6

Bethany shivered as a wave of cold brushed over her, and she shivered and pulled the blanket tighter around herself, trying to remember why she had slept naked when it was getting cold out, and why she was cramping so bad when she had just had her period the week before. While her period was erratic, it never came frequently together, instead skipping months at a time. In fact, all of her was cramping, and she was cold, and—

Her hand reached out across the bed beside her, looking for the man she had brought home the night before. She was certain there had been a man, because the sticky feeling between her thighs and bruised lips were a reminder of their time together, but her hand found nothing. She sat up on the bed and looked around the room, seeking him out. It was still early in the day, and they had spent most of the night tangled around one another. She had only slept a few hours, but she could vaguely remember falling asleep in his arms, soaking in his warmth.

But her small cabin was empty, the only noise coming from the crackling fireplace, and a cracked window.

She climbed out of the bed, naked save for her socks, and quickly made her way to the window to close it. She had certainly not left it cracked the night before, so why was it open now? It was clearly the reason why cold was brushing into the enclosed space despite the roaring fire going, but the cold was new.

Why was the window open, and where—

Looking outside of the window towards the woods and the mountains beyond that, Bethany expected to see only her normal picturesque view, completely still and quiet.

Instead, she saw a bear. A bear runningaway from town and towards the forest, with something in it"s mouth. Was that a pair of boots? No. No, it was only a bag with maybe something tied to it. Stealing food, then. A bear wouldn"t be pilfering boots of all things. Seeing a bear this close to town wasn"t abnormal, as they were occasionally seen roaming the streets, but running?

Weird... Very weird.

Almost as weird as Rick, because that was the guy"s name, she remembered, disappearing before they could enjoy one more round.

Her body ached as she made her way towards the fireplace, intent on adding a few logs. He hadn"t lied when he said he was good at making a fire that would last all night, given how warm the cabin was now that the window was closed and no longer bringing in cold air, but as she went to move the screen, she saw new logs already added on top, hence why it was crackling and burning good.

Rick had added more wood to her fireplace before leaving, making certain her cabin was warm when she woke up. It was something she never would have expected from a one night stand, and made her stomach ache in a way she didn"t want to think about.

It was a good thing he was already gone. It was easier this way, to avoid an awkward goodbye, where she had to make excuses to get him to leave, and he made grand promises of seeing her the next time he was in town. Much easier for him to already be gone, and leaving them on a high note.

She was too sore for another round of sex anyways, even if she was horny again as she remembered everything they had done the night before.

His stamina was amazing, and he had spent his refractory period worshipping her body every time. Thinking about his mouth on her cunt made her burn all over, and she relished the rubbing of her thighs, now raw from his beard, as she returned to the bed. She had things to do today, but it was still early yet.

She could have a bit of a lie in before getting up to start her day. She would need a shower, and coffee, and probably breakfast after all of the energy she had burned the night before, but something about her bed made her want to roll around in the sheets and remember the night before.

His shirt was spread out where she had been laying, likely half trapped underneath her body when he had left. He had left his shirt behind? It was a cold morning, and he had worn no warming layer under it, only a jacket thrown over top. Had he been that afraid of her waking her up that he had braved the cold instead of trying to completely redress?

No. That wasn"t it at all.

She couldn"t remember exactly what he had said, but nothing about Rick made her think he would want to leave. He must have had an early morning, as most of the crews were packing up this week to leave. So, he wanted to let her sleep, which was a good thing, because she was still exhausted, both from lack of sleep and their late night exertion.

He had said he would try to let her go. Yes, that was it. He had also called her Sunshine, and remembering him saying that nickname in his deep voice made her smile again, the smile he said he loved. Or, something like that.

Fuck, she needed to stop smiling, and to stop thinking about him. While she had tried to not compare him to other men, as he had certainly broken the mold and all preconceived thoughts she had about men in general, he was still only there for a short time. He would be leaving town soon, whether to return to the city or out to the edges of the forest, depending on what his job was. She wouldn"t be seeing him again, unless he returned to the bar before he left town, but if he hadn"t ventured in before the night before, she doubted he would do so again.

