Page 60 of Making the Save

“That doesn’t sound very romantic.”

“I’ve had a lot of unromantic sex. Liam always falls in love with whoever he’s with while I tend to be more… guarded. Growing up my focus was on sports and grades. Girls at school basically had to throw themselves at me for me to notice. Once I went pro, a relationship was out of the question.”

“How come?”

“I didn’t want any distractions. I’m not gifted like Liam is athletically. Everything I achieve I have to work a little harder for. Dating, finding someone I wanted to spend my life with, starting a family, that all felt like too much work. Work and energy that would take away from my game. So I figured I would wait until after I retired.”

“That sounds very practical.”

“You don’t approve?”

I shrugged. “I’m not being judgmental. We just think very differently. I write love songs. I believe in romance and connection and happily ever after. That special magic that can happen at any time. Not when you decide you’re ready for it.”

“Sorry to disappoint you. I’m not very romantic or spontaneous. The most spontaneous thing I’ve ever done was marry you in Vegas.”

“Then I’m happy to be the one curve ball in your life. Maybe I was just the thing you needed.”

He’d taken off his sunglasses so I could see his eyes, but night had fallen around us and I couldn’t read his expression in the dashboard lights.

“Maybe,” he said, but I couldn’t tell if he was agreeing with me, or laughing. All of this getting to know each other we’d done, and he was still pretty much a stranger.

It wasafter midnight when we finally pulled up to the cabin. The Rover’s headlights illuminated a front porch in progress, the steps leading to the front door were newly built.

“It’s pretty rustic,” he said, as if he was seeing it through my eyes and I was disappointed.

But far from it. I couldn’t see much, but the cabin was tucked into a grove of trees and the moonlight made everything look…magical. Special.

“Does it leak?”

“No. New roof, but it’s not fancy. I come here to get away from everything, but I’m a guy. Like I’m sitting here wondering if I have more than one bath towel.”

“Dibs,” I called. “You can air dry.”

He chuckled. “Okay. You’re saying you can tough it out?”

“I’m not a princess, Wyatt. I grew up in a trailer park,” I got out of the Rover, happy to be on my feet. That was a long drive. “That said, you will be doing a spider check of the bathroom and my bedroom. Underneath the bed and everything.”

“I’m happy to serve as your spider guard.”

We made our way up the newly repaired steps and Wyatt reached for a key that was perched over the door frame. “Folks out here don’t worry too much about security. I only lock it to keep out the bears and any other critters that might come sniffing around.”

“Add bear and critter check to my list as well.”

“There is a generator that provides the electric we need,” he explained as we stepped inside the cabin. “Baseboard heating that I keep off when I’m not here, so it will be chilly until it warms up. But it warms up pretty quickly.”

I noticed the cold, but as soon as he switched on the thermostat, I could feel the warm air blowing through the heater vents along the floor boards.

He wasn’t kidding when he said no frills. It was an A frame cabin with a vaulted ceiling. All one open room. A kitchen on one side with a small fridge, a sink and a tiny counter space. A pot-bellied wood burning stove was in the corner beside a couch and a small television. There was a narrow hallway that led back to what I assumed was the bathroom and single bedroom.

“There’s space for a loft,” he said, pointing up at the ceiling braced by big beautiful wooden beams. “I just haven’t really needed it. I don’t get a lot of guests up here.”

“Liam doesn’t come very often?”

Wyatt shook his head. “Not enough night life for him. He’ll come out for a few days in the summer to fish, but he gets bored. Stay there,” he said, pointing to where I was standing in the middle of the space. “I’m going to get our bags from the Rover, then I’ll do your spider check.”

“Under the bed and everything,” I reminded him.

“Yes, princess. Under the bed and everything.”