Page 30 of Mountain Wood

Her sunglasses hide most of her face, but her fresh lipstick looks dynamite, just like the rest of her.

Nick stands next to me. “You’ve got it bad, bro.”

“Shut up.”

He’s right, but I don’t care.

My heart pounds when she knocks on the door. My palms are sweaty when I open it.

“Hi.” She beams a smile brighter than the sun. “I brought you guys lunch. Hope that’s okay.”

Is she for real? “That’s very kind of you, Grace. Thanks.” I back up, making room for her to come inside the cabin-in-progress. “Here, let me get that.”

I try to take the drink caddy from her, but she won’t let me. “I got it.”

She storms past me, forcing Nick to move out of her way too, and holds the bag and caddy over her head when Oscar jumps around her. “Sit!”

Oscar listens to Grace. Tail sweeping across the wooden floor, she keeps her butt in place and obeys.

“Wow.” Nick laughs. “If I wasn’t seeing this with my own eyes, I’d never believe it.”

Oscar doesn’t listen to anyone except me, and that’s only on special occasions. I can’t believe she’s behaving for Grace—especially when there’s food and spillables present.

Grace heads into the dining area and puts everything down. Then she pulls something out of her pocket. “Who’s my good girl?”

Oscar’s tail smacks the table leg so hard it’s a miracle she doesn’t break it. When Grace carefully holds out a new dog toy, I hold my breath, scared Oscar will accidentally nip Grace because she can’t control her excitement.

“Easy, girl,” I warn her. “Easy.”

Oscar gently takes the little lamb from Grace, then bounces away with it, chomping on the squeaky thing with glee.

I don’t buy Oscar toys anymore. She destroys them in less than a day and never touches them again. When she was a puppy, it looked like a stuffy massacre in my house, and buying her new toys all the time was too expensive. I stick with wood now. I can get that for free.

While the cabin fills with obnoxious squeaking sounds from the toy, Grace speaks over the chaos as she empties the to-go bags. “I got a little of everything.”

My stomach rumbles the instant I smell meat. God, I’m such a cave dweller. I haven’t eaten since last night—Grace’s pussy doesn’t count—and I’m fucking starving. We’ve been busting our asses so much today I’d completely forgotten to eat. So had Nick.

No surprise there. When we set to a task, nothing else matters except getting it done. We sit down for the first time all day, and Grace pops the lid off her box. It’s a quesadilla.

“Again?” I ask, teasing her.

“Until I’m sick of it.” She takes a big bite, showing off an impressive cheese pull. Which she quickly takes a selfie of. Her gaze flickers to Nick and she shrugs. “I can’t help myself. Everything is content if you want it to be.”

Nick’s gaze very dramatically swings to me and his dimple pops out with his big annoying smile. “You’re a content creator too?”

I kick him under the table.

Which Grace catches and pretends she doesn’t.

Nick watches the two of us, hiding his smile behind a chicken sandwich. “So, Grace. Where are you from?”

“New York.” She wraps her pretty lips around her straw and sucks down some of her drink. “You?”

“Born and raised about ten minutes south of here,” he says proudly. “Dean and I have been best friends since he—”

“Do you like baseball?” I ask, cutting Nick off. I don’t want him talking about what made me move here, or anything personal yet.

“Oh yeah, I do. I’m a Red Sox girlie all the way.” Grace takes another big bite and talks with her mouthfull. “Please don’t tell me you’re a Yankees fan. I’ll have to leave.”

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