by Hayden Hunt
“Fuck, yeah, honestly, man, the dude always seemed like kind of a dick to me. You really are better off. You’re too good of a guy for that bullshit.”
“Thanks,”TI sighed. “Any chance you’re free this weekend? I really just need to get out of the house.”
“Aw, no, I’m sorry. I’m actually with Clara’s family for the entire weekend. It’s their parents fortieth anniversary.”
Clara was his wife; they’d been married for a couple years, and she was a total sweetheart. So was her entire family, actually.
“Oh, it’s okay!” I said, eager to not sound irritated by this. “Maybe we can catch up when you get back.”
I tried to hide the sadness in my voice, because I really didn’t want to be alone, but Jake heard through it.
“You know, I know you probably don’t want to be by yourself, but, if you want to get away, you can always go up to my cabin for the weekend.”
“Seriously?” I asked, a little excited by the idea.
I didn’t really want to be by myself, but the idea of a solitary weekend up in the mountains didn’t sound too bad. And I loved Jake’s cabin. He’b bought it a few years ago, and he uses it both as a vacation home for him and his wife and as a rental to anyone who might want to use it. It was a good opportunity for a little side income.
“Yeah, man, it’s yours! Go up there, enjoy, we’ll catch up when I come back next week. The key is in the lock box next to the door, I’ll text you the code.”
“Awesome! Thanks, you are seriously the best friend a guy could ask for.”
He laughed. “Yeah, I try. I’ll text you, I gotta go back inside.”
“Yeah, text me, see ya.” I hung up.
I was immediately energized at the thought of going up to his cabin. I bet it was snowing right now, too. God, I would love to just take some books up there, soak in the clawfoot tub, and watch the snow drift along the windowsill. If I had to be alone this weekend, this was the perfect way to do it.
I immediately went to work packing all of my warm clothes. In just a few hours, I’d be in Jake’s cabin in the mountains, totally forgetting all about Tim and his bullshit.
2
Chris
You know, I’m fine with this. Yeah, this is totally okay, this is a perfectly fine vacation. More than fine, even, it’s great!
I sighed as I sat down on the couch next to the fire. This was the first vacation I’d taken by myself in… well, maybe forever. I don’t think I’ve ever vacationed by myself. Not completely, anyway.
When I had booked this cabin, I wasn’t supposed to have been coming here alone. I had been going to come with my best friend, Alec, but obviously that had fallen through.
Though, I don’t blame Alec at all. His father had gotten into a car accident unexpectedly, and, of course, he’a flown down to be with him. Though he’s going to be okay, he was going to need some help around the house for the few weeks he’h recovering.
Which left me here, alone, trying to enjoy a solitary vacation.
I tried to find someone else to come with me, but I don’t have many other friends besides Alec, and my family all lives too far away to tag along on a weekend vacation like this. I mean, they could fly out if they really wanted, but that seemed excessive for a weekend cabin vacation. Plus, most of us had to set money aside to go home for the Christmas holiday and visit our parents, so a lot of them were tapped out.
But, I had decided to come on this vacation anyway, because it had been too late to get a full refund, and I had really needed the vacation. I’d been working my ass off lately, and, besides the Christmas holiday, this would be the only time off I’d get all year. And these vacation days would dry up in January, so I might as well take them.
But what the hell was I supposed to do in a cabin by myself?
There are probably plenty of people who would love a vacation like this. They’d spend their time reading next to the fire, having movie marathons, enjoying the very light snow that was beginning to coat the earth. For any introvert, it was the perfect winter wonderland for a peaceful get-away.
But I don’t like peaceful that much. I am extroverted to my core, and, to keep me entertained, I need people.
Not a lot of people, mind you. Like I said, I don’t have a very large crowd of friends, and I don’t surround myself with many people. But that doesn’t mean I’m comfortable just being by myself. I need at least one other person around to keep me entertained and engaged.
I got bored enough just going back to my condo at the end of the day and watching television by myself. I spent a lot of my time texting the few friends I do have, as well as my family.
But I couldn’t even do that up here, because my reception was absolute shit. I was totally, completely on my own, and I hated every second of it. So much for relaxing, I guess.
Life had been a lot easier when I’a had a boyfriend. I’ve only had two live-in relationships in my life, and they’a both lasted only a year, but I had quickly learned from being with them that my ideal living situation is with one other person. Somebody I’m very close to, though, like a romantic partner. I wouldn’t do well living with a strange, new roommate.
No, I needed more than that, I needed someone who would hang out with me. Someone I could have dinner with and cuddle with and just generally be around. Someone who loved me and was willing to give me enough time and attention.
Obviously, that hadn’t work out with either man, though. Not that I had been particularly heartbroken over either of them. I had loved them, I think, but it just hadn't hem, ever very strong or intense for me. Neither of them had felt like ‘the one,’ewhich ultimately is why they had both ended.
And I don’t regret that they had. Because, more than anything, I want to find that ‘one’ everyone always talks about. I don’t ever want to catch myself in a relationship that lacks passion. I want to be with someone I am absolutely crazy about. And, with those relationships over, thereve room to possibly meet that person that I’ll fall for.
