by J. M. Snyder
“I’m making breakfast.”
Lincoln turned back, looking surprised. “You can cook?’
“Oh, right, you think I have a personal chef and assistants following me from set to set.”
Lincoln smirked. “Don’t you?”
“Er, well. A little.” Sam laughed. “But I still know how to cook eggs and potatoes, my lawyer friend, so sit your ass down and wait for your breakfast.”
Lincoln sat, facing out at the view of the snowy parking lot. “I’m guessing we’ll get out of here tomorrow.”
“Yeah, that’s what I think, too. My agent is thrilled.”
“You let him know?”
Sam nodded. “He was in panic mode. To delay the start of a movie is not ideal. Studios put a lot of cash into production. A delay being my fault could give me a bad rep.”
“I’m sorry, Sam. I didn’t know our little buddy-bonding could hurt your career.”
“Nah, it’s okay. I sure didn’t expect this and it’s fine. I’ll make it. It’s all good.”
“Can’t say I’m sorry for the last few days, though,” Lincoln said. “It’s been amazing. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
“Me either.” Sam flipped the eggs on two plates, then scooped up potatoes for each. He brought everything to the table with his coffee. “I’ve had plenty of fantasies of us over the years.”
Lincoln grinned. “Bet they didn’t have so much domesticity.”
“True. They were all sexual.” He watched Linc take a bit of the potatoes.
“Really good.” Linc took Sam’s hand. “You can cook for me any time.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Sam said dryly. “Since this is our last day, probably, later we should bundle up and go for a walk around the area. It’s beautiful.”
“It is. There’s stuff for spaghetti tonight if you want to have that for dinner.”
“That sounds good and easy.”
“Agreed,” Linc said. “I like easy.”
“Well, then you’ll definitely like me,” Sam joked.
“Lord.” Lincoln groaned. “Do you say that sort of shit to your girlfriends?”
“Afraid so. I’ve always been a cornball.”
“Yeah.” Lincoln looked at his plate. “I’m going to miss this. Even if this isn’t the end of us, we’ll never have this.”
“Mammoth? Yeah we won’t.”
“Or being snowed in at some rustic cabin.”
“This is one hell of a rustic condo. I think of bears and stuff when I think rustic cabin.”
“Whatever.” Linc laughed. “You know what I mean. We’ll never re-create this experience.”
“I know. Let’s go for that walk.”
* * * *
“Fuck, it may have stopped snowing, but it’s freezing,” Sam whined.
“I think my nose is frozen.”
“I have an actor friend who would say we’re the biggest wimps. What is it? Ten degrees out here?”
“Something like that.”
“They get below and shit.”
Lincoln raised his eyebrows. “I live in LA for a reason.”
“Me, too. I mean, other than being born there, growing up and all that. My parents came from snow.”
“My grandparents came from Pittsburgh.”
“See, that was cold.” Sam stopped and looked at the mountains. Probably a bunch of skiers there at that moment. Sam had never been skiing. Snow skiing, anyway. Water skiing, yeah. “It’s beautiful, though. I don’t know, Counselor, when we’re old men, maybe we should buy a place up here and retire in our dotage.”
“It’ll be way too cold when we’re ancient old men.”
Sam nodded. “You are wise.”
“Hawaii, now there’s a place.”
“Great place. But really fucking expensive.”
Lincoln eyed him. “You’re Elmer Fudd.”
Sam rolled his eyes. “We’ll see. I always thought I’d go before I was too old, getting fucked into a heart attack.”
“Jesus, Sam, you’re morbid.”
“Family history.”
“Of dying during sex?”
“No!”
Lincoln laughed. “God, you’re nuts. I’m going to miss this. You.”
“There’s still Napa.”
“If we go.”
Sam shrugged.
“So, why Charlie?”
Sam started walking again and Lincoln followed. “He was sweet and he liked me. Charlie was never very smart. I mean, not like you. He wasn’t stupid, just not brilliant like you. Less intimidating. And when I was figuring out I liked both dicks and breasts, Charlie was there, and willing to experiment. I don’t think either of us expected us to be each other’s ‘forever,’ you know?”
