by Harlow Layne
I loved coming up here to experience winter. It crossed my mind that this might be the last time I’m here for a long while. This year was even better since my parents were out of the country, and I didn’t have to hear about what a disappointment I was to them. If I had to hear one more time about how it was my fault we lost the championship, I was going to kill them in their sleep. It was bad enough I had the entire school and team looking at me like I’d lost all their hopes and dreams, but my parents’ as well. Since we lost, I’d done everything in my power to keep as much distance between us as possible.
A knock on my door had me turning around before Oz stepped inside. I knew I was going to regret giving him the code. “Everyone is settled. The girls are going to head to the store to get groceries and wanted to know if you wanted anything.” I started to open my mouth when he answered my unspoken question. “The alcohol is already taken care of. We could have a rager every night and still have some to spare.”
I walked over and flopped down on the bed. My arms and legs spread out like I was getting ready to make snow angels. “As long as they aren’t planning salads for every meal, I don’t care.”
“That’s why I’m making sure Lo and Danica go. I swear, sometimes those two eat more than me.” I felt the bed dip as he sat down on the edge.
“Cool, while they’re off doing that, do you want to head to Snow Valley Mountain and do some snowboarding?”
Oz jumped up and clapped his hands. “Hell, yeah.” When I continued to just lie there, he asked, “Are you coming?”
“I’ll be there in a few.”
I took a deep breath to calm me down and not think about the idiots who were in my house.
Dropping my gear in the entryway, I stopped and eavesdropped on the love birds.
“Are you supposed to go skiing?” Lo chewed on her bottom lip as she looked at Oz with hearts in her eyes.
I wasn’t sure how they were so clueless to the other’s attraction, or maybe they just didn’t want to see it because they knew Danica would freak out. Hell, I could see it, and I was peeking around the corner like a creeper.
“No, but who’s going to stop me? The season’s over, and after losing, I think I deserve a little fun.”
“But what happens if you get hurt?”
Then my football career would be fucked.
Striding to where they were standing in the kitchen, I leaned against the counter and grabbed an apple before taking a bite out of it.
“It’s sweet that you’re worried about us, but trust me, I’ll be fine,” I chimed in. “I’ve been doing this since I could walk.”
Lo rolled her eyes but never took her focus off Oz. “Just be careful. Please.”
Oz’s eyes softened at her plea. It was obvious she was concerned for his safety. “Careful is my middle name.”
She huffed out a laugh. “More like trouble.” She rested her hand on his bulging bicep and then gave it a tap. “Have fun. When you guys get back, we’ll have dinner ready.”
“Now, I see why you wanted the girls to come. Good plan, my man, good plan.”
“God, can you be any more of an ass?” Lo quipped back.
“Oh, sweet little Lo, you have no idea. So far, all you’ve seen is me being nice. If you want to see the asshole side, keep making comments like that. I’m sure he’ll rear his ugly little head.”
“Are you sure you aren’t talking about your cock instead of your ego?”
I wasn’t sure when it happened, but we’d gathered an audience. At her comment, they all oohed as if what she said was some sick burn.
“Oh, I can assure you it wasn’t my cock.” Gripping my belt, I started to undo it. “If what you wanted was to see was my dick, all you had to do was ask,” I snarked. My fingers pulled the zipper down only a few teeth when Oz jumped in front of me, grabbing my shoulders.
“Let’s go hit the mountain before we lose the light,” he said as he ushered me out of my own kitchen.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I laughed as I let him guide me to the front door and grabbed my stuff. “I wasn’t trying to ruin your chances with her by showing her my dick. You’re right, though. If she saw what I was packing, she’d be disappointed when she finally saw your package.”
“You really are an asshole, man. Some days I don’t even know why I’m friends with you,” he grumbled as he threw his bag over his shoulder.
“I wonder the same thing most days,” I told him as we slipped into my SUV.
