Axe Marks the Spot

by Kayla Grosse

Genres: Contemporary Romance; Workplace Romance

Synopsis

One struggling single mom resorts to hiring an online Dom to know what it feels like for someone to take care of her for once—only to realize he’s the rugged lumbersnack leading her kid’s summer camp.

Lindsey Clark is a single mom doing her best to stay afloat. Between nursing shifts and legal bills, she barely has time to breathe—let alone date. One night, after too much wine and social media scrolling, she stumbles on the anonymous account of @DomInTheWoods. His voice? Commanding. His faceless profile? Hot. And Lindsey? Intrigued enough to email him.

Dane Woods is a professional Dom who keeps his identity private and his boundaries firm. He offers structure, discipline, and control—but nothing physical, nothing emotional. No exceptions…even for his tantalizing new sub, Lindsey, he can’t stop thinking about. But when Dane steps in to run a kids’ camp as a favor to a friend, the last person he expects to see is Lindsey. Now that their worlds have collided, the lines between professional and personal start to blur. Maybe some boundaries are meant to be axed.

Release date: July 7, 2026

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Print pages: 368

Sample

YOU KNOW THAT LIMBO between exhausted and horny? That state of being where you want to face-plant into bed, but you could really go for a good orgasm…or two?

No? Just me?

“Mom!” Kas yells, scaring the shit out of me to the point where I jump, hand flying over my chest as my heart beats rapidly.

“Goodness, Kasandra. I’m right here.”

My eight-year-old rolls her eyes at me from across the picnic table. It’s her new favorite way to express her annoyance, one I’ve tried and failed to nip in the bud.

“I’ve been calling you for five minutes,” she chides.

“You have not been,” I assure her.

“She yelled it five times.”

I flick my gaze to my brother, Nathan, who’s sitting next to Kas. His scruffy face is lit with a smile, but there’s concern in his earthy brown eyes as he takes a bite of his funnel cake.

I hold back a sigh and give my attention to Kas, who’s shifting on her butt excitedly as if she’s ready to take off and run somewhere. Which is odd to me because she hates running.

“I’m sorry.” I exhale and put a smile on. “What do you need, honey?”

“Uncle Nate said there’s a kids’ obstacle course. I was asking if I could go.”

“I thought you wanted to watch the speed pole climbing.” I check the time on my phone. “It starts in thirty minutes.”

“You want to watch that, Mom.”

Nathan chuckles, and I bite the inside of my cheek. My kid is becoming sassier every day, a trait I fear she inherited from both me and my smart-ass brother.

“I’ll take her. You can go watch loggers climb poles.” He waggles his dark eyebrows at me, and I glare at him.

“Yeah, Mom,” Kas adds, Nathan’s innuendo thankfully going over her head.

I take a sip of my sweating lemonade, the cold condensation on the cup feeling good against the heated skin of my hand. It’s July, and while it’s fairly cool in our little mountain town of Starlight Haven during the summers, it’s still hot enough that I’m sweating even while wearing a tank and shorts.

I look from my bouncing kid, who’s had too much sugar today, to my younger brother, who’s observing me with interest. I’m still getting used to the fact that he looks like a logger now. The once clean-shaven, ex-corporate businessman used to wear button-up shirts, slacks, and loafers. Now, he’s in a T-shirt that sports the logo of the logging company that Morgan and Fox, his partners and soon-to-be husband and wife, own and a pair of jeans with red suspenders. His tapered brown hair is still neatly styled, but the beard and laid-back look throw me every time. It’s been a year and a half since he met them, and yet it feels like he’s transformed overnight.

“Okay, but you have to promise to stay in your Uncle Nate’s line of sight.”

“I’m eight,” she groans.

Nathan holds in his chuckle, but a bit of a snort breaks through. God, this kid. I should be grateful she inherited my and my brother’s cheek over the stick-up-his-ass personality of my ex-husband, Jeremy, but sometimes it’s a lot. Especially when I’m tired, overworked, and in desperate need of…well, release.

It’s been years now since I’ve had sex that wasn’t with a silicone dick. Two years, to be exact. I feel as if my pussy is gnawing at the bars of my self-imposed chastity.

God, Nathan is right. I do want to watch loggers climb poles. And it would be nice if I was climbing one of their poles, too.

“Sis?”

I flush, and I snap my eyes to his. I should not be thinking about that right now. What the hell is wrong with me?

You’re exhausted and horny, remember?

