Ethan- Day 1

I had just finished my third caulking pass around the exterior of the house when I heard my phone ding. I always made three trips around the house, just to make sure I got every gap covered. I placed the caulk gun back on the hook in my shed and grabbed my axe. Time to start chopping wood

DING!

I heard my phone go off again as the axe connected with the first log of wood. It was almost perfectly timed. Unfortunately, in order to get to my phone, I 'd have to remove my gloves which I was not going to do. I grabbed another log and placed it on the tree stump.

Crack - my axe connected, clean. The log split in two. I'd need to split five more logs to last me through the storm but I'd split double that to make sure I had spares.

DING

Who could it be?

CRACK

DING!

DING!

DING! DING!

Jesus. It must be someone's birthday today, blowing up my family group chat.

I struck the last log, splitting it right in two with one stroke of my axe.

That makes twenty logs. More than enough for the next few days.

I dropped the axe and slid the glove off my right hand then reached into my pocket and found my phone. I hit the screen, lighting it up and showing who the texts were from.

6 texts.

From Jessica.

Hey

Are you at your cabin? My girlfriend Tina and I are driving home from a ski trip in the mountains and I don't think we are going to make it very far before this storm hits. All the hotels on the way are booked. We are looking for a place to crash probably for a few days.

I know that's a lot to just dump on you and if you already have people over or it's too much I completely understand.

We are about an hour from the exit we would need to get off of to get to your place.

If it's not OK, I'm sure we can find another piece.

Place

I checked the time of the texts. The first one was about 40 minutes ago, the last about ten. I typed out my response and hit send. I grabbed another log from the pile and picked up my axe.

Looks like I'm going to need some more wood

----------

Jessica and began dating in college. I was in my fifth year, she was in her senior year. We were in a student-run charity club and clicked instantly. Obviously, she is gorgeous, but it was more than physical attraction. We always ended up drifting toward each other at any of the club's events and spending more time goofing off than doing the actual work we were supposed to be doing.

One night, after one of our planning meetings, I walked her home. I didn't even mean to. We were just walking and talking and, next thing we knew, we were at the entrance to her apartment building. Once we both noticed where we were, it was a bit awkward until Jess invited me up to her room. I sure as hell was not going to turn down that opportunity and soon we were in her room. We talked for another hour and a half until we both realized it was past midnight and that I should get going. I wish I knew what told me to do it but, just as I was about to leave her room, I stopped and asked her if I could kiss her. Normally, I would have just done it, but the words came out before I could make my move.

"You didn't have to ask," Jessica said with a smile. As I leaned in to kiss her, however, she stopped me. "I do have to warn you, I like to take things slow."

I smiled and kissed her, losing myself in her soft lips. I stepped forward, pressing my body to hers. I could feel the large pads of her bra through her thick sweater - Jessica dressed frustratingly conservative in public. My right hand grabbed her ass, my left sliding up to cup her breast-

"I told you," she said, removing my hand from her breast. "I like to take things slow."

"Of course," I answered. "Sorry, I didn't mean to, you know, make you uncomfortable."

Jessica understood and, from that point forward, we were nearly inseparable. We meant to keep things casual but casual quickly turned into a near obsession. Jessica wasn't lying or playing hard-to-get that night when she said she liked to take things slow. It took nearly a month before she even let me see her breasts however, once she did let me see them, things heated up quickly.

Neither of us wanted to be too connected with someone, knowing that we'd be graduating in 7 months so it took us a while, and a lot of nagging from our friends, before we actually began telling people we were dating and referring to each other as our boyfriend and girlfriend. By that time, we were already spending so much time together that very little changed except how we introduced ourselves. We were smitten. At least until we both graduated...

----------

Great!

Our GPS says we will be there in 35 minutes.

Those 35 minutes felt like 3 days.

