“No!” Her little hand gripped his jacket sleeve with surprising strength. “I’m not ready.”
“Look, if you’re staying here, then you checked that you’re a shifter on the registration information, right?” Something was off.
“I…thought about checking that box, but then I didn’t, because I didn’t want them to reject me. I want to do the UnValentine’s thing. I…” She lifted her chin higher. “Well, I haven’t taken a vacation in a while, and I hate Valentine’s day. And the picture on the website was two guys shot gunning beers and shooting rifles into the air with Ava in the background, andnow that I’m thinking about it, you look like…one of…the guys shot gunning beers. Oh my gosh. Do you work here?”
“Yep,” he murmured, resting his hands on his hips. “Why were you going to knock on me like I was a door?”
Her voice came out very small as she said, “I was wondering if you knew where the Pants Are Overrated Cabin is.”
“The what?”
She inhaled deeply and said it louder. “I booked the Pants Are Overrated Cabin.”
So that’s why Brock had been putting dumb sayings on the cabins this afternoon. He must’ve named them to go along with the UnValentine’s Day theme. He recalled getting drunk with him last year and coming up with some good ones. He hadn’t realized Brock had actually gone through with changing the website though.
“There are signs on the porches. I think I saw that sign on Lodge 9”
“Oh.” She frowned over at one of the lodges but still looked confused. “I’m going to make like a tree and leaf now.”
He snorted. “You still can’t see the numbers, can you?”
“Here’s the thing. When I see chaos, my brain does this really annoying thing where I can’t focus on a singular thing and everything is blurry and colorful and loud, and I can’t just zone in on something, but I will figure it out.”
“ADHD?” he guessed.
“What are you, some kind of shrink?”
“I just offered you a half-eaten package of crackers to bribe you not to cry in front of me. What about any of that interaction screams shrink?”
“Oh. Right. Well, it’s still rude to diagnose people.”
“I would say it’s rude to keep calling people rude.” Lance shrugged. “My brother has it. I was always bringing him back to focus when we were growing up. Our parents weren’t asunderstanding. Come on,” he said and before she could argue, he started marching toward Lodge 9 aka the Pants are Overrated Cabin.
When Lance looked behind him, the tiny woman was following at a struggled pace with all of her bags. The snow-hating wheels on her suitcase seemed to be giving her the most trouble.
“Do you want help?”
“No. Stop being nice to me. The point of UnValentine’s Day is we are all supposed to come here grumpy and wallow in self-pity and loneliness.”
He chuckled and leaned on the log wall beside the door of Lodge 9. “I don’t think that’s the point of this week at all. I think you’re just supposed to enjoy yourself in whatever capacity that means. Although,” he drawled out as he glanced over at the woman dressed in all black who was now on the porch of Lodge Six and glaring at him. “I’m sure some people have come here to be grumpy.”
“Well, luckily for you, you just work here, and don’t have to be one of the losers here celebrating their singleness,” she muttered, fumbling with the key. “You can go back to your gorgeous wife and four kids with a Labrador.”
He watched for a few seconds more and then took the key from her in frustration. “How did you even get here?” he muttered, sliding the key easily into the lock and opening the door for her.
“My hands are froze!” she said. “That’s why I can’t do the key. And my toes are froze, and my nose and my cheeks are froze. Everything in Colorado is froze!”
“Frozen,” he corrected.
“Whatever.”
“Are you a honey badger shifter?” he asked.
“Ha ha,” she said sarcastically.
“Okay, well it’s been an undelight to chat with you. Can’t imagine why you’re single.”
“It was equally undelightful to meet you, Chaz.”
