Let the adventure begin...

A bought of social anxiety hit me when I walked into the cabin. [I had no idea there would be so many people. When Gen invited us up to this Tahoe cabin, I thought it was going to be our group of residents and Max. This is not what I expected.] I nervously stood near the console table watching the activity in the room. A couch stood between me and a raven haired petite woman sitting by the fireplace in the far side of the room. A roaring fire burned bright inside. Her face was flushed red and she was swaying from side to side wearing a wide grin. Beside her stood a slender blonde man wearing a similar grin. He was talking loudly and laughing with the group of men moving about the kitchen. Knowing I wouldn’t be able to stand in a single spot forever, I slowly moved further forward and to the right into the kitchen. It was then that I spied two unfamiliar men conversing with each other by the bar top counter and Gen. To the left of Gen stood a tall thinly bearded man of stout build with mahogany brown hair. That must be Max. He was specifically talking to a blonde portly man with rosy cheeks directly to the right of him. When they saw me, we exchanged pleasantries and introduced ourselves. The bearded man was indeed Max and rosy cheeks was Matt. Further inside the kitchen by the pantry was an average height dark brown haired man loudly laughing and joking with one of my resident mates, Andrew. He was wearing a royal blue baggy hoodie and a light grey baseball cap backwards on his crown. The word Nevada was embroidered onto the cap with navy blue letters. A navy blue embroidered wolf head sat below the Nevada. When he saw me, he reached forward extending his right arm and hand in my direction, practically balancing on one foot. I extending my hand in a similar fashion to meet his. “Justin.” He said. “Heather.” I replied.

The first thing I noticed was this brown mole near the end of his top left lip. I found it endearing and attractive. What also struck me was that the guy looked to be no older than twenty-four. [He looks so young! About six years younger than me...practically a baby.] We smiled at each other before unclasping our hands, the signal that our first encounter was over. Justin then took off to converse with the slender blonde man by the fireplace. I stayed in the kitchen to join the conversation with Gen, Max, and Matt. It was an easy melding between us veterinary residents and the Nevada crew. After the pleasantries were over, all of us settled easily into conversation. Awkwardness over. Of course, a little bit of alcohol helped with this transition. Regardless, conversation began to come naturally for all of us. Amongst all the people was a miniature Australian Shepherd dog. I’d heard someone call him Copper which seemed fitting as he had patches of brown fur around both eyes and cheeks and over his back legs. Otherwise his coloring was mainly black with some white fur patches on his front legs and nose as well as a luscious white mane. I thought him absolutely adorable. Copper was carrying a folded sock prompting anyone paying attention to throw it by dropping it at their feet. After being ignored by several people, Copper picked up the sock, saw me for a sucker, and dropped it by the coffee table at my feet. I picked up the sock curiously inspecting it wondering who it belonged to. “It’s just a sock. He’s allowed to have it.” Justin called from across the room. [Copper must belong to him then. In that case, how could I not play with this adorable dog?]

I picked up the sock and pretended to throw it over the couch and down the hall to the right towards the bathroom but instead hid the sock behind my back and tucked it quickly into my pants. Copper made to run in that direction but stopped abruptly and instead turned to look at me when he didn’t hear it fall in the distance. I showed him both my empty hands then watched him feverishly search the room for his toy. For a couple minutes, Copper hunted for his sock but quickly surrendered to the fact that it was nowhere to be found and astutely realized, I had yet to throw it. He came back over to me expectantly waiting for me to throw his precious toy. While he gazed up at me with hopeful eyes, I caved. I showed him the sock and this time threw it towards the hall. Off Copper went to fetch the sock only to repeat the process with some other sucker. After Copper went bounding off, I saw a few people in the hot tub on the deck through the back windows. Gen did mention a hot tub and specifically instructed us to bring bathing suits. Soaking in some hot water sounded superb at the moment so I changed into my own bathing suit and walked out to join the others. The air was crisp and I reflexively wrapped my arms around myself to keep warm, my teeth already starting to chatter. Gen and Max were already sitting closest to the windows soaking in the hot water. I jumped into the square tub beside them and submergedmyself neck deep. [So much better.] The conversation between Gen and Max had somehow fallen on the topic of tattoos. Gen was contemplating on if she should get one. “You should totally get one.” I piped in. “ I have three.” “You do? I’ve only seen the mountains on your left arm.” Gen replied. “Where are the others?” “I’ve got one on my right ankle.” I said sticking my right foot into the air showing Gen the stencil like butterfly with a semi-colon body on my inner ankle. “The other one is on my right hip.” It’s the Leo constellation.”

