Jennie

"Hello, Lali!"

"Hi, Lali." I shake my head at my reflection. "Hey, Lali!"

I blow out a breath.

I've been standing in front of my mirror for the past twenty minutes, practicing saying hello. The thing about being really into learning is that I haven't spent a lot of time figuring out how to interact with people. I'm really good at presenting information and findings, but conversation isn't my strong suit.

Lali said her cabin is a fifteen-minute trek down the beach. I use the term beach loosely. It's more like a path cut into the grassy, sometimes rocky terrain with water on one side.

I've been here for two days. I have no internet reception. I've seen lots of birds and rodents and, in the distance, some whales. My only human interaction has come in the form of cashiers and a waitress at the diner I had lunch at today.

In the short time I've been here, I've made some interesting discoveries—such as, perpetual daylight sucks. Also, since I'm unable to connect to the internet, I can't check my email or do any research. I have no satellite, and I'm bad at keeping a fire going.

More than anything else, this cabin sucks. It's cold, drafty, dusty, musty, and creaky. There are a lot of spiders, and I'm pretty sure I have several rodent roommates, possibly related to the one I buried the day I arrived. Also, the hot-water tank seems to have an issue. So far my showers have been ice cold, which isn't great, because my fire keeps going out—even though I took outdoor adventuring as a Girl Scout. Although I was never allowed to actually go on the outdoor adventuring trips because, according to my mother, those were too dangerous.

I called the rental office hoping they'd be able to help, or maybe they would have alternative accommodations better suited for human habitation, but they're away on vacation and won't be back for another week. So I'm stuck in this dump with only my textbooks and two novels, both of which I've already read. I also haven't slept much, so I'm a little emotional.

This morning when I called my parents, I lied to them, which isn't something I typically do. But I'm determined to make this work, so it was necessary. I told them I'm having a great time. I had to practice faking enthusiasm for ten minutes before I made the call. I'm also grateful for the terrible cell reception. It means my parents can't video chat with me and see my puffy eyes or call me out on my lies.

After I got off the phone, I decided the best plan was to go to town and pick up a couple of tote bins to store my clothes and dry goods in. Hopefully it will make the cabin less enticing for rodents.

Two cab rides, three hours, some limited human interaction, one diner meal, and a shopping trip later, I'm back at the cabin. All of my clothes and dry goods are safely packed in totes, and now I have an entire afternoon free. With nothing to do.

So I've decided to bring Lali a thank-you gift. Well, it's also an apology gift. It's like killing two birds with one stone. Although I'd never kill a bird. But it's a thank-you for being so kind and understanding on the plane—planes—and an apology for falling into her lap, accidentally kissing her on the cheek, and getting sick on the Cessna. And a thank-you for giving me a lift here from the airport.

I picked her up a six-pack of beer while I was in town, the same kind I saw her buy when we went grocery shopping together. I run my fingers through my hair and adjust my hat. Maybe a little makeup would be advisable.

I put on some lip gloss, but it's very pink, and I don't like how much attention it draws to my mouth. The mouth I used to kiss Lali's cheek. Her cheek that smelled delicious. The same mouth I used to toss my cookies. No. I don't want to draw attention to my mouth.

After another ten minutes of practicing, I decide I'm as ready as I'm going to be. I leave my tiny one-room cabin and walk in the direction of Lali's place.

The fresh air is nice, but the fifteen-minute walk is actually more along the lines of twenty-five, and I'm sweating under my parka by the time her cabin comes into view. If one could even call it a cabin.

The two-story A-frame has a huge deck and stairs leading all the way up from the water. It makes my place look like a derelict shack, which it kind of is. No wonder she was worried about leaving me there.

I smooth out my hair, which is blowing around my face thanks to the breeze, and take a deep breath. You can do this, Jennie. She's just a person. I knock before I lose my nerve.

The door swings open, and I'm greeted by a chest. Oh my. I allow my gaze to drop a little lower. Sweet heavens, she has an entire six-pack. And that V of muscle at her hips disappears into her jeans, leading my eyes down. I've only ever seen that V in magazines, never in real life. I thought maybe it was airbrushed or something, but clearly I was wrong about that. I wonder if the rest of her is just as defined . . . I snap my eyes up to her face. "Hi."

"Hey. I was just thinking about you." She rubs her lips, the hint of a smile playing on them.

"You were thinking about me while you're shirtless?" Oh God. I didn't just ask that.

She full-on grins. Her smile is just so pretty. She has nice teeth. Perfect teeth, actually. "To be fair, I've thought about a lot of things while shirtless, but one of those things happened to be you."

"Right. Of course." I nod. "I would've called, but I didn't take down your number."

"I tried to call you earlier today, but you didn't answer."

"You called me?"

"I wanted to check in. See how you were getting along."

"That's sweet. I'm doing fine. Good, even." I hold up the beer. "I brought you a gift. Well, it's a thank-you—and an apology. It's both."

