shut the glass door behind me. Tilting my head back into the water, I closed my eyes.

I told myself he could have all of me. That’s what I wanted, but I didn’t know how to tell him that while keeping things organic between us. Every day inched me closer to returning home, to saying goodbye. Which terrified me because I knew the window was closing for us. It was already nearing the end of the first week in December. Time was moving faster than I felt it should be, as we continued to tick further along.

Once I washed, I grabbed a clean towel from the rack, drying myself off, then glanced at the counter and realized that I hadn’t actually grabbed a shirt from him. All I had were the clothes I’d been wearing earlier, and they weren’t mine either. Part of me wondered if Gunnar had purposefully done that, but either way, I wrapped the towel around my body and opened the door.

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