Baby, It's Cold Inside (A Sleeping with the Scrooge Short Story)

by Hunter King

  “You going to dinner?” she asks. That certainly sounds like an invitation. She secures the robe’s belt and reaches for her clothing, then looks expectantly at me for an answer. She’s truly adorable in that white robe and brown hiking boots.

  I guess not. I can’t get out of the pool with this boner you’ve given me.

  “I think I’ll stay in another few minutes,” I say. Damn it, I’d love to go to dinner with her, but this appendage of mine has a mind of its own. And it’s obviously thinking that it likes what it just saw. Plus, it’s been a while since I’ve had sex, which just makes it worse.

  “Suit yourself,” she says. “Or continue to un-suit yourself, in this case.”

  With a grin, she disappears down the path into the heavy snow. I watch her go, then wrap my fingers around my cock. It’s as hard as the rocks that form this pool. I laugh at the situation and start to get out, since now there’s no one to see it. I can get into my robe and hold my clothing in front of me as I walk back to my cabin. If I hurry, I can find this Sarah woman in the dining room and I won’t have to eat alone.

  Just as have that thought, I hear voices and see another couple walking towards me. They say hello, and as they strip down, I realize I’m stuck in this pool until my swollen dick decides to un-swell. No telling how long that will take. Good thing it’s invisible under the steam.

  This new couple are complete physical opposites. The woman is way too skinny, and her man has a giant belly and is covered with enough hair to make a bear jealous. We talk a little and they mention that they just had dinner and can’t get over how amazing the food was. Meanwhile, my stomach continues to call for attention.

  I mostly let the other guy do the talking. Every few minutes I check to see if I’m still erect. He talks about how wonderful Snowdon is, blathering on and on about its magical setting and heightened holiday spirit. I quickly reach the point where I’ve had enough. I bid them goodnight and step out, still half erect, and put on my robe as fast as I can. After getting into my shoes, I grab my things and head up the trail without ever looking at those two again.

  I’m cold as fuck by the time I reach the other pools and realize that this frigid weather is the perfect antidote to an aching hard-on. The heavy snow is blowing right in my face, and I push through until I reach my cabin. Once inside, I find my watch to see how much I need to hurry.

  7:57

  Perfect. My erection has cost me dinner. Looks like it’s going to be a long, hungry night.

  With no hot food in my belly, I’ll have to rely on my bourbon and this fake fireplace to keep me warm.

  Like I said, happy fucking holidays.

  Sarah

  Back in my cabin after an amazing dinner, I shake off the cold and get into my wool pajamas and thick socks. Ignoring my self-help books, I climb under the covers with a romance novel. The little lamp next to the bed has pictures of cowgirls on it and I almost feel like a little girl at summer camp—if summer camp were freezing cold and covered with a couple feet of snow.

  I was thinking that reading a romance would get my brain into a fantasy world and away from Tim, the guy I dated for the last six months, until he decided that he’d rather be with a woman with gigantic tits he met through his work as an electrician. Of course, the loser didn’t mention he was already sleeping with someone else—I learned about that from a mutual friend.

  Part of me knew all along that Tim wasn’t the right guy for me long-term, but a different part thought I could mold him into that. I could not have been more wrong. Now I just need to get past this broken heart so I can start to breathe again before I resume dating.

  The steamy romance novel does the trick, because by the time I get to the first sex scene, I haven’t thought of Tim once. Oddly enough, though, when the woman in the book watches her man undress for the first time, my mind keeps flashing back to the guy I met at pool number three, Josh, and I can’t help but replace every detail of the scene with what I witnessed with my own eyes a short while ago.

  When the man on the page removes his shirt, in my mind I see Josh removing his to reveal that absolutely ripped body I saw. His chest, his ribs, his stomach, were all tight and defined without being too big and muscular. I felt like I was violating some unwritten code of hot springs ethics when I watched him take his pants off, but by that point I couldn’t tear my eyes away.

