November 7
West Yellowstone, Montana to Salt Lake City, Utah
Jasmin raced through the reception area back to her room.
It was a little before seven and she still needed to shower before breakfast. She had a strict morning routine.
Back home, it was the only thing that had kept her sane.
If she hadn’t done it, she would have probably been diagnosed with clinical depression years ago.
Like an animal raised in captivity, eventually loneliness and boredom starts to mess with the mind and her morning routine was simply to combat the boredom.
Today’s workout was amazing. The air was cold and she’d felt every breath she inhaled.
With the wilderness right behind her, it was calm and serene.
She worked out for two hours every morning, until her muscles burned, until she felt like she had done something more than just exist. Every morning her only goal was to feel like she had actually accomplished something that day.
So she pushed her body and mind to the limit every single day.
Tae-kwon-do katas, kicks, jumps, flips, push-ups, crunches—she did it until she was ready to collapse.
It wasn’t because of vanity. Her diet could never be described as healthy.
She didn’t do it for the sake of conventional beauty.
She did it because there was nothing else to do.
And after this rigorous workout, she’d go back inside and study.
Theorems, equations, chemical reactions—she loved it.
But it was empty, one sided. It could never love her back.
That was all changing. No studying today. This was the start of a new chapter. She was going to take life by the horns, experience everything it had to offer. Good or bad, she didn’t care. She was going to take control and not just be a tiny blimp on the radar of existence.
Last night, she’d made a list of her objectives for this road trip. It wasn’t a long list, but it was a start.
1) Try a mind-altering substance
2) Get a tattoo
3) Have some sex
4) Do something scary
5) Make lots of friends
6) No matter what, no regrets
Certain things on her list would be more difficult to achieve than others.
Number three, for instance, was definitely going to pose a problem.
She’d never had sex, never even kissed a guy before, so having a one-night stand wasn’t an idea she was fully comfortable with yet.
Maybe if she merged it with number one, it would be a lot easier to let loose.
And like everything else, the first time was always the most challenging and then after that, it would be smooth sailing.
She didn’t know many guys, but Nish once told her that most guys would sleep with anything on two legs, so it couldn’t possibly be that hard to find a willing candidate.
She’d done her research. Theoretically, she knew exactly what to do.
All she had to do now was find someone so she could put it into practice.
She just needed to put herself out there. She’d done it yesterday and it was already looking promising. One day into her trip and she could already tick off number four. She’d picked up a random hitchhiker and although it scared her senseless, it worked out fine.
Kevin wasn’t too bad. Grumpy and rude, but he was a Scorpio. She knew that with ninety-nine percent certainty, and Scorpios generally weren’t very open or forthcoming…Well, at least that’s what she’d read.
He was so mysterious. It was part of his Larry the Lumberjack appeal. And that was the reason why she couldn’t make up her mind about him just yet. He was terribly abrasive, but there was something about him, a distant loneliness she could relate to.
When she’d first seen him, she’d almost jumped out of her skin.
He genuinely looked like a serial killer, but she’d soon realized that it wasn’t the look of a murderer; it was the look of a man who had just given up on life.
The way he stared out of the window the whole drive there, it was like he was waiting for something, yearning for something.
She only recognized it because that feeling was familiar to her as well.
She slotted in the key and it jammed. It was one of those antique door handles; long, curvy and old. It took a bit of fiddling before she heard it click open.
“Hi.”
A combination of things happened when her startled brain registered his unexpected voice behind her.
She jumped. Obviously. It’s a natural reaction to shock.
She also spun around, but only her upper body agreed to that sudden movement.
Her feet didn’t get the message quick enough and stayed planted in one spot, which resulted in one leg twisting around the other as she turned.
Of course, at that point the door decided to slide open with her still gripping the handle.
She was tipping, falling backwards because the door was moving but her feet weren’t.
So there she was, staring up at this gorgeous creature while hanging very ungracefully on the handle of a door. She wanted to unwind her legs, stand up and try to save a bit of her dignity, but she couldn’t stop staring at him.
