Page 37 of Grumpy Bear

“I doubt that.”

“We’re talking over three hundred options here. Those are good odds. I don’t think you’ll have any problem.”

“I don’t really hook up.” He was watching me. “I know it probably sounds like a line, but I have to have some kind of connection. Like, there has to be some emotion for me.”

The sound of the tires on the gravel hid the huge breath I released. I hadn’t even realized I was holding it. I doubted he’d noticed my hands relaxing on the wheel.

“Even if I did have some kind of brief… encounter, I’d still need there to be some passion.” He said the word softly like it embarrassed him.

I glanced over at him, and he met my eyes with that bold, penetrating look of his. Painfully sincere, a little scared, but still willing to do it. Courage. The eye contact stretched until I accidentally veered off the road a little bit. I righted the UTV and shrugged in overly casual agreement. “It’s hotter that way.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Luke smile and nod. “I guess in a place like this that kinda makes us unicorns, huh?”

“Not necessarily. You’d be surprised how fast and hard you can fall. Time has a way of being magically compressed around here.”

“Austin warned me about camp romances.”

“Ah. Did he now?”

“Yeah, they’re like fairy gold or something. They turn into dead leaves on Monday.”

“Well, Austin…” Simply saying the name conjured all nature of unmentionables.

Luke chuckled. “Yeah. He’s kinda the other end of the spectrum from me. What’s the opposite of a unicorn?”

“A muscle cub whore.”

He laughed, and I smirked, happier than I wanted to be that I’d made him laugh again.

The conversation ended there. It was never explicitly stated he’d be staying with me, but he definitely let me know he wouldn’t be staying with anybody else.

And I was also happier about that than I wanted to be.

But I couldn’t afford those kinds of distracting thoughts with a flood of guests descending on the property that afternoon and a potential flood of creek water threatening the pool. I was not looking forward to spending the rest of the day answering questions about whether or not the pool would be ready by tomorrow.

The pool was going to be ready tomorrow because it was the goddamn fucking opening pool party.

When we got up to the lodge, I caught Luke staring toward my cabin with a worried expression. “Why don’t you go check on your guitar,” I said. “They’re not serving lunch for another hour, so I’ll make us some sandwiches to eat on the hike.”

“Really? You don’t need me to help?”

I rolled my eyes. “I can make sandwiches.”

His eyes crinkled at the corners when he grinned like that. I could see how his face was going to age. Laugh lines were the definition of handsome. “Cool. I’ll be like ten minutes.”

“Five,” I called after him. It didn’t sound as grumpy as I’d intended.

I waited for him on the trail that led past my cabin and behind the lodge toward the top of the mountain. I admired his lanky walk as he approached. He kept his head down, a few loose curls of blond hair swinging around his face. The hair was growing on me.

Let’s put it this way; it wasn’t as hard today to imagine the appeal.

Unfortunately, his smile was definitely gone. I couldn’t tell if he was frowning because of the bright sunlight or if the news was bad.

“What’s the verdict?”

He pulled a face. “Phone’s still dead. I put it back in the rice.”

“Give it a few more hours. And the guitar?”