Sweat beaded on my forehead, but I didn’t deviate from my work. My flannel was soaked, as was the white t-shirt underneath it.

I wrapped my arms around the log I’d just chopped down and cut into three separate pieces, hoisted it over my shoulder, and moved toward my chopping block. After dropping the wood on the ground, I pulled my ax from the wooden block, and started going to town on cutting the log into manageable pieces.

I lifted the ax above my head for only a millisecond before bringing it down on the wood in front of me. It splintered in two and fell to the side.

All around me, the sound of men chopping wood and swinging their axes across tree trunks, echoed around the forest. I was focused, because being anything but that during this kind of work was dangerous.

The sound of the lunch horn rang, and I finished chopping the last log. After gathering what I’d cut, I tossed it into the bin and headed over to where the other lumberjacks were.

Men were gathered around with their lunch boxes in their laps, their food already out and being shoveled into their faces. I sat down on a log away from everyone and took out my sandwich. The sound of the machines running in the distance and the logs dropping into the water filled my head. This is what I’d done for the last five years.

Moving out in the middle of nowhere had been the only thing I could think of doing to get away from my toxic life. After I caught my girlfriend fucking my best friend, I’d cleaned out my bank account, packed the shit that meant anything to me, and left.

Truth was I’d been unhappy in my life anyway, and I’d needed a good kick in the ass to get me moving and leaving all that shit behind.

So, I’d done just that. I told my family what I was doing, and where I’d be if they needed me. Then I went off the grid, thinking about me for once, getting my shit in order.

That seemed like a lifetime ago now, but here I was: still loving every fucking minute of it.

“Jake, you coming to town with us tonight?”

I looked over at one of the men I’d worked with for only a year.

“No,” was all I said and finished eating.

“After all these years of us asking you to come with us, find some women, and let off steam, why do you always say no?”

I stared at Bruce— I’d worked with him since becoming a lumberjack. Bruce had been with the company for years before I came along, and although he was a hard worker, I’d never seen him as a friend.

Hell, I didn’t see anyone a friend, not really.

I kept to myself, did my work, and when my shift was over, I headed home and lived in solitude.

“Because I like my isolation,” was all I said.

“Or maybe you like to jerk off?” One of the newer guys, a younger man who was a prick, said.

I didn’t bother responding; I’d learned long ago I needed to keep to myself and not let shit get me worked up. The only thing violence ever solved for me was a momentary pleasure, like when I’d knocked my best friend’s teeth in after he pulled his dick out of my girlfriend.

I hadn’t gotten into a fight since.

After I finished my sandwich and the lunch horn rang again, I got back to work. The sweat had cooled on my body, but I’d work up another one in a few minutes.

And I sure as hell did jerk off. Not being with a woman might be my choice because I didn’t want to socialize with anyone, but I wasn’t going to get blue balls because I was stubborn.

Fuck that.

I’d worry about myself, force myself not to react to some asshole’s jabs, and focus on why I’d come out here in the first place … to get away from all the bullshit.

* * *

“This is bullshit, Viv.”

I didn’t bother looking at Russ as he all but shouted right in my face.

“Back off, Russ.” I was annoyed, and I couldn’t be held liable for my reaction if he didn’t give me the personal space I fucking wanted.

“Viv—”

“Just stop,” I said and turned around, facing the man I’d just broken it off with. “We have only been together for three months, and in that time you’ve fucked your way through the office and managed to bitch about anything and everything. You and I both know whatever we were doing with each other wasn’t going to last. It wasn’t real.” I rubbed my head, feeling so damn tired all of the sudden. “I’m twenty-nine years old. I’m not staying in a relationship—or whatever the hell we’ve had—when it isn’t going anywhere.”

Russ cocked his head back like I’d just slapped him.

“Excuse me?” he said with shock and disgust in his voice.

“Yeah, Russ, I know about you sticking your dick in anything that has a hole.”

He snapped his mouth shut after I said that. Had he really not wondered why we’d only had sex a handful of time since we’d been dating? Hell, I hadn’t even let him touch me after I found out he’d been banging half the office.

He straightened and narrowed his eyes. “We didn’t have an exclusive relationship, Vivian.”

I snorted at that comment. True, we hadn’t actually said those words, but hell, when I slept with a man, and went on dates with him, I thought that meant we wouldn’t be going around screwing everyone.

I didn’t bother responding; I just exhaled and shook my head.

“Come on, this is crazy,” he said and grabbed my arm. I pulled out of his grasp. “Don’t fucking touch me, Russ. I asked you to leave, but you’re still here. If you say we weren’t exclusive, then why in the hell are you still here?” The truth was I hadn’t actually seen a future with him anyway. Maybe I’d just stayed with him for this long to entertain the idea of not being a lonely spinster?

He didn’t answer right away, but I didn’t wait for him to. I walked over to the front door of my apartment, opened it, and glared at him. “It’s over. I can’t even say it was fun while it lasted, Russ, but it was what it was.”

“And it’s over, just like that?”

I nodded. “Just like that. Now, please get the hell out of my apartment.”

He grumbled something under his breath, but I didn’t care if he was cursing me out. I just wanted him gone so I could finish packing.

“Fine.” He walked past me, but stopped before he walked out of my place. “And if you weren’t such a tight ass, Vivian, maybe things could have worked out.”

I just shook my head that he had to get one last dig in.

When he was out of my apartment, I shut and locked the door, and went back over to my suitcase. I needed to get my shit together and hit the road; I planned on disconnecting for the next week. This little trip was definitely a spur of the moment kind of thing, but I knew it would do me good. It had to, because right now I was tired of the world around me.

Taking off work hadn’t been difficult since as I was in a top position at the firm where I worked. Although I’d had to rearrange my schedule and place clients on different days, I knew if I didn’t do this for myself, I’d go crazy.

I zipped up my bag and sat on the couch. Grabbing my laptop, I looked over reservation I’d made. I was going to spend the next seven days in a cabin three hours from the city. It wasn’t a huge leap in the vacation direction, but it sure as hell would be better than what was going on in my life right now. The city noises, sights, lights, and all the bullshit that came with it and my job would fade away as I focused on just me.

Hell, the cabin didn’t even have a TV, let alone Wi-Fi, so I would be totally disconnected from everything and everyone, and it’s exactly what I needed. Maybe I wouldn’t even come back. Maybe I’d find so much peace in the middle of nowhere that I just said fuck everything else.

I wouldn’t know until I went, but I was open to just about anything right now.