Chapter 10
JESSE
Once we got into Maine on the second day, the scenery progressively became less city and suburbia and more trees and farmland.
After we got off the interstate in Maine and started following progressively smaller and less maintained highways, the towns got tinier and more quaint.
Buildings were similar to those in Pittsburgh that had been around since the steel era—craftsman houses huddled in rows along rivers and narrow streets.
Farms stretched out between forests and towns.
There were gas stations that looked like something caught between eras—pumps with shiny new digital readouts stood in front of dusty old buildings with ancient signs for companies that no longer existed.
It all reminded me of some of the smaller towns in the rural parts of Pennsylvania, with antique shops, diners, and the crumbling remnants of bygone manufacturing booms.
I’d always heard that fall in New England was something else, but I’d figured it couldn’t be that much different from Western Pennsylvania. Turned out I was wrong; the red, orange, and yellow leaves were so vibrant up here, some of the rolling hills looked like they were on fire.
At a little past five, we reached the largest of the towns by Moosehead Lake, which was Greenville.
Even it wasn’t exactly a glittering metropolis; a lot of mom-and-pop places, plus an all-in-one gas station, grocery store, tourist shop, and outdoor outfitter.
We grabbed dinner at a local café, then picked up some groceries at the all-in-one place before continuing to the cabin.
That turned out to be another twenty-five minutes from Greenville.
By this point, I was tired of being in the car, but honestly, I couldn’t complain about the scenery.
The two-lane road wound through hills blanketed in dense evergreens and fiery deciduous trees, broken up by the occasional driveway or a road leading to a boat launch.
The lake’s sparkling surface poked through the thick forest here and there, and we probably passed all of three cars the whole way.
“Not a lot of people out here,” I mused.
“Not too many,” Eric said. “A lot of people come out here to hike, boat, or snowmobile, and you have people coming through on the Appalachian Trail, plus the leaf peepers. Even during the peak times, though, I’ve never seen the area stacked with crowds or anything.
That’s one of the things I love about it. ”
“I believe that. I saw some signs for snowmobile crossing. That sounds kind of fun… aside from the part where it’s cold, wet, and… cold.”
He laughed. “Not much of a snow person?”
“Ugh. No. I went snowboarding once, and that was enough.”
“Same. Not because of the cold, though.”
“Oh yeah?”
He nodded. “Sprained my knee really bad.” Grimacing, he absently rubbed his left knee. “Zero out of ten. Do not recommend.”
I shuddered, fighting the urge to rub my own knee just to assure myself it was uninjured. “I think I’ll stick with doing winter sports the way God intended—watching them on TV from my nice, warm living room.”
“Agreed.”
“Says the guy who went snowboarding.”
“Hey, I went once.”
“Uh-huh.” I shot him a look. “Doesn’t sound like a true ‘fuck winter sports’ kind of person to me.”
He rolled his eyes and gave me the finger. “I’ll have you know I only went because the guy I was trying to date at the time wanted to go.”
“Ooh, so you were there trying to score.”
Eric snorted. “It sounds so crass when you put it like that.”
“Mmhmm. And where am I wrong?”
Another eyeroll, though he was smiling. “I wanted to date him, not just get naked with him.”
A mental image of Eric naked, hot, and horny flashed through my mind, but I tamped it down because ooh, no, I was absolutely not going there. Not on this trip when I’d be alone with him for three weeks. Noo way.
I cleared my throat. “So, did it work?”
“I don’t think the going snowboarding part did, but ironically, spraining my knee closed the deal.”
“No shit?”
His smile turned to a chuckle, and he glanced at me before refocusing on the road. “He felt really guilty about me getting hurt. The next day, he came over and… Well, he made up for it, that’s for sure.”
The collage of Eric porn flying through my mind right then was seriously hot. I had no idea what the other guy looked like or what he’d done to make up for Eric’s injury, but I could sure imagine being a fly on the wall.
Heat rushed into my face—and elsewhere—and I hoped like hell he didn’t notice. “You ended up dating him after all. Nice.”
“Well…” Eric wobbled his hand in the air. “’Dating’ is being generous.”
“How so?”
“Turned out the only things we really had in common were mutual crushes and a love of giving head.” He half-shrugged, cutting his eyes toward me for a second. “Fun for a while, but not really much to build a relationship from, you know?”
I almost lost my breath as I remembered exactly how enthusiastic he’d been while sliding his lips up and down my shaft. And I didn’t believe for a second that had been entirely a performance for his fiancée.
His fiancée, who’d later become my girlfriend, who’d cheated on both of us. Which was why we were here—to catch our breath and get over her, not to get naked and hot together.
I shifted in my seat. “It was fun for a while, though, right?”
“For a while. And I don’t regret it—it just wasn’t meant to be.”
“I’ve had a few of those. My last boyfriend was a great guy, but it’s pretty obvious in hindsight we weren’t playing for keeps.”
Eric glanced at me. “Yeah?”
“Yep. We both wanted different things out of life. He didn’t want kids—I do.
I want to stay in Pittsburgh. He wants to retire in Colorado or Wyoming where he can have a bunch of land.
