Snowbound Christmas Cheer

by Veronica Tower

  “What are you doing?” Jo shouted through her own burst of joy.

  The answer was blatantly obvious. A.J. plopped them both down in a large drift so that the snow rose up on either side of Jo’s face and body.

  Then his lips found hers again and the warmth of his tongue contrasted excitingly with the cold snow to either side of her head. Thank God she had her hat on to keep the snow out of her hair.

  A.J.’s hand rested on her stomach—on top of her coat to be sure, but still poised in a position that suggested he was ready to move in either direction—breasts or pussy. She got a snowy hand up to cover it just in case he forgot that there were children playing on this street, but then she forgot all about that as she began to kiss him back.

  Kissing A.J. was always wonderful. It felt as if their mouths were built for each other—perfectly sized to let their tongues quest against each other while their bodies generated enough heat to melt a city’s worth of snow.

  A snowball collided with the back of A.J.’s head and a bunch of kids laughed. He broke their kiss, twisting about to glare good-naturedly at the kids. “Oh sure that’s funny now, but just wait a few years and remember tonight when some kids interrupt you doing this.”

  Three more snowballs came flying in to hit him and their fractured bodies plummeted down on Jo’s face and chest. She sat up sputtering, ready to call it quits and go inside, but A.J. had rolled all the way off of her and was already gathering ammunition for a counter attack. “Oh, so that’s the way you want it, is it?”

  He threw his first snowball and was on his feet packing another before Jo had wiped all the snow off her face.

  The kids squealed in delight and renewed their attack.

  A.J. was not the only object of their playful aggression.

  For a moment, Jo almost got mad, but the squeals of the children and the sound of A.J.’s own laughter won her over. She scooped up a handful of snow, found her feet, and began to fire back.

  “I can’t believe I’m so wet!” Jo complained as they made their way into A.J.’s third floor apartment.

  A.J. flicked on the light revealing a not-too-dirty bare little kitchen without a table or dishwasher in it. “I hate to say this,” he told her, “but I think General Custer did better at the Little Big Horn than we did on Elk Street tonight.”

  Jo couldn’t help but laugh.

  A.J. set the carton of eggnog, bottle of brandy and their bags from Kroger onto his kitchen counter. Then he pulled off his coat and hung it on the doorknob. “Let me help you with your jacket. I’ll hang it on the bathroom door to dry off.”

  Jo slipped out of her ski jacket. Her t-shirt and jeans felt wetter than the jacket had. She wondered what she could do about them.

  A.J. took the jacket from her and gave her a little kiss. “You really are soaked, aren’t you? I got a little wet but-”

  “It happened when those three kids pulled me down and piled snow on me,” Jo explained. “I worried for a moment that they were going to try and take liberties but they only wanted to bury me in snow.”

  Still holding her jacket, A.J. slipped his arms around her. “I’m glad they were smart enough to restrain themselves. The only person I want taking liberties with you is me!”

  He kissed her longer and deeper than he had the first time, helping Jo to warm herself, at least for the short term.

  He broke the kiss and stepped away. “Look, I need to change out of these wet things. You probably should too. Would you like to borrow a sweat suit? It’s not going to fit, but it should be more comfortable than what you’re wearing.”

  Jo really wasn’t certain how she felt about that. Her clothes were wet and she needed to get out of them. What was more, she had definite hopes of making love to A.J. tonight, which would definitely involve getting naked. But changing out of her clothes into a baggy sweat suit when they first arrived at his apartment seemed a little…bold? That wasn’t quite the word she wanted, but neither was slutty. It just seemed like things were moving a little faster than she was ready for.

  Evidently A.J. could figure out some of what was going through her mind. “Hey, I’m not suggesting we take a shower together or anything.” He paused as if to give her the opportunity to protest this suggestion and argue in favor of the shower, but when she didn’t do so he continued good-naturedly. “But if you stay in those clothes you’re going to catch a cold or something.”

