Page 9 of The Cabin

“Who is it?” I call, a bit confused and stumbling in the dark on my way towards the noise.

“Grayson.” I hear, and then I’m even more confused. I was such a bitch today, what is he doing here?

I open the door and there he is, dressed in gray sweatpants (kill me) and a white t-shirt. His hair is messy, like he’s been running his hands through it a lot, and he’s holding a bottle of red wine. Ha, ask and you shall receive.

“Hi,” I say, feeling a bit embarrassed. I let my baggage get in the way of someone being really kind to me today. He didn’t have to offer to carpool. He didn’t need to use his gas or attempt to pay for my things.

“Hey,” he tries, looking a bit flustered.

We stand there for a few moments. Neither of us speaking. The same can’t be said for the forest. It’s alive around us, owls hooting, mosquitoes buzzing. The sun has recently set, I can tell, but up here in the mountains, night is already in full swing.

I begin to apologize at the same time that he breaks the quiet.

“Listen, I’m sorry for-”

“Can I make you dinner?” His eyes meet mine and I am now triple the amount of confused as before.

“What?”

“I’d really like to have you over for dinner tonight. You can bring this bottle of wine as a present for the host.”

“You don’t have to do that. I’m good. I have stuff here to eat.” I gesture towards the very obvious groceries scattered on the floor that I never picked up.

He laughs. Did I mention it’s a really nice sound?

“Please?” He tries, and I almost die standing there. Not this incredibly handsome man, standing on my doorstep, begging me to have dinner with him. What in the actual hell is going on?

“I promise I’m fine. I really appreciate it, though.” I move to back up enough to shut the door. I am way too embarrassed by my behavior to accept even more of his kindness.

Before I can get the door closed, though, he makes a desperate, frustrated sound and blurts, “I looked, okay?”

“What?” Pulling the door open again, I step back onto the porch.

“Today. In the showers. I looked. And I’m embarrassed, and I’d really like to make it up to you. So, please Sol, take the bottle of wine, and come have dinner with me.” His words come out in a rush and my stomach does flip flops.

“You looked?”

He hangs his head before nodding. “Yeah, I looked.”

“At me?” I question, feeling like I’ve been transported to a different universe.

“Yes, at you,” he confirms, kicking a rock with his shoe.

“Oh,” is all that comes out.

“I know, believe me, I know I’m a sorry excuse for a man. But I looked. And now, I’d like to make you the filets you were eyeing at the store as an apology. Please.”

I lean against the door frame for support. Huh. I think I’m having an out of body experience.

“Sol?” Grayson’s eyes meet mine and I am a puddle of goo. He has melted everything inside of me and now I am a mess. More of a mess than usual.

“Okay, yeah, just let me get changed and I’ll head right up,” I muster through the haze that has now clouded my brain and he lets out a sigh of relief.

“Awesome. Great. Yeah. Okay, I brought an extra flashlight. I’ll leave it here for you so you can find your way.” He begins to back up, heading towards the creek. “See you soon!” he adds, turning to make his way up the hill. There’s one more glance back at me before he disappears into the shadows of the trees.

Did I just get asked to have dinner with the man of my fantasies?

I make my way back into the cabin, turning on a lantern and looking around at my luggage. What does one wear to an apology dinner with the world’s hottest man? (Am I using the word hot too much???)He’s just being nice, Sol, don’t get any ideas. Yes. The sexy lumberjack feels like a shitty person because he checked me out in the showers. No big deal. Normal. Casual. He’d like to apologize. I can handle that. I can totally handle that. Should I get all my squeals and giggles out now? Just to be safe?

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