by Shea Balik
“It just hurt to know that you, of all people, would do that,” Spencer told him. Axom was so much more than his best friend. He was more like a brother. Spencer told him things he’d never told anyone else, which was why he wasn’t sure what Axom had to gain by listening to him while he slept.
All his friend had to do was ask and Spencer would have told him anything. Except… he hadn’t. The one thing Axom would have wanted to know about was what he and Reese had seen in the woods, yet Spencer had kept it from him.
“And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about our possible Bigfoot sighting,” Spencer told him as he led him into the house. “I just didn’t want to get your hopes up when Reese and I weren’t sure what was in those woods.”
“For all we know, it could have been a bear,” Reese added as they entered the kitchen, where he was currently making breakfast, still shirtless.
Axom rolled his eyes. “Yeah, because you don’t know what a bear looks like. Come on guys, you would have known if it was something as ordinary as a bear.”
Spencer wasn’t so sure. “I don’t know about Reese, but I’ve only seen a handful of bears and that’s only since coming to Alaska. It’s not like I grew up in bear country, Axom.”
Reese nodded. “I’m with Spencer on this one. Especially since the ones I’ve seen were on all fours. I personally have never seen a bear up on two legs, which I understand happens. The creature was against a tree, which didn’t make it any easier to see.”
“That’s why I’m heading out to see if I can find any evidence either way,” Axom dropped the lightweight backpack he was carrying onto the kitchen table. The red material had ‘BELIEVE,’ across the front with Bigfoot as the ‘I.’ It was Axom’s go-to backpack when hunting Bigfoot.
It seemed odd to go out in the woods with something that didn’t carry all that much, but Axom had always claimed that when searching for the elusive sasquatch, it was best to travel as light as possible, since Bigfoot was able to run far faster than humans.
“I don’t suppose one of you would like to go with me?” Axom asked casually, but Spencer could tell it was the entire reason the man had decided today was the day he would apologize. When it came to Bigfoot, Axom would do whatever it took to find him, or technically, it could be a her.
Good thing Spencer had already decided to forgive Axom long before he’d knocked on the door, or Spence might have been upset. Then again, when it came to Bigfoot and Axom, Spencer got it. The man was obsessed and with good reason.
“I’ll go,” Reese said as he piled three plates with eggs, toast, and sausage. “Assuming you can wait until I eat and put on warm clothes.”
Not about to leave Reese in the care of Axom out in those woods, Spencer sat down in front of the third plate and said, “I’ll go, too. But I need to stop at the hotel first, just to be sure there aren’t any questions.”
Axom nodded as his mouth was full. Not that Spencer could blame him. Reese really knew how to cook.
“This is delicious, as always, Reese,” Spencer said, taking another bite.
Reese beamed at the praise. Then those pretty eyes landed on his and Spencer once more wondered if there was time to take the man to bed first.
CHAPTER 12
“Now, the first thing we have to do is get you both ready to hunt Bigfoot.”
Reese stared at Axom, hoping the guy knew what the hell he was talking about. The man was big, really big. And he spoke with that southern accent. He was fairly certain the rumor that all southern rednecks liked to hunt and fish was true, which Reese hoped meant he was used to going out into the woods.
“Since I know Spencer will take forever making sure every single person in that hotel is following his orders to the smallest detail, why don’t we meet up at the hotel,” Axom suggested. “It will give you time to get dressed and I can run home to gather more supplies.”
Without waiting to see if it was considered a good idea to Reese or Spencer, Axom picked up his cheap looking backpack with only drawstrings to hook over his shoulder and headed out. At least he’d cleaned his own dish, that was a plus. Still, he could have at least made sure Reese and Spencer were good with the plan.
“Does he always assume people will follow his lead?” Reese asked when the door shut behind Axom.
Spencer chuckled. “Yep. Then again, when it comes to the woods, there aren’t too many people better prepared than Axom. Even for something like tracking Bigfoot.”