  Jo could see the sense in that although she still didn’t feel completely comfortable with the idea. “I guess that makes sense.”

  “Great!” A.J. told her. “Let me get you some clothes.” He slipped deeper into the apartment and came back in a minute with a pair of black sweatpants and a Wayne State sweatshirt. “Why don’t you change in the bathroom?” he suggested.

  Jo took the clothes, still feeling skeptical about the whole idea. She entered the bathroom while he returned to his bedroom. The bathroom could have been a lot worse. That didn’t mean it was clean by a woman’s standards, but at least there wasn’t crusty old underwear on the floor and mold growing on the walls. All things considered, Jo considered it to be a good sign.

  She set the sweatshirt down on the sink and held the pants up in front of her. They were literally a foot too high. This was never going to work.

  She tossed the pants on to the sink and tried not to see just how bedraggled she looked in the mirror. Playing in the snow had been fun, but her hair was a total mess now.

  She exited the bathroom and knocked on the door A.J. had disappeared behind.

  He opened it immediately wearing only sweatpants but holding a clean t-shirt in one hand. His chest was breathtaking—shaved smooth with pectoral muscles that looked chiseled into his flesh. His abdomen held an honest to God six-pack like Jo had only seen in magazines and on television.

  “You haven’t changed yet,” A.J. told her. “Is something wrong?”

  Jo pulled her eyes off those perfect muscles and forced them up to A.J.’s face. She had a little trouble getting the words to come out so she thrust the pants out to him. “These are never going to fit, A.J. You’re nearly a foot taller than me. Do you have some shorts or something?”

  A.J. draped the t-shirt over his shoulder and took the pants. “I don’t know if my shorts will stay up on you. I thought the drawstring on the sweatpants would make up for the fact that I have a thicker waist than you do.”

  “That’s a good point,” Jo conceded, “but I still don’t think I can wear them. Do you have anything else?”

  A.J. tossed the sweatpants on to his bed. It hadn’t been made, which Jo frankly didn’t like. She wasn’t precisely a neat freak, but she didn’t like clutter either. She watched him walk over to his bureau. “Let’s see what else I have,” he suggested.

  He opened a drawer and began rooting through his clothes. “No, no, no,” he muttered, before pulling out a pair of basketball shorts. He came back to the doorway and held them up in front of Jo. “It’s not that I wouldn’t like to see you in these,” he told her, “but I don’t want to piss you off by giving you something we both know will fall off.”

  Jo had to agree with that.

  A.J. returned to the bureau and kept looking. “Wait a minute, this should work,” he declared as he pulled another pair of shorts out of the dresser.

  At first glance, Jo thought they were another pair of sweat pants. Then she saw they had been cut off at what for A.J. was probably just above the knees. On her they would probably cover her shins, and the drawstring gave her a chance of keeping them tight around her waist.

  “What do you think?” he asked.

  She rewarded his efforts with a little smile. “I’ll give them a try. Thanks!”

  She walked back to the bathroom, wishing she could think of a way to suggest A.J. leave off the t-shirt.

  He had a mighty fine chest.

  The shorts worked, basically. They weren’t a particularly good fashion statement, but they didn’t fall off when she let go of them and they were basic
ally comfortable to wear. The sweatshirt was actually the bigger problem. A.J.’s chest and shoulders were quite a bit broader than hers and as a result the neck of the garment exposed quite a bit of her dark brown flesh—mostly the shoulder but potentially other things.

  A.J was unlikely to complain.

  Jo knew she shouldn’t either, even though it was likely he was going to catch an occasional eyeful of her now braless assets. She still wasn’t really certain why this bothered her. She wanted to make out with him—she wanted to do more than make out with him. The problem was that she was pretty damn certain she wanted to do more than make out with him and she didn’t want him to start thinking of tonight as a one night stand. She’d just have to play it by ear and see what happened.