I push back the thought and shoot Kas the classic mom-eyebrow, head tilted just enough in question. “And you won’t try to ditch your uncle?”

She sighs. “I won’t, but Starlight Haven is safe. Lowest crime rate in California, remember?”

Nathan tugs on Kas’s ponytail and chuckles. “She is right about that.”

“Regardless, you stay in sight of your uncle, or you’ll lose your video game privileges. Got it, Kas?”

“You wouldn’t!”

She’s right, I probably wouldn’t enforce it with how things have been going for me lately, but I nod and keep my features stern. “I would.”

Kas presses her lips together. It’s no secret she loves her video games and would dramatically “die” without them. Or so she’s said before. I often think it makes me a bad mom, letting her play them so young, but I’m doing the best I can. After a long day of working in the ER, I don’t have the energy to force her to go outside all the time. I guess I should be glad she wants to go to the obstacle course now.

“Okay,” she says finally.

“Alright, then, have fun.”

Kas jumps up. “Let’s go, Uncle Nate!”

“Go wash your hands and face and use the bathrooms first—there aren’t any over by the course. The portable bathrooms and sinks are right there,” Nathan says, pointing to an area behind me in his line of sight.

Kas takes off without complaint, and I sigh. “I’m glad she listens to you, at least.”

“She listens to you, too.” He smiles softly, polishing off the last bite of his funnel cake and brushing the powdered sugar from his hands.

“Only after arguing with me.”

I take another sip of my lemonade as Nathan stares at me. “You okay, Linds?”

“Yep, I’m fine.”

“Liar. Tell you what—why don’t I watch Kas for the rest of the afternoon? I bet you can finally meet a lumbersnack to throw you around.” He waggles his eyebrows at me teasingly.

I laugh. “I forgot I told you that.”

“You’ve only been talking about it since you moved here. Truthfully, I think you wanted to come to the games today more than Kas did.”

Nathan’s right. Kas didn’t really want to come to this event at all. I convinced her with the promise of funnel cake and other sugary items. Plus, Fox and Morgan’s company, Starlight Lumber & Logging, hosts the games. The couple doesn’t participate in it anymore, but they are a huge part of setting it up and getting sponsors for it.

“Linds? Are you really fine?”

I look into my younger brother’s eyes. We’ve always been close—even more so after the death of our dad three years ago from a stroke and then my divorce from Jeremy. In many ways, he’s become more than just a brother. He’s a friend and a solid male presence in Kas’s life.

But though we’re close, I’m not going to share with him that I’m not only exhausted but in need of a good lay, too. I’m also not going to tell him that the reason I haven’t put myself out there in the past two years is because I’m still dealing with hang-ups from my ex. That’s not stuff I want to talk about with Nathan, especially when he has such an amazing relationship with not one but two people. A relationship I can’t help but feel jealous of sometimes.

“I really am,” I assure him. “I’m just tired.”

He taps his fingers on the table. “I don’t believe you, but maybe if I get you liquored up tonight, you’ll spill the beans.”

“Tonight?”

“Okay, yeah. Definitely not fine if you forgot.”

“What’s tonight?”

“Kas has that birthday sleepover at Moira’s, and you’re going out to Moose’s Bar with Fox, Morgan, and me. No backing out.”

I want to smack my forehead. “I totally forgot.”

“Obviously.” He chuckles.

“Maybe instead of watching the speed climbing, I’ll just go home and nap. I could use the sleep instead. I can pick up Kas’s room, too, while she’s with you.”

“Nope. Not happening. And why are you cleaning Kas’s room? She’s old enough to do that on her own.”

My stomach sours and gurgles, the acidic lemonade turning into heartburn. Nathan’s question is valid, and I know it’s not meant to be mean, but it only reinforces this idea I have of myself: I’m not a great mom. I probably let Kas get away with too much, but she’s been through a lot between her dad and me breaking up and then moving to a small town. I think it also hurt when her grandma left. The two of them had become close. My mom tried her best but deemed small-town life not for her. She moved back to our home city, Santa Solana, at the beginning of the year.

“I—wait, where is Kas? She should be done by now.”

Nathan points up ahead. “I’ve got eyes on her. She’s talking to some kids.”

I peer in that direction and see she’s chatting with a boy and girl her age. My heart warms at seeing it, and a bit of my stomachache eases. Besides her best friend, Moira, whose birthday I forgot about—which reminds me, I need to get the kid a gift—she doesn’t have many friends. She’s like me in that way, too.

