“Sure thing. Hey, Abbi. You’re coming, right?” Autumn zips up her vest.

I’m exhausted. I’ve barely slept in the last two weeks, thanks to finals and nervousness over this trip. Fear of the unknown. Normally, I’d curl up in bed with a good book and read until I drift off. I even loaded my e-reader with about fifty novels to get me through four months of summer nights and off-work hours.

They’re all drinking, obviously, and not bothering to hide it. Back at college, people would have get-togethers, but they were tame and kept undercover as compared to what I’ve heard happens on other campuses.

This is all new to me.

But I want to have fun. Plus, it’s the best way to keep my mind off Jed and her in Greenbank.

“Sure. Yes.” They’re the kind of girls I never hung out with in school, though sometimes I wondered what it’d be like, to be their friends; to be a part of the “in crowd.”

“Great! The alcohol in the lodge is the only thing not subsidized, and it’s super expensive, so you’ll want to bring your own,” Autumn warns, adding, “Unless you’re made of money.”

I bite my tongue before I admit to them that I don’t drink. That I’ve never been drunk before in my life.

“Here. We can share until you can get to Homer to stock up next week.” Tillie thrusts her flask in my hand.

What if I refuse? Will I be buying myself a ticket to loser town with them?

This feels like high school all over again.

“Hey, can you guys save us seats on that couch by the fire?” Rachel asks. She hooks her thumbs under her panties and pulls them until they drop to the ground. Both she and Katie stand front and center in the room, buck naked, seemingly without a care in the world.

On our campus, girls changed before heading to the shared bathrooms, and they covered themselves with towels.

Another thing I’m going to need to get used to.

I bring the flask to my mouth and take a big, wince-inducing gulp.

~ ~ ~ ~

“So, you’re an es... esthe...” I can’t get the name out, and I’m not sure if it’s because of the word or the alcohol that Tillie’s been pumping into me.

“Esthetician. Yes.” Katie giggles, flipping her silky mane of blonde hair over her shoulder. “I worked for the Hilton for a couple years, but I got laid off last December. Wolf hired me on contract for this job. We’ll see how things go. Maybe I can get transferred to a permanent location when the season’s over. They have hotels all over the world.”

“What exactly does an esthetician do, again?” The closest place I’ve been to a beauty salon is Sheila’s Clip ’N’ Color shop on Main Street, back home. Sheila, my mama’s childhood friend, has been trimming my hair for as long as I can remember.

“Anything related to beauty and grooming. That’s me. That’s what I love.” All it takes is a once-over of her to see that. Perfectly shaped and painted nails, glowing skin, shaped brows. “Facials, chemical peels, mani-pedis, waxing, makeup application.”

“I’ve never had any of those things done,” I admit.

“Really?” Her blue eyes slide over my face. I don’t think she’s all that surprised. “You should let me do your eyebrows. It takes, like, ten minutes. Tops.”

“Does it hurt?” I glance around, suddenly embarrassed that someone can hear this conversation. I don’t see that happening, though. The staff lodge has come alive with laughter and music as compared to an hour ago when I was cramming in dinner. A guy with a beanie sits by the fireplace, strumming an acoustic guitar. If there was a piano here, I’d try to match his notes. That’s one thing that I will miss about not being back home for the summer: access to the piano in our family room. I’ve been playing since I was six; mostly church hymns though. Sometimes, when Old Mollie Simmons isn’t feeling well, Reverend Enderbey asks me to play at Sunday service.

“Not really. Well, not your brows, anyway.” She laughs. “It’s so worth it. Especially for the summer, when you don’t want to be worrying about stubble under your arms or bikini line. I can do it all for you, if you want. I do Rachel’s all the time, and she loves it.”

“But she’s bald down... there,” I blurt out, then blush because I’ve basically admitted to checking her out earlier.

“It’s a good look, trust me. Just say the word and I’ll clean you right up.” Katie winks. “And guys love it, too.”

Jed said he didn’t understand why a woman would want to make herself look like a little girl. He thought he’d prefer some hair. I wonder if he still prefers that.

Then again, I’m not doing anything for Jed anymore. Still... “I’d have to be drunk.”

She clanks her glass with my bottle of water. “Well then, cheers to that.”

“Hey, Abbi. I’m turnin’ in for the night. We have to be up in a few hours.”

Few hours? “What time is it?” I squint at my watch; the hands are blurry.

“It’s two. Training starts at nine, and if you don’t want to wait in line for a shower, you need to get in there before seven.”

Shit. How am I even still up? Especially with the time-zone change. “Okay. I’m coming.”

Katie squeezes my thigh affectionately, the simple touch making me feel all the more comfortable in this group of strangers. “We’re not too far behind you. Night.”

I stand. And take several stumbling steps into a tall guy.

He wraps his arms around my waist to steady me, but he doesn’t let go. “Whoa there, little lady. You okay?” He sounds like he’s from down south. He has that charming southern drawl, but it’s different from Tillie’s.

I tip my head back and peer into smiling emerald-green eyes. “Yup. But thank you for saving me anyway.”

He grins at me. “You sure are a cute little thing.”

“I don’t want to be cute,” I grumble. “Cute gets left on the sides while “hot” gets bent over the couch by my boyfriend because he can’t control himself.”

That wasn’t meant to be spoken out loud.

“Whoa.” The guy holds his hands in the air, palms out. I peel myself away from him and stumble to Tillie, my face burning, whispering, “I blame you and your devil juice for this.”

“I’ve got your water. You’re gonna need it.” She hooks an arm through mine and leads me out the doors and into the night.

“It’s warmer out here than it was before. How did it get warmer?”

Her chuckles float into the darkness as we make our way down the path, lit with lampposts every twenty feet or so. “The magic of Jim Beam, that’s how.”

“I love your accent. You know that? Like, I could kiss your accent if it were an actual thing. It’s that hot. Isn’t it beautiful out here? I mean,” I let my head tip back, “look at this sky. You don’t get this kind of sky just anywhere.”

“I keep readin’ about those northern lights. I’m hopin’ to see them before I leave.”

“Aurora Borealis,” I murmur, closing my eyes and smiling, letting her lead me. That would be a sight.

Voices and laughter ahead catch my ear.

“Damn...,” Tillie murmurs appreciatively, and I follow her eyes to see what has caught her attention. Three guys stroll out of the men’s shower room, the white towels wrapped around their waists glowing in the dark. Each one of them is broad and hard and rippled with muscles.

I’ve only ever had eyes for Jed. Since February, I’ve had eyes for no one at all, uninterested in giving anyone a second’s thought. Maybe it’s the distance or the foreign world up here, or maybe it’s the alcohol, but I am appreciating this view. The alcohol is definitely giving me the confidence to ogle them shamelessly.

“And that would be your Outdoor crew.” A few steps closer, Tillie calls out with, “Good evenin’, gentlemen. It’s a little bit cold to be prancin’ ’round half-naked, don’t you think?”

The one closest to her, a blond with a casual swagger in his step, slows. “You offering to warm me up, Tillie?”

I guess they’ve already met.