Chapter 6
Chapter Six
This had to be the biggest, most colossal mistake I’d ever made in my entire life.
Heavy, wet snow beat aggressively against the roof and sides of my rental SUV.
It looked practically post-apocalyptic outside.
This had to be a sign from the universe that I was a total fool.
But the small cabin loomed in front of me, the one Danny had told me all about—it had been his father’s and it was his favorite place in the entire world.
More importantly, somewhere tucked inside that cabin was Danny.
It had been a spontaneous decision. I’d gotten all packed, checked out of the hotel, loaded the SUV I’d rented, and started driving. But instead of heading east to the Denver airport, I drove west instead.
The phone call from Danny played on a loop in my mind when I put Connolly, Colorado into my GPS and hit enter.
I should have come to my senses somewhere during the four-hour drive.
I’d had plenty of opportunities to turn around and pretend like this massive lapse of judgement had never happened.
But now I was here, and I actually didn’t think I could turn around and make it back in one piece with this weather raging.
It wasn’t like there was anywhere else I could go. This tiny town in Colorado didn’t even have a stoplight, just a convenience store that was only open part of the year and a gas station that looked straight from the 1940s.
Nope, I was stuck here. Forced to face the consequences of my impulsive actions. The long dirt driveway loomed in front of me, leading to a wooden A-frame with a porch that wrapped around the second level and a stone chimney rising through the middle.
Funny, now that I was there, I couldn’t actually find the courage to get out of the car.
“You can do this, Trace,” I whispered to myself. “It’s just Danny.”
I tried to focus on the guy who’d been texting me for weeks. Just wanting to chat. Checking in on me. Who said he’d missed me. I put the ‘he dumped me on national TV’ thing out of my head completely.
Stop being a chicken-shit.
I sucked in a deep breath and, before I could change my mind, opened the door. The snow dumping down on me was absolutely frigid and heavy. The tiny, cropped hoodie I wore did nothing to protect me against these elements but I didn’t want to waste time hunting for my coat in my suitcase.
The entrance wasn’t obvious like most suburban homes, but there was a door on the side that led to the driveway. No awning, just my luck. I pounded against it as the snow continued to chill me to my bones.
When someone didn’t answer in the first five seconds, I continued to knock. My concern about getting hypothermia was now stronger than my nerves.
Then the knob turned.
The door swung open and…
Some guy I’d never seen before stood in front of me. He had a thick beard, a beanie pulled on over chin length brown hair, and a bewildered expression on his face.
“What the—”
“Is Danny here?” I asked, teeth now chattering violently.
The guy’s eyes narrowed and something like a flash of recognition went through them.
“Trace?” he asked.
“Yes! Can I come in?”
It seemed to hit him then that I was getting ravaged by the snow, because he quickly stepped aside. “Shit, yeah of course.”
I hurried past him, bouncing from one foot to the other, swiping the snow from my now-frozen hair.
The man continued to stare at me, a puzzled look creeping across his face.
“Did he know you were coming?” he asked.
Shit. Was he not here? He’d mentioned the cabin a few days ago when we were texting, but last night during our phone call, I hadn’t asked him explicitly where he was. Of all the terrible possibilities that had run through my mind on the drive over, Danny simply not being there wasn’t one of them.
“Um, I mean…” I let my voice trail off, not wanting to admit the truth to him and sound like some stalker ex-girlfriend.
“I’m Barrett, by the way.” He stuck out a hand, and I shook it with the one that wasn’t wrapped around my body.
“Trace,” I said out of politeness, since he clearly already knew who I was.
“Let’s get you dry. There are towels through here.”
He led me away from the linoleum entryway, stacked high with shoes and ski equipment.
Through the hallway there was a door on the right.
He went in. I peeked behind him to see a laundry room with wooden shelves.
He opened a cabinet before producing a purple fluffy towel and tossing it my way.
I wrapped myself in it, still unable to stop my lips from quivering.
Crap. I hadn’t realized how dramatic this would look, me just showing up like this.
Barrett chewed on his bottom lip before tipping his head toward the rest of the hallway. “Let’s go, I guess.” Something about the way he said, “I guess” didn’t sit right with me. Did he look worried that I was there?
I followed Barrett into the main room. Wall to ceiling windows climbed up to the pitched ceiling. There was a giant kitchen, and plaid sofas arranged around the fireplace. Everything from the floor to the ceiling was wood.
“One sec,” Barrett said, heading down another hallway on the opposite side of the room, one that led to the back part of the house.
I nodded. Or at least I tried to. My whole head was still shaking from the chill that had bitten into my bones.
When Barrett was out of view, it suddenly occurred to me that he could be calling the police. He wouldn’t do that, right? Even if he thought it was strange I was here, he knew who I was. I was harmless.
But before I could fret about that any longer, my heart stopped as a huge frame stalked down that same hallway.
Danny.
He wore black sweats, a gray t-shirt, and a sleepy expression—one that turned alert fast as he took me in. His wide eyes quickly narrowed as he closed the distance between us, stopping right in front of me so I had to crane my neck up to look him in the eye.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he asked, voice more baffled than gruff for once.
I gave him a weak smile. “Uh, surprise?”