I turn back to Nathan to find him still staring at me. But I don’t want to get into why I clean my kid’s room, so I divert. “Okay, fine. I’ll go to the speed climbing event now, and still meet you all at Moose’s later. But only if you stop asking if I’m okay.”

Nathan looks hesitant at first but eventually nods. “Fine.”

“Uncle Nate!” Kas runs up to the side of the picnic table. Her short auburn hair swishes around her cherubic face. “Tyler and Sara are here for the course, too. Can we go now?”

He glances at the two kids behind me with a smile and stands. “Of course we can.”

I stand, too, and move from the table over to Kas, who’s bouncing on her feet and looks more than happy about her new afternoon plans. I thought Kas only wanted to play video games and hang with Moira, but maybe that’s because I don’t get her out enough to be with more kids. I’m just so busy and tired from working three twelve-hour shifts a week and picking up extras.

I wipe off a bit of powdered sugar still on her cheek. “Have fun, and don’t get hurt.”

“If I do, you’ll fix me. You’re a nurse.”

My heart clenches, and I pull Kas in for a hug. She goes willingly, and I’m glad she hasn’t hit that phase yet where she finds me embarrassing. “I’d rather not have to fix you. Now go, have fun.” She lets out a little excited noise and runs toward her friends.

Kas yells for Nathan, and he bumps my shoulder with his. “Go have fun, Linds. You deserve it. And you’d better not go home!”

I watch them leave while debating if I should defy my brother or stay. I could get some cleaning done, maybe even take a bath instead of having a nap.

But then I remember I need to get a gift for Moira. Ugh, Mom life.

I walk out of the open-sided tent and head toward the parking lot instead of the speed climbing event. There’s a toy store not far from here, but I’m not sure they’re open today—the downside of living in a small town is the stores are all closed on random days and times, even on Saturdays.

I pull my phone from my purse to look it up and get only two steps before I run into something hard.

A startled yelp escapes me as a solid weight slams into my body, knocking me off-balance. Gravity yanks at my spine, the ground tilting away beneath me. But before I can fall, strong hands clamp around my biceps. Air rushes past my ears, my stomach flipping with the sudden shift in direction.

In a split second, I’m upright again, feet planted, chest flush against a sturdy and warm chest. I squeeze my eyes shut and inhale a breath, the scent of cedar and spicy vanilla wafting into my nose.

“Are you okay?”

The deep male voice thrums through my body like the vibrations of a guitar string. If my pussy could meow, I think she’d be doing it. I was horny before, but that voice mixed with his warm body and touch has clicked the lock of my self-imposed chastity belt wide open. I don’t even know what he looks like, but in a way, I don’t think I even need to.

“Miss?”

Did he just call me miss? I think I love him already. People usually call me ma’am now that I’m over thirty.

I take in another breath and open my eyes, but part of me wishes I hadn’t. If I didn’t have thick thighs and he wasn’t looking at my face, he’d have seen me squeeze my legs together because holy lumbersnack.

Determined hazel eyes stare into mine. They’re a mix of blue and green with flecks of golden brown and a dark-brown ring around the iris. The midday sun above us only adds to their power, drawing me in and making me forget my own name and the fact that I’m pressed against a strange man who I’m staring at like a cut of Wagyu beef.

“Do you need help?” His light-pink lips, framed by a well-trimmed dark-brown, nearly black beard mixed with silver hairs, say the magic words that finally break me from my spell.

“No, no. I’m fine.”

He makes no move to pull away, but I don’t, either. His hands on my biceps squeeze gently as he studies me with those beautiful eyes of his. My nipples, which, like my vagina, have a mind of their own all of a sudden, harden against what feels like a very muscular chest. Heat rises to my cheeks, and I step back, forcing him to drop his grip.

“You sure?” his velvet voice rumbles.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was going.” I cross my arms over my tank-top-clad chest and look down at the ground. While I’m curvy everywhere else, my boobs are small, so I only wore a thin bralette under my shirt. If I leave my hands down, this insanely attractive man will see my headlights.

“It’s okay. I wasn’t, either. I’m glad you’re okay.”

He clears his throat with a sound almost like authority. The tone of it has my gaze snapping to his without thinking. His eyes are partially closed now to block out some of the sun, and to avoid looking at the rest of him or falling into a trance staring at his eyes, I focus on his nose. It’s a nice nose. A perfect nose. Is having a nose fetish a thing?

“Miss?”

“Uh, yeah?” My voice comes out in a weird and squeaky tone that has him chuckling.

“Are you sure you’re good?”