The relationship was great, and we’re still really good friends now, but it wasn’t going to work out in the long run. ”
Eric was nodding as I spoke. “I can see that. Especially with things like kids—you can’t really compromise on that.”
“Exactly.” I almost—almost—asked if he wanted them. But then I remembered he’d been marrying Selena, who was quite open about wanting a big family. In fact, she’d mentioned the night I met them that the threesome was one of those things they were doing before they got married and started a family.
I didn’t want to open the Selena vein, so I let that drop.
“Anyway, so we broke up… three years ago, I think? He’s actually married now. Found a guy who’s perfect for him.”
“That’s great,” Eric said, and he sounded like he meant it. “I’ve been to a couple of my exes’ weddings, and it’s always good to see them with someone who makes them happy.” His expression darkened. “Well, most of the time.”
Shit. So much for leaving that vein alone.
I shifted in the passenger seat. “To be fair, it helps if they’re finding that person who makes them happy after you break up.”
Eric laughed bitterly. “Right?”
I chewed the inside of my cheek. The moment threatened to get painfully awkward, and I had no idea how to salvage it.
Right then, though, Eric put on his turn signal. “And… here we are.”
I craned my neck. How he’d even seen the driveway was a mystery to me.
It was paved, but the blacktop seemed to vanish in the shadows of the towering evergreens.
There was a single reflector and a barely visible mailbox with a number painted on the side.
Even if I’d been looking for it, I was pretty sure I’d have driven right past it.
Eric drove down the long driveway, which curved at the end to reveal a gorgeous cabin right on the lake.
It was a sharply angled A-frame that was two, maybe three stories high, the logs stained to a warm brown that probably blended into the scenery from a distance.
The cabin had a huge deck, and from there, a small staircase led to a boardwalk, which in turn led to an additional deck on the water.
On either side of the deck was a rocky beach, and the whole property was framed around three sides by trees.
Eric parked in front of the garage, and we got out.
We both paused to stretch, then gathered our things and headed inside.
The cabin’s interior was as rustic as the exterior, with moose-themed artwork on the living room walls above the couch and the huge TV.
There was a fireplace that looked like it had actually seen some use rather than being decorative, and the kitchen was almost as big as the one in my condo.
And the giant picture windows overlooking the decks and the lake beyond—holy shit.
This place had to be worth a fortune for that view alone.
Which made me wonder how much more Selena had lied about; she’d indicated that her folks weren’t overly wealthy, which was why they couldn’t visit her often.
But they’d paid for the wedding, the three-week honeymoon cruise she was supposed to be on with Eric right now, and… this place.
I didn’t care one way or the other about how much money a partner’s parents had. They could be broke, they could be loaded—I genuinely didn’t give a shit. But the lies stung. Every time I turned over another rock and realized she’d lied about something else, it cut deep.
I wanted a family and a future with you. How much more of your world did I not even know about?
Eric, unaware of my mental detour, broke the silence. “We should get the groceries into the fridge and freezer.”
“Right. Right.” I shook myself. “Good idea.”
He gave me a curious look but didn’t press. I wondered how many times his mind had gone wandering down similar side streets.
Bringing in our modest haul of groceries was a nice distraction, and my head was clearer by the time we’d put the last few items in the freezer. Nothing left to put away but our luggage.
“Bedrooms are upstairs,” Eric said, and he led me up the wooden staircase to the second floor.
At the top of the stairs, we both paused.
“There are three—the biggest is at this end of the hall with an en suite. The other two are…” He tipped his head toward the opposite end.
“Those both have queen beds. The big one has a king.” He shrugged. “I’m happy with any of them, so…”
I glanced around. All the doors were closed, but I didn’t imagine there was anything about any of the rooms that would put me off, and a queen bed was perfectly fine for me. Plus I still felt guilty about this whole shitshow, so I wasn’t about to kick him out of the biggest room.
“Why don’t you take that one?” I gestured toward it. “I’m good with a queen.”
“You sure?” His brows pinched. “I mean, I guess I could take one of them, too. No reason we should—”
“It’s up to you.” I motioned at the room again. “But if you like that one, it won’t hurt my feelings if you take it.”
He seemed to consider it.
“It’s no big deal to me, either way.” I nodded at the opposite end. “I’ll get settled into one of those.”
Ultimately, he took the room across the hall from me. I didn’t question him. We spent some time settling in, and after I’d put my toiletries in the shared bathroom, Eric went in for a shower.
While he did that, I headed downstairs and out onto the deck.
The sun was going down, and the evening had turned crisp enough that I almost needed a jacket.
In just a T-shirt, I rested my forearms on the railing and gazed out at the lake.
There were a few other cabins visible along the rocky, tree-lined shore, and a boat cut a lazy path through the otherwise calm water.
So here we were. Just Eric and me, in this cabin on this lake in this place that felt like a million miles from home.
We had three weeks to let the fresh air, quiet, and distance work their magic.
The company, too—it probably wasn’t the most normal thing, taking off with the man my ex had been cheating with, but it felt right. Strange and surreal, but right.
I didn’t know how the next three weeks would go or how I would feel when they were over.
But all thing considered, I was glad we were here.