I had 35 minutes to think of how I'd react when Jessica arrived, what I'd say, but everything I had planned vanished from my memory when I saw the blue Subaru wind up the long driveway. I did my best to make it seem like I didn't notice them, that I was too concentrated on splitting logs to see or hear them approach but my curiosity got the best of me. I had to know what her girlfriend looked like.

She didn't disappoint.

A beautiful blonde girl got out of the driver's seat. At first, I thought it was Jessica. They looked similar enough from a distance, but the girl was a bit taller and her hair was worn down, long and flowing. Jessica almost always had her hair done up into some style and, right on cue, a blonde set of pigtails emerged from the passenger's side. I played it cool, smiling and waving then I hurried over to help them with their bags.

"Sorry, I was just finishing up splitting some logs to use as firewood," I lied. I had actually split more than enough but kept going so the girls would see me in action as they arrived.

"Here, let me get these for you," I said, grabbing a large suitcase from Tina. "Tina, I'm assuming?"

"Yes," the blonde answered. "Nice to meet you. You must be Ethan."

"That's me."

"I've heard a lot about you."

"Uh, oh," I said.

"Good things, good things," Tina assured.

"You shouldn't start our relationship off on a lie," I joked.

"She is lying," Jessica said. "I actually don't talk about you at all."

"Now that I believe," I said with a laugh. There was certainly an air of... something about. I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Were they in a fight? Was Jess just not happy to see me? I wasn't sure what it was but I knew it was something.

"Thank you so much for having us," Tina said with a smile. The smile hit me like a smack in the face. She was dazzling. Sparkling. Radiant. Somehow all of those things while dressed in a heavy ski jacket and puffy snow pants. Her blue eyes reflected the sunlight like diamond chandeliers. Her cheeks were somehow soft and round but also narrow. I was literally taken aback as I extended my hand to her. She shook it lightly.

"Of course," I said. "I couldn't leave you guys stranded out in the storm."

"We were thinking of just crashing in the lobby of a hotel."

"The hotels around here are creepy enough if you can actually get a room," I replied. "Come on in and get settled, it's starting to get real cold out here."

I grabbed another two bags and carried them along the walkway to the front door. Tina followed close behind but Jessica took her time, looking around at the property, taking in the familiar sights before entering the house.

"Just like you remember?" I asked.

"Yea," Jess answered, nodding. "It all looks exactly the same.

"Just how we like it," I said. "I'll go get the rest of your bags. You two settle in. Your room is the first one on the left at the top of the stairs."

It took a few more trips to get all of their bags from the car and I'd worked up a bit of a sweat by the time I dropped them down in their rooms.

"You didn't have to bring them all the way up here," Tina said.

"Not a problem at all," I replied, trying to hide how out of breath I was. "You guys actually packed much lighter than I would have expected for a week-long trip."

Jessica and Tina shot each other a knowing glance. Tina blushed and looked down while a mischievous grin formed on Jess' lips.

"About that..." Jessica said. "We... really didn't pack very much in the way of clothing. If we're being honest, we didn't plan to spend much time in clothes this weekend."

"And what we did pack," Tina continued, "was, let's just say, not meant to stay on for very long."

"Well, I guess I can't blame you there," I said with a laugh. "Well, I'm sorry your romantic trip got interrupted. I'd offer you some of my clothes if you'd need but, honestly, I don't have much in the way of clothes beyond some old shirts, gym shorts, and maybe a few pairs of sweatpants. I do have some long underwear if you'd like but it seems you have the warmer clothing you'll need."

"We planned on being completely bundled up, or butt ass naked," Jessica said.

"I think we are all set," Tina said. "You're already letting us stay here, I can't ask to take your clothes too."

"Trust me, it's no problem at all."

Everything seemed nice and pleasant - it might be a bit awkward sharing the house with my ex-girlfriend and her current girlfriend for a few days but I had enough **** to hopefully loosen things up and the house was big enough to escape if it was really that bad - but when I made my way past their room a few minutes later I couldn't help but hear some elevated voices and harsh tones.