The snow storm is bad news, of course.

Of course.

I can’t help but worry about Nicole, who won’t be able to come home tonight.

But, I can’t deny there may be some kind of . . . silver lining.

As I watch the snow fall, emotions wage war in my chest.

What do I do, here?

What’s the right thing to do?

When I told Sophia to leave town seven years ago, things were different. Then, I knew exactly what I had to do. It was clear as day.

So, even though it was the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to do, I did it.

I haven’t looked back. And, I haven’t regretted it.

That’s not entirely true. I regret it to some extent. But, if I could go back and do it all over again, I would’ve done the exact same thing.

But now, Sophia’s back, and she’s more beautiful than ever. She has tamed her long, fiery hair, but I can still see the same wildness in her eyes.

She appears elegant and sophisticated—I’m sure she fits in perfectly in the city—but there’s something fierce within her, something savage just begging to be subdued.

When I saw her at the cupcake store, I recognized it. When I kissed her, I felt it.

She was melting under my touch. She was yielding, eager, submissive.

I wanted to push her down, yank the blanket off her body, and devour her whole.

But, I didn’t want to scare her away. I took it slow—not slow enough, apparently, because she ran away regardless.

Obviously, there are still traces of the wound I inflicted on her.

She doesn’t trust me.

The realization hits me like a slap in the face, like a stab in the fucking heart.

She has good reason not to trust me, of course, after the way I ended things. But, what else could I do?

I’ve gone through the scenario again and again over the years, and I keep coming to the same conclusion: I’d do the same, exact thing if I could do it all over again.

It would be an understatement to say that I’ve missed Sophia. I’m fucking obsessed with her.

Despite my best efforts, she pops up in my mind, uninvited, every damn day since she went away. Even though I can somewhat forget about her by burying myself in work, at night she comes back to haunt me—if not in my thoughts, then in my dreams.

She dominates my heart so completely nobody else has been able to even come close to replacing her. Sometimes, I feel like I’m dead inside.

I mean, I’m not completely heartless, of course. I love my mom, and I love Nicole—she’s the reason I’ve stayed here in Ashbourne while Sophia was away—but that’s different, obviously.

It’s not that I haven’t tried. But, no matter how many women I meet, I can’t stop thinking about Sophia. I keep comparing them to Sophia, and they always fall short.

It’s not their fault. I’ve been looking for Sophia in all those other women. And, no matter how good they are, they can never be better than Sophia at being Sophia.

I thought it was all just in my head. Maybe there was nothing special about Sophia. Maybe it was just because I met her when I was younger. It’s natural for younger people to feel things more intensely, right?

But, as soon as I saw her again . . . The emotions came back so strongly they almost knocked me off my feet.

And that kiss . . . That fucking kiss . . . After that kiss, there’s no possible way for me to even consider seeing any other girl.

My fate is sealed.

The only question is . . . How do I get her to give herself to me? How do I convince her it’s a good idea to trust me again?

I’ve been trying to come up with a solution—something other than just banging on the bathroom door until she lets me in.

I didn’t think I had enough time—that is until I find out just how bad the snow storm is.

Maybe someone up there loves me.

“Hey, can I use your phone?” Sophia says, jarring me back to reality.

She’s wearing Nicole’s clothes. That means she still knows her way around this cabin. She remembers.

But, it doesn’t seem like she remembers things as fondly as I do.

When I tell her about the snow storm, her gorgeous eyes widen in shock. Obviously, she doesn’t see the silver lining the way I do.

She rushes to the window and stands so close to me I can reach out and wrap my arm around her shoulders. It’s so tempting.

It would be so easy to yank her against me and pull her into another kiss. Maybe the second time will remind her of how good we used to be together, how good we can still be together . . .

“You’re saying I’m stuck here with you?” she asks, seemingly unaware her words pierce straight through my chest.

As she panics and starts to call Eddie, I ask her, “Would it really be so bad, being stuck here with me?”

If Sophia hears me, she doesn’t show it.

She almost jumps with excitement when Eddie picks up the phone as I replay her words over and over again in my head. She doesn’t want to be “stuck” here with me.

