Page 24 of His One True Wish

“Nah,” he said. “I have found that most things in life take hard work, and even then, they don’t always work out the way you want.” He crumpled paper and stuffed it in the kindling cracks.

“That’s sad,” I said, taking a sip of my tea. Axl was right; it was still warm.

“It’s not sad. It’s real,” he said. “I haven’t made a wish in a long while. I don’t see the point.”

I wanted to ask him why, but I knew it wasn’t my business. Axl and I were in this cabin together because circumstances beyond ourcontrol placed us here. Already, time felt different to me, although only a few hours had passed since I walked into the kitchen and met naked Axl.

Naked, gorgeous Axl, who clearly knew how to take care of this cabin, I thought.

“You know, snow like this, we may lose power.” Axl struck a match and lit the paper on fire. The flames spread throughout the kindling, and the fire roared to life. It was so sexy watching him work. “There she goes.” He rubbed his hands together. “I know there is some cold air coming in from the damper, but this wood is good and dry.”

He stood up and took a seat across from me and Cam.

“Did you chop the wood?” I said, my voice broke a little bit, which was embarrassing.

“Yeah,” he said as if it was no big thing.

No big thing. I saw a vision of Axl standing in the back field, an axe in hand. He’d raise his big muscle-bound arms into the air and swing that axe. He’d probably work that axe so good, so hard. A wave of heat and wetness bloomed between my legs as I imagined Axl working the wood. Oh, my god. I wanted to have sex with him. I needed to take a cold shower or go lay down in the snow.

“If the power goes out, I’ll keep the fire going out here with Cam.”

Cam lifted her head sleepily and then closed her eyes again.

“You sure you can get me out of here in the morning?” I asked, pulling the blanket up to my chin. Already, the heat of the fire was warming my bones.

“Oh, yes,” he said, admiring his work in the fireplace. “I’ll get you out. No worries.”

“Wonderful,” I said, relieved and also the tiniest bit hurt that he sounded super happy about the idea of me departing.

“We should dry out our clothes,” he said.

I started to stand.

“No, I got you,” he said. “Stay put and rest.”

He laid our boots and coats in front of the fire before sitting back down across from Cam and me.

“You want a blanket?” I said, realizing I’d taken the only twoblankets in the room. My eyes were so tired. I struggled to keep them open.

“Nah,” he said. “I run hot. Takes a lot to get me chilled.”

I’ll bet you do, I thought, immediately chastising myself.

We sat quietly listening to the crackle of the fire and the howl of the wind outside. The windows rattled from time to time, and snow beat against the glass, sounding like ice pellets.

“Thanks for helping me tonight,” I said.

Axl nodded in response.

Our clothes lay in front of the fire. There was something intimate about seeing our wet things side by side. My breath grew shallow, and I was aware of my heart beating inside my chest.

“Glad I was here,” Axl said. “No one should be alone in a storm like this.”

“You are right,” I whispered, rubbing my forehead. The truth was, I felt like such an idiot. What the hell would I have done if I’d ended up at the cabin alone? I didn’t know where the matches were. I may have found the kindling out back, but I certainly would have struggled to unload the truck and get a fire going as fast as he did. I grew up coming to this cabin every winter, but arriving in a snowstorm was so different. I was unprepared. I wasn’t used to needing help like this.

“You may not believe me, but I am normally not this unprepared. I am usually very organized,” I said.

“I bet,” he said, his voice playful.

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