He shaved and now she could see perfect, fleshy lips that looked extremely tempting.
Beneath that burly beard was actually a very boyish face: soft, rounded cheek bones, but a strong, defined jaw—a boy meets man kind of handsome.
His dark brown hair was tousled like he hadn’t bothered to style it when he got out of the shower, and that unkemptness only added to his appeal.
She’d noticed his eyes yesterday, but the lack of facial hair made them stand out.
Stormy, cobalt blue eyes with powdery gray flecks. They were as mysterious as he was.
Cephalization: the accumulation of sensory organs resulting in the formation of a head. And what a fine job nature had done with this one. He was mesmerizing, which was why she was still a tangled, squirming mess hanging on hopelessly a foot off the floor.
“Howzit,” she greeted casually.
“Need help?”
“Nope. I’m good. Just…practicing a new dance move. Pretty cool, right?”
He looked amused, but didn’t smile. “You’re the embodiment of coolness.”
Eventually she decided it would be easier to just let go and fall to the floor. Once her back hit the carpet with a light thud, she uncrossed her legs and took a few seconds to soak up all that embarrassment.
She felt his hands on her upper arms and he effortlessly lifted her up like she weighed no more than a feather.
She gripped onto his arms for added support until her feet were firmly on the ground again.
He wasn’t very tall, but he was still a head taller than her and the sturdiness of his frame seemed to engulf her.
Being so close to him was unnerving in a shivers-down-the-spine kind of way.
She felt her face heat up and her breath caught in her throat.
Was this what flustered felt like? If it was, then she liked being flustered.
He wore a tight, black cotton top and she could feel his strong muscles beneath the fabric.
“These are nice,” she said, giving his biceps a quick squeeze. “Very nice. This too.” Her hand did a quick brush over his chest and she felt hard, defined muscles there as well. “Very nice. And you smell really good. So clean.”
“Your approval means the world to me.”
He grabbed both her hands and gently pushed them off his body. She took that as sign that he didn’t like being touched, at least not by her.
“Are you ready to have breakfast?” he asked.
“I’ll be there just now.” His eyebrows creased at the phrase and for a second she thought she might’ve spoken another language, so she tried again. “I wanna shower real quick.”
That he understood and he gave her a slight nod.
She waited for him to walk away and then dashed into her room.
She was in and out of the shower in no time.
She dressed in a thick pair of sweatpants and a fluffy pullover, then she briskly made her way to the dining hall and sat down at the table across from him. “Did you order yet?”
“Still deciding. Not really hungry.”
She opened the menu, which was not only restricted to breakfast options. Her eyes skimmed over the lunch meals. There were a few things that caught her attention, different foods she hadn’t tried before and she was feeling adventurous. “What are Rocky Mountain oysters? It sounds…exotic.”
He glanced up. “I wouldn’t try that if I were you. It’s fried bull testicles.”
Suddenly she wasn’t feeling so adventurous anymore and decided on waffles. He got bacon and eggs. Their food was delivered and she jumped right in. He cut his bacon into little strips, but then just picked at his plate, only taking an occasional bite.
“This is so good,” she said. “You wanna try some?”
He declined with a shake of his head.
“Yours looks good too,” She reached over the table to take a small piece of bacon from his plate.
“You’re not even gonna ask?”
“What?” she replied through a mouthful of bacon and waffles.
He let out an irritable sigh. “Nothing.”
“You’re so grumpy, Kevin. And your personality really doesn’t suit your face. You’re gorgeous, so pretty—in a manly way, but really, so pretty. And without the beard, you are…mind-blowingly hot. I could just look at you all day.”
“Please don’t.”
“Plus, you’ve got that sexy chest and arms thing going on. You’re absolutely dreamy.”
“Do you know that if you keep your mouth closed, your thoughts will actually stay in your head?”
“I don’t think you even know how good looking you are. Girls probably throw themselves at you. You must have a lot of sex. And you’re a Scorpio. They’re the most sexual star sign. Are you very…active in that department?”