It makes sense, of course. With her high-powered job in the city and a whole life I know nothing about, she probably doesn’t have much time. Most likely, she’s only here to visit her parents.

And now, she’ll have to waste some of that time with me instead. Judging by the way her face falls when she puts the phone down, it seems like she won’t be able to escape me.

That’s great news to me. Practically the best news I’ve heard in the past seven years since she’s been gone.

But again, it doesn’t seem like she sees it the same way.

I give her a look as sympathetic as I can muster. “Let me guess. He can’t make it?”

Sophia says nothing. She shakes her head, her eyes staring vacantly through the window, not meeting my gaze.

She bites her bottom lip—something she does when she’s nervous but has never failed to make me want to do things to her . . . things that she won’t appreciate, judging by the way a little kiss sent her running into the bathroom to hide for a whole hour.

But, right now is probably not a good time to mess with her like that. She looks genuinely frightened.

“Look, Sophia, it’s going to be okay. You know that, right?” I ask.

She glances at me but quickly flicks her gaze away again as if she can’t stand to even look at me. She nods in this painfully unconvincing way.

She won’t even believe me when I tell her something that’s obviously true—she won’t die, or starve, and I’d die before I let anything hurt her. How can I gain her trust again?

“I promise you, it’ll be alright,” I say gently, resisting the urge to pull her into my arms—that’s just going to scare her even more. “In no time at all, we’ll be able to go back into town, and you’ll realize there was no reason to worry at all.”

“Yeah. I know.” Despite her words, Sophia stares longingly out the window. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s actually trying to figure out whether she could make it to Ashbourne on foot.

“The fireplace will keep the entire cabin warm even if we lose power. And, I have enough food for both of us in the fridge. If we need more, I have supplies in the basement, too. Canned food. Won’t taste very good, but we won’t starve.” I reach out to touch her shoulder, hoping to comfort her.

But instead, she jerks, startled, and I immediately pull my hand back.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” I say.

Sophia bites her bottom lip. She hesitates. “Do you think . . . Do you think you could drive me into town right now?” She pauses, looking at me from underneath her long, thick lashes. “It’s just that . . . You offered . . . earlier. And, I’m wondering if it’s still possible to do that now.”

I shake my head. “Sorry.”

The way she hangs her head makes me want to try, even if it means we’ll wait out the snow storm inside a cramped truck instead of a roomy, warm cabin stocked with everything we could need.

But, I have no idea if we’ll be able to make it or how long this storm will last.

I don’t know if it’s such a good thing anymore. I’ll have an opportunity to get Sophia back, but I don’t want her to be in distress.

Maybe I can at least distract her from the problem at hand.

“It’s not getting any better outside,” I tell her.

Sophia takes her attention away from the storm outside and stares at me.

Why am I telling her the obvious? She can see it for herself. Okay, maybe that wasn’t the best way to start.

“Why don’t I give you a tour of the place?” I ask her. “I’ve made some changes since . . . since you left.”

I give her a smile, relieved that I stopped myself from saying, “since the last time you were here.”

We pretty much used this cabin as our sex pad, so that would’ve been the wrong thing to say. It would’ve carried too much history.

Just having her here without being able to touch her is torture enough. I don’t want to make her so uncomfortable she locks herself in the bathroom again just to stay the fuck away from me.

It’s tough, though.

Every time I look at the couch, I remember the time I bent her over and took her from behind. Her tits rocked back and forth with every thrust, her hair was a tangled mess in my hand, and her fingers gripped the back of the couch so hard I thought the fabric was about to rip.

“Okay,” Sophia says softly. Her beautiful, green eyes are dulled by apprehension, but there’s curiosity there, too. And, if I’m not mistaken, nostalgia.

After the mess I created, am I allowed to hope that she remembers our time together here with fondness?

It doesn’t matter. We can make new memories now.

“Awesome.” I extend my hand to gesture at the space in front of us. “You’ve seen the main floor. As you can see, the fireplace mantel is bigger now, and the vanity in the bathroom now has two sinks instead of one. That will probably come in handy during our stay here.”

