Tina

Valentine’s Day was supposed to be my moment.
Weeks of late-night messages. Flirty calls. A man who made me feel wanted, before he ever saw my body.

Then my check engine light starts flashing halfway up a mountain I had no business driving on.

I know I should turn back.
I don’t.

Because if I don’t show up, it’ll just confirm what I already fear, that once he sees me, he’ll walk away.

Instead of my date, I get a grumpy mountain mechanic with dangerous eyes and a voice that makes my knees weak. When a landslide traps us together, I’m stuck with a man who looks at me like he sees me, and that’s way scarier than being stranded.

Tarek

Humans don’t belong on my mountain.
Especially not on Valentine’s Day.

I haven’t touched another woman since I buried my wife three years ago, and I don’t plan to start now. Fix the car. Send her home. That’s the plan.

Then Tina looks at me like she’s waiting to be rejected.

My bear hates that.

Two days trapped together turns into shared meals, stolen glances, and a pull I don’t want, but can’t fight. She’s warm where I’m cold. Brave where I’ve been frozen in grief.

I swore I’d never fall again.

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