Page 6 of Cozy Cabin for Two
She was really here. Willow Rhodes—invading my mountain, for better or for worse. Definitely a distraction.
FOUR
Dazed
WILLOW
After unpacking,dinner, and a shower, Rosie headed upstairs early to sleep. The cabin was more than I’d hoped for as I tucked in under the plush blankets of the big bed in the main bedroom. For some reason, it smelled like Ash, woodsy and earthy.
My mind wouldn’t let me drift off so easily.I played with a lock of my hair through my fingers, in a daze, remembering the first day I met him. As the new girl in school my sophomore year, I had waited in the office for my schedule, and there he was.
“Have a seat, Miss Sampson. Be right back,” the guidance counselor said and gestured for me to take a chair next to a boy, at the only two chairs there.
“Hi,” I said timidly as I slid back on the seat,straightening my skirt at my knees, sitting up like a proper little lady with my hands folded in my lap.
Dad had demanded over breakfast, ‘Must make a good impression on your first day. You know in a town like this, the congregation sees everything.’ Always worried about our family projecting the right image, he’d prompted me to quickly change out of my jeans and into a dress before the bus arrived.
The boy elbowed me, startling me. “New girl, huh? I’m Ash.” Closer to him now, I realized how cute he was when he grinned at me slyly, tilting his head toward me. His dark hair, a little long, fell into his eyes of tempting chocolate. He could easily pass for one of the stars in the latest hit teen movie. Girls in this school must drool over him. Dad would hate him.
“Willow.” I tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear.
“Yeah? We’re both named after trees. Must be a sign that we’re meant to be together.” His grin turned smoldering. I blushed. “If you don’t have plans after school, want to hang out under the bleachers?”
My breath hitched. First day at a new school and already meeting a cute guy who asked me out? Before I could answer, a man huffed into the room. His large presence loomed very close over Ash, hands in fists.
“Jesus Christ. The first day of your senior year and I already get a call that you started a fight?” The man shouted.
“Yeah. To defend Scott from an idiot who took his trumpet case.” Ash stood and got right into his face, same height, not quite the same build yet. His hands curled into fists.
The door to the principal’s office opened. “Ah, Mr. Rhodes, Ash. Let’s talk in my office,” the principal implored.
As they walked away, Ash stole one glance back at me. With a wink, the bad boy left me breathless before the principal closed the door behind him. I knew my heart was in trouble. Only under no circumstances would my father want me dating a boy like him.
Later that day, I met Scott seated next to me in sophomore band class. We struck up a conversation between songs. Clean-cut with a set of adorable dimples, he was far from the bad-boy image of his brother. Scott made me giggle, sweetly filling me in about our band teacher’s supposed affair with the English teacher.
When he asked me out for milkshakes with his group after school, I went, happy to make friends among my classmates so quickly. Besides, I hadn’t seen Ash the rest of the day—not until the ice cream shop where he came out busing tables.
“Oh, there’s my brother. Hey, Ash,” Scott called to him, placing his arm around my shoulders. Ash’s smile grew as he neared our table upon seeing me. “Meet Willow, the girl I’m hoping will come with me to the homecoming dance next month.”
Ash’s smile dropped immediately, and he only nodded at me, avoiding my eyes. “Hello.”
“You’ll go with me, right?” Scott beamed at me, like he’d found a shiny penny on the sidewalk and had no intention of losing it. While Ash walked away to clean a table clear on the other side of the diner.
“If you need to go dress shopping, come with Tilly and me this weekend. We’ll show you the best shops nearby,” said Bethany, a bright girl across the table from me. My eyes shifted between Ash and Scott. One brother my father would likely refuse to let me see. The other brother my father might at least tolerate.
“I’d love to go to homecoming with you,” I beamed at Scott, sealing my fate, even if my insides didn’t flutter the way they had sitting next to Ash.
Every girl in the school loved the bad boy. Now a man, how many women had Ash known the pleasure of?
“Ugh.” I turned over and willed myself not to be jealous, and not to think of Ash as mine, yet.
Only one place existed where he was all mine. Inthe deep recesses of my mind, where I let my imagination wander. On a sigh, I caressed my curves and reached down into my panties. Seeing him again brought me one step closer to him and made my fantasies come alive in full color tonight.
FIVE
Avoided
ASH