I dare a glance at his eyes once more but force myself not to look anywhere else. I think I’m going to find every single body part, down to this man’s ankles, attractive. At least I’ve already seen his eyes, right?

“I’m good. Just tired.” I don’t know why I told him that—I felt like I had to justify my weird behavior, I guess.

The stranger’s hazel pools study me, and after a second, it’s almost as if he’s staring at me with disapproval. I dip my chin to the ground and drop my arms from my chest, hiking my purse up my shoulder and slipping the phone I’d managed to hold on to into the main pocket.

“Sorry I ran into you again,” I mutter. “Have a nice day.”

I hear a sound slip from his mouth as if he’s about to say something, but I don’t wait to hear what it is. I walk off, not looking back. And while I’m not positive he’s watching me walk away, I swear I feel the weight of his stare on my back. My skin prickles, and my nipples, which haven’t gotten the memo to chill, become so stiff they hurt. I cross my arms over my chest again, weaving my way through people.

When I get to my car, I pull out my keys then stop and look at my reflection in the driver’s side window. My medium-length brown hair mixed with blond highlights is ruffled and a bit frizzy from the summer heat and my run-in with Mr. Perfect Nose. My chest is heaving from the mad dash I made to get away, and despite the light makeup I put on this morning and the flush on my cheeks, I do look tired.

There are imprints under my eyes from lack of sleep, and the spark my brown pools once held is long gone. Not only from being exhausted, but from the last several years of my life, too.

I could listen to Nathan, stay here, and…hell, maybe Mr. Perfect Nose/Pretty Eyes is single. I did want a lumbersnack to throw me around. And that man…just by the strength of his hands and chest, I know he could throw even my plus-size frame around. That voice, too…

Shivers run up my spine, and I close my eyes to collect myself. I should turn around and go watch the games. I should listen to my brother and take advantage of the time I’m child-free. But that nagging voice in my head drowns out my needs and desires. I’m a mom first, and I’ve been slacking. I forgot about this slumber party, and Kas can’t show up empty-handed.

I also can’t forget my little A-frame cabin is a mess. It’s gotten bad this week after I worked a couple of extra shifts to help pay off the lawyer fees I accumulated fighting dumbass Jeremy for primary physical custody and child support.

I nibble on the inside of my cheek. It’s something I tend to do—biting my nails is another—when I’m stressed. However, there are no nails left to bite at this point.

My phone pings, snatching me from my thoughts, so I fish it out of my purse. It’s a text from work asking if I can take a morning shift next week. I quickly respond that I can, grateful for the extra money, then decide it’s a sign I need to tackle my responsibilities—no lumbersnacks or sex for me. I have shit to take care of that’s more important.

“DANE, MY MAN. THERE you are!” Levi says, stretching his long-ass arms over his dark-blond head. He’s one of those guys who’s tall and gangly and looks like he’s probably not that strong. But I’ve seen him split an eighteen-inch oak log with no problem.

He bends over and stretches some more before standing back to his full height. “I was beginning to think we’d lost you to the woods forever.” He chuckles.

“Funny.” I grin dryly. I throw my duffel with all my gear onto a folding table they’ve set up in a tent for competitors that’s mostly empty now except for two other guys and Levi. “I ran into someone.” Literally.

“A hot someone?”

I think of the woman I ran into—body made of curves and soft lines with hard nipples pressed against my overheated chest. Her eyes reminded me of rich cognac, and I’d happily drink her in all damn day. My dick comes to life in my shorts at the thought, so I try to think of something else, like the speed pole competition I’m about to take part in.

My gaze meets Levi’s as I open the zipper of my bag. The way he’s grinning has me thinking I said my thoughts out loud, though I know I didn’t.

“How’d you know?” I ask.

He bends down and tightens his knee brace. “I have a sixth sense for these things. Don’t ask further questions.”

I take out some of my gear, including my high-grip boots and climbing spurs. “You’re a weird man, Levi. Sure you’re not the one spending too much time in the woods?”

He chuckles again. “I do spend a lot of time there, but unlike you, I hang out with people in the real world, too.”

“And you think I don’t?”

“Says the man I see only a handful of times a year.”

I could argue with him, remind Levi that I don’t work full-time for Starlight Lumber & Logging like he does, especially during the summer season when work is sparse. He also doesn’t call Starlight Haven home like I do, choosing to find work as a logger in different parts of the country during the year. He has, however, been spending more time here lately, and many consider him a local.