  My little fantasy falls apart when the book mentions the woman seeing the man’s “giant man-serpent” for the first time. With naked Josh standing in as my model, I just remember seeing an average-size cock. Nice enough to look at, but neither giant nor serpentine. Reading what the character did with his dick-dragon, though, kind of makes me wish for a nice, no-strings-attached romp.

  If I were more aggressive, I’d knock on Josh’s cabin door and invite him over for hot chocolate. Then again, he already shot down my innocent dinner invitation earlier.

  I continue reading until I feel my body growing frustrated with the lack of attention it’s receiving. Setting the book down, I slide my hand into my pajama pants and under my panties. My fantasy has be thoroughly wet, and I spend the next few minutes trying in vain to bring myself to orgasm. For some reason, it just isn’t happening. Then I begin to imagine myself with Josh and within seconds know I’m going to get there. When I think about holding his trim waist and looking into that face as he plunges his hard cock into me again and again, I come so hard I squeal with pleasure and hope nobody can hear me.

  Now fully relaxed, I turn off the cowgirl lamp, then quickly fall asleep with a big smile on my face.

  Josh

  I’m climbing a mountain with two friends from my childhood. Both are in their late twenties now, like me. We spot a large cloud headed towards us and hurry to avoid it, but it catches us anyway. Within seconds, the side of the mountain gets ridiculously cold. I turn to say something to my buddies, but they’re both gone. Vanished completely.

  Suddenly I realize I’m naked except for my climbing gear. I chastise myself for leaving my clothes somewhere else. What the hell was I thinking? I rapidly become so cold that my teeth begin to chatter, and my fingers feel numb. I start to panic because I can no longer grip anything and am in danger of falling to my death.

  That’s when I wake up. At first, I’m relieved that I wasn’t really on a mountain naked, but am instead wearing underwear and a shirt, safe and snug in my bed in the cabin. Something’s wrong, though: My teeth are chattering, and my fingers are ice cold, as are my nose, cheeks, and ears.

  What the fuck?

  I sit up in bed and instantly know the electricity has gone out. A simple test of the lamp on the bedside table proves my hunch. Knowing I can’t spend the night like this, I hurry to get dressed in the dark, putting on the warmest clothing I brought with me. Then I venture outside to go to the lodge and report this outage.

  Although the snow has stopped falling for now, it’s already piled three feet high out here in the woods. Even the path between the cabins and the lodge has a foot of snow where people have tamped it down by walking on it.

  And the cold! There’s a cold wind blowing, with gusts that threaten to freeze my balls on the spot. I’ve been skiing in much warmer weather than this. After thirty seconds outside of the cabin, I’m thinking I’ll just sleep in the library if the electricity is on there.

  As I approach the building, though, I see it’s completely dark, save for spots moving around inside, obviously flashlights. I navigate the treacherously iced wooden steps, and just before I reach the front door a guy steps out, flashlight in hand.

  “Don’t bother,” he says angrily. “They can’t do anything.”

  He turns and aims the flashlight at a thermometer hanging on a post at the top of the stairs.

  “Holy fuck, we’re in for a long night,” he seethes. I look at the thermometer and see it’s two degrees Fahrenheit. “I’ll sue these motherfuckers,” he says as he stomps away.

  I enter the building to see what’s going on for myself. Severa
l employees are running around, bringing supplies to the lobby. My heart sinks when I realize it’s about as cold in here as it is in the cabin.

  A woman there sees me and shines her light in my direction. “We’re so sorry,” she says. “We’re doing everything we can to fix it.”

  “What happened?” I ask.

  “Blackout,” one of the other guys replies. “The cold and snow must have taken out some lines or something. We spoke to Atlantic Coast Power and Electric and they said there’s no power for miles.”

  “Are they coming out to fix it?”

  “Yeah, but they’re still trying to determine where the damage is,” he says before disappearing down a hallway with his flashlight lighting the way.

  “They said they’re throwing every spare worker at it, and have called in emergency crews,” the woman says, “but they estimate it’ll be at least three hours, maybe twice that.”