Reese wasn’t so sure he believed that. “Then what was with the flimsy backpack that hardly looks capable of holding a sandwich, much less whatever is needed to find Bigfoot?”
Completely taken by surprise, Reese found himself being kissed. Not just any kiss either. No. The passion which Spencer was giving to the act had Reese’s toes curling and his dick hardening at an alarming rate.
He’d often heard the term ‘swoon,’ especially in fairytales, but he’d always considered it absurd – until that moment. Now he understood. For not only was the kiss breath-stealingly perfect, but the rate of his blood draining into his cock left him lightheaded.
His head was literally spinning when Spencer pulled back, nearly causing Reese to sink to the floor, as his legs didn’t want to hold him any longer. Or, maybe it was that they couldn’t hold him. It was too difficult to tell since he wasn’t sure any of his brain cells were working.
“Sorry,” Spencer mumbled as he backed up toward the door. “I… Uh… shouldn’t have done that. I’ll see you at the hotel.” Then he spun on his booted heel and pushed out the door. He’d left so damn quickly he hadn’t even put on his coat, only grabbing it on his way out.
Sammy pushed his wet nose against his hand, forcing some of Reese’s brain to come back online, sort of. Then he let out a yip. “Yeah, I know. That was weird, huh, Sammy?”
For the past three days Reese had been purposefully walking around without his shirt in hopes of Spencer doing something exactly like that. Yet, he hadn’t. If anything, whenever Reese came out without his shirt, the man seemed to run to the hotel as if the hounds of hell were after him.
Glancing down at Sammy, Reese asked, “What do you think changed?”
Sammy tilted his head either wondering the same thing, or, and this was more likely, saying, ‘duh.’ If only Sammy could tell Reese what he thought. Maybe then he wouldn’t be standing in the kitchen, staring dumbly after the man who had just given him the best kiss of his life.
Woof.
Reese sighed as he reached out to pet Sammy’s head. “I know buddy. It’s time to get dressed so we can hunt down Bigfoot. Maybe, if I’m really lucky, I’ll find out why Spencer kissed me.”
Sammy barked again, then dashed out the back door when Reese opened it for him.
Heading back into his room, Reese pulled out warm clothes. If they were going to be traipsing through the woods all day, he was going to need them. Then again, if Spencer was going to give him heated kisses like that, Reese wasn’t sure clothes would be necessary.
***
An hour later, Reese was sitting on a stack of flooring in the hotel lobby with no Spencer and no Axom. He’d begun to fear they’d left without him. After ten more minutes without either one making an appearance, Reese decided it was time to go in search of Spencer.
As resort hotels went, Reese had to admit this one was nice. Not everything was done yet, but the giant stone fireplace in the lobby was done and working, giving off much needed heat in the otherwise freezing area. Several workers were currently in front of the fire doing their best to warm up.
“Do any of you know where I could find Spencer Clarke?” Reese asked.
“He’s in the spa area,” one of the men responded, pointing to the right of the lobby area. “Just take this hallway all the way to the end. When you see a huge archway, you know you’ve entered the spa. Last I heard, he was in the massage rooms, but that could have changed.”
Reese thanked the man then snapped his fingers. Instantly, Sammy was at his side, followi
ng him. He wasn’t thrilled about taking Sammy through a construction zone. There were a million things that could hurt him and his tender paws, that were completely unprotected in this environment.
Fortunately, there didn’t appear to be scattered debris everywhere as they made their way through the fairly immense hotel. He had no clue how many people Spencer and his friends thought would come to Alaska that they would need such a big building, but if he could convince them that travelers should be allowed to bring their animals, it would mean Reese would be able to keep his pet daycare full.
“No,” he heard Spencer say just as he passed through the huge archway the construction worker had spoken of.
“Oh, come on, Spence, you haven’t even heard me out.”
When Reese found Spencer, he was with Kip and not looking at all happy.
