I couldn’t stop my hands from diving into his pants. Thankful he wasn’t wearing overalls, my cold hand met his hot skin, making him jump. I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. All I could think about was having him in my hand. When I finally made it, I wrapped my palm around his silken steel shaft, earning another thrust from him.
He growled and nipped at my neck again, rolling the tendon between his teeth. I stroked him quickly, desperate to feel him lose control. I felt beautiful, desired, powerful. With him in my hand I dropped to my knees in the snow, looking up into his eyes. The question was there, and was met with an answer. An answer that told me I had fooled one person into believing I was the new Addi. The carefree Addi. The seductress Addi.
I wasn’t the Addi who refused to get under a table for a stranger. I was brave. I was confident. I was going to kneel in the snow and give this beautiful man the best blow job of his life if it killed me.
Nine
“Oh, Jesus,” he groaned as my lips closed around his erection. His hand drifted into my long brown hair, holding me in place. I gripped his hips and pushed my head back against his hand. He got the message, allowing me to move, guiding me how he wanted me. He moaned softly, his hips jerking with the movement of my lips around him.
The cool snow sept through my pants into my knees, but I didn’t care. I could feel Joey getting closer, his cock bulging in my mouth. “Oh, fuck, Addi, I’m not going to last.”
I gripped his hips harder, relaxing my jaw and focusing on making him come. I opened my eyes, taking in the sight of him sliding in and out of my mouth. It was intoxicating. I was getting wetter and wetter, loving the power I felt I had over him.
Was this how Cass felt under the table?
Damn.
Maybe she was on to something.
“Shit. Now. You’ve gotta move. Now,” Joey groaned. tugging on my hair.
I shook him free and drew him further into my mouth, sucking hard when he touched the back of my throat. He jerked, his hips thrusting toward me as he came, hard and hot. His guttural moan of my name sent tingles through every last inch of my body and made me want to hear the sound again. Blood roared in my ears and desire coursed through me.
Wow, that felt good.
So much for boring old Addi James.
I slowly withdrew from him and swallowed the salty fluid. Gazing up at him from my knees I admired the muscles in his thighs, the fullness of his still rigid cock, and the strength of the man before me. That I could bring someone like him to a groaning puddle of goo made me grin.
“What are you smiling at?” he inquired.
“That was fun,” I confessed.
He grunted a laugh. “You’re not like most women, Ms. James.”
I snorted a laugh. If he only knew. “I think I’lll choose to take that as a compliment.”
“It was meant to be one. I hope you know I didn’t bring you here for that. Not that I’m complaining,” he said as he tucked himself back in his boxer briefs and ski pants. Once he was all buttoned up again he faced me. “I think it’s time for some payback.”
I scooted out of his reach. “Oh, no. I’m on the clock. I’ve been away long enough. We should get back.”
Something that looked frighteningly close to shame crossed his face before he could steel his features. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I just- Let’s go.”
I wanted to know what he was going to say, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask. It wasn’t a big deal. He got something out of it, and honestly, so did I. I was pretty pleased with myself, and feeling pretty damn good. Hell, if nothing else, it was nice to have someone to fantasize about when I was feeling frisky.
I followed Joey out of the woods, trying to decide if I should say something else. He seemed off in his own little world, like he was upset. Why any guy would be pissed he just got an unexpected blow job I had no idea, but he appeared to be chastising himself for something.
Brushing it off as no more than my imagination, we emerged from our little cocoon into a deserted area of the slopes. Grateful no one had seen us, I quickly clipped my skis back on and dug my poles into the snow.
“Are you heading back down?” I asked, trying not to blush at the innuendo I didn’t intend.
Joey glanced away from me, looking up at the slopes that towered above our small hill. “I think I’ll head up and check on the others. Some of those kids are pretty good. I want to make sure they’re not testing their limits too much.”
I tried not to be disappointed that he was basically ditching me. What did I expect? A proposal? Even I wasn’t that naive.
