Having met Aunt Lolly and her wrinkly boyfriend myself this past summer at the Labor Day picnic, I knew Lucky hadn’t been exaggerating. I’d practically stumbled over the older couple as they’d been skinny dipping in a small pond near the campsite we’d chosen for the picnic. Fortunately, I’d high-tailed it out of there with an excuse about needing to collect firewood when they’d suggested I join them for a swim.
Yeah, calling Xander was out. As happy as I was for the man, I was still struggling with the definition of what we were. I knew he wanted us to go back to being friends, but admittedly, it was something that was proving to be a continued challenge. I hadn’t wanted to start having feelings for Xander, and I never would have acted on them anyway, but now that he knew that I’d started to see him in a different light, it just made things uncomfortable. His fiancé, Bennett, had made it more than clear that he was okay with me and Xander being friends, but that hadn’t been the issue either. I probably could have even lived with the pitying looks they sometimes shot my way.
No, it was the rest of it I couldn’t deal with. The envy that I’d never have what Xander and Bennett did… even if it was something I wanted.
It was just too risky. I’d come to this tiny remote Colorado town to avoid getting close to people for a reason.
I forced myself not to think about the past and focused on navigating the narrow road that led to my cabin. The snow was starting to fall more heavily now, and I knew we’d be snowed in for at least a day or two. My thoughts immediately went to Oz. Hopefully he’d managed to pack some warm weather gear and had gotten some firewood cut and groceries bought. While our cabins were part of the town’s power grid, it wasn’t unheard of for trees to take out the lines leading up our mountain. Outages were common in these cabins throughout the season.
Maybe I should have called Xander to make sure he’d explained to Oz how to work the generator?
I shook my head. No, Oz wasn’t my problem. The sooner the kid figured out that he didn’t belong out here, he’d go running back to New York. He clearly belonged there.
Shame curled through me as I remembered the way I’d talked down to him about there not being anyone to salt the icy patches for him. Having spent quite a few years living in big cities, I knew better than anyone how reliant one could get on things like plowed streets and salted sidewalks.
So why had I been such a dick to him?
I wanted to laugh. Was I really asking myself that? I knew exactly why I’d treated him like I had. How else was I supposed to keep him at arm’s length? With Xander, it had been easy because he hadn’t been any more interested in starting up something with me than I’d been with him, even if a small part of me had wanted to at the time. But my gut was telling me Oz wouldn’t be the same. Even if he hadn’t said as much with that joke about my package, if he looked at me even once a certain way with those stunning eyes of his or parted his plump lips just so after saying my name, I’d be all over him. Hell, I’d gotten hard just from running my hands over his body to check for injuries.
And that never happened.
I mean, god, I was supposed to be a fucking professional.
Well, I used to be. Who knew what I was anymore.
You’re a rude sack of shit who owes your new neighbor an apology.
I rolled my eyes at my inner voice, even if it was right.
The sun was just starting to drop behind the horizon when I rounded the last corner to the cabin, and that was when I saw it.
My heart leapt into my throat at the sight of the black smoke billowing out the front door.
What the fuck?
I threw my truck into park as I practically fell out the door in my haste to get to Oz. “Oz!” I shouted as I envisioned the young man trapped by a wall of flames.
I couldn’t see much as I rushed into the cabin, but before I could call out for him again, I heard someone shout, “Ow, shit!”
It was Oz’s little dog that drew me to him because she started barking like crazy.
“It’s okay, BooBear. Daddy’s okay,” he said to the dog, though I could hear the pain in his voice. I coughed as the smoke stung my eyes and the back of my throat.
“Oz!” I shouted.
“Here,” he responded. “I’m here,” he called. We ended up meeting in the middle and some of the smoke cleared just as I reached him. The relief was instantaneous and nearly crushing as I took in the sight of him. “Oh, thank god. Are you all right, ba—” I stumbled to a halt as I realized I’d been about to call him baby.