Right at that moment, Justin walked out with Andrew, both hot tub ready and carrying four shot glasses. “Tequila!” Andrew announced. “Who wants one?” “Sure, why not. I’ll take one.” I said holding my right hand out. “No way, not me.” Gen said shaking her head. “I love tequila. Pass one over!” Max proclaimed. The four of us toasted. “To fun, friends, and the best weekend in Tahoe.” Andrew said. “Cheers to that.” Max replied. The boys threw their heads back swallowing the faint yellow liquid in one gulp. [Oh boy, here we go.] I took a deep breath, threw my head back, and attempted to swallow the drink without tasting a thing. Unfortunately, I wasn’t so lucky. The tequila went down my throat like fire and I winced making that “ugh how gross” face. I glanced around hoping my puckered face hadn’t been spotted and luckily, no one seemed to notice. [That’s relieving.] By the time I collected and composed myself, Justin and Andrew had joined us in the hot tub. Justin sat to Gen’s left and Andrew on Max’s right. I was positioned exactly in the middle, my back to the windows. Justin began sharing a story involving Max and a few other friends, people that were not at the cabin. I couldn’t help but focus my attention on him. Not that the story was particularly exciting. No. It was purely reminiscent chatter. Regardless I was captivated. In that moment, I realized Justin was a natural story teller. A comedian of sorts. His ability to make us all laugh seemed effortless. Practically second nature. And his laugh was infectious. Anytime he burst into a deep throated guffaw, I felt compelled to do the same. I was drawn to him. “Justin claimed the bedroom with the queen bed all to himself.” Max said, thrusting me from my thoughts to the current conversation.

Justin shook his head, an indication he was probably a bit embarrassed by the statement. “No, no, no, no. This is the bedroom I always take. I have the rights to it.” “Why is it you get to claim this bedroom all to yourself?” I interjected. Feeling a little flirtatious, I also added, “I’ll wrestle you for it.” “Well...you’re going to lose.” Justin replied, plastering a smug look on his face. “We’ll see about that.” I said, making an equally smug face. After another thirty minutes or so, we got bored with the hot tub and took our leave, drying off as best we could before going back inside. I changed back into my jeans and long sleeve grey T then went in search of Justin. Wrestling him for the bedroom was no hollow threat. I intended to win. “I’ve wrestled guys before and overtook them. This will be no different.” Justin was in the living room just to the right of the couch putting his hoodie back on. I walked up to him, chest bumped him and said “Let’s go.” “ “Do you like losing? Because that’s how this is going to go.” I bobbed from side to side chest bumping him a few times in the process making sure to get into his face hoping this was the most threatening gesture. “What?” Bump. “What?” Bump. “Let’s do this.” “Like I said, you’re going to lose.” “Wrong. I’m going to win.” We moved to the center of the room and took a fighting stance. I took an aggressive approach and charged into his waist, putting my right leg forward. I wrapped my arms around him and shoved as hard as I could, attempting to knock him on his back. “If I can get him onto the floor, I’ll have it in the bag. Easy win.” Justin stood his ground pushing back against my weight not moving an inch. I grunted and pushed harder, digging my feet into the carpeted floor and began trying to walk forward to no avail. “Why won’t you go down?” I huffed, grunting and giggling at the same time.

In one swift motion, Justin grabbed me by the waist and kicked my right foot out from under me, effectively knocking me off balance. He seized the opportunity and slammed me onto my back. Hard. I laid there stunned, struggling a bit to breath. [That little cheater.] “I demand a rematch.” I choked out. Justin shook his head smiling. “Absolutely not.” I pushed myself onto my forearms and playfully glared at him. “I still don’t think you can claim that bedroom all to yourself.” Justin smirked his eyes twinkling with laughter. I glared playfully up at him knowing a rematch would not ensure a win for me anyway and begrudgingly sighed in defeat assuming an angry pout. Sensing my acceptance of defeat, Justin put out his right hand, offering to help me off the floor. I obliged and swung my right arm up to meet his. He yanked me upward and forward causing me to go partially airborne. After my feet were safely planted back of the floor, we sat down by the fireplace and began to chat, Justin sitting to my left. For the rest of the night, Justin and I fell into deep conversation both joking and sharing stories about our lives. We were so engrossed in the moment that we failed to realize the others were slowly trickling off to bed. It wasn’t until we were completely alone that we noticed the empty room. “Guess it’s that time.” I said glancing around the room. “Guess so.” Justin replied. He smiled at me before standing up, again holding out his right hand. I smiled back, put my left hand in his, and let him gently hoist me to my feet. Both of us lingered in front of each other not wanting this moment to end. Separating seemed unnatural, oddly enough, and I continued to hold his hand not wanting to let go. We held eye contact for a whisper of a seconds before I looked away, suddenly feeling shy. Justin was the first to let go, slowly slipping his hand out of mine. My stomach fluttered in response. “Goodnight.” Justin said, a slow smile crossing his lips.

