His dad had stridden into the cabin, and Marty heard him opening the windows to begin airing the long-closed-up space out, while leaving Marty in the truck to wake up. The thing was, Marty was already awake and had been the entire drive up the mountain. He’d also been frustratingly aware of his dad’s every movement next to him. Feeling every scratch from his dad’s hairy arm against his smoother skin when he shifted the truck’s gears, or brushed against him when Martin picked up his coffee cup or replaced it in the cup holder. He’d felt it all. How could a single year change so much, he wondered. Last year he’d been a curious sixteen-year-old, occasionally crushing on his dad, and had even fallen asleep for part of the drive up, but not this year. He rolled down the window, enjoying the fresh mountain air, and reflected on the past year. It had been loaded with personal highs for both of them. Dad’s business had experienced massive growth with two large government contracts.