“Okay, sounds good. Thanks for your help with them.”
“Just doing my job,” Joey said with an edge in his voice.
“I’ll, uh, see you later then,” I said, turning toward the bunny hill I was on. Joey grunted something in return, but I kept going. I wasn’t up for an awkward moment after. It wasn’t worth it.
At the bottom of the hill I found a few of the students who’d been with me on the first run, the freshman I didn’t really know. Instead of being one of those teachers who tried to be cool and make friends with them, I skied to the other side, near the rental shack, and dropped onto a bench. The cool, fresh air felt good on my heated skin. I couldn’t get the image of Joey out of my head, keeping my body temperature elevated. I didn’t need to be around a bunch of teenagers when I was feeling like that.
“Hey, Miss James,” I heard above the noise around me and turned to find Kendall approaching.
“Hey Kendall. How was skiing today?”
She wrinkled her nose, reminding me just how young she really was. Her light brown hair was tucked beneath a rainbow hat that brought out her bright blue eyes. She was adorable in a pink ski jacket and navy ski pants with pink cheeks that made her look both happy and youthful.
“It was okay, I guess. I’m not as good as the others though. I need to practice some more.”
“You’ll get it. Just keep practicing. Are things going well with you and Braden?” I asked, hoping to get some information about her. I knew I shouldn’t dislike students, but I really struggled to find redeeming qualities about him. Maybe Kendall could share some with me.
“Yeah, I guess. I like him. He’s funny and smart and really cute. But his ex is still hanging around. I’m not really sure what I should do.”
Oh, boy. I was so not qualified to handle boy issues. Then again, I asked. It was my own fault. As usual.
“What does he say about his ex? Are things over with them?”
Kendall nodded. “Yeah, he says it’s over, but I’ve heard that they still get together a lot. Their parents are friends or something. I just don’t know how I feel about being with him if he’s still spending a lot of time with her.”
“Well, trust is a huge thing. If you can’t trust someone then it’s almost impossible to be with them. My friend, Claire, had a lot of trust issues. When she started dating her husband it was hard for her to let her guard down. Both of them had to go slowly in getting to know each other and finding ways to trust. If you’re already doubting Braden then maybe it’s not worth it.”
Kendal scrunched up her face like I just fed her a bowl of lemons. That was obviously not what she wanted to hear.
“How do I know if it’s just Belinda saying these things so I’ll leave him alone and she can get back together with him?”
I shrugged. “That’s the beauty of a relationship. You don’t know. It’s what sucks, but also what makes a good relationship great. If you do trust him, and find out he’s telling the truth, then it’ll restore that much more faith in him. If you don’t trust him, then you could miss out on something great. It’s something no one can ever answer for you. You have to figure out for yourself if you’re ready to trust someone.”
Kendall blew out a long breath and pursed her lips together. She watched the slopes, probably looking for Braden and Belinda. It was a difficult spot for her to be in, and one I didn’t envy her for. High schoo
l was challenging enough without having to figure out if a boy was being honest or not.
Not to mention the girls. Jeez. Most of the times the girls were worse than the boys. Manipulative. Vindictive. Nasty. Things had changed a lot since I was in high school.
“I guess you’re right. I need to trust him. If he tells me things are over with Belinda I need to believe him. Otherwise I’ll never find out if things could be good with us.”
Taking a deep breath, Kendall pushed off from her seat and went back out on the slopes. I shook my head, watching her go, and wishing I was so confident.
“Do you really believe that?” Joey asked from way too close to me.
“Jesus, you scared me,” I stammered, my hand flying to my chest.
“Sorry,” he said, sitting in the same spot Kendall just vacated. “Do you really think that trust is something you can ever truly have in a relationship?”
Confused by his question, I narrowed my eyes at him, willing him to continue.
“Do you ever really know someone? Is trust something you can truly give or do you always end up holding a few cards to your chest, just in case?”