What’s more, I could remind him that I’m not a partier like many of the guys that drift through town for work are, but we’ve had this conversation before, every time he tries to get me to hang out with him. I don’t mind Levi, even though he can be annoying, but I’m not a man who has meaningless hookups at bars or enjoys getting hammered. I haven’t been since I was in my early twenties.

“I’m here now, aren’t I?” I answer, choosing to keep things simple.

“You are, but only because the prize money is good. And you want to keep your Speed Pole Climbing Champion title five years in a row.”

The corner of my lips tips up. “Do I need more of a reason?”

“Yeah, to hang out with people who aren’t virtual.”

My jaw ticks. This is one of those moments I’m finding Levi highly annoying. This line of questioning isn’t new for him, and I know he’s baiting me to get what he wants. It’s his way of digging around in my personal life and an attempt to take a stab at my preferred line of work outside of logging, a line of work he doesn’t understand or try to.

I swallow down my annoyance and give him the same dry smile from before. “That would mean I would have to hang out with you.”

He clicks his tongue. “Yeah, and you’d have fun. Something you should try.”

“And you think I don’t have fun?”

“I mean, maybe. But I think in-person sex is better than virtual.”

I look around the tent, glad the few competitors that were here before have gone, leaving us alone. I’m positive a volunteer will come get us so they can start the competition, though—I was late getting here, and I know our event is set to begin soon.

I sit down on a nearby chair and take off my hiking boots to put on my climbing ones. “Levi, you don’t have to have sex to have fun. And need I remind you, what I do is not virtual sex.”

“So you’ve told me, but that’s hard to believe. Who plays virtual Dom to people online but doesn’t have sex with them, even the virtual kind?”

I tie the laces of my shoes before I look back up at Levi. His arms are crossed over his chest, and there are questions mixed with judgment in his blue eyes. The look reminds me why I prefer my work as a Pro Dom online to be anonymous. Levi only knows because he came across my DomInTheWoods videos on the popular app I use called Loopr and recognized my neck tattoos and voice. He agreed to keep it close to the vest, which is something I appreciate about him.

But I’m pissed he brought it up. Nobody in town knows about said persona and line of work except my friends and the owners of Starlight Lumber & Logging, Fox and Morgan.

I lower my voice despite it only being us here. “You can think what you want, Levi, but that’s not the kind of intimacy we share. Take my word for it or not, but keep your opinion to yourself.” I lace my voice with the tone I use on my clients when they’re being brats. It’s lower in my register and has a darker edge to it.

I don’t miss how the tone makes him automatically straighten.

Levi stares me down for a moment, attempting to retain whatever control he thinks he has over the conversation. But then, like a dog to his master, I see the moment he heels. His eyes soften, and his lips quirk into a smile.

“Damn, man, I won’t say anything. But fuck, I see why people pay you the big bucks.”

I stand and grab the rest of my gear from my bag. “If you want more examples, I’ll send you my price list.”

Levi, clearly still thinking I mean sex despite my declaration and warning, looks me up and down. “I don’t have a thing for men. But maybe I can make an exception for you, Daney-boy.”

It doesn’t get past me that he’s trying to regain some semblance of dominance over me. When he meets my gaze once more, I hold eye contact with him. I don’t say anything, nor do I blink.

Eventually, he shifts on his feet and sticks his hands in his pockets. “Look, man, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ruffle your feathers. I only wanted to hang out with you and have some fun. I bet you can find that hottie you ran into and invite her out if you want.”

The woman’s image enters my mind again. While she’s exactly my type and obviously had a reaction to me, she ran away faster than a rabbit with a coyote on its tail. Besides that, I’ve got my hands full with work and am not looking for a relationship or a one-night stand. My Loopr account has gone viral more than once, and I’ve got a waiting list for my Pro Dom services.

“I’ll think about it.” I’m being honest, too. I will think about it, but I already know what my answer will be. I’m only throwing him a bone to ease the tension of our conversation and get out of the tent.

Levi turns and picks up his gloves and climbing belt from the folding table as I put my belt around my waist.

“I guess that’s better than a no,” he says.

“Are you both ready?”

Levi and I turn toward the voice of a volunteer, Cheryl, a blond local that normally works at the diner.

“That we are, Cheryl-baby,” Levi says. “Think I can beat Dane here this year?”

Cheryl blushes when she looks at me. “Maybe, but probably not.”

The skin around my eyes crinkles in amusement, and I nod at Cheryl in thanks while Levi groans and pats his hand over his heart.

“You wound me.”