She inclines her head. "You wanna come in? We can have one of those."

"Oh, uh." I didn't actually plan beyond bringing the beer over. "I don't really drink beer."

"You can still come in, though. I have other liquids you can consume, unless you have somewhere else to be." A dimple pops in her cheek.

"I don't have anywhere else to be."

She steps aside and motions for me to come in. She really is a giant of a person. I'm not tall, but at five foot four I'm around average, and she makes me feel tiny.

She closes the door behind me and runs a hand over her abs. "I should put a shirt on."

"You don't have to do that." I gesture to her incredible chest. "I mean, unless it makes you uncomfortable to be shirtless in front of me. Then of course you can put one on, but if you're comfortable shirtless then you should just stay that way. Whatever makes you the most comfortable." I should just stop talking. I set the beer on the counter and open a cupboard. I don't actually know what I'm doing—other than trying not to gawk openly at her awesome chest. Which I sincerely hope she doesn't cover up with a shirt.

I find a couple of glasses in a cupboard and flip them over. "I can pour you one?" I ask.

She steps up beside me, looking 100 percent perfectly shirtless. "I can handle that."

"I've got it." I crack the top and pour the contents into the glass, but it foams like crazy, half the glass filling with bubbles instead of beer. "Hmm, is it supposed to be like this?"

"You really aren't big on the beer, are you?" she asks on a laugh.

"I don't like the taste. Did I ruin it?" We have two restaurants that serve beer in the tiny town I grew up in, but my family didn't eat out often, and my parents only drink alcohol on holidays. I tried beer in college, but I found it too bitter.

"You didn't ruin it. It just needs to settle." She reaches around me—she's so close I stop breathing. Lali grabs a bottle from the six-pack and twists the top off, then picks up the extra glass. Angling it to the side, she empties the bottle into it, filling it about two-thirds of the way. Her only foams a little. "Do you like lemonade or grapefruit juice?" she asks.

"I love grapefruit juice!"

Her smile is what sunrises are made of. She saunters to the fridge, which means I have a moment to appreciate her very defined back muscles while she retrieves a jug of juice. She tops off the glass and hands it to me. "Give it a taste."

I take a tentative sip. "Oh! This is yummy. I guess maybe I don't mind beer as much as I thought."

Her smile widens. "You're the best thing in the world, you know that?"

A warm feeling spreads through my entire body. No one has ever paid me such a nice compliment before. There are a lot of amazing things in the world, and that she thinks I'm the best is, well . . . surprising. So of course I blurt out my own self-assessment. "I'm awkward and nervous."

"Well, I like it. A lot." After a few seconds of intense silence, she motions to the couch. "Sit with me for a bit? We can be awkward and nervous together."

"You're not awkward."

She shrugs. "Sometimes I am. We all can be, context and situation depending."

"Sure. Okay." I follow her to the living room.

Her cabin is open concept; giant bark-stripped and sanded tree trunks function as posts with no walls to separate the rooms. The ceilings are high, and the entire front of the cabin is lined with windows, providing an unobstructed view of the water.

A fire crackles across the room, throwing off heat, which probably accounts for Lali's shirtlessness. It's definitely hot in here.

A huge framed photo of Lali and two other men—one likely her father—holding a giant fish hangs on the wall, and beside it is another photo containing two women: her mother and sister, judging from the matching dimple in the younger woman's cheek. There are also a lot of sports accents scattered around, mainly hockey related. The throw cushions read PUCK YEAH! There's a lamp in the corner, and the base is made out of a hockey stick. Even the coasters are old hockey pucks.

"Wow, so you must be huge sports fans." I pick up one of the puck coasters.

Lali rubs the back of her neck. "Pretty obvious, huh?"

"It sort of looks like my dad's room in the basement, except it was all baseball instead of hockey."

"Were you ever into sports?"

I shake my head. "Oh, no. I'm not sporty at all. My dad and my brothers always watched baseball, though. They tried to teach me how to play a couple of times, but I don't understand the rules in sports. I always had my nose in a book."

I hold on to my glass with both hands so I'm not tempted to wring them or bite my nails or any of the other fidgety things I tend to do when I'm nervous. "This is a really nice cabin."

"My dad found it a number of years back and thought it would make a nice place to vacation. I've always been really close with my younger sister, Ryujin, but she and my mom aren't big on fishing, so they would stay in New York and we'd go on a trip, which was good bonding for me and my brother and my dad. We've been coming here every summer since I was a teenager."

"But your brother couldn't make it this year?" I ask.

"His wife, Joy, is pregnant, and there are some complications, so he has to stay put." Her smile is a little tense, as if there's more to that.

"Oh no, is everything okay?"

"Joy has gestational diabetes, which I guess isn't all that uncommon, but they're keeping a close eye on her. He says everything is okay, and I tend to take him at his word."