Sophia says nothing, only nodding as I tell her about the new dresser in the bedroom and the new backsplash in the kitchen.

She doesn’t even say anything about using the bathroom at the same time or about the sleeping arrangement. There’s only one bedroom with one bed in the cabin, after all.

I’ve been meaning to put in another bed for when Nicole and I stay over, but now I’m glad I haven’t gotten around to it. If Sophia wants her privacy, I’ll sleep on the couch. But, I won’t say anything if she doesn’t say anything.

“The deck in the back is new, too.” I point outside, beyond the sliding glass door. “But, it’s covered by the snow now, so you probably can’t see it.”

“I saw it when I first got here.” Sophia’s answer is brief, but I’m just glad she’s saying something at all. At least, she seems to be getting over her shock and coming to grips with the fact that we’ll be stuck here for a while.

“Let me show you what’s downstairs.” I open a door and turn on the light, illuminating the new staircase.

“Wow.” Sophia’s jaw drops open as she approaches. “This used to be old, scary, and creaky. And dark. And, I remember there was a lot of sharp splinters, too.”

“Yeah.”

That’s why we never had sex on the staircase although we did do it in the storage area in the basement.

“I also changed a bunch of things downstairs.” I follow Sophia down the steps, recording the way her hips sway as she walks and the way her hair shines under the light, in case we’ll never get to spend time alone ever again. I hit the light switch.

“Wow,” Sophia says again, her lips widening into a small smile.

“Yeah. I’m kind of proud of what I did here.”

“This place used to be so dark and dirty,” she says, her eyes widened as she takes in the space.

It didn’t stop us from getting dirty in the dark, I want to add. Instead, I say, “Yeah, I put in some walls to cover the storage area so it’s contained. Then, as you can see, I also got a pool table and a sick home audio system.”

“You’ve worked hard on this place.” Sophia walks toward the pool table and caresses the green felt with her fingers. I never thought I’d ever feel jealous of an inanimate object, but right now, I wish I was that table.

Next, I show her the storage closet, which is stocked with more cans of soup, fish, vegetables, and fruits than we’ll need.

“If you devour everything, I can also go out and hunt something for us to eat. I happen to have a hunting rifle with me, but you’ve already seen that.” I shoot her a grin as I lean back on wall by the closet doorway.

Sophia giggles.

Jesus, I’ve missed that sound.

“Thanks, Eli,” she says. She’s standing by the open door, so close to me I can almost feel the heat emanating from her body. She looks deep into my eyes. “Thanks for taking me in. I’m so glad you stopped me from going outside and waiting for Eddie in my car.”

Her words bring a smile to my face. “Do you feel better now?”

“Much better.” Sophia returns my smile.

Our eyes lock, and we say nothing to each other. As I gaze into her big, green eyes, I notice her pupils are dilated. Her full lips part, and her eyelids grow heavy.

Without even realizing it, we’re leaning toward each other, so close now I can feel her breath on my skin. I tilt my head as my heart pounds. I can’t believe she’ll let me kiss her again, for the second time today, but I won’t waste an opportunity like this.

As soon as my nose grazes against hers, though, Sophia pulls away abruptly. It’s as if she has just realized what she was about to do and decided it was a bad idea.

“We should, uh, go back upstairs,” Sophia says, panic in her eyes as she tries to come up with an excuse. “We might . . . miss an important phone call or something.” She laughs nervously as she turns and walks away. “And I haven’t called my parents either. I should.”

“Sure.” I turn off the lights and follow Sophia as she scurries out of the basement and climbs up the stairs.

I can’t help but stare at her ass; it’s at my eye level. Man, she still has such nice, tight buns.

The corners of my lips tug upward as I reach the top of the staircase and watch Sophia’s beautiful figure outlined by the sun’s rays streaming through the window as she grabs the phone.

We may not have kissed again, but I can tell she wants to, and that’s enough for now. Sophia may not know it yet, but she’s still mine. I’ll make sure she gets that into her head before we leave this cabin.