“He is the champion four years running,” Cheryl reminds him.

“Five,” I say confidently.

“Hey! You haven’t won yet,” Levi says. “I’ve been practicing. I’ve also put in way more logging hours than you have this year.”

Levi’s words are true, but I’m good at logging games, especially speed pole climbing. I know I’m going to win; there’s no doubt in my mind.

I pat Levi on the back and then grab the rest of my gear. “You can try.”

“Oh, Dane. I’m going to do more than try.”

“You’re going down, Dane!” Levi calls from the pole next to mine. On my other side is a man I don’t know, probably an out-of-towner who came to try to win the prize money. All some of the guys here do is compete in competitions like this and even participate in world championships. But the ninety-foot speed pole climb is the only event I compete in, and I only do it here in Starlight Haven.

I’m sure these guys know it, too. A lot of them might even have come here specifically to beat me and my record of four-point-seven-three seconds. Which I set last year and intend to beat by at least a half a second this year.

I think the man next to me says good luck, but I don’t acknowledge him or Levi, who’s talking to the man next to him. I inhale a calming breath as the announcer comes over the PA system to give us a ninety-second warning. I do a quick triple check of all my gear, making sure my fall-arrest harness is good for my descent after I win.

I secure my flipline, a rope to stabilize and assist my climb in my gloved hands, wrapping it securely around the pole. The buzz of the crowd cheering around the perimeter spikes my adrenaline, and a thirty-second warning is given. I hear grunts of the men around me, near battle cries, but I remain focused. Lifting my right leg, I secure my foot on the pole with my climbing spur.

Ba-boom. Ba-boom. Ba-boom. My heart accelerates in my chest, and I feel my pulse in my throat. It’s easy to forget how much this competition excites me since it only happens once a year, but it returns to me quickly, lighting every nerve ending in me from the soles of my feet to the roots of my hair. I inhale again, and my muscles tense, ready and waiting for the final countdown.

“Competitors ready?” the announcer asks rhetorically. “Three—”

My hands grip my flipline, and everything in me screams Win!

“Two—”

My calves tighten, and I relax my jaw so I don’t grind my teeth.

“One—”

I fill my lungs with air and focus my eyes on the wood grain of the pole.

“Go!”

My muscles bunch and release as I explode upward off the safety cushion beneath the pole. I drive my left foot up, sticking the spike on my high-grip boot into the wood. My right leg follows, and I repeat the process, my mind almost going blank as I climb upward, eating up each foot of the pole in seconds.

I breathe hard as I exert myself, loving how the dry mountain air burns my lungs. I feel alive, blood pumping through my veins, and sweat prickling at my brow. My arms and legs strain as I push my body upward and upward until I’ve hit the finish at the top of the pole.

The whole thing is over in a matter of seconds. I exhale and release the grip of my spikes on the pole, falling ninety feet toward the ground in the safe way I was trained, taught by my late dad many years ago.

The moment my feet hit the cushion at the bottom, the sound of the excited crowd is deafening. I don’t even need to hear the announcer say that I broke my own record to know that I did it. I knew I would before the competition began. When I set my mind to something, it will always happen.

I wipe the sweat off my forehead and take in several breaths to calm my burning lungs. As the world comes back to me and reality fills my ears, I realize the crowd has gone quiet, and the announcer is calling for medical attention.

Turning toward the commotion, I see Levi in a crumpled heap on the mat by his pole.

MOOSE’S IS CROWDED, NOT that I should’ve expected anything less. Not only is it a Saturday during the summer, but with the annual Lumberjack Games and the axe throwing tonight, it’s even busier than usual.

“You showed!”

I hear Nathan’s voice over the thrum of the crowd that’s well on their way to being drunk—if not drunk already—and country music playing from the old jukebox in the far corner of the bar.

I tuck a piece of hair I straightened for my rare night out behind my ear and plaster the biggest smile on my face I can muster. I’m already itching to go home and rest. I never did get to take that bath I wanted.

By the time I was done getting a gift for Moira then picking up the house, I had to run back to the games to meet Nathan and get Kas. Both were none the wiser that I ever left in the first place, though Nathan did look suspicious.

Kas was so hopped up on sugar and excitement that she didn’t stop talking about it until I dropped her off at Moira’s. She even mentioned a summer obstacle course program that one of the loggers is running, which starts on Friday. The kids she was hanging out with are doing it, and she wants to sign up too. Count that as another surprise for the day—one that I’m happy about.

“I showed,” I reply, stepping up