Welcome to Emergency Cabin 78 in Northern California. Please adhere to the following rules.
1. Take only what is necessary. Please understand that this is an emergency shelter. Not a shopping mall.
2. Take all the trash you generate. This includes trash from the emergency rations and water you consume.
3. Be respectful of the cabin. Do not leave it trashed and in need of repairs.
4. Take the linens and clothes you have soiled with you. If you are able to return them at a later time, please do so.
5. There is a radio able to broadcast in case of a true emergency that requires immediate rescue. It can be found under the table.
6. There is moderate power stored in batteries charged by solar panels. They are capable of powering handheld electronics for several days without sunlight. Please make sure the lanterns are plugged in again when you leave.
7. Make sure the cabinets are shut tightly and latched to keep insects and critters out.
8. If you are able to leave a donation, it will be used to restock what you’ve consumed.
Reading the notice makes me wonder how often people get caught out here. Based on how well the cabin is stocked, I’m guessing it happens more often than one would think. That it’s here at all shows there was apparently a need for it.
It’s been a long time since I took any kind of science class having to do with weather, but is there something about being surrounded by mountains in a valley? Don’t mountains create their own weather to a degree?
Absently, I watch Peyton. There’s fire flickering inside the woodstove now. He’s blowing on it. Aside from being just as wet as I am, he’s still breathtaking. Maybe ‘aside’ isn’t the right way to begin that thought. I’m sure it only adds to his appeal. He’s all wet! Yum.
Something on the wall catches my attention, and I move toward it. I run my fingers along it as I try to figure out what it is. It looks like it comes away from the wall somehow. There’s a pin here that gives me the impression that it’ll come away.
After a few failed attempts at tugging in the wrong place, I manage to get it to pull away. When the top is about a foot from the wall, it falls open, and I’m looking at a drying rack.
“Nice,” Peyton says. He’s grinning widely. “We’re going to need that. Nice find, hot stuff.”
I turn away, hiding my smile and the heat blooming on my cheeks at his words as I work out how to make it sturdy enough to hold two sets of drenched clothing. After a little more blind tugging, I find the leg that opens and settles on the ground.
Peyton gets to his feet as he pushes the door to the stove open. “Okay, we’re going to be warm soon. What did you find?”
“Water, towels, first aid, what I’m guessing are items that’ll pass as food in an emergency, and clothes. Oh, and rules.”
He grins. “All useful items. Let’s check out the clothes first. I don’t know about you, but I’m over being wet.”
“Same,” I agree wholeheartedly.
We start poking through the clothes. I find a pair of long gym shorts and a shirt. Peyton finds a pair of shorter gym shorts.
“I’m not shy,” Peyton says, “so unless it makes you uncomfortable, I’m changing in front of the fire.”
“Is there another option?” I ask, my eyes narrowing in on what I’m assuming is a door that leads to what can only be a little better than an outhouse.
“Yep, you found the second option,” Peyton says, humor clearly evident in his voice.
“I’ll brave it out here,” I say, even though my heart races in anticipation of being naked with this guy. This guy I’ve been fantasizing about for months.
I try to keep my eyes down as I peel off the clothing that’s sticking to me. It’s so saturated that even though we’ve been inside for maybe ten or fifteen minutes, it’s still suctioned to my body. I feel like my skin is going to take a month to dry out.
My hands pause on my pants. Not because I’m embarrassed to be naked in front of him. I’m definitely a little self-conscious, but I’m wearing really cute briefs that I think might be borderline sexy. When he sees them, he may figure out that I was possibly prepared for some wishful thinking to come true.
The alternative is staying in wet clothes and trying to explain why. Come on, Dana. Be an adult. Closing my eyes, I shove my pants and underwear down together and step out of them. The dry shorts are already in my hands as I quickly put them on. My cheeks burn for no reason at all.
I’ve been naked in front of plenty of guys before. This is no big deal.
I glance toward Peyton when I’m completely stripped of my wet clothes. He’s only wearing the little shorts. No shirt. Nothing else. The shorts are telling, but not obscenely so. It only emphasizes that this man is an athlete, and a beautiful one at that.