“Yeah.”
“Only for Charlie, I was.”
Lincoln bowed his head. “Sorry, Sam.”
Sam smiled faintly. “The guys from high school, yeah, they remind me of those days. And sometimes I like thinking about Charlie, and sometimes, like the other night, it just makes me really sad.”
“Think you’ll come along on one of these trips again?” Lincoln put his arm around Sam and drew him close. At the moment, it seemed like they were the only two people in the world.
“Yeah, I’ll come. Not just to remember Charlie. But for you, too.” Sam bent down and started forming snow into a ball.
“Oh, shit. No, you don’t!” Lincoln laughed and dodged the snowball. “Sam, your ass is going down!”
* * * *
Lincoln couldn’t help but be reluctant to tell Sam that the roads out of Mammoth and back to LA were now open again. They both had to go back to reality. Their real lives. He knew it. Had known it was likely, almost a certainty, yesterday. Didn’t make it any easier.
He was in love with Sam. Maybe always had been. He’d known he was crazy-attracted to him. Knew he had a really soft spot for him. But it went beyond that, and after the last few days together, Lincoln could no longer deny it. He found he didn’t really want to, anyway.
They lived very different lives, though, so the chances his love for Sam would get anywhere were pretty fucking low. And anyway, he doubted Sam shared his feelings, not to that extent anyway, even if Sam didn’t have that whole “Hollywood Straight Celebrity” thing going on.
Lincoln was left with the decision whether to tell Sam of his deeper feelings or just let it go. Let Sam go.
He made coffee for both of them, drank his, then carried the mug into the bedroom for Sam, who was only just stirring under the covers.
Sam smiled at him, then smiled wider when he noticed the coffee. “I could totally get used to you bringing me coffee in bed.”
It was just a lighthearted comment. Nothing serious about it. One that they’d made over and over these few days. And yet, that was exactly Lincoln’s fantasy.
He sat on the bed next to Sam, who had struggled to sit up from the tangle of covers to sip the coffee. “Hey, so, the roads are open.”
“Thank God. We can finally be out of this place.”
Lincoln tried not to show his unhappiness about that. Because, yeah, he didn’t especially want to be trapped here indefinitely either, but it also meant it was over for them. Or he guessed it was. Sam would be away for four months.
Sam watched him over the rim of his mug, as if trying to figure out Lincoln’s thoughts. “What?”
“There’s no ‘what.’” He patted Sam’s leg. “We just need to pack it all up and hit the road. I’m guessing you’ll want a shower.”
“I will, yeah.” He tilted his head. “Linc, if you have something to say, just say it.”
Lincoln sighed and squeezed Sam’s leg. “I’m just…I don’t know. Bummed it’s over.”
“Maybe it isn’t,” Sam whispered.
He laughed. “Come on. Don’t give me false hope.”
Sam gave a slight smile. “Who said it’s false? You think you’ve been doing all this on your own? I’ve not been involved?”
“No, but—”
“But what, Linc? Again, I’m the one who suggested we do this. Remember?”
“But as ‘friends with benefits,’ a ‘no strings attached’ kind of thing. And sure, maybe more, but that’s been up in the air. Maybes, possibilities.” Lincoln looked away from Sam’s all-too-knowing gaze. “I want more. Hell, Sam, I’ve always wanted more. Y-you were my first crush. More than that. My first love.”
“Yeah?”
Lincoln looked back at him, half-expecting to see mockery on Sam’s face, but he found only open curiosity. He exhaled. “All through high school I was sporting a boner over you.”
That made Sam laugh. Even Lincoln couldn’t blame him and he laughed along with him.
“You were cute.”
Lincoln snorted. “Sure. Which was why you were with Charlie instead of me. I had that geeky cut with my bangs straight across my forehead.”
“You were cute,” Sam insisted. “But you were also really shy about that. About your sexuality, I mean. Almost defensive.”