  “What do we do in the meantime?” I ask. “Is there a real fireplace in this building? Or does the kitchen have gas stoves?”

  She just shakes her head. “No fireplace anywhere on the property. The stoves and ovens are electric.” Nodding to the gathered supplies, she says. “We have a few spare blankets and water bottles, but we need to make sure they go to the oldest people here, or anyone who is sick or disabled.”

  Great. Guilt me into not taking one. “Can I at least get a flashlight?”

  She sends someone in search of a spare, and he comes back with a small one. Realizing it’s better than nothing, I take It.

  “We’re sorry!” the woman calls out behind me as I walk out into the frozen night.

  Bah humbug indeed.

  Back on the path to the cabins, I see a couple of employees carrying blankets to some of the guests. My teeth are chattering hard as I pass the cabin I’d seen that Sarah woman enter earlier. I pause for a second, wondering whether I should check on her. Suddenly her door opens just enough for her face to emerge.

  “Oh, hi,” she says, undoubtedly thinking I’m either a stalker or a pervert. “What’s going on? My cabin is freezing!”

  “They all are. Power outage. The people at the lodge said the power company is working on it, but it’ll be a few hours.”

  I shine the flashlight on my face, then realize I probably look ghoulish and shine it on the side of her cabin, which illuminates us both just a little.

  “Holy shit. Can we go to the main building to wait it out?”

  “Power’s out for miles, no electricity anywhere. It’s just as cold in the lodge.”

  “Don’t they have gas stoves?” Her teeth are now chattering like mine.

  “Nope. We are fucked. I was just coming to check on you.”

  “What are you going to do?” Sarah asks. Even with blue lips, she’s still quite lovely.

  “Wait it out in the cabin, I guess. Try to stay as warm as possible.”

  “I’d give my left tit for some hot chocolate,” she says.

  I laugh at her exaggeration. “No need to do anything quite that drastic. I have the next best thing.”

  She frowns at me. Oops. “No, not that,” I hurry to say. “Bourbon. And because alcohol doesn’t freeze, it’s still drinkable.”

  “That sounds like heaven,” Sarah says, her frown turning into a smile.

  “Can we drink it in your cabin? I’d hate for you to have to come outside even for a few seconds.”

  She looks at me like she’s appraising my trustworthiness. Either she’s satisfied by what she sees, or her desire to be warmed up from the stomach outward wins the battle.

  “Sure, bring it over.”

  Sarah

  I don’t care that I came here to get some distance from men—I’m freezing my ass off and a little alcohol might help to keep me warm until they get the damn power back on. I don’t really have any better options at the moment.

  Josh knocks on my door and I let him in. The cabin would be pitch black if it weren’t for the glow from the little battery-operated lantern the resort provides for its guests. Walking to and from the soaking pools after the sun goes down would be a dicey proposition otherwise.

  “Jesus, it’s beyond freezing out there,” he says.

  “It’s not much better in here,” I reply as he sets down two Styrofoam cups, then opens the bottle of bourbon and pours two healthy shots.

  He looks up and grins. “The opposite of the song, right?”

  “What song?”

  “You know,” he passes me a cup as he starts to sing, a little off-key. “Baby, it’s cold outside. Only in our case, it’s: Baby, it’s cold inside.”

  “Haha. So true.”

  I lift my cup to touch it to his, then we each take a big sip. I fight off the urge to cough, then feel the burn of the bourbon making its way down my throat into my stomach.

  “That’s so good,” I say. “Thanks for sharing.”

  He takes a seat in the cabin’s lone chair while I sit on the edge of the single bed. “You’re welcome. Better than freezing alone, right?”

  “Definitely. So, what’s your story, Josh? It seems like we’re the only single people at Awtenbush this weekend. What brings you here?”

  His eyes seem to glow in the dim lantern light. Are they green? It’s hard to tell.

  “I’ve been stressed lately, work-wise,” he says. “The harder I try, the less things improve. On top of that, I’m not much one for holiday spirit.”

