Page 2 of Their Rustic Retreat

I watch as Mr. Bell gets out, greets my brother.

And then I see something: no, someone, who totally takes my breath away.

He’s got the most piercing blue eyes, and he hasn’t even looked directly at me yet. I just caught the corner of them. His hair is buzzed short, in the most handsome way. He’s wide, he’s strong, his arms looking like he spent a healthy amount of time in the gym. And they’re covered with tattoos. Dark ones, mostly, but plenty with colors. Flames, skulls, and some flowers too.

Someone like him sticks out like a sore thumb in Evergreen Valley, and he’s absolutely captivating me.

He goes into the back of the truck and then emerges with a whole ass cow carcass draped over his shoulders. It’s wrapped in plastic and ice packs, so it’s nowhere near as disgusting as it sounds.

“Is... is that a whole cow that guy is carrying?” Lavender says, very much surprised by what she’s seeing.

“Dad apprenticed for a butcher back in his younger days,” I explain. “Learned enough to carve up the cow himself. And he’s been doing so for decades.”

“But a whole cow?”

“Beef prices are high. He’s deduced it's cheaper to buy it like this. We got a garage full of freezers to deal with it.”

The strange tattooed man carries the cow like it’s nothing. As if he is the Incredible Hulk. My eyes remain glued to him, only briefly having left him for the half minute he disappeared into the truck.

He goes over to the garage, chatting away with Hawk who is opening the door for him, as well as spotting him. Hawk himself is impressed by this guy.

During that wandering glance, the man’s eyes meet my own, and I feel like he’s staring into my very soul. I gaze back, frozen in place like a deer in headlights.

He smiles, and I damn near melt.

I hurriedly shift toward Reuben, who apparently had been trying to get my attention. I stroke my dog’s back, trying as hard as I can to keep my eyes away from him.

God, I just made myself look like the most awkward weirdo in the world, didn’t I?

“You all right, there?” Lavender asks. “You see a ghost or something?”

“Uh, no. Just, um... just don’t worry about it, okay?”

She smirks. “Was it the tattooed guy?”

“I told you not to worry about it!” I snap back at her.

She laughs me off.

Sure, she’s absolutely right. He’s hot as all hell, and I’m intrigued by just who he is. I’m going to be thinking about him for a long time even if I never see him again.

It’s not like I’m terrified of talking to boys I find attractive. That the one crush I had before this didn’t lead me to hiding in the bathroom from him.

Out of the corner of my eye, though, I notice someone approaching me.

It’s him.

Oh God.

And the closest bathroom is so, so very far away.

TWO

tristian

Glad to be done with all that. I’ve never been a big fan of long drives, and the delivery of this cow with Mr. Bell is one of the longer drives I’ve had to make for him.

It surprised me how many deals he had with various folks in this town. I knew small towns were different, but as a city boy like myself, it’s all new to me.

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