Jake sat up as well, his brows pulled together in confusion. He wasn’t sure how she got into her head, but she did, and he could feel the moment she pulled away. He wanted to pull her back in his arms, but he knew her well enough, she would just refuse, and it would lead to an argument. And as he watched her pull his shirt on, he wanted to comment on how sexy she looked in his clothes, but he knew that wouldn’t work either. So, with quite the effort, he wrapped the blanket around his bottom half and crossed his arms. “Okay, you have my shirt, what am I going to wear?” She jumped at the sound of his voice, and he knew right away she was far into her head and her thoughts and pulling her out was about impossible, at least for the moment. He was going to have to give her time and that was the one thing he didn’t want to do. The time between them without talking never led to anything good. “Hey,” he softly said as he grabbed her arm lightly and drew her near. “Talk to
**ATTENTION, ATTENTION, this is an emergency broadcast. Repeat an emergency broadcast. A severe blizzard is coming this way, remain indoors, this will bring several feet of snow and have severe wind blasts. Repeat, this is an emergency broadcast.** Jay turned off the radio and looked at his girlfriend who was freaking out, her nails in her mouth. His head turned and he looked at his best friend for well over 25 years. Jake returned Jay’s look and Jake started to shake his head. Being friends for that long, Jake could read his friend and Jay stood up. “I can’t leave Tiffany alone and Rachel is in the cabin alone. She wouldn’t have heard that and no one else in our little group will go get her.” “Jay, your sister doesn’t like me and it’s not like I’m real fond of her. She won’t listen to me and you know that.” “Look, I don’t care what the fuck happened while the three of us were in high school, but that’s my sister
“Let me go, Jake! There is no reason to manhandle me like this,” she complained, hitting his back, although it wasn’t doing much good, and truthfully, she should know better. He paused, and for a brief nano-second, she thought he was going to put her down. But then he took a step back away from the door, shut it, and finally sat her down on her feet. “What the hell?!” With that, she turned around and yanked the door back open, the quick gust of wind smacking the cold and the snow right into her face. Her eyes glanced upward at the darkening clouds and she gasped. “We won’t make it back to the hotel,” Jake said and she rolled her eyes. ‘No shit, Sherlock,’ she thought to herself. “Did the forecaster have any idea how long this might be?” Jake lifted a brow at her question and she just shrugged. She might have issues with her ex, but she wasn’t always dumb not to buy the things he said. She also saw those clouds, knew how they could be, and knew that
Jake wanted to believe he had come to the wrong conclusion, that he wasn’t possibly hearing that she got ditched by the man who was supposed to love her? Because he knew his extended family, and no one came up alone, there were just too many variables that could happen. So, unless siblings came up, or couples did, that was it. And he could have seen her coming up with Tim. He just didn’t think Tim was that much of an asshole to let her come up alone. And yeah, he could see Jay flipping out on this one and he could see her parents demanding she give the cabin key back and she wouldn’t be allowed to come up unless it was the family. “Rachel, that’s a lot, anything could happen while up here.” She curled her legs up under the blanket and rested her head there. “I know, Jake. I managed them just fine though. Sure the first one had me freaking out, but I’m not a little kid and I’m not dumb.” “Want to explain why he wasn’t up here the first time?” She c
She watched Jake as he sat there for a few minutes, quiet before he got up to go to the kitchen. He needed space, she knew that, and she was going to give it to him. But she wasn’t going to let the question go without an answer. He had pestered her then she can pester him. He claimed they weren’t friends, but that wasn’t quite true either. They maybe didn’t always confide in each other, but they did talk and they did care about one another, even on a low level. Finally, she got up, tossed the blanket down, and made her way into the kitchen. She crossed her arms as she leaned against the doorway and watched him. He was such a good-looking guy and she often wondered what kept him from having a decent relationship. “What?” he grumbled, causing her to smile. “You don’t scare me, Jake, so the big bad wolf can happily trot his little ass away.” She almost smiled as his lips quirked up at that. “Funny reference because the bi
The silence was loud, buzzing in his ears, and he hated it, always had. But after the question with no comment, not that he needed it; he wasn’t sure what to say. The cabin was sufficient enough to stay for months, it was another home, but it wasn’t done, it wasn’t stayed at for that long because of blizzards or other things, it just wasn’t something anyone had done before. And because it was so secluded and everything was so spotty in service no one stayed more than a couple of days. But if Rachel had every intention of staying longer, that meant she really needed time away and that went just beyond her relationship with Tim. Jake turned his head and looked at her. She sat with her legs curled under her, her elbow resting on the couch, and her head on her hand. It was a peaceful look, but he knew her, and she was probably far from peaceful right now. God damn did he want to ask more, but the look in her eyes when she talked about Tim really drew him up short and he wasn
Rachel let her mind run over Jake’s words again and again as she made their lunch, which she wasn’t even certain why she was being that nice to him. She figured since she was probably making one of their last hot meals, might as well make enough to cover both of them. But, still, he was being an asshole and he didn’t need to be. She also hated, with the biggest passion she could manage, when he acted like that. So, after he tossed those cruel words out, she tossed her blanket on the couch, grabbed her book from the room, and left him to deal with the silence while she stayed at the kitchen table. Or, well that was until about twenty minutes ago when her stomach wouldn’t let her not eat anymore and she was forced to get up and make something. Again, she didn’t have to be nice, but she wasn’t a bitch either. Maybe that was her problem? She had come to the cabin to lick her wounds, to heal from the heartache she was given. And she didn’t get the tim
Jake got up, stormed away from the table, and shook his head. What had he been thinking when he did that? The truth was nothing. Or well, he was. He was thinking about the look he saw on Rachel’s face, how she thought she was odd, and fuck if he didn’t want to change it. He wanted to convince her that she wasn’t odd, that she was beautiful, and that any man would be lucky to have her. So, he kissed her. However, the fucked up part of his mind was also speaking up and he was using all of that as an excuse. He kissed her, in part, because he wanted to. There was no denying that, just like he couldn’t deny that even a simple kiss, like what they shared, got his blood going. And damn it all to hell, he wanted more. But when it came to that woman, he knew better, he always wanted more. He stormed to the living room and ran his hands through his hair as he stared outside. Right now, after something like that, he would love to be outside, taking in