Page 3 of Two Weeks in Tahoe

I let out an exasperated sigh, then turned and tried again. It was a huge fail and totally embarrassing.

“Mind if I give you a pointer or two?” he asked, sincerity in his tone.

I took him in again. He was tall, dark-haired, and had perfectly shaped full lips. His baseball cap was backwards, and he wore a black hoodie and jeans. I decided to accept his help, if only to learn a bit more about him.

“It helps if you angle it like this,” he said, demonstrating the motion.

I tried to focus on his form, but I was more absorbed in watching the way his shoulders moved through his sweatshirt. I sighed, picked up another rock, and attempted the throw. My form reflected nothing from his demonstration. It was pitiful. I turned to him, shrugging in defeat.

“Try again.” He paused, looking for another rock. “Here, this one is perfect.”

He handed me another, and I gave it a go. It was somehow worse than the last. I gave him the same hopeless look.

“It’s okay, it’s silly anyway. I learned as a kid,” he said, shrugging.

“Well, thanks for the tip,” I replied.

“Anytime.” He smiled, and then I felt something wet on my hand. Looking down, I saw an excited Australian shepherd pressing its face into my hand, begging for attention. Being the dog lover that I was, I knelt down without thinking and started petting it. The dog got so excited that it ended up knocking me off balance, sending me straight onto my butt.

Long fingers stretched out toward me immediately as he laughed and offered his apologies. I took his hand and let him help me up, and a strange warmth lingered long after he let go. Needing to do something with my hands, I brushed the dirt off my jeans.

“Sorry, Lucy gets a little too excited,” he said, his eyes still glinting with amusement.

“It’s okay,” I laughed, a little embarrassed, but it wasn’t my worst moment ever. Plus, his dog was too cute to be mad at. She was still trying to reach me, but he’d reeled her in on her leash a little tighter.

“Are you from out of town?” he asked casually, completely unbothered by the fact that he had a forty-pound hound pulling on him. I started to think about the muscles he must have under his hoodie.

“Yeah. Sacramento.” I replied.

He nodded, looking pensive. “Um … What about you?” I added.

“Born and raised here, actually.”

“That’s awesome. My family usually comes here at least once a year—sometimes in winter, other times in the spring or summer. I like it here at any time of year, though.”

His eyebrows lifted. “No way? That’s awesome. Bummer that we’ve never ran into each other before.”

My cheeks warmed, and I didn’t know how to respond. “Yeah…too bad,”

“I don’t usually meet too many locals when we’re here…especially not any my age.”

“Yeah, there aren’t a ton of us, and we’re pretty scattered around here,” he said.

Before I knew it, we were walking along the shore—just him, his dog, and me—chatting about his school, the town, even Sacramento. He seemed like the type who always had a smile on his face, and I liked how wide it grew when he was truly laughing. I lost track of time until I suddenly looked around and noticed how far we’d wandered from where we started. “I should probably head back that way … I don’t want my family to get worried.”

“Right. Well, I’m heading back that way too, so…” We turned around and started walking back.

“So…born and raised huh? How do you like it here?” I asked.

“Love it,” he answered easily. “I’d never live anywhere else.”

“Never?” I asked in disbelief. “Not even for college or anything?”

“Okay, you’re right. For college, yes, but I’m not going far.”

“And when would that be?” I tried to gauge his age.

He glanced sideways at me, a smirk tugging at his lips. Pieces of his messy hair were poking out of his hat in random places. “Next school year. I’m seventeen.”

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