Page 6 of Snowed In with her Mountain Men
“But we did come,” the first guy replied, “and that’s all that matters.” Kneeling in front of me, he extended one giant hand. “I’m Oakley.”
I reached out and took it. It was like shaking a small car.
“Camryn.”
His palm was covered in rough, bumpy callouses. But it was still warm, his touch welcoming.
“The asshat sitting next to you is Ryder,” he went on. “He’s the one who rearranged your boyfriend’s face.”
“Boyfriend?” I nearly choked. “That guy wasn’t my boyfriend. He’s my landlord.”
The two men looked at each other incredulously.
“Yourlandlord?” they said in unison.
“Yeah.”
“What the hell was his problem, then?”
I paused for a moment, searching for an excuse. Eventually I let my face flush in embarrassment. “I uhh… I guess I’m a little late with the rent.”
Beneath his well-trimmed goatee, Oakley’s lip curled in disgust. “What a complete piece of shit,” he swore.
Beside me, Ryder nodded. He cracked his knuckles, menacingly.
“And I’ve been sleeping here?” I murmured. “On your couch?”
“Yup. You were out of it.”
“How long?”
“Couple hours.”
A helplessness swept over me, followed by a raging internal conflict. How’d I let this happen? Why hadn’t I taken care of my own shit? A long string of bad decisions had led to me being late with the rent. But there were also extenuating factors. Things I couldn’t possibly have foreseen when I’d driven twenty-three hundred miles to a remote mountain cabin I’d only seen on the internet, all on some stupid, romantic whim.
“What were you doing in that cabin?” Ryder asked. “I mean, by yourself?”
I sighed. “I… I don’t even know.”
“Well, where did you come from, then?” he asked. “And why are you so tan?”
“Ryder…” grumbled Oakley.
“Hey, these are simple questions,” Ryder said defensively. “I’m not asking her anything personal.” He nudged me with a gentle elbow and winked one blue eye. “Yet.”
I looked down into my hot chocolate for answers. Should I tell them my writing was suffering, and I needed a change? That I wanted fresh air? New surroundings? Silence and solitude?
It all seemed so stupid now. Uprooting everything I had, everything I’d ever known, on a single, reckless coin flip. I was here purely because the quarter in my pocket had landed on tails. That, and sheer stupidity.
A thought suddenly occurred to me. I began patting my pockets.
“Your phone’s plugged in on over there,” Ryder pointed. “Reception’s going to be spotty, but it’ll get worse soon, if you needed to call your parents or something.”
I laughed softly and shook my head. “We’re going to need a lot more than good reception to call my parents,” I said bitterly. “We’ll need a dimly lit room, and a Ouija board, and we’re all gonna need to hold hands.”
Silence ensued. Guilt trickled in.
“Sorry. I know that’s a little dark.”