  She slipped out of the bathroom and back into the apartment. A.J. stood in the tiny kitchen fixing them each another eggnog with real glasses this time instead of the plastic red Solo cups. He was wearing a muscle-tee, which really showed off his well-developed shoulders and arms.

  Jo went all gooey inside. Heat flashed between her legs and her nipples swelled beneath the loose fitting sweatshirt. She wasn’t sure if it was A.J.’s body or the thought of what they would do after having another drink, but most of her nervousness about securing a second date evaporated.

  “Wow! That sweatshirt never looked that good on me,” A.J. told her.

  He carried the drinks over to her and leaned down to give her a quick little kiss. “Are you hungry again? I’ve got some pretzels and chips, or I could throw something in the microwave.”

  “No, I’m good,” Jo told him. “What movie did you want to see?”

  A.J. handed her one of the glasses of eggnog. “I don’t care at all. You have a favorite you’d like to share?”

  He slipped a hand down to the small of her back and guided her gently toward the couch in front of a big flat screen TV with an X-Box in front of it.

  “Nice television,” Jo complemented him.

  “Full disclosure,” A.J. said. “It’s Victor’s. The TV is one of the advantages of having roommates.”

  Jo was in a similar situation. “I know what you mean. Keisha owns our TV too.”

  They settled down on the couch and A.J. lifted his glass to her in a toast. “Thanks for coming over tonight, Jo. You’ve just made my whole Christmas.”

  She clinked glasses with him and tasted the eggnog again. She half expected it to be extra heavy on the brandy now that they weren’t driving anymore. A.J. had to be hoping to get lucky, but she didn’t think it was any stronger than the first one they had had in his car. The brandy burned pleasantly, its warmth stretching out through her body. Another couple of sips and Jo knew she’d be feeling completely comfortable.

  Evidently A.J. knew that too. He leaned in for another kiss, a longer and more stimulating one this time.

  Jo wrapped her arm around him and kissed back, but after a minute or so she broke it off. “So let’s see what you’ve been watching on the X-Box.”

  “It’s not just me.” A.J. laughed as he picked up the remote and turned the TV on. He switched to the X-Box controller and quickly summoned up Netflix where the recently viewed items showed a bunch of children’s Christmas programs—mostly cartoons and young adult programming from Nickelodeon. “Cartoons?” she asked him.

  A.J. shrugged. There was, perhaps, just a hint of an embarrassed flush coloring his face. “What did you expect? We’re in college!”

  She couldn’t help smiling. “Well, which one do you want to see?”

  He handed her the remote. “You can choose. I’ll watch anything.”

  Jo accepted the remote. Unlike A.J. she had to set her drink down on the cheap coffee table to work the controls. She really wasn’t certain what she wanted to watch so she just typed the word “Christmas” into the search box and began sifting through the lengthy set of options. A Christmas Story quickly popped up and she selected it because it seemed like a safe choice. Who didn’t like A Christmas Story?

  “Good choice,” A.J. immediately agreed, confirming Jo’s instincts. He took a sip of his drink and then slid closer to her, placing his arm around her shoulders.

  She responded by picking her drink back up and snuggling closer. She really liked the weight of his arm around her. She could get very used to hanging out with A.J.

  She took another sip of her drink, just a little one, and enjoyed the feel of the brandy as it rested on her tongue. The taste wasn’t perfect, but the eggnog squelched the worst of it, letting her enjoy the tingle caused by the alcohol.

  A half-disturbing thought flashed through her. “Hey, didn’t you say you’re flying to Peoria tomorrow?”

  A.J. grimaced. “Well, I’m supposed to. I’ve actually got to leave for the airport about four A.M. But with this weather? I thought eight inches was bad enough, but it looks to me like we’re going to get a lot more than that. You mind if we switch over to the news and check on the storm?”

  Jo felt a ripple of disappointment that A.J. would have to leave so early. She’d been thinking in terms of spending the night but this definitely put them back in the stay out late category. What was far worse, it had all the potential in the world of putting this date back in the realm of one night stand. Who knew what would happen after A.J. went home for the holiday?

