The area was stunning. It would be so pretty during the day. But at night, with golden lantern-style bulbs lighting our path and the warm glow of glamping cabins dotting either side, I was completely charmed.
They were definitely more cabin than tent, but not by much. They were oddly shaped. Like a hexagon, but with more sides. And 3D. And if I hadn’t had quite so many vodkas, I might be able to recall their geometric shape.
Maybe.
They seemed to be soft-sided, but Jonah had sworn they were heated. Plus, they each had space for a chimney through the top. And the ones that we passed that were occupied even had smoke curling out of the tops. They were well spaced apart, so you wouldn’t feel like you were right on top of your neighbor. And when I glimpsed the front of one of them when we rounded a curve, I saw a large, open porch that led to a glass front.
Then, sure enough, when we finally found our assigned cabin, we confirmed that the entire front was glass. It faced a great expanse of nature. The moonlight was bright but not quite bright enough to make out exactly what everything was in the dark. I could see trees and trees and trees. And maybe a lake? The sound of lapping made me think of waves on a beach, but they were faint, and the darkness obscured the landscape, so I wasn’t totally sure.
A small firepit had been set up down a ways from the deck. In the spring, with a warm breeze, chairs around the firepit, and a bottle of whiskey, this would be about the most enchanting experience ever.
Jonah walked up the deck stairs and opened the door. A gust of winter air blew past me, pulling out a full-body shiver. I hurried after him.
The first thing I noticed inside the cabin was how warm and cozy it was. I mean, really cozy. So cozy, two people hardly fit inside.
The bed... the one bed... took up the middle of the room and had a stunning view through the all-glass front. Off to one side was a fireplace with two small but comfy-looking chairs flanking it. And on the other side was the tiniest of kitchens that consisted of a mini-fridge, a microwave, a small sink, and a two-burner stovetop with about one solid foot of counter space.
“Um, is there a bathroom?” I’d address the one-bed situation in a minute. First, a girl had to take care of a night of drinking vodka cocktails.
Jonah pointed toward a door I hadn’t noticed. I set my bag on the end of the bed and squeezed inside a bathroom the size of one typically found on an airplane. Or in an RV. To its credit, there was a shower. Er, sort of. And now I regretted having zero dietary restrictions tonight because if I had gained any weight, there was no way I could fit inside there.
When I came out of the bathroom, I found Jonah stripped down to a pair of sweatpants and a thin T-shirt. “Wow, you changed fast.”
“I raced you,” he said with an adorable tilt to his lips. “You lost.”
A laugh bubbled out of me. “What would you have done if I won?”
His expression turned perplexed like he hadn’t thought it all through. I looked back at the bathroom and wondered how I would change. In my current wobbly state, I was more likely to drop all my possessions in the tiny toilet than handle them responsibly. But no way could I beat him if we raced by the same terms.
Boys were faster pee-ers. It was common knowledge.
“Okay, well, I need to change now too. So go lock yourself in the bathroom until I tell you to come out.” My clothes were growing increasingly uncomfortable. I’d hit my jeans limit about an hour ago. It wasn’t that I hated dressing up. I loved it, actually. But every girl had a limit. For someone who ran a nighttime business, I should be better at wearing solid clothing at all hours of the night. But I just couldn’t stand to be in anything besides stretchy pants after ten p.m.
Plus, the bra had to go. It just did. I had to get it off me. There was a fine line between wearing a bra and a bra driving you to raging psychosis. And I was currently walking it in a drunken stupor. Things could escalate quickly if I did not immediately remove this underwire from my person.
Ignorant of all my wardrobe struggles, he rolled to his side and stretched his phone out in front of him. “Can’t I just promise not to look? I don’t feel like getting up.”
I just blinked at him. He couldn’t be serious. “You’re not serious.”
“Seriously, do your thing. I promise. I’ll be a gentleman.”
“Jonah Mason,” I gasped, scandalized.
He laughed at my expression. “Come on, Liza. Don’t make me get up. I just found the perfect spot.”
My resolve was already breaking. He was this driven, tough guy. And he was too comfy to move? Seriously, nobody had the fortitude it took to stand up to that nonsense. When I rolled my eyes at him, his mouth broke into a wide grin. He made an exaggerated show of moving to his side again and covering his eyes with one hand.
“Tell me when,” he said.
I glanced to the other side of me. “What about this big-ass window? How many perverts are lurking out there, do you think?”
“There are curtains,” he told me. “On the side.”
He was right. I untied both ends and let the white linen curtains fall into place. I instantly felt safer too. Not that I’d really been worried about perverts and ax murderers lurking in the woods. And even if they were out there somewhere, a piece of linen couldn’t do a whole lot to save us from them. But the illusion that we were safe and secure and snuggly locked inside our cabin was enough to soothe some of my unrealized fears.
As quick as I could, I dug in my bag for my pajamas—a matching pair of tie-dye joggers with an off-the-shoulder sweatshirt and a lacy bralette, so I wasn’t totally au natural—and changed. It proved more difficult than I expected it to be. The boots were much harder to toe off than I remembered. I nearly twisted my ankles at least three times. Then came the boyfriend jeans, which were extra difficult in my inebriated state with their all-button fly. I’d whipped my top off before I thought better of it, then panicked because I was now shirtless in the same room as Jonah. I quickly wrestled my sweatshirt into position so I could swap bras without flashing... no one... because Jonah was not even looking.
Ugh. I was an idiot.
