26 - Cabin Rules #2
“Mia.” She looks at me. “It’s a cabin. With six guys. And a hot tub. And ‘what happens at the cabin stays at the cabin.’” She waves the card. “This is not a thank you thing.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I absolutely know that.” She’s laughing now. “This is an invitation to get railed in the mountains, and you know it.”
My face is burning. “That’s not … They wouldn’t …”
“They would. They are. That’s what this is.” She reads the card again. “And look, Eli signed it separately. With a little note. ‘Hope you’ll join us.’ He wants you there specifically.”
I take the card back. Look at his handwriting. The E is sharp, confident. I trace it with my thumb.
“I can’t,” I say.
“Why not?”
“Because I’m not … I don’t do things like that.”
Jade turns in her seat to face me fully. “Okay, let me tell you something. You’re not as innocent as you pretend to be.”
“I don’t pretend—”
“You’ve had one-night stands.”
“Two. That’s not—”
“And you had a threesome with Derek.”
My face flushes. “That was different.”
“Yeah.” Jade grins. “You shared him. With me.” She pokes my arm. “You deserve to be the one who gets shared sometime.”
Something twists low in my belly. I don’t have a response to that. My mouth opens. Closes.
Jade sees it. Her grin softens into something knowing. She doesn’t push. Just lets it sit there between us.
“Anyway,” she says, turning back to face the windshield, “my point is, this isn’t that big a leap for you. You’ve done adventurous things. You just need permission to want them.”
I look at the card again. The cabin drawing. The list of names. Eli’s handwriting at the bottom.
“I don’t even know what I’d say,” I say. “What—I just show up and … what?”
“You show up and see what happens. Maybe it’s just a fun weekend with some hot guys. Maybe it’s more.” Jade shrugs. “But you won’t know unless you go.”
“What if it’s awkward?”
“Then it’s awkward and you leave. You’re an adult. You can leave places.”
I chew on my lip. She makes it sound so simple. Maybe it is that simple. Maybe I’m the one making it complicated.
“I’ve thought about it,” I say quietly. “About Eli. About … more than just Eli.”
“I know.”
“You know?”
“Mia, you get this look on your face whenever anyone mentions him. And when you’re drunk, you talk about ‘him and his crew’ like it’s one unit.” She smirks. “You’ve thought about being passed around by firefighters. Don’t pretend you haven’t.”
I want to deny it. I can’t.
“It’s just a fantasy,” I say.
“Fantasies are allowed to happen.” She holds out her hand. “Give me your phone.”
“What? No.”
“Give me your phone. I’m going to text Eli for you.”
“Jade—”
“You’re never going to do it yourself. You’re going to think about it for three weeks and then the deadline will pass and you’ll spend the next year wondering what would have happened.” She wiggles her fingers. “Phone.”
She’s right. She’s always right. That’s the worst part.
I hand her my phone.
“Passcode?”
“You know my passcode.”
“I do. I just wanted you to say it out loud so you can’t claim I stole your phone later.” She types it in. Opens my messages. “Do you have Eli’s number?”
“He’s in the wedding group chat.”
She finds it. Starts a new message thread. Types something. Shows me the screen.
Hey, it’s Mia. Got your invitation. I’m in.
“That’s it?” I say. “That’s so … casual.”
“Casual is good. You don’t want to sound desperate.” She hovers her thumb over the send button. “Last chance to stop me.”
I don’t stop her.
She hits send.
We sit there in silence. My heart is pounding. The phone feels like a grenade in Jade’s hand.
Three dots appear. He’s typing.
Glad to hear it. I was hoping you’d say yes.
Jade grins. Shows me the screen. “See? He was hoping.”
Another message comes through.
Jade coming, too?
Jade types back: She’ll be there. We’re a package deal.
Even better. See you both at Rocky Ridge.
She hands me back the phone. I stare at the exchange. It’s real. I said yes. Or Jade said yes for me. Same thing.
“You’re welcome,” Jade says. She starts the car.
That night, I lie in bed and stare at the ceiling.
The apartment is quiet. The streetlight outside my window casts long shadows across the wall. I should be sleeping. I have an early shift tomorrow. The library won’t run itself.
But my brain won’t stop.
The cabin. Rocky Ridge. A weekend with Eli and his friends. No wedding talk. What happens at the cabin stays at the cabin.
I think about Eli. His hands. His broken nose. The way he signed the card with just his initial, like we already have a shorthand. Like he’s already thinking about me the way I’m thinking about him.
I think about the other guys. The groomsmen. I’ve met most of them at various wedding events. They’re all cut from the same cloth. Big. Confident. The kind of men who run into burning buildings for a living.
My hand drifts down my belly. I don’t stop it.