“Yeah.” Lincoln nodded. “And anyway, I thought you were straight then. My point is, over the years we’ve been friends, it’s become more than a crush. I think—no—I know I organized this whole mountain weekend because I wanted to see you. I know how crazy that sounds. How pathetic. And I think I’m just admitting that to myself. It was great seeing everyone, but you—”
“You big dope. I came along to see you. God, you’re so slow sometimes. I told you, I don’t like to play in the snow. And those other guys? Sure, it was really good seeing them. Talking about old times and Charlie and all that. But that was high school, Linc. We’ve all moved on from that. I hate to say this, but if I never saw any of them again, it would be okay. They’re great guys. But I don’t know them anymore. I came because of you. I want more than getting together with you in December for dinner. Or a summer barbecue at your brother’s.”
“You do?”
Sam shook his head, clearly in exasperation, as he grabbed the collar of Lincoln’s shirt with his free hand and kissed him, hot-coffee-tongue and all. “I do now,” he said when they paused for breath. “I’m not sure I was ready for that even a year ago. Even six months ago.”
Six months ago, he had seen Sam at his brother’s summer barbecue. Lincoln remembered Sam doing a lot of flirting that day. Sam was always a flirt. He knew that. Yet back then, Lincoln wouldn’t have even thought of the two of them together. Well, yeah, he’d fantasized, sure, but he didn’t expect it to happen. Ever. But it had.
The last time he’d seen Sam before this trip had been in early December when they’d gotten together at Lawry’s in Beverly Hills for their annual holiday dinner, which they’d done since leaving high school. Sam had brought a date. Amber, her name had been, a model. Blonde and impossibly beautiful. Lincoln had brought the guy he had been seeing at the time, too. He hadn’t planned on it until Sam had asked if he could include Amber. Lincoln hadn’t wanted to be the third wheel at his own annual dinner, so he’d invited Chad.
Sam’s lips curved as he watched the thoughts flying through Lincoln’s head. As though he could read minds, he asked, “Whatever happened to that guy, Chad, you were seeing just a month or so ago?”
“Oh, him.”
Sam laughed. Kissed him. “Yeah.”
“Not sure where he is these days. We broke it off before Christmas. What about Amber?”
Sam shrugged. “Broke up when she started posting all over social media that she was about to become Mrs. Stryker.”
Lincoln snorted. “Was she?”
“Not a chance.”
This time, he kissed Sam, slow and deep, perhaps with far too much promise if they were ever going to get on the road and out of there.
When he pulled back, reluctantly, because Sam had started making those little noises that went straight to his cock, Lincoln took a deep breath. “How would you feel if I told you I was a little bit in love with you?”
“Just a little?”
“Well, I’d want to know how you felt about that before I got to anything more.”
Sam nodded. “Okay. I’m a little bit in love with you, too.”
“Thank God.” Then Lincoln winced. “This is really fucked up.”
“How?”
“You are a, quote, ‘Straight Celebrity,’ unquote. And you’re about to go make a film that will keep you away for four damn months.”
“Yes.” Sam set his now-empty mug on the table next to the bed, then pulled Lincoln on top of him. “Let’s fuck.”
“How does that solve anything?” Lincoln asked as he framed Sam’s face and leaned down to kiss him. His cock was hardening and rising, pushing against his briefs, wanting to be released.
“Oh, it doesn’t. But I really want to feel you all over me before we leave here today.”
“Sam—”
“Later.”
* * * *
They stood beside their packed vehicles, ready to hit the road to LA. A chill remained in the air, but the sky was a stunning, crystal blue that rivaled the color of Sam’s eyes.
They leaned against each other, foreheads touching, arms wrapped around waists, not ready to let go.
“So you leave Friday?” Of course Lincoln knew that. Had to hear it again.
“Yes.”
“There’s still a couple of days until then.”
Sam smiled. “Want to come over to my house tonight? After we both get back and settled.”
“Can I?”
He laughed. “Yes. Listen, it won’t be four months straight. There are week breaks here and there. Like there’s one after Dubai.”
“I like the sound of that.”
