Page 2 of Made for the Mountain Man

Naomi throws her arms around me. "You're not broken, Vi."

I sniffle against her shoulder, looking up at her through wet lashes. If I roll my eyes any harder, they’ll take off down the hallway.

"Okay, maybe a little broken,” Naomi concedes. “But you’re amazing, and being unable to talk around men doesn't change the fact that you’re kind, funny, and a total babe."

I let out a sharp laugh, tamping down my tears. "Shut up. And thank you." The contrast between my soft curves and Naomi's lithe yoga body is apparent when she hugs me, refusing to let me go until I hug her back.

"Rachel and Jess are coming over tonight," she reminds me. "Takeout and romantic K-dramas are always a crowd pleaser, right?" Naomi wiggles her eyebrows.

I shake my head. "Not in the mood. I'm going to take a long, hot shower and go to bed." I give Naomi a final squeeze before shuffling down the short hallway.

"And going to bed wouldn't be code for texting with Brooks, right?" Naomi calls after me.

I pause, my cheeks heating as I turn and shrug. Just hearing his name makes my present circumstances slightly more tolerable.

Naomi claps gleefully. "I fully support dirty-talking mountain men."

My mouth drops open, and I narrow my eyes at my roommate. "How do you know he talks dirty?"

"A good guess?" she says unconvincingly, glancing away to rub Freddy's ears.

My hands fly to my hips as I stare her down.

Naomi finally looks at me again and bites her lip. "You said I could use your computer to make the brochure for the dog fair at the rescue."

"Yes?" I’m confused what this has to do with Brooks' sexy talk. And then it occurs to me. "You saw our messages!" I shriek.

"Not on purpose, Vi. I promise." Naomi gives me a guilty look. "But once I saw one, well...can you blame me? It was like that book you recommended, except in real life." She fans herself and says a silentoh my god.

I cover my eyes and wail, "Naomi!"

"And let me say, you have a mouth on you. Sexy little kitten."

I turn on my heel and storm into my room.

"My grandma always said the quiet ones are the loudest in the bedroom!" Naomi yells after me.

"Stay off my computer, Naomi!" I give my bedroom door a hard push and flop onto my bed.

Shaking my head, I think back to that night a month ago. I went out with the girls to a few clubs and froze when a cute guy asked me to dance. After a few seconds of staring at him, he held up his hands like I was crazy—which I am—and said, "Never mind," before backing away slowly. It was humiliating.

Naomi, Rachel, and Jess tried to console me at the kitchen counter when we got home. After a few more drinks, they convinced me to set up a dating profile onMountain Mates,one of the dating websites geared toward serious relationships, not casual hookups. Drunk me thought it was an amazing idea. I wrote about how I wanted to camp for the first time and how much I loved the peace of the mountains, both of which weretrue. But even drunk, I knew it wasn't an option. Eventually, I'd have to meet a guy in real life, and most people aren't into dating statues.

The next morning, I woke up to a few messages and immediately started to delete my profile. But then Brooks' subject line caught my eye.

Love is overrated...

Intrigued, I clicked on it, and the first line in the message continued his thought.

...yet, it's all I want.

Something about his sincerity made me respond. We've been messaging ever since.

I glare at the door of my bedroom as I imagine Naomi reading the sexy little notes from Brooks. Biting my lip, I open my computer. I grin as I re-read the last one from him.

Brooks

Hey, beautiful. I should be working on a piece for a customer right now, but I can't stop wondering what you taste like. It's difficult to work when I have to keep forcing myself to think unsexy thoughts.

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