Her night with Rick had been phenomenal, but it was a one off. Every second of it, when her brain started working again, she would commit to memory, but it had to be just that. A memory. She couldn"t hold onto hope of a future.

Younger Bethany had made such mistakes, gathering numbers and contact information at the end of each season, and being left with promises to return. Some of them did, but rarely cast a glance her way, as though every word uttered between them had been her imagination. Most, however, went somewhere else for work, and she never saw them again.

She wasn"t younger Bethany. She was a grown ass woman with her own plans and her own goals and her own future. No where in there did they include a man, save for one helping her achieve her ultimate dream.

Being a mother.

And that route, she needed to stop thinking about as well. Her small cabin had been built for her grandfather, not for a small family. She would have to move into something larger, a plan she shared with Cordelia. She couldn"t be thinking about babies.

Even if she did, for half of a second, think she and Rick would make beautiful ones.

Thank all medical advancements for birth control, because that wasn"t possible in the slightest. Even with her irregular periods, she wouldn"t risk the chance that a condom was forgotten, and—

Fuck. They forgot condoms.

And now she would need to make the journey to the clinic a few towns over, to get an STD test. Amazing. It was a good thing she had two days off later that week, because there was no way she was making the trip in one day with the weather unpredictable like it was, but she would rather be safe than sorry.

And yes, she probably would be testing too soon for some things, but with the weather as it was, she wouldn"t put it off knowing they could be snowed in for a few weeks. The first heavy snowstorm was likely in the next week or so, and...

She doubted Rick actually had anything, but she was a practical woman. Safe sex was for more than just producing offspring. They had enjoyed three rounds unprotected.

A clinic appointment and tests were only logical.

And now, any thoughts of laying in bed and rubbing another orgasm out with her trusty vibrator had disappeared. It was time to shower him off her skin, and head out to meet up with Cordelia.

Oh, Cordelia was going to eat up the news of her most recent conquest. For months before her cousin had finally moved to Bear Valley, she had been telling her about the beautiful men who spent their summers in town, with their bodies strong from manual labor and no expectations of anything serious. It was one of the key selling points—no awkward dating and flirting with men more in love with their job than with women. No expectations of anything beyond a good night.

After three weeks, Cordelia, who was only used to the summer months, hadn"t ventured out much from her apartment beyond going to the store she worked in. Bethany kept telling her that it would only get colder, and Cordelia insisted she was ready, but when the first snow really fell...

No. She would be fine. Her cousin was made of stronger stuff than others who thought they could make it in town. It was rare anyone ever moved that far north, but Cordelia was a woman who knew what she wanted in life. She would be fine, so long as she didn"t freeze the first time the power went out, and that was what Bethany"s couch and fireplace were for.

They would make it. Together.

Cordelia might have spent most of her life in the city, with only summers spent in the rural north visiting her cousins and grandfather, but it was in her blood. They had talked about her moving out there for years, particularly when Bethany"s parents and younger siblings all moved south due to her father"s ill health and need for medical care, leaving Bethany and their grandfather alone in the town she refused to leave. And when their grandfather died, if Cordelia hadn"t been up for a big promotion, which she eventually lost out on to stupid corporate politics, she would have moved up sooner.

But now, everything was falling into place.

So long as her cousin didn"t freeze to death.

Shower, coffee, a good stretch because her body was still cramping from all of the sex, and then she would go visit Cordelia and try to get her to venture a little further beyond the few streets she had explored thus far.

And maybe, while out there, she would run into Rick.

Which was a stupid thought. If she hadn"t run into him in town before, she certainly wouldn"t run into him today. It was over. Their magical night was just that—a single night spent in orgasmic bliss. She would never see him again, and Bethany was fine with that.

"I think any man who met you would have a hard time not falling in love with that smile, Sunshine, but I"ll do my best to let you go when you show me the door."

She remembered, finally, what it was he had said after she had teased him to not fall in love with her. He had left before she had sent him away, which was for the best, but...

No. Shower. She needed to burn away all thoughts of him.

She would never see Rick again. Of that, she was certain.