“Momma, this is Kevin. He wants to come over and play. Can he, huh? Can he? Please, mom. He really wants to.”
The two women looked at each other, knowing full well that it was pointless trying to argue. They discussed pick up times and exchanged addresses, only to find out that they lived four houses down the street.
His mother knelt down in front of him again and Kevin expected her usual bout of overprotectiveness. He waited for her to tell him to be careful when he climbed up the treehouse and not to run too fast, but she didn’t say any of that. She just smiled and gently brushed his brown hair off his forehead. “You’re happy you made a new friend, baby.”
It was a statement, not a question, but Perry decided to answer for him anyway.
“Yeah,” he replied, slinging his short arm around Kevin’s neck. “We’re best friends…and we’re gonna be best friends forever, right, Kev?”
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 ashealthy. 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, andScorpios 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 andold. 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 wasactually 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.
