Page 3 of The Cabin

I genuinely cannot remember the last time I saw a real, live man shirtless.

He’s looking at me expectantly, and I realize I’ve just been standing here gawking at him.

“Uh, sorry, what?” I stammer, growing red in the cheeks.

“In the cabin?” he questions, one eyebrow raised, cocking his head in the direction of the window I was just looking through.

“What?” It’s like my brain is mush.

“I just mean, you were looking inside and shaking your head, I thought you were disappointed in what you saw…” he explains, but I can’t make my brain work or my mouth move.

I’m certainly not disappointed in what I see.

“Never mind, it was a stupid joke.” He laughs awkwardly, walking past me to set the wood down on the porch. The muscles in his back ripple.Jesús.

Turning back around, he puts his hand out for me to shake. “I’m Grayson.” Cue dazzling smile.

“Sol,” I say, trying my best to act more normal.

“Like the sun?”

“What?” I’d been staring at his lips move instead of listening to what he was saying.

“Sol…like the sun. In Spanish?” He asks again.

I want to slap myself in the face. “Oh! Yeah, gosh, sorry. Yes, Sol, like the sun.” I say, mortified. What the fuck is wrong with me?

“It suits you.” He smiles again, ruining my train of thought. When I don’t answer, his expression changes. “Are you okay?”

God, Sol. Pull yourself together. You’re acting like a fucking moron.“Yes, no, sorry, I’m great. I just wasn’t expecting to see anyone up here.”

“Well that makes two of us.” His smile is so easy. Like he’s never been sad. “When I spoke to Hugh Mackenzie last week he said none of the neighbors have been up in years.”

“You know Hugh?” I don’t recognize him from any of the summers I spent up here.

“Yeah, I, uh, work with his son, Chase. Well, I used to anyway.” He makes a weird face.

“Oh no way! What do you do?” I’m feeling a little less socially inept. His energy is contagious, and I feel myself relaxing a bit. I think.

“I was an engineer. Chase and I worked on a lot of projects together. Had a lot of fun, he’s a great guy.”

Chase, an engineer? I can’t picture the small, mischievous, freckled kid I spent my summers with in any professional setting. “Wow, to be honest, I didn’t know Chase was that smart.” I chuckle, and so does Grayson. It’s a great sound that has me laughing harder. I feel like I haven’t laughed in ages.

“Yeah, he graduated top in his class from Pitt. You would never know it just hanging out with him, though. I mean, I got to see it up close and personal, but outside of work was a whole other story.” He seems lost in thought, maybe in memories of nights spent getting into trouble. Chase always knew how to find the trouble.

“I haven’t seen any of the Mackenzie’s, in, gosh, ten years? At least? Crazy how time flies.” Ten years. I miss the girl who spent her last summer here ten years ago. The girl who laughed. Who smiled. Who ran through the woods without a care in the world.

“Yeah.” Grayson rubs the back of his neck. Maybe he’s also thinking over the last ten years. Caught up in the ‘used to be's’ just like I am.

He drops his hand. He has working man hands. Strong, weathered, probably always a little bit dirty. “Well, I guess I should get back to this fire.”

“Oh, right, yeah, of course!” I take a few steps back towards the creek.

“I would invite you in, but it’s not quite livable in there yet.” There’s that smile again. My stomach clenches at the sight of it.

I force myself to act normal, to giggle. “Oh, no worries!” Okay, that came out insane. Giggling was not the move. “I’m right across the creek if you need anything.” I take a few more steps, not quite ready to leave this man and his many, many muscles.

“Thanks!” He says as he bends down to gather some of the chopped wood from the porch.

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