“You wonder what?” His dark brows were furrowed tight as if he had no idea what I was talking about.
“Why you’re my friend after all these years,” I provided him with the answer.
“Aw, no, bro. Don’t be like that. You’ve been like a brother to me since you saved my ass from getting beat up back in first grade. I don’t care that you’re a moody fuck. Normally it’s entertaining.”
Hitting the start engine button, I turned to look over my shoulder as I backed up and cleared the cars. “Except when it has to do with the one girl you can’t have, right?”
“It’s not like that, man.”
It was, but I wouldn’t call him out on it. At least not today. I didn’t want him to be a broody asshole for the rest of the day and ruin my time on the slopes.
3
Fin
“Did you see when I…” I blocked out Dean’s voice from the fire pit. He’d been going on and on since we all piled into my car after a day of skiing and snowboarding. If I had to hear him brag about one more stunt he pulled off, I was going to beat his fucking face in. He was one of those guys who were mediocre at everything they did but thought they were the best. Someone needed to set him straight, and I had a feeling by the end of the week, it was going to be me.
“If you grind your molars any harder, you’re going to do damage,” Oz laughed out.
“What am I supposed to do when I’m surrounded by a bunch of idiots?” I aimed my gaze in his direction. “Maybe we should invite him into the hot tub with us, and I can drown him.”
“Or maybe we should keep him far away from you.” Oz stretched his arms out along the back of the hot tub until one hand was skimming along the back of some girl’s back. He fiddled with the tie on her bikini top almost absentmindedly as he spoke. “What’s up, dude? I thought once you got out on the snow, you’d chill out some.”
I took a slug from my bottle of Jack and watched as Lo, with her eyes pinned on Oz, looked as if she was going to throw up. Oz wasn’t wrong. I thought a week away would be in heaven, but for some fucking reason, West was at my hideaway, and I was going to find out why he was here. And once I found out why, I was going to make his life miserable.
“I just need to get drunk, laid, sleep for twenty-four hours, and I’ll be fine.”
“Well, there’s plenty of women for you to choose from. The ratio is three to one. Shit,” he hissed. “Did you want me to invite Candy?”
“Fuck no,” I growled out. “She’d be an annoying bitch.”
“Then who do you want? You pick, and everyone will stay away. You know they will. And she’ll fall to her knees in front of you, begging to suck your cock.”
I was so over desperate high school girls—or girls all together for that matter. Not that I’d be telling Oz that little morsel of shame.
A girl shrieked, and then there was a splash in the pool. I turned my head back to look at Oz, sure whoever it was would be okay. I took another swallow of my whiskey as Oz jumped out of the hot tub and stormed off toward the pool. He dipped down and pulled out a soaked Lo. She was shaking and crying as he steadied her. Grabbing a towel, Oz wrapped it around her before he pulled Lo into his arms and guided her into the house with Danica on their heels.
I wasn’t sure when he’d ever get his chance with the girl he wanted, or if he’d ever get the nerve up once he finally did, but I wanted my friend to be happy, and Lo wasn’t his happiness.
More girls piled into the hot tub with me. They giggled and tried to look at me all coy l
ike, but they weren’t fooling anyone but themselves. I sat and drank my Jack, watching everyone until the bottle was gone, and then headed inside. My head was swimming from all the alcohol, and my body was overheated as I stumbled my way to my room.
A buxom redhead with a tight shirt revealing she had no bra on stepped in front of me and blocked the way to my bedroom. “Get out of my way…” I couldn’t for the life of me remember her name. I’d seen her around, but she didn’t hang out with my crowd.
“Monica,” she supplied. Tilting her head, she smiled what I was sure she thought was a seductive smile at me. “I thought maybe you’d like someone to keep your bed warm tonight.”
“I have a fireplace for that.” I tried to push past, but she stepped in my way again and started to pull her t-shirt over her head. “Keep your clothes on.”
