It wasn't until footsteps thundered up the stairs a few hours later that Nevada realized how much time had passed. Usually, when she talked for long periods of time, her body became drained, her mind craving silence for a while, but this time, she felt nothing of the sort. It had been effortless to talk to Sam. He had been patient with her, waiting as she formed the words she needed to say, and he had listened with his full attention. That was a rarity.
When Carter's boisterous laugh floated over to them, the two turned to find the other members of their cabin climbing the staircase. Their eyes were dancing, loopy smiles gracing their lips as they swayed, the alcohol getting to them.
Carter lit up upon noticing them sitting on the couches. He barreled in their direction, though he had to brace himself on Sam's armrest to keep himself from teetering over. "Here you both are," he said. "We were wondering where you went off to."
Before Carter could question them further, Sam asked, "Who won?"
"We did," Cassidy said, shooting a wink in Carter's direction. "Told you we'd do it."
Carter scowled, but he didn't refute her claim.
"It's almost one," Alicia said after checking the time on her phone. A yawn overtook her. "We were thinking of heading back. I'm exhausted. I want to sleep."
Cassidy nodded. "Same."
"Sounds good," Sam said, rising from his seat. Nevada followed suit, tucking her hands into her pockets as she shifted from foot to foot.
She zoned out as she followed the small group out the front door, their conversation a muffled drone in her ears. Sam held the door open, waiting for all of them to slip through before letting it fall shut. Her attention was only caught when Carter hollered.
"Oi, look you two," Carter shouted, not seeming to understand how loud he was speaking, motioning at a point above their heads.
Nevada tilted her head up at the same time as Sam. Mistletoe had been strung up above the doorframe, the ends nearly touching the tip of Sam's head. It taunted her; she knew what mistletoe meant: she was supposed to kiss the other person beneath it with her. The only person still on the lodge's front porch with her was Sam.
"Kiss, kiss, kiss," Carter chanted. "You know you have to."
"It is a tradition," Alicia said, cupping her elbows. She shot Nevada an apologetic look that did little to settle the nerves that had blossomed in her stomach.
While Carter chanted in the background, Nevada returned her attention to Sam, whose gaze was still fixed on the mistletoe hung above them. It wouldn't be a tragedy to kiss him. He was attractive, but more than that, he was kind and patient. But she had yet to have her first kiss, and she wasn't sure she wanted it to be with someone who was doing it only out of obligation rather than truly wanting to kiss her.
Before she could question the swooping sensation in her stomach, Sam met her gaze for a split second. "Sorry about this," he murmured before pressing his lips against hers. The contact was so foreign that Nevada froze, unsure of how to proceed. His hands didn't touch her; all he did was bend down to reach her, but the action felt incredibly intimate all the same.
His lips were soft. It was the only thought running through her mind before he pulled away. She hadn't even responded. It hadn't been more than a peck, but it left Nevada feeling unsteady.
"My man," Carter said, pointing in Sam's general direction.
"Shut up, Carter," Sam snapped, his cheeks a pale pink.
Sam waved for her to go ahead of him, not making eye contact as she slipped past.
It hadn't been easy to fall asleep last night. Once they had returned to the cabin, they had retired to their respective rooms, and Nevada was left to her own devices. While she wiped her makeup off and changed into her pajamas, she continued wondering just what had happened on the porch. Even when she had crawled underneath the covers, the lingering feeling of his lips against hers refused to fade.
Nevada had tossed and turned, the covers twisting between her legs as she attempted to drift away. At some unknown hour of the night, sleep had overtaken her, and when she stirred the next morning, it was to the sound of the water running. Someone had woken up early to have the bathroom to themselves. She couldn't blame them. There was a single bathroom to share between the five of them, and they weren't familiar enough with each other's habits to avoid utter chaos in the mornings.
Without bothering to change, Nevada had gathered her hair into a messy bun before putting on her glasses and wandering into the kitchen. She had worn glasses for as long as she could remember. While she had tried contacts when she had graduated middle school, she couldn't be bothered to put them in her eyes each morning. She preferred the thick frames that had become a permanent feature to her appearance.
The natural light flooded through the windows, the sunlight illuminating the dust that coated the floorboards. The wind whistled outside, ringing through her ears as she padded into the kitchen. Cassidy had told her that they had been provided with the essentials, and she intended to investigate.
Nevada had woken that morning with a new sense of purpose. She wanted to make a better impression. The idea of making breakfast for the cabin had come to her last night, a fleeting thought mixed with all of the other questions that flooded her mind. While she was far from the best, she had a way in the kitchen.
She had undertaken the hobby of cooking in the summer between high school and college. In an attempt to distract herself from the looming threat of breaking into a new era of her life, she had spent hours in her cramped kitchen, perfecting some of the recipes she stumbled upon online. It had resulted in a newfound love of cooking, one that she hadn't lost despite the fact that she now lacked a kitchen at Briarcliff University.
Some of her interests were old-fashioned. There was a certain joy she found in finishing a scrapbook or teaching herself a new song on the ukulele. She had once spent two days working on a large-scale puzzle — and she had been teased mercilessly for it by Natalie. But there was a strange comfort in it. She could put all of her attention into a task for a couple of hours and block out the stress of everyday life for the time being.
It calmed her.
There was a packet of pancake mix hidden in the back of one of the cabinets. Once she gathered all of the ingredients, Nevada got to work. When the door to the bathroom swung open twenty minutes later, she stood in front of the stove, the spatula clutched in her right hand as she monitored the pancake heating on the pan. The mix was still bubbling, too raw to turn over yet.
Sam was in the middle of running a towel through his damp hair. His blonde hair had darkened with the water, looking closer to brown than its natural color. After he had deemed it dry enough, he tossed the towel back over the rack to dry.
