“And it’s just you and your brother? No one else? I mean, besides your sister?”
We’ve reached the top of the hill, and I can’t believe what I’m looking at. The lodge is huge. Several lifts run upa mountain with dozens of well-lit ski slopes carved through its forests. And to think that Ash and I were only thirty yards away, exhausted and melting snow for drinking water. We could have easily headed off in another direction and never known this was here.
As we continue on, I get back to her question. “Yep, it’s just us.” I know what she’s asking so I might as well answer her real question. “Relationships don’t usually work out.” There, I said it and it actually feels good to admit it. I should have started doing that a long time ago. It would have saved a lot of heartache.
“I can imagine.” She’s nodding like she totally understands why I’ll be single for the rest of my life. That stings worse than the alcohol from the superglue earlier. A little bewildered, I say the only thing that comes to mind. “I’ve been thinking about getting a dog.”
She snort-laughs. “Yeah, because that would be so much better than finding someone who loves the outdoors as much as you do.”
Not the response I expected. And she makes it sound easy. “Okay, where would I find a girl like that? I don’t think she exists.”
She gives me one of Ash’s were-you-dropped-on-your-head looks. “Sure she does. There are probably a lot more girls like that than you think.” She’s watching the snow-covered ground in front of us as the trail is getting harder to see in the darkness. “There’s this new invention,” she says. “Hmm, what is it called? It’s on the tip of my tongue. Wait, it’ll come to me.” She looks up at me. “Oh, I remember, it’s called the innterrrneeet.” She draws out the word, long and slow, like I’m three. It makes me laugh. But she’s not done. “You usethis thing called Goooooogle to look up things on the innterrrneeet. You know, things like people who have the same interests as you. You should try it sometime.”
I can’t help it, I like her. “Maybe I will. This internet thing you speak of sounds amazing.”
She stops unexpectedly. I’m not sure why, but I stop too as she turns to face me. A quick glance around and I don’t see anything to be alarmed about. The lodge couldn’t be more than a hundred feet in front of us and I can already smell the restaurants. My mouth waters as my stomach grumbles. As I turn back to her, I see her eyes drop down to my hand. “How’s your thumb? It has to hurt.”
“Not bad.” I hold it up and realize that the side of my arm is stained red with dried blood. I could use a shower. “I’ve had worse.”
“Like those scars from the bear?”
I turn my arm over and stare at the lines recalling the memory. “Somewhere on Elsie’s channel there’s a video that shows the whole thing.”
Her brows shoot up. “Seriously?” To my surprise, absentmindedly she runs her finger down the largest scar in the center of my forearm. Her touch is sensual, and I feel my cock grow again. Damn, I’m not twelve, why does this keep happening with her? It’s the last thing I need right now, especially when I’m not sitting down where I can hide it. Abruptly, I bring my arm down in what could easily be taken as a rude gesture like I didn’t appreciate her taking the liberty. If anything, I wanted more. But that can’t happen. This whole thing is torture.
If she was put off by what I just did she doesn’t show it. Instead, she asks, “How many views didthat video get?” Before I can answer she cuts me off with, “Oh, wait, I forgot how clueless you are.” The teasing grin in her eyes tugs at my heartstrings, making it hard to resist the temptation to ask if she wants to get together for drinks later, or better yet, the best orgasm she’s ever had. The things I could do to her.
“True, I don’t know how many views it got, but if it was a billion, it wasn’t worth it.”
I love the sound of her laugh.
But there’s something else. It’s in her eyes, the way she won’t make eye contact all of a sudden, like there’s some sort of hesitancy, or… Oh, I know what this is. She stopped here because this is goodbye, only she’s the one kicking me to the curb. I get it. When she found out I’m always traveling outside the country, she lost interest.
If she was even interested in the first place.
She may not have been.
Come to think of it, she hasn’t given me any indication she sees me that way. There hasn’t been any flirting, at least none that I’m aware of. Who knows, maybe I’m just not her type. If I had a regular job where I could be around for her, I wouldn’t have cared what type of guy she was into. I would have convinced her I’m the guy she wants to get to know.
But I don’t have a regular job, and we both know what that means. This is it.
“So,” she begins, shifting on her feet while straining to look anywhere but at me.
“Thanks for taking care of me,” I say holding up my bandaged hand. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to hang out here for a bit. It was nice to meet you.”
I can see the relief washing over her as she holds herhand out awkwardly. “Yeah, it was nice to meet you.”
We shake, then, being the guy that I am, I watch her walk away, taking a mental picture of that fine ass in those tight yoga pants.
When she’s gone, I look down at the tent in my pants. “Dang, buddy, what’s gotten into you? You’d think she’s the first pretty girl we’ve ever seen.”
She wasn’t just pretty and we both know it. There was a lot more to her than her looks.
As I step through the doors leading into the lodge, I’m immediately taken with the smell of food wafting from the restaurants. If I was hungry before, I’m downright starving now, but I need a shower first. Wish I had some clean clothes, but I’ll have to deal with that later. There should be a room key waiting for me at the front desk. Elsie doesn’t mess around when it comes to things like this.
My room is everything I expected for a place this nice. My pants and shirt are filthy, so I order room service—four deluxe cheeseburgers, two extra-large orders of fries, the biggest chocolate milkshake they have, and a crispy chicken sandwich just in case I’m still hungry.
When I finish off the last of the food, I finally feel like myself again. Next, I take a seat in a plush, forest-green chair and try to decide what I want to do next. I’m not really tired but I have no money, no phone, and filthy clothes so I can’t go anywhere. Maybe it’s the boredom, but sitting here all alone, my thoughts wander back to Blondie in her bikini. I grow uncomfortably large, hard as iron, only this time I don’t have to sit here and suffer. I was planning on a shower anyway, so I undo my belt, unsnap my pants and pull my zipper down. That’s some relief, but not enough. I pull myshorts down allowing the big guy to spring free. That’s more like it.
