by A. K. Evans
As we approached Hannah’s car she spoke, “Thanks again for covering me next Tuesday, Charley. Enjoy having Thursday off.”
“It’s no problem at all, Hannah. See you tomorrow.”
Hannah made it to her car while Wes and I continued walking to our cars. “You have the day off Thursday?”
“Well I’m still working at the diner Thursday morning, but Hannah needed me to cover her day shift next Tuesday so she’s going to swap and take my shift here Thursday evening.”
“Got any plans for Thursday evening yet?”
“No, I mean, she just asked me…” I trailed off because we had made it to the cars and when I looked at him he was staring at me with a smirk on his face. “What?”
“Meet me here at the usual time Thursday. I’ll give you your lessons and then I’m having dinner with you,” he said.
I stared back. This was not going to be good. I couldn’t do this. I could not open myself up to this. “Wes, I’m flattered, but…” I couldn’t finish because he cut me off.
“Gorgeous. I’ve been waiting for the right time to ask you to have dinner with me. Figured I’d wait and give you lessons for at least a week before taking the next step. The way I see it, your girl asking you to switch shifts with her is an opportunity that we should not let pass since it does not seem like you have off very often.”
I stared at him a beat. This was going to be trouble. I knew it. Against my better judgement, I accepted his invitation anyway. “Ok. I’ll meet you here on Thursday for lessons,” I said.
“And dinner afterwards,” he added, taking a step closer to me.
“And dinner afterwards,” I repeated.
“You eat steak?” he asked, his lips coming closer to mine with one hand behind my head and the other splayed on my hip.
“I eat steak,” I answered.
Wes gently brushed his lips against mine. He playfully teased my lips with his tongue. I opened my mouth and allowed his tongue to slip inside and stroke against my tongue. The kiss started off sweet and gentle and quickly grew wet and hot. When Wes kissed me last week it was the first time I’d kissed a guy in nearly a year. I hadn’t had sex in nearly two years. Standing there with his lips on mine and his tongue in my mouth I was once again feeling things I hadn’t felt in a very long time. I let out a moan and that made him grip my hip harder and pull me closer to him. Wes groaned and pulled his mouth away from mine.
“If we don’t stop now, I’m putting you in my truck and taking you back to my place,” he said.
“We should probably stop now, then.”
“Get in your Jeep, Charley,” he ordered through gritted teeth.
“Ok, Wes.” I did what he asked, mostly because I felt bad. I knew that I couldn’t take that next step with him and I had felt the evidence of what our little make out session had done to him. I put my window down and looked to him, “Thank you for coming back to see me safely to my car. Good night.”
“Good night.”
I smiled at him, put my window up, and drove away. When I got home I took a shower and got in bed. My cell phone dinged indicating I had received a text. It was from Wes.
I’m thinking I made a mistake. I should have put you in my truck.
Me: If it makes you feel any better, I’ll admit that it wasn’t easy to get in my Jeep. With a little bit of work, I may have been easily swayed to go with you.
Wes: Fuck.
Me: Haha. I’m sorry. I had fun, though. And I haven’t had that in a very long time. Thank you for the snowboarding lessons, the gear, and the kisses.
Wes: You want me to come pick you up now?
Me: I’m already showered and warm in my bed. I’m NOT going back out in the cold!
Wes: Fuck!
Me: Good night, Wes. xx
Wes: Sleep, gorgeous.
I put my phone back on my nightstand and tried to get to sleep. I soon realized Wes wasn’t the only one who’d gotten worked up and had no release. I slipped one of my hands into my panties and imagined it was Wes’ hand touching me. Within minutes I came and fell asleep, warm in my bed.
Chapter 6
Charley
It felt like it was only a couple hours later that I was walking back into the diner. I was feeling much better after having some time this morning to draw. I walked to the room off the back of the kitchen and saw Greg.
“You’re back, Gregory” I stated the obvious.
“In the flesh, girl.”
“Spill. And don’t leave out a single detail.”
“It was fabulous. Tony’s parents are so amazing and so supportive. The whole ride there I was freaking out and Tony kept telling me to relax. He said his parents were awesome and they’d love me. Of course, having the negative reaction from my parents that I did when I came out to them made me even more nervous. Tony’s parents already knew he was gay and have accepted him from day one, but it didn’t change the fact that my nerves were shot dreading the possibility that they might not like me.”
“You poor thing. So, what happened when you got there?”
“Tony’s mom came running out to the car with open arms…literally. She hugged him and then walked right up to me and hugged me. She told me that she’d heard a lot about me from Tony and that it was so great to finally meet me. I had no idea he’d told her so much about me. It was shocking, but it felt satisfyingly good to know that he’d shared our relationship with them and that they wanted to meet me.”
“That’s such awesome news, Greg. I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks. I’m on cloud nine right now, girl. Today is gonna be a great day…I can feel it.”
I smiled at him and thought how every day he was at work was a great day. He brought such joy to the place as is that Greg in a mood such as he was now would only mean a fantastic time for not only the patrons, but the rest of the staff as well.
A couple hours later, I realized Greg was right. The day had been great. The diner had a steady flow of customers and with Greg on ‘cloud nine’ he was a blast to be around.
