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Feeling utterly ridiculous, it took me a minute to say anything. “Oh, my God. Liam? Bodhi? Mason?”
They all burst into laughter, as if they couldn’t believe their eyes, either.
Liam, the tallest of the three, standing at about six-foot-three, who had always been mischievous, grinned at me. “Zoey, is that you? We didn’t know you’d be here.”
His commanding presence caught my attention instantly. His brown hair seemed to catch the soft cabin light just right, and his piercing blue eyes held a spark of mischief that had been there since our teens.
The mere sight of him conjured memories of reckless adventures and laughter that echoed through time. Being around Liam always gave me a whirlwind of emotions, a mix of exhilaration and comforting familiarity that was hard to describe.
Bodhi, the one with the perpetual easygoing smile, held up the now slightly crumpled tissue box, shaking his head in mock disappointment. “I would love to know exactly what you hoped to achieve by fending off intruders with tissues.”
He had many of the same features as Liam: brown hair, blue eyes, tall, and ridiculously hot. However, the two were so different, from what I remembered. Bodhi was the artsy one, the intellectual who always hid his innermost thoughts.
The last of the guys, Mason, with his chestnut-colored hair and dark eyes, said nothing. He only gave me a half-hearted smile and a nod in greeting. Mason seemed to have the same bad-boy attitude I remembered; he was never one for many words.
The air around him seemed charged with sexual, bad-boy energy, and I recalled our time together in high school when his charismatic charm had made plenty of panties drop, even as it left a trail of broken hearts.
Around Mason, my heartbeat always raced a little faster, drawn to his mysterious aura yet unsure of where I stood with him.
I couldn’t help but laugh, the tension of the unexpected intrusion dissipating into amusement.
“What are you guys doing here?” I asked, still half-convinced that this was some sort of bizarre dream.
Mason responded matter-of-factly, “Your brother said the place was empty.” His stoicism hadn’t changed since the last time I had seen them.
How long had it been? Ten years? I was a sophomore in high school when I’d seen them last, and they were heading off to college.
Liam glanced at Bodhi, then back at me. “Your brother said we could use the cabin for a short getaway to go skiing,” Liam explained.
“A short getaway?” I echoed, my eyebrows shooting up. “Eric didn’t mention anything. And how many days does your getaway consist of? Especially since it’s already Saturday night. So… longer than a weekend, I’m assuming.”
“We leave on Thursday,” Bodhi answered.
He was just so drop-dead gorgeous—all of them were.
Liam nodded. “Yeah, Eric gave us the spare key. Seriously, we didn’t know you’d be here.”
“I wasn’t planning on being here,” I responded. “I just—” What was I going to tell them? “My boyfriend broke up with me, and I just wanted to get away.”
I left it at that. They didn’t need to know more.
“Oh, Zo, that sucks. You okay?” Liam asked.
“Sure am,” I nodded. “It’s just one of those things. Life goes on.” Inside, the ache was still raw, but I tucked it away from their view.
“So… can we stay?” Mason asked.
A hint of relief washed over me that he’d pivoted away from the conversation about my ex.
“Of course you can stay,” I added a little too quickly, not fully thinking this whole situation through. I tried to play off my eagerness. “I mean, you’re already here. I am not going to kick you out.”
Great. I was a blubbering idiot. They still had the same effect on me as when I was younger.
How was it possible that they had all become hotter over the years? Sure, we were friends on social media, so I had seen pictures. But living in Boston for college and graduate school, we never really had the chance to catch up, even though they were still my brother’s best friends.
Bodhi shrugged, his smile unwavering. “Great, thanks! This will be fun.”
I had been so lost in thought that I forgot what he was thanking me for. Oh, yeah, I had said that they could stay.