“I thought—“
“And there’s where the problem lies. You tried to think. Take the hint. You’re not wanted.”
“God, why do you always have to be such an asshole,” she let out a squeaky little growl. It was almost adorable.
“Because I am an asshole, that’s why.”
She put her hands on her hips and scowled at me. “Who are you going to find that’s better than me?”
Green eyes flashed before my eyes, but I pushed the thought away.
“Desperation is not a trait any guy finds attractive.” I stepped toward her slowly as I spoke. “Why don’t you dial it down a notch if you want to hook up with someone this week.”
“But I want you, Fin,” she whined. She thought if she whined like that, she would win points in her favor. “You’re the hottest guy in the whole school. The captain of the football team.”
“Oh,” I drawled out and sidestepped her to my room. “I see. I’m on your bucket list of guys to fuck. As flattering as that is, I’m going to have to decline. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go wash this encounter off me and then never think of it again.”
“Ugh,” she huffed and did some little jog in place thing that made her boobs jiggle. She cupped her double d’s and hefted them up. “I know you like what you see.”
“Give it up, Monica,” I groaned as I put in the code for my room. When I was young, I hated that my parents had a lock on their bedroom door, and I couldn’t come in whenever I wanted. They weren’t having people over or roaming the house back then; they simply wanted to keep me out. Now, I was thankful for a lock and understood somewhat.
I let the door slam behind me, hoping she’d get the picture and leave me alone. When I heard her fists hit the door, I connected my phone to the music system and turned the music up until it drowned out the noise. Stripping off my clothes as I went, I headed toward the bathroom and turned the shower water on. Once it was warm, I stepped under the spray to rid my body of the chlorine smell after being in the hot tub. I hated nothing more than going to bed smelling like chlorine.
My shower was supposed to be a quick in and out, but my dick didn’t get the picture. I was hard as a rock, and even as I turned the water to cold, it wouldn’t go down. I swore my dick was as stubborn as I was sometimes.
Pumping a squirt of body wash into my hand, I gripped my straining cock with my hand and started to touch myself with long, hard strokes. With each upstroke, I twisted the tip. No matter how hard, soft, or long I rubbed one out, I couldn’t find my release. I tried thinking of Monica’s creamy tits and how her nipples were likely a light pink color since she was a redhead. How good it would feel to fuck her tits. Still, she did nothing for my aching cock. I was about to give up and find another bottle of alcohol that would hopefully turn my dick off when light mocha skin covering a long, lean body and a six-pack that led to… my body fell against the cold tile wall as spurts of cum coated my stomach and hand.
Turning off the now frigid water, I stepped out of the shower and dried off. I didn’t bother to put any clothes on. Instead, I turned off the music, turned on the fireplace, and slipped into bed, where I pulled the down comforter up over my head.
As I drifted off to sleep, I contemplated how I gave myself the best orgasm of my life while thinking of West fucking Jackson.
4
Fin
What was the fucking luck? After listening all day to the girls crying about falling on their asses and the bruises they were sure to have, then the guys bragging about their latest trick to get laid by the annoying girls tonight, I was finally alone. The only problem was somehow, while driving in the now raging snowstorm, I got a flat tire. How did I get a fucking flat tire in the snow?
I wasn’t incompetent, but with almost two feet of snow now on the ground and piling up fast, I was finding it near impossible to change my flat. By the time I got it fixed, I’d be lucky to be able to drive with all the snow.
I’d been on the side of the road for an hour already, and not one single car had passed by during that time. Everyone who’d come to the resort with me left before I did. Which at the time, I was thankful for, but now not so much. I was sure by now they were already at the house and partying it up.
When I’d had cell phone reception earlier, I called Oz, but he hadn’t picked up. With the party that was surely going on, it could be hours before he saw my missed call and message. With the storm going strong, I wasn’t sure when I’d get a signal again, but I was pretty sure I was going to have frostbite by then.