Thinking over his question, I stared out at the young skiers flying around us. I wanted to say I believed everything I told Kendall, but he was right. In some way you never really knew another person. And trust was something that you had to give over and over again, and hope it didn’t blow up in your face.
Like it did with my parents.
“I want to believe in it. That trust matters. That you can trust someone enough to not worry they’ll betray you one day. In the end though, I guess I don’t know. After 35 years, my parents just split up. I don’t think it’ll stick, but my mom moved in with my sister last week.”
“Ouch. That had to hurt.”
I shrugged. “It’s all weird. Mom won’t really say what happened and Dad isn’t returning my calls. I keep thinking it’s just a matter of getting them back together and things’ll be fine. I’ll take care of it before too long. They’ll be back together by Christmas, I have no doubt.”
Joey looked at me, the wheels spinning in his head. “You take care of everyone but yourself, don’t you?”
I bristled, not wanting another person telling me I wasn’t living my life. “I take care of myself just fine, thank you.”
He studied me for a minute before nodding once. “Yeah, I can see that too. You’re quite a mystery to me, Ms. James. One I hope to be able to figure out.”
A warmth spread through me, one I didn’t want to identify. He was getting to me. Making me think things I had no business thinking. Joey was a distraction. A beautiful distraction, but still just a distraction. I had to remind myself of that.
Constantly.
“Well, for now I think you’re going to have to settle for figuring out how to get all my students back on the bus because it’s about time for us to head back to school.”
Joey stared at me for a minute, not breaking eye contact. It was intense. It was frightening. It was too much.
I looked away, seeing Rich and Amber approaching us. Heat flooded my cheeks at being caught in such an intimate moment with Joey. Then I remembered our other intimate moment and my whole body flushed. Shit, I was going to need to wear less clothes next time.
No, wait, that didn’t work either.
“Are we ready to head out?” Amber asked, eyeing Joey.
I immediately felt my hackles rise, wanting to tell her to back off. But I couldn’t. I had no claim over him. And I didn’t want to claim him.
He was a distraction.
Just a distraction.
“Yeah,” Joey said, dragging his eyes from me to smile at Amber. Ouch, that hurt. “The kids should be back any minute. I told the group at the top of the slopes to head down after their next run. The ones on the blue runs are already starting to gather.”
Amber smiled and rested her hand on Joey’s arm. “We’re so lucky to have you working with us this year. You’re always on top of things,” she cooed.
“Just doing my job,” Joey said, reiterating the same thing he’d told me an hour earlier. I wondered what he meant but didn’t stick around for clarification. If he was moving on to Amber, I wasn’t going to stand in his way.
I filed onto the bus with the students, watching out the window as Amber and Joey talked a few more minutes. I told myself it didn’t matter. That I didn’t care. That she could have him. But with each second they stood there talking I knew I was lying to myself.
I also knew that what I’d told Kendall about trust was harder than I’d ever imagined. And that trust was going to be hard for me to give away, if I ever tried again.
Ten
“I am so ready for tonight,” Sam nearly yelled as we piled out of my car. “It’s going to be a great night!”
“You just want to get drunk,” I teased. “You don’t care about anything else.”
“True. I’ll definitely agree to that. It’s been a long week and I can use a mental break.”
“Um, yeah, I’m right there with you. What do you think about Xander’s friend coming too?”
“Drew? Who cares. Hopefully he’s hot. Mandy said he’s a really nice guy.”
I shrugged. “It’s sort of weird bringing in a new guy who isn’t part of our group though. I don’t know if I’ll know what to say to him.”
“How about ‘Let’s find a snowy spot for a BJ?’” Sam sing-songed.
I groaned and rolled my eyes. “I never should have told you about that. I still can’t believe I did it.”
Sam guffawed. “I’m proud as hell of you. I think it’s hot. And it definitely showed that you have more Cass in you than I ever gave you credit for. First, isolated clearings in the woods. Second, under the table at dinner.”