"What about your dad—is he still coming?" My family has never really been one for traveling. My mom is scared of airplanes and doesn't like the danger of long drives, or cars in general, so we didn't go too far from the town I was raised in.

Lali looks into her glass. "My dad passed a couple years ago."

I set my drink on the coffee table and put a hand on her knee. "I'm so sorry. That must've been hard." I've never lost anyone close to me, not even a grandparent, so I can only imagine how painful that would be.

"Thanks—and yeah, it wasn't easy. Holidays and birthdays can be tough. I've always been pretty close with my family, so we still feel the loss."

"He must've been so young." I start to shift away, worried I'm making things awkward with the prolonged physical contact, but Lali puts her hand over mine.

"He was only in his mid-fifties. He was type 1 diabetic—took really good care of himself—but some bodies are just defective, you know? Anyway, there were a lot of complications. He lost his vision, and then his body just stopped working properly. It was hardest on my mom, watching him deteriorate like that. The last summer he was around we had to cancel the trip because he just couldn't do it, but the next year Nickhun and I came back here. Unfortunately, this year I'm on my own." Her smile is sad. He moves her hand from mine and tips her glass back, taking a healthy swig. "What about you—are you close to your family?"

I pick my drink up to keep my hands occupied. "Oh yes, we're all very close."

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" she seems happy to change the subject, which is understandable, all things considered.

"I have seven siblings."

She nearly chokes on her beer. "Seven?"

I nod. "Yup. I'm the youngest, and I have four older brothers. Dinner was pretty much a full-contact sport at my house."

Lali laughs. "I can imagine. What's the age span between you and the oldest?"

"Thirteen years. There are two sets of twins in there too."

"Wow, how was that, growing up?" she rests her cheek on her fist as if she finds me riveting.

It's almost unnerving to have someone as attractive as she is with her attention fully fixed on me. Also, the shirtlessness, while appreciated, makes it kind of hard to think. Not that I'll complain—I like a good challenge. "It was like having a lot of extra parents who played pranks on each other. Mostly it was nice to always have people around, but sometimes I just wanted some space, you know? They all were always in my business."

She arches a brow. "Dating must've been fun."

"Not really."

She laughs again, rich and throaty. "Did they make it impossible for you in high school?"

"Sort of. We were all homeschooled, so it was a little different for me."

Lali's eyebrows shoot up. "Homeschooled? What was that like?"

"It's probably less isolating than it sounds. There are whole communities built around homeschooling. Like, we even had dances and events and stuff." Not that I did much dancing. I was more the wallflower, standing off to the side, watching everyone else while I tried not to have a panic attack with all those people in one place at the same time.

"With your brothers and sisters?"

It's my turn to laugh at her slightly disturbed expression. "Not just my brothers and sisters, silly. Plus, most of them were a lot older, already done with college by the time I was high school age. We'd get together with all the homeschooled families in the area. They had sports teams and everything. I usually only had about three hours of instruction a day, and I learn fast. Anyway, by the time I was fifteen I'd finished all of the curriculum for my senior year of high school, so I took the college admission tests. I did well, but my parents thought I was too young to go to college, so I took courses online for a couple of years."

"So you're a genius?" Lali asks.

I shrug, embarrassed, and focus on my drink. "I'm just a fast learner. I pick things up quickly, and I have a good memory."

"Smart is sexy, Jennie."

I glance up to find Lali smiling warmly, but it's the way she's looking at me that makes my palms damp and my stomach flutter. Like I'm a fascination.

"What about you? You must have a pretty active job to look like this." I motion to all the cut lines of her torso.

Two dimples pop in her cheeks. "Is that a compliment?"

"It could be, if it doesn't offend you." I hope she doesn't think I'm objectifying her.

"It definitely doesn't offend me, so thanks."

"You're welcome." I take another sip of my drink and realize I've reached the bottom of my glass.

Lali plucks it from my hand and stands. "Here, let me get you another one. Unless you want something else? I have a few bottles of wine kicking around—and whiskey."

"Are you sure? I don't want to monopolize your afternoon."

"Are you kidding? You're the first person I've spoken to in the past two days. I gotta be honest, fishing alone isn't nearly as fun as it is when my brother is here. Why don't you stay for dinner? I was going to make steak and baked potatoes, and it's way easier to cook for two than it is for one."

Anything that isn't noodles or toast sounds amazing. And I don't really want to go back to my cold, lonely cabin any sooner than I have to. "As long as I can help cook."

"That would be great, because I can barbecue a mean steak, and I can bake a potato, but my cooking skill set is pretty limited otherwise. I'm excellent at ordering pizza, though."

"I ruin steak every time I try to cook it, but I can manage pretty much anything else, so we'll make a great team."

I can't believe I'm having dinner with an insanely attractive human. Sure, I dropped in on her unannounced, and we're both likely starving for conversation, but I can still be excited. And nervous, definitely very nervous.

I have a new friend, and she looks great without a shirt on, and that makes my damp palms and my speedy heart rate totally worth it.