“I don’t need to,” Spencer told his friend. “There is no way we are putting in a pool.” Clearly, they’d been having this discussion for quite some time, for his agitation was coming off Spencer in waves.
Sensing Spencer’s mood, Sammy went right up to him, and pushed against his legs while making sure to be slightly in front of the man to guard him from whatever threat that was causing Spencer to be upset. Reese couldn’t help but smile when Spencer’s fingers instantly went to Sammy’s neck and started petting him.
Already the anxiety level in the room started to decrease. There was no way to know without asking, but if Reese had to guess, Spencer didn’t even realize Sammy, a dog, was in his precious hotel, much less that he was petting him. There was little chance Spencer would admit Sammy was helping to calm him.
Not that it mattered. The point was Sammy was helping and Spencer was letting him. It wouldn’t take much longer before Sammy will have worked his magic and all dogs would be allowed in the resort.
Reese hoped.
“What the hell, man?” Kip said, his gaze zeroed in on Sammy. “I thought dogs weren’t allowed in the hotel. Or did you change your mind? Because if you’re going to change your mind about that, I think we should at least think about my idea.”
Spencer glanced down. The surprise on his face couldn’t be missed. Reese just wasn’t sure if it was that Sammy was there, that he was petting him, or a combination of the two.
But instead of getting upset, Spencer smiled down at Sammy. “That’s because Sammy is a friend, not a dog, and we’re still not putting in a pool.” There was an edge in Spencer’s voice for that last part that had Sammy’s body tensing, as if ready for a fight.
“It’s not a pool,” Kip argued. “It’s a mud bath.” Then he pointed at Sammy. “And he is too a dog.”
Sammy pushed harder against Spencer’s legs, as if trying to back him up away from Kip. He also growled low in his throat. A warning to Kip.
“See?” Spencer grinned down at Sammy, giving him a scratch behind his ears. “Even Sammy says he’s not a dog.” When Kip opened his mouth to argue, Spencer stopped him. “Look, even if I thought this mud pit thing was a great idea, which I don’t, the foundation was poured months ago. I’m not about to jackhammer a hole in it.”
“Bath,” Kip grumbled. “And how I am supposed to offer authentic experiences if it isn’t inground?”
Spencer shook his head. “You should have thought of that before the foundation was poured.”
The man had a point. The work that would be involved after the fact would have been more difficult. Not that Reese knew much about construction, but he didn’t imagine it would be easy to pull up concrete.
“Actually,” Reese spoke up when it was clear the two men were at an impasse. “I would think you could offer more options if you created rooms with themes, like bears in one. Oceans in another, it would give your guests more reasons to come to the spa a few times during their stay.”
Kip’s entire face lit up with excitement. “OMG! You’re absolutely right. I can have a forest room, waterfall room, ocean room, and nature’s land animals with bears, moose, and wolves. Then there’s always our ocean creatures like orcas, humpback whales, and Beluga whales.”
Hands clapping excitedly, Kip wandered off to where he had a sketch pad propped up against the wall. He plopped onto the ground, picked up one of his charcoal pencils and started drawing. “So many ideas,” he mumbled, completely ignoring them.
An arm wrapped around his waist and started pulling him back toward the front of the hotel. “I don’t know how you just did that, but I am forever in your debt,” Spencer told him.
Reese felt his chest puff up in pride. He couldn’t explain why, but he was nearly giddy with the thought that he’d helped Spencer. He’d considered seeing just how far he could use that and suggest Spencer agree to letting dogs into the hotel but decided not to push his luck.
“Oh good, you’re here,” Axom called out as they entered the main lobby. He held up two backpacks that were similar to his cheap red one. “I made you both Bigfoot kits.”
Unlike Axom’s theirs read, Bigfoot Encounter Survivor.
Axom handed them each one of the packs. “There is water, a hunting knife, which I suggest you put on your body instead of leaving it in the bag, pepper spray for bears, and a small first aid kit.”
