Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 26006 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 130(@200wpm)___ 104(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26006 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 130(@200wpm)___ 104(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
“I feel like you’re bringing way too much of everything. You could leave most of those clothes here.”
“I’m not going to be naked the whole time.”
“Well, not with that attitude.” When I slipped three paperbacks into the side of the bag, Timothy’s blue eyes went wide, and he blurted, “Oh, come on!”
“What?”
“If you have time to read, you’re squandering that cabin!”
“What does that even mean?”
“Here’s what your daily itinerary should look like,” he said, as he began to point his way down a huge, imaginary list. “Wake up, then enjoy some dick. Eat breakfast, followed by more dick. Dick for lunch, then dick, some more dick, and some dick, followed by a light supper. For dessert? You guessed it—dick.”
I burst out laughing and told him, “You need professional help.”
He grabbed my arm and tried to shake me, not that he could get me to budge. “Please, I’m begging you, don’t let this opportunity pass you by! I’ve watched you pining for these guys for months, and now’s your chance to finally do something about it.”
“Or, here’s my chance to ruin two really great friendships, embarrass myself, and make things super awkward between me and my business partner,” I countered.
“If those friendships really are great, then they’ll survive, even if you make a super clumsy pass at them and they’re not into it.”
My phone beeped, and my heart rate sped up as I read the text. “They’re early. They just pulled up downstairs.” I finger-combed my hair, then smoothed my short beard as I said, “There’s an extra bag of Sadie’s food in the kitchen if the first bag runs out, and don’t go too crazy with her treats, even if she gives you that look of hers. Her vet’s number is on the fridge, and her leash is next to the front door. What am I forgetting? I feel like there’s something…”
“I’ve got this, because as you know, I’ve watched her before.”
“Right.” I pulled on a red and blue plaid shirt over my T-shirt, added a long Santa hat with a pompom at the end, and asked, “Do I look ridiculous?”
“You look adorable. Now take a deep breath. Your dog is going to be fine, and so are you. Even though I’ve been harping on making the most of this opportunity, nothing has to happen at that cabin if you don’t want it to. Just remember that.”
I nodded and gave Timothy a hug. “Thank you for dog-sitting, and for being a good friend. I want you to know I really appreciate it.” Then I dropped to my knees, ruffled Sadie’s black and white fur, and kissed the top of her head before telling her, “I love you, Sadie Hawkins. Be a good girl for your Uncle Timothy, and I’ll see you in a few days.”
“Oh sure, the dog gets the kiss and the I love you,” Timothy teased.
I pulled my friend close, messed up his hair, and kissed the top of his head. “I love you, Tim-Tam. Be a good boy for your niece Sadie, and I’ll see you in a few days.” He was chuckling as I grabbed my bags and winter coat and left the apartment.
When I got downstairs, I found a huge, dark blue SUV parked at the curb. Hudson had the back open, and he smiled at me as I approached. “Nice ride,” I said. “Looks like we’re traveling in style.”
As soon as I put down my bags, he gave me a hug and said, “I wanted to rent something with four-wheel drive. Plus, I figured we should be comfortable, since it’ll take almost four hours to get there.”
I gestured at the Christmas tree tied to the luggage rack on the roof and joked, “You know, there will probably be trees where we’re going, what with it being a forest and all.”
Hudson explained, as he tried to fit my bags into the very full trunk, “Kel has this vision of a classic, Hallmark channel-type Christmas, so he’s bringing along all the bells and whistles—the tree, decorations, baking supplies, hot chocolate. The only thing missing is a horse-drawn sleigh, just because he couldn’t fit one into the trunk.”
Once the bags were squared away and my coat was stuffed into the last remaining square foot, I circled around to the side of the SUV and Kel hopped out of the passenger seat. He was wearing a headband with short, stuffed reindeer antlers and holding a cookbook called something like A Thousand-and-One Christmas Cookie Recipes, and he threw his arms around me and exclaimed, “This is going to be so much fun!”
“Definitely.” I tried not to be weird and linger too long in that embrace.
I’d been attracted to Kel from the moment I’d met him. That had happened when both of us showed up at the same time to look at a doggie day care that was for sale. We’d clicked as friends right away, and the decision to buy the business together had been an easy one. The only complication was when my attraction to him kept growing, and when I discovered I was just as attracted to his boyfriend.