Lights flashed through the interior of my Range Rover, making me perk up and snapped me away from the dark thoughts that were beginning to take over if I wasn’t found. Pulling my coat’s hood over my head, I hopped out and was ready to jump in front of the car if it didn’t stop for me. Not wise on slick roads, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
An old pickup truck parked behind me and shut off its engine. Grateful for whoever it was to stop, I made my way over to the truck with a rare smile on my face. When I was only a foot away from the door, it popped open with a loud creak that sounded as if it hadn’t been opened in this decade or more.
“Hey, man. Do you need help?” a smooth voice asked—a voice that sounded strangely familiar.
“I somehow got a flat tire out here, and for the life of me, couldn’t get the damn jack to work with all this snow.” I looked back at my SUV that was getting buried in all the white precipitation with the emergency lights flashing.
“Fin Huntington, is that you?” the familiar voice asked.
Realization coated my stomach in dread. It would have to be West that showed up. “What are the odds I’d run into you out here?”
“Pretty good since I work at the resort here during the winter and spring breaks. You’re lucky I was told to go home early, and found you before the storm got any worse.”
Worse? I couldn’t imagine it being any more dire than the several inches per hour we’d already gotten. At least now I knew why he was at Lake Arrowhead instead of Santa Lucia.
“Do you mind if I look and see if I can get it jacked up? I’ll help you change your tire and get you on your way, so you’re not stuck here all night.”
“Sure,” I agreed, none too happily. “I don’t think I have enough gas to stay out here until morning.”
West laughed as he passed by me to get to my SUV. “I wouldn’t leave you out here to fend for yourself in a blizzard, no matter how much you hate me.”
“Blizzard?” I looked to the sky as if it would tell me of the impending weather.
“You didn’t check the weather forecast?” He shook his head like I was a stupid idiot, and in that moment, I had to admit, I felt like one. Maybe if I had seen a blizzard was coming through, I wouldn’t have been so eager to get away from everyone.
I stood back and watched him trudge through the snow and squat at the flat tire. He worked for a few minutes before he looked over his shoulder at me with a frown on his chiseled, serious face and then stood.
“Sorry I didn’t have any luck either.” West stopped only a couple of feet away with the four-way in his hand. “Maybe if I had a shovel
, but… I can give you a ride to your place. You can call triple-A in the morning, and they’ll get you fixed right up.”
What were the odds someone else would come down the mountain and be able to help me? Probably slim to none. Even though I didn’t want to be anywhere near West, I’d be smart and not risk it.
Pulling my knit hat further over my ears, I headed to my Range Rover.
“Come on, Fin, let me help you out. If it helps you make the right decision, I won’t say a word the entire way.”
I let out a bark of a laugh. “I’m grabbing my keys and locking up. Do you know how to get to Pigeon Hawk Lane from here?”
“I know the way. Once we get closer, you’ll have to direct me, though. I’ve never had any use in finding myself out that direction.”
While I grabbed my gear from the car, West threw my jack and four-way in the back before he went back to his truck and turned it on. Hopefully, the piece of shit truck would be warm after being turned off for the last ten minutes.
When I got to the door, it felt like I was about to rip the door off its hinges, trying to open it. I wasn’t sure once I got it open if it would even close.
“It’s old, but it gets the job done,” West said as he patted the dash.
When I turned to look at him, I could have sworn he was blushing, but maybe it was from standing outside in the near arctic temperature.
“As long as it gets me home and the heat works, I don’t care.” I placed my gloved hands in front of the vents and instantly felt the heat through my gloves.
“This thing heats like a beast. In no time, you’ll be sweating your balls off.”
“Good, they could use a sauna treatment.” I chuckled—another rarity for me.
I hated how at ease I felt with him after being in his presence for only a short amount of time. I didn’t understand why he had this effect on me. It was unlike anything I’d ever felt around anyone before, and I hated it was with him. Why couldn’t it be with one of the many girls who threw themselves at me?