Reese wasn’t too surprised the bag was light when he lifted it. After all, it was too small to hold much. But before he could ask about the lack of supplies, Axom said, “Let’s get going. Making your packs took longer than I thought it would and we don’t have much daylight left.”
Catching up to Axom, who already started walking out of the hotel and to the woods before he’d finished speaking, Reese asked, “What do you mean you made our packs?”
The already happy Axom turned absolutely ecstatic.
“Great, now we’re going to have to hear about his damn Cricut,” Spencer grumbled in dismay.
Not having any clue what the man meant by that, Reese soon realized his mistake in asking the question.
CHAPTER 13
It was hard to blame Reese for his question since the man had no clue about Axom’s various eccentricities. One would have thought Bigfoot was enough for anyone to be obsessed with, but not when it came to Axom. There were actually several different aspects in life he had a passion for that stumped Spencer and the others.
Bigfoot was a phenomenon that none of them shared but at least understood. Axom’s past had led him to become fixated on the creature. But then there was his addiction to fashion. Which, considering much of that involved skirts, skinny pants, silk tops, and makeup, didn’t tend to go hand in hand with tromping through the woods in search of a hairy beast that, according to legend, could rip a man in half.
Yet, that was Axom.
But his passion for the Cricut, which was a machine that made… hell if Spencer knew. According to Axom, it was the best invention of their time. Their lives had turned into Axom creating everything from personalized cups, shirts, and anything else he could stick his favorite sayings on, which had Axom agonizing over every word. But he also made purses, keychains, and just about anything else one could think of and many more Spencer had never once considered.
Each time a new project came online, Axom would do it, whether it was something anyone needed or not. It had gotten so bad, the house they had rented while finishing their degrees had looked like one of those homes from hoarders. They’d forced Axom to give away everything he’d made when they moved.
If it hadn’t of been for the cost to take it with them, Axom probably wouldn’t have agreed as easily as he had.
“I could make you business cards,” Axom told Reese. “And shirts for you and your employees.” There was a flush to Axom’s cheeks that had nothing to do with the weather and everything to do with his excitement. “I could even make collars, leashes, as well as food and water dishes, that would be personalized to your business for the guests to take home with them. That way, if they have friends who are thinking about coming to Mystic Pines, they’d be able to suggest your daycare for their fur babies.”
Reese
appeared… well, dumbfounded, stunned, or maybe confused. It was hard to tell. He definitely had the glassy-eyed look most people got whenever Axom started talking about one of his obsessions.
“We’re almost there,” Spencer said as they rounded the last of the curves and the rocks Spencer had been sitting on could be seen.
Reese shot him a grateful look.
This time, Spencer couldn’t hear any water as the river had completely frozen. The winter solstice had just passed, and Christmas was but two days away. They tended to avoid things like presents, well, except Axom, who didn’t really need much of a reason to play with his Cricut.
Their typical celebration for all holidays was to enjoy the day with family and friends. Anook had gotten permission from Dane to use the man’s bar to host a holiday meal for the entire town.
“I don’t know,” Axom said as they stepped onto the riverbank. “The ice doesn’t look strong enough to hold us.”
When Spencer started to pick up his foot and put it on the edge of the ice to test its strength, Sammy barked loudly, and pushed himself against Spencer’s legs as if trying to get him to back up. He’d been a hair too late though, for Spencer had put his foot onto the ice and they all heard it crack.
Thankfully, Sammy’s quick action had stopped Spencer from putting his foot into the frigid water. “Thank you, Sammy,” Spencer said as he gave the dog a scratch behind the ears. When Sammy gave him what he would swear was an exasperated look, along with a huff of annoyance, Spencer laughed. “I get it. That was stupid. But we still need to get across.”
Sammy headed several steps north along the bank, turned his head to look at them over his shoulder and gave a yip as if telling them, “Follow me.” Which Spencer had to admit, they did without question. What he wasn’t quite sure of, was why?
“Are we seriously following a dog to find a way across the river?” It was as if Axom had read Spencer’s mind.