Page 14 of Mountain Man Crush
I sip my tea and wave him on and I watch him walk out of the room. I feel sad on his behalf. How sad his life must be, living in their home all alone, working himself to death every day just to survive. Never moving on with friendships or relationships and just hiding away from it all. I hope I can get him to open up, lighten up. If there’s one thing I want to teach him, it’s that life doesn’t stop. It keeps going and you can either jump on the speeding train or get hit by it. It’s my goal to get him to hop on board with me.
I wash the dishes after breakfast and wipe down the stovetop and table before moving back into the living room and sitting in front of the fireplace. I pick up my book and glance at him quickly. He’s still focused on his book, not paying any attention to me. I sigh and force my eyes back to the page I’m reading.
Several hours pass and I finish my book. I close it and walk over to the bookcase to add it to the shelf. He looks up at I’m throwing more wood on the fire.
“How was it?”
“The book?” I ask, standing up right.
He nods.
I shrug. “It was alright, but pretty predictable. I guess all romance novels are.” I shrug, flopping back onto the couch. “What are you reading?”
“It’s a murder mystery. Not my usual thing, but I figured why not?”
“What’s your usual thing?”
“I read everything. Informative texts, history, science fiction. Pretty much anything and everything I can get my hands on.”
I wouldn’t have pegged you as a science fiction nerd,” I laugh.
He smirks, but doesn’t reply.
“Ugh, I’m so bored. I want out of this house.”
He closes his book and leans forward, setting it onto the table and resting his elbows on his knees. “We can get on the four-wheeler? Run down to my place and just check on things. I need to check the generator and make sure the place hasn’t burned down. And a cup of coffee sounds amazing right now.”
“Okay, cool. Let me put some more clothes on.” I head toward the bedroom to thicken up my layers. Twenty minutes later, I walk out to find him dressed and ready with his hat, gloves, coat, and overalls on.
“Ready?”
“I think so,” I reply, looking down at myself and laughing. My body looks three times bigger than normal with all the layers on.
“Let’s go.”
We head outside and I lock up behind us before climbing onto the back of his four-wheeler. He hits the button, and it starts immediately. He shifts and hits the gas and we’re off, the freezing air burning my nose.
The roads are covered in snow and there’s no way to see what is the road and what’s the ditch. I don’t know how he’s managing to keep us steady and not toppling over, but he does. He drives down the mountain while I burrow into his back to try and stay as warm as possible.
Chapter Ten
JACK
When we arrive at my place, I unlock the door and let her in. The place is freezing since the fire burned out. I lead her to the kitchen and turn on all the burners on the gas stove. She huddles closer to the warmth as I go about fixing up some coffee. While I let it sit and boil, I check the generator and add more gas to it. It’s okay if it shuts off for short periods of time. Not opening the fridge and freezer helped keep it cool.
“Well, the place hasn’t burnt down,” I say, walking into the kitchen and grabbing a cup to pour my coffee. “Are you sure you don’t want any?”
“I’m good,” she replies, leaning against the stove for warmth.
“I’d suggest we have a seat, but it’s a little cold in there.”
She shivers and nods.
“Tell ya what. I’ll pour my coffee into a thermos and we’ll get going.”
She nods, still shivering.
We’re back on the four-wheeler within ten minutes, driving back up to her place. When we arrive, she rushes inside. When I walk in behind her, I find her stripping off all her extra layers in the living room before jumping onto the couch and pulling the blanket up around her.
