Page 54 of The Cabin

“Yeah, I, um, let’s just send that text,” I say, moving to sit back up. She nods, grabs her phone, and pulls up her photo app. She took a couple. I’m mesmerized for a second. That’s me? Just giving into a desire? I look…radiant.

“That one.” I point to the one where she’s pulling on my bottom lip with her teeth, a dizzy smile lighting up my face.

“Okay, what do you want me to say?”

“Hmmm…”

“Can’t talk now. Kinda busy?”

I snicker, that’s good. “That’s perfect.” I watch as she hits send and takes a moment to watch the otters.

“What’s the deal between you and him?”

“No deal. Just forced in the same proximity.” She eyes me like that doesn’t make any sense. I let out a long, exasperated breath. “We have cabins across from each other. Mine doesn’t have electricity or plumbing. Not a big deal, I came here to get away from everything. But, like two weeks ago, my car broke down halfway down the mountain, and so I’m kinda screwed if I wanna, ya know, eat. So he’s taken pity on me and let me stay at his place while I wait for my car to be done.”

“You’re staying at his place?”

“Yeah.” I shrug. No biggie.

“Oh boy.”

My eyebrows push together. “Why, ‘oh boy?’ ”

“That sounds like trouble waiting to happen.”

“There’s no trouble, we pretty much ignore each other.” (Not true.)

“That’s impossible.”

“Why would that be impossible? It’s what’s happening.”

“He has a thing for you!”

“Who has a thing for me?” My eyebrows have disappeared into my hairline.

“Grayson!”

I stare at her for a moment. Face completely blank…and then start belly laughing, the noise scaring away the otters. “Oh my god. That’s a good one. Hot and funny. You’re the whole package.” I have to wipe tears from my eyes.

“Wow, you are so oblivious.” Her tone is teasing, but there’s truth in her eyes.

“I assure you, I’m not. It’s not like that.”

“Ah, famous last words.”

“No, no. It’s not one of those ‘secretly has feelings blah blah blah things’. Yes, I think he’s very good looking, but he thinks I am the opposite of attractive. He thinks I’m the worst. He thinks I’m pathetic and helpless. It’s more of a, ‘found a nasty, mangy mutt in a mud puddle and took pity on it and now you’re stuck with it and don’t want it touching any of your stuff’ kind of thing. ”

“Sol, he carried you out of a bar because you were about to kiss someone else.”

“Yeah, because he was pissed you weren’t into him.”

Now it’s her turn to collapse into hysterics. “Oh my god, you’re so fucking pretty but you’re so goddamn dumb.”

“Um. Rude.”

“Sol, he wasn’t into me. His eyes never left you. The whole night.”

“Because he feels the need to babysit me. He considers me a threat to my own safety.” She’s silent, shaking her head. “Why would he introduce us then, if he issooointo me and super jealous?”

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