I was a true hopeless romantic. I’ll admit it, I watch way too many romantic comedies. And, yes, I read a lot of romance books. Mostly because there just aren’t that many movies with two gay romantic leads entering into a relationship together.
Which is what I want to see. I want the kind of love I seek with another man represented in the movies and shows I watch. And, until that happens, I’ll have to get my fix with indie gay romances.
Hey, maybe that’s what I could do right now! I did have my e-reader with me, and I had downloaded a few new books last week. That’s what I’ll do. I'd crack open one of them and go from there.
I hadn’t had a lot of time to read lately, anyway. Not with work taking up all of my time. Like I said, this is what an introvert would be doing with their time right now, right? No reason I couldn’t enjoy it.
But, just as I was trying to pick from one of my stories, I heard someone walking up the steps of the porch. It literally made me jump.
It’s weird, because there weren’t any nearby cabins to this one. It was very isolated up here in the snowy woods. I couldn’t imagine a reason that somebody would be knocking.
As it turns out, nobody was knocking, though. I heard them shuffle around the porch, and, then, without warning, I heard a key began to shift in the door.
Oh my god, someone is fucking breaking in! Someone is breaking in, and, here I am, in the middle of the woods, by myself, completely unarmed!
Naturally, I went into complete panic mode. I went searching for something, anything, that I could potentially use as a weapon to protect myself. In that moment, I was convinced I was about to be robbed…. or murdered… or robbed and murdered!
I had no idea which, I just knew that there was literally no possible sensible reason that somebody would be walking into my cabin right now.
I jumped up, and, as the guy walked in, I lunged to grab the nearest lamp. It was one of those long, sturdy, stand-alone lamps that sits on the middle of the floor. N
ot the worst thing I could have grabbed.
“I have a weapon!” I yelled, as I grabbed it. He was already in the cabin, and, to my surprise, he looked just as shocked to see me as I was to see him.
“Woah!” he yelled, putting his hands up immediately. “I’m-I’m, uh—” he stuttered, as he tried to think of an excuse for why he was here.
Okay, I was actually considerably less scared now, obviously this guy didn’t have a weapon, and he didn’t seem like the kind of guy who wanted to hurt me or anyone else. Not that I was setting my lamp down, of course! My guess was that he still had come to rob the place, but maybe he had thought the cabin was empty this time of year.
“Spit it out! Who are you!” I demanded.
“My name is James… my friend owns this cabin, and he told me I could come stay in it for the weekend. Who are you?”
I raised an eyebrow. “I’m Chris, and I rented out this cabin for the weekend.”
James’ hand flung to his head. “You’re kidding me… goddammit, hold on. Let me call him.”
He pulled out his phone and started dialing, and I slowly, embarrassingly, put the lamp back on the floor. Although, I guess maybe that wasn’t the best idea. For all I know, this could just be a trick to catch me off-guard, and this guy actually didn’t know the cabin owner at all.
But I didn’t get that vibe. I’m pretty good at reading people, and I was convinced that this guy really didn’t expect to see me here and had no intention of doing anything criminal tonight.
“Hey, so, uh… I’m at the cabin, and someone else is here. Did you maybe forget you had a booking this weekend?” he began on the phone. “Yeah, check, please…”
We both waited a moment as his friend got back to him. Then James let out a loud sigh. “Well, all right, then. No, yeah, it’s fine. Shit happens, no real harm done. Yeah, will do.” He hung up.
“What’d he say?” I asked.
“He told me to give you his sincerest apologies and to let you know he’ll be calling to apologize himself. I’m really sorry for the inconvenience, and I hope you won’t blame my friend. I kind of caught him off guard by asking if I could come here last minute after a personal emergency, and he had wanted to help me so bad, he just didn’t think it through. I’m really sorry to have scared you.”
“No, it’s fine, I totally understand,”NI said, feeling guilty that I had nearly hit the poor guy with a lamp. “But that really sucks. Did you drive far to get here?”
He rolled his eyes. “Only four hours. It’s not terrible, but eight hours in the car is going to be annoying. Anyway, thank you for being understanding, and I really hope you enjoy the rest of your vacation.”
He picked up his bag that he had dropped on the floor once he had seen me with the lamp and began heading back out the door. I glanced out the window to see the sun was already going down. It must be about five, and I realized this poor guy is going to have to drive back in the dark on icy roads.
“Hey, wait!” I stopped him.
He turned around. “Yes?”
“Would you want to just stay for the night? I really don’t feel good about sending you out on the road in the dark in conditions like this.”
“Oh, no, no, no!” he said quickly. “I couldn’t do that to you. This is your vacation. You paid for this. I’m not going to intrude because of my friend’s mistake.”
“You really wouldn’t be intruding! As I’m sure you know, there are two rooms in this cabin, and it’s only me here. I really don’t mind if you stay for the night. Actually, I insist on it. If something happened to you tonight, I would never be able to forgive myself.”