“Not hanging around past your shift today?” Greg asked.
“Can’t. I’ve got plans before my shift starts at the resort,” I answered.
“Plans? What plans?”
“I’m kinda learning how to snowboard.”
“You holding out on me, girl? You’ve been working here for how long now? Never have you had plans other than the one weekend I’m not here to join in. Now you’re telling me you have plans that involve you kinda learning how to snowboard,” he stated disbelievingly.
“I’m not holding out on you, Greg. I’ve always wanted to learn how to ride and Wes has offered to teach me.”
“Wes?”
“Blackman. Wes Blackman.”
“Are you shittin’ me? Wes Blackman is giving you snowboarding lessons?”
“Yes. Why? Do you know him, too?”
“Charley. Girl, Wes Blackman is a legend in the snowboarding world. You don’t live in Wyoming, especially Rising Sun, and not know who Wes Blackman is. Didn’t know he was offering lessons. That man is one fine piece of eye candy. I might have to sign up for lessons just to spend some time looking at him. Think he’ll catch me if I fall?”
“Two problems with that, Greg. First, he’s not offering lessons, at least, not that I’m aware of. He kinda just offered them to me. Brought me a bunch of gear, wouldn’t let me pay for it, and then gave me my first lesson yesterday. Second, you have a boyfriend. And may I remind you that you just got back from meeting his parents?”
“It doesn’t count if the guy I’m getting lessons from is straight. Besides, Tony is well aware of how I feel about him,” he said and paused to smiled. “So, you’re getting private lessons? I go away for one fucking weekend and I miss the first piece of action you get since I've met you.”
I shook my head and laughed, “You’re crazy. I have to go.”
“I’ll let you go for now, but this conversation is not over.”
“See ya, Gr
eg.”
“Bye, Charley,” he answered. As I turned to walk away I heard him mumbling, “Fucking private fucking lessons with Wes fucking Blackman.”
I walked out of the diner and to my Jeep with a smile on my face. I still had the smile on my face when I made it to Parks Ridge and pulled into my space next to where Wes was already parked.
He got out, rounded my Jeep, opened the door, and I stepped out.
“Hi, gorgeous,” Wes said as he leaned down and kissed me quickly on the lips.
“Hi, Wes,” I replied.
“Ready for day two?”
“My body aches in places I didn’t know existed, so while I might be mentally ready for day two I’m going to need you to take it easy on me physically.”
Wes’ eyes lit up and then he winked at me. “I think I can manage that.”
We made our way out to the mountain and I immediately strapped my left foot in. I knew to keep the right foot out of the bindings on the board until I was up at the top of hill.
Yesterday, when we first started our lesson Wes had come up behind me, caught me off guard, and pushed me. He literally pushed me. It wasn’t hard enough that he hurt me or made me fall, but it caused me to take a step forward. I had turned around and asked him why he pushed me and he said I wasn’t goofy. I stared at him puzzled and then he went on to explain that he pushed me to see what foot I’d try to catch myself with. That was usually the best way to find out what someone’s stance on a board should be. There were two options, regular and goofy. If your left foot leads, it’s regular while the right foot leading is goofy. I was, apparently, a regular rider.
Wes and I went over to the magic carpet, another thing I learned about yesterday. For the beginner hill that Wes was using to teach me the basics a standard lift was not used. There was what was called a magic carpet. It was basically a conveyor belt that ran up the side of the hill and would take you to the top. Of course, I thought I was going to easily be able to handle this; however, when I got to the top and had to get off I literally fell over my foot that was attached to the board. Lovely.
As part of my lesson the day before, Wes had explained what the toe and heel edges were and how I could use either to slow down or even stop myself completely. Yesterday I spent a good portion of the lessons learning the terms, turning the board sideways so that the tip of the board was pointed forward and then I’d come immediately back to my heel edge. I did this once down the mountain and then went back up and did the same thing, but the second time I would descend a little and only use my toe edge to stop.
We rode the magic carpet to the top of the hill and I got off without incident, thankfully. The rest of my lesson was spent learning how to link from my heel edge to my toe edge. I started at the top on my heel edge looking down the hill, I’d get myself going, turn and stop on my toe edge, start going again, turn and stop on my heel. I fell a couple times, but not nearly as many as yesterday. I found I enjoyed going to my toe edge to stop much better because not only did I learn that I stopped better and fell less when I did this, but also that I ended up coming face to face with Wes, who was always right behind me. It felt good knowing he was right at my back following me down.
Overall, I admitted that I had improved, but I was definitely no professional yet. Additionally, I was absolutely not ready for riding down a trail. Following my lesson, Wes walked with me back to my Jeep so that I could put all my new gear away before heading in to work.
“So, I’ll be here today riding the pipe while you’re working,” he said as we walked to the car.
“Oh man. I am really wishing I didn’t have to work now. I would love to see you do that,” I told him.
“I’ll show you another day.”
“Really? Do you promise?”
He chuckled. “Yes, Charley. I promise I’ll ride for you another day.”
“How about Friday?”
“Ok. Friday.”
