Page 20 of Mountain Boss

A seed of guilt begins to sprout in my chest.

I’m being an asshole.

I wouldn’t be this short with the male version of Court I thought I was hiring.

The sun reflecting off her hair.

The tip of her tongue peeking out between her lips.

I turn my back on Courtney and stride toward the Food Hall.

It’sbe an assholeorseduce her.

So I guess I’m gonna keep being an asshole.

Chapter 17

Courtney

I followMr. Black across the driveway and down a path that leads away from my cabin.

The trees are thicker over here but not oppressive.

As we walk, we pass larger cabins with numbers painted on the doors. I’m assuming they’re the guest cabins, but I’m not willing to break the heavy silence by asking.

Ahead of me, my grumpy boss lifts his hand and points to an even larger cabin farther down the path and to the left. “That’s the Bunk House. The guys clean it themselves, so you have no reason to go there.”

I’m not a cartoon lion, so I don’t feel the immediate urge to go where I was told I can’t. But still, being told Ihave no reason toirks me.

“Did you hear me, Court?” He stops as he asks the question, looking back over his shoulder.

Court?

I stop a step later, bringing us closer than we’ve been since last night, when I touched him.

“I said, did you hear me?”

Why does it seem like he’s looking at my mouth?

“Yeah.” I hold the clipboard tighter against my body. “Stay out of the Bunk House.”

He nods once, then continues walking.

Did you hear me?I mouth behind his back.

His attitude is making him uglier by the moment, and I’d take solace in that, except when I first met him yesterday—before he knew who I was—he was nice. Smiling. Pleasant. So I know he’s capable of kindness. He’s just also capable of turning it off.

When we hit a Y in the path, Mr. Black veers to the right, away from the forbidden Bunk House.

Following his footsteps, I spot our destination.

Same paint colors as the rest of the cabins, but this one is different because the roof extends over the front, creating an overhang that shelters four picnic tables.

Bossy walks around the tables to the door with yellow letters.

But instead of opening it, he turns to face me. “The code is on the top of the second page.”

I stare at him.

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