Primal

1. Axel

Chapter 1

Axel

T he airport was busy as I made my way to the baggage claim area. I wasn’t surprised. Colorado was gorgeous this time of year— any time of year, really— and there were probably a lot of people here on vacation.

But that’s not why I traveled here. After years of thinking about it, I finally decided to start working on my book. I’ve been a lawyer for two decades, and pretty damn successful at it, but it’s always been a fantasy of mine to see a something I wrote on the shelf in a bookstore.

So, I contacted my ex-sister-in-law, who I still got along with pretty well, considering that I divorced her sister thirteen years ago, for some advice about where I could go to get some peace and privacy for a week. She’s a travel agent, which makes her the perfect person to suggest where I could find what I was looking for.

I was jostled by the people crowded around the baggage claim area, but I managed to spot my hard-shell navy blue suitcase on the belt. I moved forward to grab it just as another man nearby broke from the crowd of harried airport patrons to take the suitcase in front of mine on the belt. I glanced in his direction, only to do a double take when I realized I recognized the man.

He was also staring at me with surprise on his face. “Axel? What are you doing here?”

My surprise shifted to annoyance, and I glared at Mason as I yanked my suitcase off of the revolving belt. “I was going to ask you the same thing. Why the hell are you in Colorado?”

I’d know Mason for a long time, ever since we were kids, but it had been years since I’d seen the man. I wasn’t exactly eager to hang out with the man who was married to my ex-wife.

Apparently, he didn’t feel the same because he smiled and cuffed me on the shoulder. “Mount Elbert is a popular vacation destination. I’m guessing we had the same idea to come here for a getaway.”

His broad smile and friendly greeting just pissed me off. He always did this, acting like we were old friends. Once upon a time, that was true, but these days, I couldn’t stand the man. Our childhood friendship had gone up in flames decades ago.

“Just my luck,” I grumbled, turning away. I headed toward the car rental counter, eager to get out of this crowded airport and away from Mason.

Unfortunately for me, he followed, keeping up at my side, even though my legs were much longer. I had a good four inches of height on the guy, something I took great satisfaction in.

“So, did Fiona tell you about this place?” he asked, referring to my ex-sister-in-law.

I grunted in response, keeping my eyes focused ahead. Mason didn’t take the hint, chatting about Fiona telling him about some kind of gathering up in the mountains here that he might be interested in attending. He was excited about staying in a cabin, surrounded by nature. I was barely listening, but my curiosity got the better of me.

“You’re here without Janie?” I asked.

My ex-wife wasn’t the type to enjoy staying in a rustic cabin out in the middle of nowhere. She was never happy unless she was being pampered and didn’t appreciate the beauty of nature one bit.

We both got in line at the car rental counter. Some short-tempered asshole was arguing with the young girl behind the counter about the car he wanted to rent. Apparently, they were out of luxury SUVs, and the flashy muscle car that the girl was trying to give him wasn’t a good enough substitute. This was becoming the problem of everyone waiting for a car, and I knew I wasn’t going to get away from Mason anytime soon.

“Janie’s not into this type of gathering,” Mason said, and there was something in his voice that got my attention.

I glanced in his direction. He was smirking in a way I didn’t understand, but before I could question him further, another employee stepped up to the counter and called for the next person in line. I headed over, and the asshole who was giving the young girl a hard time finally left, allowing Mason to also come up and start the process of renting a car.

The representative I was speaking with requested the address of my accommodation while in town, and I could feel Mason's gaze on me. I turned to him, a frown forming on my face.

“What?”

“Can you repeat that?” he asked, his brow furrowed.

“Why?”

He scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Do you always have to be so damn difficult? Just repeat the address, Axel.”

I let out a frustrated sigh and repeated the address of the cabin I had rented. He held up his phone, displaying a confirmation email that looked identical to mine, even down to the address.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I snarled, snatching the phone out of his hand and scanning the email, confirming that he did indeed rent the cabin for the same dates I had booked. “What the fuck?”

“A mistake, I guess. A booking error.” Mason shrugged.

I growled as I shoved the phone back at him. It annoyed the hell out me that he hardly ever got worked up about anything. He should have been just as bothered by this as I was, but he wasn’t. His easygoing attitude used to be one of the reasons we were friends, but I’d outgrown my admiration for that a long time ago.

Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I ignored the curious stares of the car rental workers as I pulled up the website where I booked the cabin, and looked for another rental for the next few days. Anything.

Of course, luck wasn’t on my side. All other cabins were booked up for the whole week. I considered flying right back to Georgia to just try to do my writing from home, but I hated to waste money like that. Damn it, I booked this cabin, and I wanted to use it.

“I’m taking the cabin,” I said firmly.

Mason chuckled and shook his head. “Still a stubborn asshole, aren’t you? I’m not flying home tonight. We’ll just have to share the cabin.”

My eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Are you out of your fucking mind?”

“There are three bedrooms in the cabin, plenty of room, and I’m supposed to go to that gathering I told you about every day. I doubt that I’ll be in your way much.”

“I’m here to write,” I said. I didn’t want to tell him that because I hadn’t really shared my dream of writing a book with anybody. It felt too personal. But if I was really going to consider this, he’d have to know what I was up to. “I need peace and quiet for that.”

“No problem. Like I said, I won’t be there much.”

I thought about his suggestion for a moment. Mason annoyed the hell out of me. I couldn’t stand his cocky attitude, the one that always got him attention from women. Back in high school, he used it to steal my girlfriend, despite that fact that we were close friends, and now, thirty years later, he was married to my ex-wife.

How was I supposed to deal with him all week?

But his willingness to compromise brought out a strange competitive urge inside of me. It didn’t make a lot of sense, but I couldn’t let him think he was keeping me from enjoying my rustic cabin vacation. The asshole wouldn’t get the satisfaction of knowing I’d had to scramble to find a different place to stay or that I’d flown home just to avoid him.

It was a petty way to look at things, but damn it, Mason brought that out of me.

“Fine,” I agreed, turning back to the guy behind the counter. “But we’re renting separate cars.”

We might have been going to the same destination, but I wanted to be able to leave early if I found myself unable to stand being stuck in the cabin with Mason for several days. As I looked at his annoyingly smug face, I had a feeling they would be the longest days of my life.