And, if I’m being totally honest, I kind of wanted him to stay for other reasons. First of all, I was incredibly bored and lonely here. Another face, no matter how unfamiliar, would be a blessing for the night. And, second of all, this guy was a total cutie. I know that shouldn’t really be a factor in my decision, especially considering he’s probably not even gay, but I couldn’t help myself from fantasizing about him a bit. At the very least, he’d be nice eye-candy for the night.
He thought on this for a moment. “You’re sure I won’t be bothering you?”
“Absolutely not! Seriously, I was getting a little bored here by myself, anyway. You’d be doing me a favor.” I gave him a sideways smile.
“Yeah… yeah, okay! That sounds great, actually. I really was a little worried about driving back in the dark. There are no mountains where I am and no snow, so I’m not really accustomed to the road conditions.”
“Yeah, me neither. I live a few hours away, too, and the thought of driving home right now sounds like a nightmare.”
He nodded. “Let me just go put my stuff in my room, and I’ll come back down? You… want to hang out, right?”
“Absolutely!” I said eagerly.
“Perfect… okay, then, see you in a second.”
3
James
This was such a weird situation. And it was even weirder that I was actually happy that I walked into it.
I know I came out here for solitude, to get some peace of mind after everything that had happened with my ex. But, as I had been driving here for hours by myself, I had realized quickly how much I didn’t want to be alone.
The longer I existed in complete solitude, the more I obsessed about everything that wasn’t going right in my life. And, objectively, I guess there wasn’t that much that’s really going wrong. But, my romantic life was a disaster, and this wasn’t how I imagined things would be at twenty-seven.
I’d thought I’d be engaged by now, at the very least, if not married to a man who I truly loved and who truly loved me. Instead, I’d managed to get myself into toxic relationship after toxic relationship.
It’s starting to feel like I’m never going to find ‘the one.’ If ‘the one’ even exists. I was getting so damn depressed about it on my way here that I almost had myself convinced that I was wrong to dump my ex. Maybe life with him is as good as it gets, I had thought to myself.
I know that isn’t true, or, at least, I really hope it isn’t, but, when every single person you date ends up having major flaws, it’s hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel. It kind of seems like everyone you meet is just going to end up having some bad habits or flaws with which you can’t live.
But the way my ex had treated me had been just completely unacceptable. It was no way to live, being with someone who never saw the good in you. Who hadn’t even bother to say ‘I love you’ anymore.
Still, I think if I’d had to stay alone in this cabin for the entire damn weekend, I’d eventually have myself convinced that it would be exactly what I needed to do. I’d get so exhausted with the loneliness, I’d turn to either him or one of my other equally toxic exes.
So, I was thrilled to actually be able to hang out with someone! A really cute someone, at that. Not that I’m going to make a move on him! Absolutely not, he had been kind enough to let me stay in the cabin when he was paying for it. I was totally intruding on his vacation. I definitely wasn’t going to make him uncomfortable by making advances that I was sure he didn’t want.
It would just be nice to hang out with someone. He seemed nice, and I’m sure we can find an enjoyable way to pass the time. Though, you’d think a guy who’d come to a cabin alone for a weekend as a vacation wouldn’t want to spend that time with someone else.
I wasn’t going to question it, though. This was ideal for me. I was just thrilled to not be alone.
When I came back downstairs, I heard the teakettle screeching as Chris pulled it off the stove.
“Hey, are you a tea drinker? There are, like, a bunch of teas in the cabinet here if you want some?”
That’s weird, Jake was definitely not a tea drinker. This must be one of those things he does so that his guests are more comfortable.
“Sure, I’d love some. Is there any green tea?”
“Yep! And that’s exactly what I was going to have too!” He smiled at me.
<
br /> Something about his smile was already getting me. He was just… unbelievably cute. I mean, really adorable. I know I have to stay away, but it’s gonna be hard if he keeps smiling at me like that.
“So, I hope this isn’t intruding,” he began, as he poured the hot water into two mugs and handed me one. “But what is it that brings you here? I mean, since you said your friend let you stay here after something personal happened…”
I laughed awkwardly. We were cutting right to the chase here. For some reason, I felt hesitant to tell him that I had recently had a break-up. It was a little personal for someone I had just met who had almost slammed me over the head with a lamp.
But, hey, what the hell! I didn’t know the guy, I wasn’t going to have to see him after tonight. So what if things get a little weird or awkward?
“Well, I actually broke up with my boyfriend of a few years,”WI admitted. “And it’s not, like, a tragedy or anything, but I really didn’t want to stay home after that, and Jake suggested I come up here to his cabin.”
Maybe I was imagining, but I swear, his face lit up a little bit when I said I had broken up with my boyfriend. But that can’t be right, right? This guy seemed so sweet. I didn’t think he’d celebrate in my pain, unless…
No, that can’t be it. I thought for a moment maybe he was also gay and he was just happy to hear I was, too, but that was just wishful thinking.
“Oh, god, I’m so sorry to hear that. I know how rough break-ups can be,”phe said sympathetically.
“You know what, it’s actually totally fine. It was my choice, and it had been a long time coming. I wasted way too much time trying to make that failed relationship work, and I’m totally happier now that I’m out of it.”
He raised an eyebrow as we walked to the living room with our tea to sit.
“Is that the whole truth?” he asked.