“Night.” I smiled back, watching as he turned to leave down the hallway. Once Justin disappeared behind his bedroom door, I fell onto the couch and cozied up under a plush red blanket. My head hit the pillow but sleep eluded me. Adrenaline coursed through my veins causing my whole body to buzz and jitter with energy, my brain constantly playing the day on repeat. By morning I was wired. The buzzing energy persisted through the night leaving me sleep deprived yet energetic. I couldn’t wait for the day to begin. More importantly, I couldn’t wait to see Justin. Gen premptively planned moderately hard hiking trips through the Sierra mountains which border Lake Tahoe on all sides. A stunning view that could be seen from any peak. Hiking was a passion of mine so the idea of trekking through the dry, pine California landscape was invigorating. [What would make this adventure better is if Justin comes with us.] Inwardly I continued to buzz my hope spiking the adrenaline already moving through my body. On the outside, I jittered uncontrollably. When Justin began walking with the group to the car, I did an internal happy dance. [Yes!] I inwardly celebrated. [This is exactly what I wanted. A chance to spend more time with him.] To my pleasant surprise, Justin and I naturally coupled up during the hikes. The fast walkers that we were, we quickly sped ahead of the group inadvertently leading our pack of friends. What struck me the most was that being with him was easy. Conversation flowed smoothly and we talked nonstop. No subject seemed to be off limits.

Even after the hikes, Justin and I continued to pall up engaging in the same activities. Roaming through the store for snacks, warming ourselves in the hot tub, playing board games. All of it. Copper even hung around me too. While playing board games, I found him sitting at my feet under the table. The dog felt comfortable with me, that I could tell, but it was odd. [Why is he lying at my feet instead of Justin’s? How strange…] Far too quickly, Sunday morning came. The day we were to leave Tahoe to return to our respective cities. Leaving felt like the end of a captivating dream. One you wanted to fully submerse yourself in for hours because real life seemed boring and burdensome comparatively. While this trip wasn’t a dream, and thankfully so, I wasn’t ready to leave. When Gen suggested the group do one more hike before departing our separate ways, I inwardly couldn’t contain myself. My heart filled with hope. Hope that Justin would join us on the hike giving me one more opportunity to spend time with him before we left and the hope that he would ask for my number. More than anything, I didn’t want this to be our last encounter. Inwardly I chanted [Please come, please come.] Outwardly, I tried to appear calm and nonchalant not wanting to appear overly eager. When Justin agreed to partake in the hike, my heart leapt for joy and I began to tingle all over. Like before, Justin and I lead the group. Separating ourselves from the group wasn’t necessarily the goal but I welcomed having that time alone. It allowed me the opportunity to get to know him better which is what I wanted. Copper ultimately took the lead trailing a few hundred feet in front of us occasionally running back to make sure we were still in route. In his own way, Copper wore an enthusiastic smile and sometimes charged at us with excitement. Him being happy made me happy.

At the summit, our group climbed atop a slightly jagged peak to rest and gaze out upon the landscape below. The steep drop off from our perch made way to a golden grass covered slope with patches of green. Desert bushes no higher than mid calf speckled the terrain. The snow capped Sierra mountain range lied in the distance. Justin and I sat beside each other, silently gazing out onto the horizon. Copper explored our small perch coming close enough to the edge to be one paw slip away from falling. I anxiously watched him traverse the rocky knoll my body like a spring ready to jump at a moments notice to heroically stop him from falling at the last second. Justin, on the other hand, didn’t seem concerned. [How is he not worried…I’m freaking out over here.] Once Copper had fully inspected our resting space, he curled up beside me laying his head on my left thigh and closed his eyes in contentment. I raised my left arm in response a little surprised by his loving gesture. [This dog…I can’t even.] Justin was watching our encounter, possibly a little perplexed himself. We both looked at each other in that moment and smiled. I let my left arm rest on Copper’s body feeling the rise and fall of his chest settling into equal contentment.