  “Steer clear of Snowdon, then,” I warn.

  “Too late. I drove through on my way here. Only stopped to get something to drink, though, so I wasn’t there long enough for the magic to infect me. Anyway, I thought maybe a weekend here at Awtenbush would distract me for a while.”

  “Is it working?” I ask.

  “At the moment, definitely,” he says. I feel a little rush of… what is it called, that feeling when you realize someone is flirting with you? It doesn’t matter, though, because it vanishes with his next sentence. “Right now I can only think about how frozen I’m becoming.”

  “Take another sip, then.” I don’t know why it stings a little that he doesn’t consider me a distraction, but it does.

  We each take another sip.

  “How about you?” Josh asks. “What brings Sarah out into the wilderness by herself the weekend before Christmas?”

  I sigh. Just picturing Tim’s face makes the pain return. “A breakup.”

  “Ouch. Sorry to hear that,” he says.

  “Well, hopefully one day soon I’ll see that it was for the best.”

  “So he’s the one who did the breaking up?” Josh asks. “And feel free to tell me to shut the hell up if you’d rather not talk about it with a complete stranger.”

  “We’re not complete strangers; we’ve seen each other naked.” It almost looks like he blushes. Again, it’s hard to tell. “Anyway, let’s change the subject.”

  “Fair enough. Maybe we could talk about… hey, wait a minute.” His eyes grow wide. “The pools!”

  “I thought about that earlier, but I’m assuming they get cold once the pumps stop bringing the spring water to the surface.”

  “Didn’t you hear Robby say that the pumps are powered by the river’s current? No electricity needed!”

  “Oh my god,” I say. “You’re right. I’m willing to stay in there for however many hours it takes for the power to come back on.”

  “Finish your bourbon,” he says. “To keep you warm until we get there.”

  I down it all in one gulp, not willing to wait a moment longer to feel that hot water. Josh does the same, and we stand simultaneously.

  That’s when I realize I need to put my swimsuit on. Now that I actually know this man a little, I’d rather not get in the naked pool with him again. Oddly enough, it seems like it would be much more awkward than when we were complete strangers.

  “I need to change, first. Getting naked in this freezing cold cabin is going to suck.”

  I’m hoping he gets the hint. He does. “I have to change, too
,” he grins and says. “I’ll be back in a couple of minutes. I promise if I find you frozen stiff, I’ll carry you to the pools to thaw you off.”

  Then he steps outside, a fresh blast of artic wind entering the cabin. I take a deep breath, then begin to strip, thankful for what little warmth the bourbon is giving me. I know my body temperature hasn’t changed at all, but it feels like it, and that’s just as important right now.

  When I’m down to my panties, I think about Josh walking back in and catching me like this. It’s not a horrible thought, to be honest. He seems like a good guy, and he’s certainly handsome enough. Maybe a weekend fling would be just the distraction I need from Tim.

  The point is moot, as I’m fully dressed again by the time Josh knocks politely. “Ready?” he says when I open the door.

  We head down the trail toward the pools, both of us carrying our robes with us, despite being bundled in winter wear. I don’t know about him, but there’s no way I’m walking back to my cabin afterwards wearing only a robe and shoes. I’ll dry off in the freezing cold, then use my robe as a makeshift dressing room as I take my wet suit off and get my clothes back on.

  The lantern Josh is holding lights the way as we descend the slight slope through the snow. We round the bend to see the pool number one, which is light by a circle of lanterns placed around it. Inside, couples are stuffed like sardines. They look at us and I know instantly that they don’t want us even trying to squeeze in there.

  “Pool number two?” I say, my teeth already chattering. Josh nods and we continue down the trail.

  Pool number two is the same: lots of lanterns, but no space.

  “Well, shit,” Josh says. He looks at me to see whether I’m game.

  “Let’s try pool number three,” I say. “Anything for hot water.”

  As we approach the third pool, I’m surprised to see two couples climbing into the water wearing swimsuits. I guess the rules get thrown out the window in an emergency.