I think about being in the hot tub. Surrounded. Being the only woman there. Being wanted by all of them.
I think about Eli watching. About him giving permission. About being passed between them like something precious.
My fingers slip beneath the waistband of my underwear. I’m already wet.
I think about hands everywhere. Mouths. Being the center of something. Being used in the best possible way. Being the girl who says yes.
I come with my face pressed into the pillow, muffling the sound. It’s fast. Intense. My whole body shakes with it.
Afterward, I lie there. Breathing. My hand still between my legs.
I should be embarrassed. The good girl from the library, getting herself off to a gang bang fantasy.
I’m not embarrassed.
I smile in the dark.
The road winds up through the trees. Jade drives with one hand on the wheel, the other holding her coffee. I’ve got my feet on the dashboard, which she hates, but she hasn’t said anything. Maybe she knows I need the small rebellion.
“You’re quiet,” she says.
“I’m thinking.”
“About?”
“Whether I can fake a stomach bug and have you turn around.”
She laughs. “You could. But you won’t.”
She’s right. I won’t. I’ve had three weeks to back out. I’ve thought about it every single day. And every single day, I’ve decided to keep going.
The trees are thicker up here. Pines, mostly. The air is colder when I crack the window. The world is getting smaller, the road narrowing to a single lane. I can feel my old life shrinking in the rearview mirror.
“What if it’s weird?” I ask.
“It’ll definitely be weird. That’s part of the fun.”
“What if I freeze up?”
“Then you freeze up, and we drink wine, and play board games, and go home Sunday.” She glances at me. “No one’s going to make you do anything, Mia. That’s not how this works.”
I know that. I do. But knowing it and believing it are different things.
The cabin appears around a bend. I sit up straighter.
It’s nicer than I expected. Wood and glass, two stories, a wide deck wrapping around the front. The hot tub is visible on one side, steam rising into the cold air. Smoke curls from the chimney. A black truck is already parked in the driveway.
“Damn,” Jade says. “Firefighters do okay.”
My stomach is doing something complicated. Flips. Knots. Somersaults. All of the above.
Jade parks behind the truck. Turns off the engine. Looks at me.
“Ready?”
“No.”
“Good. Let’s go.”
We get out. The air is sharp and clean, pine and woodsmoke. I’m reaching for my bag in the back seat when the cabin door opens.
Eli.
He’s in jeans and a flannel shirt, sleeves rolled to the elbows. That same easy smile. That same broken nose. He looks even better than I remembered, which doesn’t seem fair.
“You made it,” he says. Walking toward us. His eyes find mine and stay there.
“We made it,” Jade says. “Mia almost faked a stomach bug twice, but I talked her down.”
“Jade.” I want to kill her.
Eli laughs. “Glad you didn’t.” He stops in front of me. Close. “I’m glad you’re here, Mia.”
The way he says my name … Like he’s been practicing it.
“Me, too,” I say. And I mean it.
Inside, the cabin is warm. A fire crackles in a stone fireplace. The living room is open, connected to a kitchen where someone is pulling beers from the fridge. Big windows look out over the mountains. It smells like wood and something cooking.
Three other men are scattered around the room. They turn when we walk in.
“Ladies.” The one at the fridge grins. He’s got an easy energy, quick smile, the kind of guy who makes everyone comfortable. “I’m Ty. Welcome to the mountain.”
“Ty’s our EMT,” Eli says. “He’ll patch you up if you fall off the deck.”
“Has that happened before?” I ask.
“Once,” Ty says. “But Devon was very drunk and we don’t talk about Devon.”
The man on the couch laughs. He’s dark-haired, warm eyes, compact build. “Pedro,” he says, raising his beer. “I’m the other EMT. And the cook, so be nice to me.”
“I’m always nice,” Jade says. She’s already scanning the room, cataloging. I know that look. She’s picking her target.
The last one is by the window. Taller, quieter, watching us with a half-smile. “Noah,” he says. Nods. Doesn’t elaborate.
“Noah’s the strong silent type,” Ty says.
“Someone has to balance you out,” Noah says. But he’s smiling.
Eli gives us the tour. Bedrooms upstairs, bathrooms, the deck. The hot tub bubbles quietly in the corner, steam rising. The view is all mountains and trees, the kind of landscape that makes you feel small in a good way.
Back in the living room, Ty is handing out beers. “Fair warning,” he says, passing one to me. “This weekend is whatever you want it to be. No expectations.”
“Just good company and a nice view,” Pedro adds.
Jade takes a beer. “I can work with that.”
It’s not a speech. Just an understanding.
The room is warm, and the fire is crackling, and these men are making space for us to want things or not want them.
Jade catches my eye. Gives me a tiny nod. See? her expression says. Good guys.
I nod back. Okay, I’m staying.