His eyebrow shot up. “Did you drive here? It’s the middle of the night and it’s a fucking blizzard out there. Do you know how dangerous those roads are?”
“I had GPS,” I squeaked out. The drive had been slightly terrifying, but the thing about running on adrenaline was that I hadn’t cared too much.
“You’re fucking freezing, Trace. Christ.”
He placed his hands on my shoulders and rubbed up and down. I wanted to cry with relief at how good it felt to be touched by him.
My eyebrows pinched together and my gaze felt heavy.
Shit. I was about to cry.
Danny realized it too, because before I could process anything else, he tugged me into him. He held on tight for a moment, before pulling me toward the hallway he’d come from.
“Come on. You need dry clothes.”
I tripped over my feet following him, but he caught me by the elbow, supporting my weight. I’d almost forgotten how strong he was. How everything about him made me feel safe and secure. No wonder I’d let down my guard so easily. No wonder I was doing it again right now.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” he said, more to himself than to me. “You scared the shit out of Barrett, by the way.”
“He seems nice,” I offered, although the only read I’d managed to get on the guy was ‘tired and shocked.’
We walked to the end of the hallway, and he opened the last door on the left. It was another wooden room, this one with a four-poster bed at the center and a red quilt on top. Danny walked over to a dresser, tearing it open and searching through its contents.
Now would have been a good time to mention I had a suitcase in my car.
But I didn’t. I could tell myself it was because I didn’t want either of us to go back out in the snow, but when Danny tossed me a t-shirt and flannel pajama bottoms, I knew what the real reason was.
I wanted to wear his clothes. To be as close to him as possible, for at least a little bit.
“Bathroom is through there,” he said, pointing to the door at the other end.
I clutched the clothes to me, inhaling the scent, and slipped into the bathroom. As soon as the door closed behind me, I let out a giant breath.
The soaked-through hoodie I had on couldn’t come off fast enough. I ripped my pants off too, using the towel to dry myself. When I caught sight of myself in the mirror I nearly groaned.
A reunion after months apart and this was what I looked like? A frozen, drowned rat? My blonde hair had thawed and was plastered against my skin. My usually rosy cheeks were now an angry red from the cold. Oh, and my lips were blue.
Cute, Trace. Real cute.
I put his clothes on, rolling the pant waistband five times so that they wouldn’t fall down, and hung up my wet clothes on an empty hook.
When I stepped back into the bedroom, Danny was bent over a black oven-looking thing in the corner of the room. His head jerked up when he saw me.
“Come here, I’ve almost got it going.”
When I stepped closer, I realized it was a wood-burning stove, and the fire had just roared to life. I sat cross-legged on the plush rug and let the first hints of warmth hit me.
Heavenly.
Danny closed the door to his room and grabbed me a blanket before he sat back, his knees bent and arms resting over them, hands folded together.
The only sound for a few minutes was the crackling fire, as I put my hands just close enough so I wasn’t touching it, moving them around to thaw in the heat.
Finally, Danny asked me again. “What are you doing here, Trace?”
Why hadn’t I rehearsed what I’d say on that long drive over? I had been like a missile with one target. I hadn’t been thinking.
“I wanted to see you.” There. An honest answer. Always a good place to start.
I half-worried Danny would flinch at the affectionate response, but the corner of his lip tugged up, softening his expression.
“And you thought you’d just show up here at my cabin in the middle of nowhere, past midnight?”
“Maybe not one of my most well-thought-out plans.”
He turned, staring at me. I followed suit, shifting so that I could look at him head-on.
It felt good to see him again, to take in every little detail.
His hair was slightly longer than it had been last time, but still barely more than a buzz.
He had stubble, too. Like he hadn’t bothered to shave for a few days. I liked it.
I tugged the blanket around me, my stomach still doing flip after flip.
“Are…are you mad that I’m here?” I managed to get out.
It was the question I was least looking forward to asking.
Maybe my relief at seeing him was completely one-sided.
Maybe the constant messaging back and forth was more casual for him and hadn’t brought back a flood of feelings like it had for me.
His gaze hardened. “Of course not. I’m just…I’m surprised. When I called you last night, I thought I was overstepping. I thought maybe I’d gone too far. When you didn’t answer my phone call tonight, I figured you might be done revisiting memory lane.”
I laughed nervously. He’d called me? I hadn’t had much service on the drive. “I was kind of already on my way here.”
He smirked. “I see that.”
He continued to study me and I wondered what he found there. He’d always seen me.
“You okay?” he asked finally.
I wanted to laugh. Could I really be okay if I’d just shown up here out of the blue, ignoring all my other responsibilities? For a guy I wasn’t even sure wanted me?
“I’m better now,” I said, deciding to be honest.
Something that looked a lot like possessiveness flashed across his face. He reached up, tentatively placing a hand on my cheek. He tugged me forward gently until I could feel his breath on my lips.
He waited there. For me to say no. For me to push him away.
He’d be waiting forever.
Instead, I leaned forward, closing the space between us, tasting him again after months. His lips had always been the softest thing about him. His hands gripped both sides of my face, and he kissed me like he was starving.
It felt like coming home.