“Argh, never! That was so disgusting! Ick.” I shuddered.
Sam laughed. “Maybe if Joey was the one ready to drop trou in the restaurant you wouldn’t have been so turned off.”
“Nah,” we chorused.
“There’s the element of danger and getting caught and then there’s being a skanky whore. I think Cass crossed the line.”
I wrapped my arm around Sam’s shoulders and hugged her to my side. “And that’s why you’re my best friend. You can always put things so succinctly, and artfully.”
We laughed as we rang the doorbell. Mandy had been our friend for years, but neither of us felt comfortable just walking into the house she shared with Xander, no matter how many times they told us to.
Music poured out of the house as the door swept open. Intoxicating smells mixed with the heat of the warm house and welcomed us in, along with Mandy. “One of these days you guys will just waltz right in.”
“And one of these days we’ll catch you and Xander screwing on the couch,” Sam quipped back.
“Ha! You probably would if it wasn’t an announced visit! The man is an animal!”
“Are you talking about me?” Xander bellowed from the kitchen.
We followed the sound of his voice toward the rest of the party. Claire and Aidan were cuddled together on the couch in what appeared to be a private conversation. We waved as we walked past, not wanting to interrupt them. Lexi was in the kitchen with Charlie, perusing the snacks Mandy had out. Xander and Mike were in the kitchen, cooking.
“We’re just talking about what a fabulous cook you are, honey!” Mandy teased.
“I know that tone of voice. You were saying something dirty,” Xander hugged Mandy to his side and kissed the top of her head.
“Me? No. I wouldn’t do that!” Mandy said with mock innocence.
Everyone laughed, knowing Mandy and Sam could compete for dirtiest minds in our group of friends. The doorbell rang again and Mandy shook her head. “When will you people learn that if we invite you over we promise to have clothes on?”
I laughed and watched Mandy go let Drew in. I immediately felt my spine stiffen and my nerves ratchet up. I didn’t like meeting new people, especially adults. As a teac
her I always had some sense of authority over new people. Even the first day of school with all new students didn’t get me anxious. I loved knowing I had 20 or 30 kids in each class that I would be able to help understand some of the mysteries of chemistry.
But with adults it was different. They either looked down on each other for some made up reason or dismissed each other because of something irrelevant. Meeting a new adult made me more than a little anxious.
“Need a drink?” Xander asked as I heard Mandy laugh at something Drew must have said.
“Yes,” I breathed, grateful he was willing to take care of all of us the way he took care of his fiancée. Mandy was a lucky woman, and not just because he was sweet. Xander was more than easy on the eyes, too.
Not that I was lusting after my friend’s man. I just couldn’t help but notice.
Xander handed me a tall glass full of ice and something blue. I didn’t really care what it was, but I was a little skeptical. I’d never been too into fruity drinks.
“Try it,” Xander insisted. “It’s our cocktail of the night. We’re insisting everyone tries at least one. I’m calling it a Frozen Tumbler.”
“You’ve lived here too long,” a deep, smooth voice said from behind me. “Naming your drinks the same way this crazy town names its streets.”
“Yeah, well, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, right?” Xander said with a grin. He came around the edge of the island and exchanged a man hug, with a hard slap on the back for each of them. The two men almost could have been brothers. With matching brown hair, one hazel and one brown set of eyes, and shoulders that a girl could hang on to and never want to let go of, they were downright sexy. I watched them pound each other on the back and wondered where the fun was in that, but they both pulled away smiling, apparently no worse for the wear. I think I’d have ended up regurgitating my lunch if they hit me that hard.
“I guess that’s the truth,” Drew said. “Got one for me?”
“Of course. Come meet the gang,” Xander said, passing over another Frozen Tumbler. “This is Addi. She teaches high school chemistry. Sam is the photographer of the group,” Xander nodded to Sam, who joined us.
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