“I actually grew up on a property in Somerton. It's about halfway between Gunnedah and Tamworth.” She smiled; she must’ve had fond memories of where she grew up.
“Kayla told me that next summer she and Cam will come camping with me and my cousins.”
“Is that where you’d be if you were able to fly home? Camping with your cousins?” She placed her mug on the coffee table.
“Yeah, I grew up in Mt Druitt, but Nan would always make a point of taking my sister and me back home to Kamilaroi country, make sure we had that connection to our land and culture.” My heart ached that I wouldn’t be able to get home this year before returning to pre-season training. It wasn’t just about family; spending summers on Country was an integral part of me and connecting with my Indigenous heritage. Kamilaroi land and the water surrounding it are integral to me. It was part of my spirituality and my relationship with our ancestors.
“Will you be able to fly home before the season starts?” She asked.
“Nah, I have to be in London to continue pre-season training straight after New Years.” I placed my breakfast bowl on thecoffee table as well and thought, since we have nothing else to do, we might as well get to know each other. “So, um, your man, was he a Tamworth boy, too?”
“Ted, my ex, is not a Tamworth boy. In fact, I don’t think he really likes it there much at all.” Wynter twirled her blonde waves around and stuck something in her hair to keep it in place as she thought about her next words. “He was from Sydney; he’s been project managing a bridge upgrade just outside of Nundle, and he’d stay in Tamworth when he had to be on site.”
“So, maybe fate is doing you a favour.” I grinned at her again.
“That explains getting dumped via text message at the airport, but what explains the snowstorm?” She answered back in exasperation.
I paused for a moment, sipping my tea, hesitant to cross this line, but then I thought, fuck it, why not, we only live once. “Maybe fate thinks that you still need a little fun inside the cabin?”
“What are you saying?” Her question was soft, as if she didn’t want to acknowledge it.
“What I’m saying is that you’re incredibly beautiful, and I couldn’t think of a better way of keeping warm in this snowstorm.” I looked her straight in the eye, making my meaning perfectly clear.
Wynter sputtered, looking uncomfortable.
“No pressure, just think about it. I’m just putting it on the table.” I stood, collecting the empty bowls and mugs, leaving her alone for a moment to think about my offer.
three
Wynter
Ididn’t take Jye up on his offer. But I didn’t not take him up on his offer. I just sat there in shock because men like Jye didn’t hit on girls like me, the ones with thick thighs and a love of spreadsheets. Still in my stupor after he finished washing our breakfast things in the tiny kitchenette sink, I watched as he dug an e-reader out of his bag and then sat back on the lounge.
“What are you reading?” I asked, unsure what else to do.
“It’s the latest Hazel Wood book; I’ve been waiting for it to drop,” he said casually.
I looked at this man, his long-sleeve t-shirt clinging to his muscular arms, chiselled jawline and light blue eyes contrasting with his tan skin. If you asked me to describe what the average Hazel Wood reader looked like, it wouldn’t be the man before me. He was more likely the kind of man to inspire a Hazel Wood shifter romance book.
“You read romance?” I squawked.
“Sure, I read a bit of everything,” he shrugged. “Plus, Hazel Wood books usually have a bit of action in them.”
“I’ve just…” I started to reply.
“Don’t tell me your ex didn’t read romance and made fun of anyone who did?” he said, his eyebrows furrowing.
“Yeah,” I sighed as I remembered all the jeers that Ted made when he saw the covers of some of the ebooks on my TBR. Each time he saw me with an e-reader after that, he would ask if I were killing brain cells by reading mum porn or if I were reading something worthy of my IQ. It didn’t occur to me at the time just how many backhanded compliments he threw my way.
“It’s a good thing you got rid of him then.”
“Except that I didn’t get rid of him, he found someone else.” I sighed, again.
“Idiot.” His response was succinct. Like it was a fact that didn’t need disputing.
“I want to agree, but he’s really not — his mind is brilliant, he…” my mind raced to his academic record, the awards he’d won.
“I don’t mean to be rude, but I don’t care how smart someone is on paper, he’d have to be a fool to let you go.” Again, Jye stated it like it was indisputable.
