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“What are you—” I started.
“Just making sure you didn’t leave any electrical devices nearby,” he cut me off with the answer to my un-asked question. “Sometimes, campers are forgetful. Heaters roll underneath things or stay plugged in too long.”
“You know this wasn’t my first time camping, right?” I asked, something unfamiliar boiling in my veins. Between his challenge about the fireplace and talking to me like I was in Camping 101 class, a part of me wanted to prove him wrong about it all, even though I didn’t know how I could. Just then, a realization made its way across the front of my brain. I knew exactly what I was feeling in my veins, even if I hadn’t felt it in a very long time.
Frustration.
Nicholas Cooper was frustrating me.
Huh. I guess I’d gotten so used to being the most frustrating person in the room, that I didn’t know that anyone could still get under my skin. It was exhilarating in a way but also still extremely frustrating, something I was struggling to apparently let go of.
“I just want to make sure you stay safe,” he replied, as he rose to his feet. “I know you might have experience camping but that doesn’t mean?—”
“Oh, don’t you fucking dare,” I started, as I rose to my feet, too. “I know exactly what I’m doing, thank you very much for your unsolicited concern—fuck!”
I saw my journal flying out of my hands and toward the ceiling, just as I felt myself falling toward the floor below. Embarrassment was already uncoiling in my stomach, the understanding that I was barking at Nicholas for being concerned about my safety, only to immediately find myself in a very unsafe situation. The good news was that for the most part, the cabin was free of any errant nails or uneven floorboards, so hitting the ground wasn’t going to be fatal.
It'd still be painful, though, especially to my ego.
Of course, before I had a chance to finish my fall, I felt Nicholas’ hands wrapping around my waist. Unfortunately for him, my brain was now running on instinct, and the same way it’s unwise to try and grab a drowning person’s hand when they’re under the waves, it was apparently very unwise to try and stop me from colliding with the ground. I felt my hands on the fabric of Nicholas’ shirt, holding on tight as I brought him down with me, both of us hitting the floor with a loud thud.
A few seconds later, and I watched my journal make its way toward the ground, too, but not quite getting there. Instead, it made a soft thump against Nicholas’ back, before plopping down right beside him, all of its pages still intact.
“What were you saying?” Nicholas started. “About me not needing to be concerned for your safety?”
“Thanks for helping me get my stuff,” I said, embarrassment burning my face, seemingly getting hotter with every passing second. We were in front of Nicholas’ place, I’d followed behind his car with my truck, thankful that we didn’t have to share an enclosed space together for the duration of the trip. After the whole falling-flat-on-my-ass incident, it turned out I didn’t have too much else to say.
“Of course.” Nicholas nodded before he tilted his head toward his front door. “You should sit down for a while. Maybe elevate for a few minutes. A fall like that might not feel major but?—”
“I actually think I’m going to get back on the road.”
“What?” Nicholas’ eyes went wide. “You’re leaving?”
“I mean, yeah?” I shrugged. “Since the cabin is a no-go, I don’t really have a place to stay. What am I supposed to do? Rent a hotel room for the rest of my vacation? That’s kind of the exact opposite vibe I was going for by coming out here, you know?”
I paused, a small grimace twisting up my features. “Even though going back is really going to suck.”
“Why is it going to suck?”
“Because I’ll have to admit that I couldn’t hack it.” I let out a pained laugh. “That I came out here to prove something I never had a chance to prove.”
“Then, why are you going back?” Nicholas took a step closer to me.
“I just told you? Because I don’t want to end up renting a hotel room?—”
“You don’t have to rent a hotel room,” he cut me off, his voice low. “You could just stay, with me.”
“What?”
“You could stay here for the rest of your vacation,” he went on. “Free of charge. That way, you don’t have to go home early. And you get to do all the other stuff you wanted to do in town while you’re here.”
“Uh, that’s a really nice offer?—”
“Which is why you should take me up on it.” Nicholas grinned. “It’d be rude to turn down such a nice offer, wouldn’t it?”
“I just don’t know if you really want a roommate,” I started. “Especially one who you think is basically a walking fire hazard.”
“Oh, I’d consider it a challenge.” He beamed. “A fireman living with a walking fire hazard? Who knows if I’ll be able to keep you from burning the place down?”