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“You gonna brag so?”

“Soo if I’d ever be caught dead playing cards on this porch again, I’d have said you were drea up here, on the mountain And the improvements Jack made to the cabin are truly remarkable

But even with the updates, there were still hinges that needed oiling, shutters that needed nailing, and a few planks on the porch were starting to rot And as it turns out, Norah hadn’t been lying; she really is good with a has we could,our weight in s’mores and peanut-butter sandwiches

Yesterday afternoon, I stopped into town to pick up hardware supplies and groceries When I got back, Norah wasn’t in the cabin I called for her outside, but she didn’t answer I checked the garage No sign

Panic wrapped its cold fingers around otten bored of mountain life and decided to hitchhike home?

I searched the woods, and eventually found her by the brook, sitting on a rock overlooking a small pool She wasn’t naked, but she was damn near close, and she’d obviously already julinted off the droplets on her legs I knehat the water would taste like if I licked it off her thighs Fresh Clean Cold

My cock—already at halfaround her the past few days—o throbs away froh my zipper For one briefwith giving her what she wants She hasn’t stop flirting withit up to loneliness or a rebound crush But if all she really wants is to forget about her shitty life for a few hours, ould be so wrong about granting her the reprieve? About granting it to each other?

I couldn’t re so irl was dropped into my lap for a reason

Againstto care about Norah—about her happiness, and what she needs She needs soh She isn’t a fast fuck, or a pit stop She’s a girl on the run who just lost her father, and as badly as I want to put my hands on her, I know the second I cross that line, I won’t be the man she needs anymore

I’ll just be the old guy who picked her up in his truck, brought her back to his cabin, and fucked her

A gust of wind blows the playing cards off the table Norah drops to her knees to collect the deck before it’s lost I join her, stuffing the cards in the box as I grab them

“Cold front’s o split some wood” I hand her the box of cards and then run around back to fetch the axe Beneath the awning off the garage sits a pile of logs protected from the elements by a blue tarp

I grab an ar block I bust through half a dozen before I feel like I’ there, watching me

“Enjoying the show?” I grab a fresh log She shivers as if shaking off a trance

“I’ll start bringing these in” She fills her ar just as the first drop of rain hits the back of ather the re pieces We’re halfway to the house when the sky opens up, duid water down on top of us