“And we can talk. Maybe you can even come to one of the locations for a bit. I think after the break following Dubai, we shoot in Toronto.”
Lincoln thought about it. “I can do Toronto.”
Sam closed his eyes. “We’ll make it work, babe. Because we want to.”
Lincoln inhaled his scent. Let it wash over him. “We do. And we will.”
Sam kissed him again, then disentangled himself from Lincoln, heading to his car. “Hey.”
Lincoln smiled. “What?”
“Being snowed in with you was the best.”
“It sure was.”
Sam opened his car door. Blew him a kiss. “Maybe we can do it again sometime. Ask your friend Ellen.”
“I will. Next winter, maybe.”
“Or, I don’t know, we could go to Napa. Or Hawaii!” Sam grinned.
Lincoln laughed. “Much warmer.”
Sam’s smile dropped a little. “Drive safe, okay? And I’ll see you tonight. Call me when you get home.”
He nodded and went to get into his own vehicle. “Sam?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you more than just a little bit.”
“Same.”
Then Sam closed his door, started his car, and pulled away.
Somehow they’d make it work, Lincoln was sure. He didn’t know if he believed in soulmates of anything, but if he did, Sam was it for him.
He got out his cell phone and dialed.
“Brother,” Monroe’s cheerful voice came on the line almost immediately. “How’s the snowed-in trip?”
“Over. I’m leaving now.”
“Cool. Maybe we can have dinner tonight when you get home.”
“Will have to wait for the weekend, little brother.”
“Work?”
“No. I’ll tell you Friday. See you soon.”
Lincoln backed up and hit the road.
Jonah and Cooper by Kris T. Bethke
Chapter 1
“Come on, Jonah! It’ll be fun.”
I sighed loudly and dramatically, just to make my sister laugh. Ellie obliged and I hid a smile, even though we were on the phone and she couldn’t see. She knew damn well I couldn’t deny her anything, and if she wanted to hang out with me for the weekend at her husband’s family’s cabin, then we would. But that didn’t mean
I was going to give in easily.
“Seriously, it’ll be great. You and me and the whole weekend to hang out and eat and drink and gossip and talk shit about people.”
I snorted a laugh. “You never talk shit about people. And if you do it accidentally, you immediately feel bad.” Ellie was about the sweetest person on the planet. She didn’t have a mean bone in her body.
She hummed. “Well, that’s true.”
“But, Ellie, love, this isn’t the greatest weekend for me.” I eyed my computer, which I knew had a stack of unproofed documents waiting in my inbox. I loved my work as a copyeditor for textbooks, and I loved that I could work from home, but sometimes, the amount of stuff waiting to be done was daunting.
“But this is the weekend no one is using the cabin. Mark says his brothers have claimed it for a bunch of the following weekends. So it needs to be this one.” She made a soft noise, and I knew she was putting on puppy dog eyes, even though I couldn’t see. “I’ll take Friday off and we’ll make a three-day weekend out of it. What do you say?”
We both knew I would give in, so I sighed again, and did. “Yeah. Fine. Want me to pick you up?”
She hesitated for just a moment, which was weird, but then said, “Sure. That will totally work. Nine? It takes about two hours to drive there, and we can settle in before you make me lunch.”
“Oh, is that how it is?” I laughed, because between the two of us, I was the better cook. And she loved it when I cooked for her. At least she was nice enough to always do the dishes.
“I want lasagna.”
I made a noise. “No. Pick something else. It’s always lasagna. Just no.”
She laughed, a musical tinkling noise that made me smile. “Okay, fine. How about Chicken Florentine?”
I stopped dead, and sucked in a breath. I hadn’t made that in years. Not since…no. I wasn’t going to go there. Not now. Not after all this time.
“I haven’t had it in forever,” she wheedled. “And you make it the best.”
I swallowed hard. I wanted to say “no.” But she was my sister. My best friend and confidant. My rock and my support. Of course she could have the food she wanted.
“Yeah, okay.” My voice barely came out, but it was enough. She made a happy sound, then kissy noises.