He sniffed the air once he returned to the kitchen, taking in her position in front of the stove and the bowl of pancake batter on the counter. "That smells good," he said, peering into the bowl. "Is this for everyone or are you just making the cabin smell good to torture us?"
Nevada snorted. "There should be enough for everyone," she said, flipping the pancake over. It sizzled for a second, the other side now a light brown color.
"Thank God."
Sam went to take a seat at the island, and Nevada silently thanked him in her head. His presence was overwhelming, the heat from his body radiating onto hers at the close proximity. A droplet from his hair had fallen onto her neck, only serving to remind her of what had happened yesterday. He was acting like nothing had happened, and she couldn't decide whether she was happy about it.
They fell into awkward silence then. Sam sat watching her as she flipped the next couple of pancakes, stacking them onto a plate once each was cooked enough. She could feel his gaze on her back, strong and insistent. Suddenly, he stood again. She jumped slightly when his arm reached over her head.
"I can set the table," he explained.
"Okay. Yeah. That's ... good. Thank you."
Sam grabbed a set of plates from the cabinet, arranging them on the placemats that covered the table on the other side of the island. The metal clanged against each other as he straightened the forks and knifes at each spot. By the time Nevada placed the stack of pancakes onto the table, Sam had finished, with an array of drinks set up and glasses left for each person.
"Thank you," Nevada repeated. She stepped back to survey the arrangement, and her heart swelled with pride. She had even gone to the effort of mixing blueberries and chocolate chips into a few of pancakes — just to add a bit more variety into the mix.
"You're welcome."
"Should we go wake the others?"
"Uh, can I talk to you first?" His words struck fear into her heart, and it must've shown in her expression because he raised his hands in surrender. "I promise it isn't bad. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about yesterday."
Her eyebrows furrowed. Yesterday had been filled with chaos, and she couldn't figure out why he owed her an apology.
"I shouldn't have kissed you," Sam said. "I know it was a surprise. I should've asked. Carter was pressuring me, but that isn't really an excuse. I'm sorry."
It was the sincerity in his gaze that spurred the faint smile to cross her lips. His intention hadn't been to make her uncomfortable, and he had even offered her an apology. Part of her wondered if she should admit that he had been her first, but she didn't want to burden him with that knowledge. It would only add to his guilt.
"It's okay," Nevada said, her cheeks darkening. "I ... it was okay."
His eyebrows lifted. "The kiss?" She blushed even harder, and a chuckle escaped his lips. "Sorry. Thanks. For forgiving me."
Just then, Cassidy and Alicia stalked into the kitchen, shadows underlying their eyes. Though frowns had been etched onto their faces, their expressions quickly changed when they realized that breakfast had been prepared for them. Alicia looked between Sam and Nevada, beaming.
"Which of you did this?"
Sam pointed at her. "Nevada. All I did was set the table."
"You—you are an angel, Nevada," Cassidy said, her eyes wide. Her gaze had been glued to the table since she had seen it, and even as she pulled out a chair for herself, she stared in awe. "They look so good. Oh my God, are those blueberries?"
Sam laughed before disappearing down the hall. "I'm going to wake up Carter. Save me some before Cass eats them all."
To her surprise, the others couldn't stop praising her for the meal. All she had done was prepare a ready-made pancake mix, and they flooded her with compliments. It was true: food was the way to anyone's heart. They had even all sat down for breakfast, their phones pushed aside for the time being.
It amazed her how easily conversation flowed between the other four. They acted as though they had known each other for years rather than a few days, and she envied how simple it was for them. She kept silent for the most part, breaking through with a few words every few minutes or when prompted. Sam tried bringing her into the conversation whenever possible, and gratitude washed over her when he did. But she was a quiet person by nature, and she was content to sit back and listen. She didn't have to be the focus of the conversation; she was happy enough that they recognized she was there.
Even though Carter had complained, they all took part in cleaning up. Cassidy washed the dishes by hand while Alicia dried them off; Carter put away the drinks; Sam arranged the cutlery into their respective drawers. They had refused to let Nevada help, insisting that she had done enough. She wished they had let her though, as it would've given her something to do rather than wait idly for them to finish. It felt rude to just leave, and she didn't want to ruin the progress that she had made.
"Apparently there is going to be another hall party at the lodge tonight," Carter said to no one in particular as he shut the refrigerator door. He came to stand at Nevada's side, bracing his forearms against the island. "Anyone interested?"
Cassidy's brows were furrowed as she focused on scrubbing the sticky syrup from the plate. "Are you really eager to get your ass kicked in beer pong again?"
"You know what? I want a rematch. But I want Sam as my partner."
Sam paused, but she was certain no one else noticed. She did only because she had been watching him closely. "I'm not really keen on losing, Carter," he said once he had recovered.
"We won't," Carter said with a renewed sense of confidence, his chin jutting out. "I have faith in us. The reason I lost is because we weren't on the same team together."
The other three were too lost in their own conversation to notice Sam lean over the island, nudging Nevada with his elbow. "Are you joining us tonight?"
"I don't think so," she admitted. Last night had been a major step for her, and she felt accomplished enough that she recognized she deserved a break. If she pushed herself too much, she could shatter. The thought of an empty cabin was too tempting to turn down. After a few days spent in the company of others, she yearned for her own privacy, needing the time alone to recuperate. "I'm going to sit this one out."
His lips turned downward. "You sure?"
Nevada nodded. "Yeah. You go have fun."
here is another (albeit short) chapter! i hope you enjoy, and let me know what you thought! your comments really do mean the world to me.
(i can't remember if i've used this gif already whoops)
x carolina