“Yay!!”
He smiled at me. We made it to my car and unloaded all of my gear. I closed the car, locked it, and then turned to walk back to the lodge. Wes was standing right in front of me, smiling wickedly.
“What?” I asked.
“So adorable. Only woman I know that gets that excited over watching someone else do something they love.”
I sucked in a breath and quickly tried to hide my reaction to his words by turning to walk towards the lodge. We walked back in silence and then he told me he’d be back when I was finished with work.
I walked up and saw both Hannah and Mark at the coffee stand.
“Wes Blackman? Seriously, Charley?” Mark asked in disbelief.
I looked to Hannah and glared. She giggled.
“He’s giving me snowboarding lessons, Mark.” I replied.
“Right. First, he’s Wes Blackman. He doesn’t need to give anybody lessons. Second, he’s not just giving you lessons, Charley. He makes sure you make it to your car every night.”
“He is being a good citizen and looking out for women who walk in parking lots at night.”
“Except that you’re the only woman he’s doing that for,” Hannah said, grinning at me.
“No. He made sure you got to your car last night, too.”
“Charley, he didn’t wait around to walk me to my car. He waited for you. I happened to be here with you when we closed. My car was on the way to yours.”
I sighed. “Oh, whatever.”
I got to work and didn’t push the conversation any further. Hannah was there for about an hour after I arrived and then she left. Mark left another two hours after that. I was the only one closing tonight. It was steady so the hours ticked by quickly. Before I knew it, the crowds had thinned significantly and Wes was walking back in. I finished up my nightly duties and shut everything down.
“How’d it go?” I asked as we walked out of the lodge.
“It was good. Worked on some new tricks. How was work?” Wes answered and then asked.
“You’re like a legend around here,” I told him.
“What?”
“Hannah told Mark about you giving me lessons and walking me to my car at night. Apparently, everyone in this town knows who you are.”
“Yeah, I guess so. This town lives for winter sports.”
We made it to the cars and I immediately went to turn on the Jeep to warm it up. Wes turned on his truck and then came back around to my door.
“Day three tomorrow,” I said, then continued, “I think my legs are not going to be happy.”
Wes said nothing. He took that moment to pull me close to him, bend his head to kiss my lips, and then wrap his hands around my bottom. He lifted me up, mouth still attached to mine, and wrapped my legs around his waist. With his left hand under my bottom supporting my weight, he used his right hand to squeeze the muscles on my right thigh. I groaned in his mouth. He did this for quite some time before switching hands and working the left leg. It felt so good. My legs were feeling really sore and his hands were so strong. In the middle of the left leg rubdown I pulled my mouth from his and rested my forehead against his.
“It’s pretty freaking cold out right now. Actually, it’s freezing out here, but if you keep that up I think I could stay out here all night,” I said, eyes closed forehead resting on Wes’.
I opened my eyes, looked up at him, and saw his green eyes were intense. Wes moved both hands to my bottom and squeezed.
“Gorgeous, we don’t have to stand in a parking lot to do this. I would be more than happy to take you to my place, let you soak in the bathtub, and then give you a proper rubdown.”
“It would be wrong to tease a girl like that.”
“I’m definitely not joking.”
I stayed silent. With my legs still wrapped around his waist I squeezed my thighs tighter. Now it was Wes’ turn to groan. I leaned forward and kissed him again, knowing that I was torturing myself because I wouldn’t very well see the finale out here in a parking lot. I knew the same would be the case for Wes because as I
unhooked my legs and stood he was still holding me close to him and I could feel his hard length pressing into me.
I pulled my mouth from his again and put my hands against his chest, “I’m sorry, Wes. I should really get home.”
He smiled at me and said, “Ok, Charley. Drive safe.”
“See you tomorrow.”
“Looking forward to it.”
Chapter 7
Charley
Wednesday passed in a flash. Both First Tracks and Brew Stirs were extremely busy so my shifts were over quickly. Wes and I had our third day of lessons and he walked me to my car that night after I finished work. Of course, as per usual, there was a bit of kissing and moaning before we parted ways for the evening.
It was now Thursday morning and I had time before heading in to the diner since I wasn’t working the early morning shift. Between working both jobs and getting the snowboarding lessons from Wes, I had been feeling exhausted. It was nice to have a little time to sleep in, plus I hadn’t seen Emme all week so I was happy I was heading in to work later that morning. I got out of bed and made my way to the kitchen to make some coffee and eat breakfast. I saw Emme sitting on the couch with her laptop.
“Hey, honey. Whatcha up to?” I asked her.
“I’ve had so many shoots this week so I’m going through all of the shots from one of my engagement sessions and getting some editing done. I’ve got a long day today with a couple of Christmas shoots. One is a family holiday session this afternoon and the other is a corporate Christmas party this evening; so, I’ll actually be home late. On the bright side, after tonight I don’t have any more shoots until next week. What’s going on with you?
“I have a date tonight,” I said, biting my lip.
Emme looked up at me, closed her laptop, and walked to the kitchen. “I’m sorry. I think I was sitting too far away in there and couldn’t hear you. It sounded like you said you had a date tonight.”