  “Are you staying home until school starts again?” she asked him.

  A.J. stood up and crossed to his TV where he pushed a button on the side to bring up the normal cable channels. “That was the original plan,” he informed her, “but ever since meeting you again tonight I’ve been thinking about coming back early. You want to spend New Year’s Eve together? I’ll bet they’ll be doing something at The Church Key. We could see your friend Thea and Nick.”

  A.J.’s idea warmed Jo’s heart. She wasn’t the only one thinking about a second date. “That would be great.”

  The regular TV flashed on the screen immediately showing images of snowed-in Detroit.

  “Wow!” A.J. told her. “That’s a lot of snow.”

  They watched snowplows struggle to clear the streets for about fifteen seconds and read the scrawl at the bottom of the screen that seemed to be indicating that storm warnings were affecting half the state of Michigan. The forecast had changed to fifteen to twenty inches and flights were delayed or canceled all over the place.

  This final news made A.J. smile. “I think it’s pretty safe to say that I won’t be flying back to Peoria tomorrow morning.”

  There was no way that Jo could describe the expression on his face as anything other than ecstatic. She was feeling pretty good about it too.

  She stood up. “I’m sorry,” she lied. “I guess your parents will be pretty disappointed.”

  A.J. set his drink down next to the TV and stepped around to the coffee table to face her. “They’ll get over it. Nothing we can do about mother nature.”

  His hands found her waist and Jo stood up on her tiptoes to meet his lips, closing her eyes as they began to kiss again.

  The X-Box and A Christmas Story could wait until tomorrow.

  Chapter Seven

  A.J. inched Jo backward, taking the glass of eggnog out of her hand and plopping it down on the coffee table. Then both his hands were on her waist and she was falling back onto the couch. He landed with her, his hand still on her waist but somehow underneath the baggy sweatshirt. His fingers touched the smooth bare flesh of her side and drifted upward onto her stomach. Unlike earlier in the car, he didn’t spend a lot of time pretending his movements were somehow accidental. His hand slid straight up her torso and for the first time he was suddenly cupping her naked breast.

  She shivered in delight, then stretched her whole body out on the couch as he aligned himself beside her, laying on the cushions but leaning onto her so she could feel his heat—not to mention the bulge in his sweatpants as it pressed against her hips. She got her hands into the action, feeling the muscles of his chest that she’d been admiring earlier. His t-shirt annoyed her so she gr
abbed it by the waist and wrenched it up over his head.

  He helped her removed it and she took advantage of his momentary distraction to take control on the couch. She pushed him over on his back, almost tipping him onto the floor, then she straddled his waist so that she sat on top looking down on his fine body. The impressive bulge in his sweatpants pressed between her legs, adding to her sense of excitement.

  Jo leaned down to kiss and lick A.J.’s chest, glorying in his Adonis-like muscles. She knew they would be impressive when she’d met him on Halloween but the naked-truth was much greater than she’d hoped for. She licked her way around his pectorals, feeling his bulge straighten out and harden as she did. Then she went to work with her tongue on his little nipples, turning them into pebbles of granite that her teeth found utterly delightful.

  A.J. groaned and lost his willingness to simply let her play. His hands slipped back up beneath the baggy Wayne State sweatshirt and cupped both of her breasts. He squeezed her, making the nipples protrude toward him even though the sweatshirt concealed them from his sight. Then he lifted his head off the arm of the couch and started kissing her again while his thumbs and forefingers rolled and pinched her tits into their full prominence.

  It didn’t take much of his teasing for Jo to be ready for more. She reared up above him and pulled the sweatshirt up and over her head. Her long hair caught in it for a moment before the ponytail she’d bound it in pulled free and it fell back behind her. A.J. let go of her breasts for a moment just to admire her, then he got his arm around her waist and wrestled her back down on the couch so he could get his mouth on the pebbled flesh of her nipples.

  Tremors followed—shocking jolts of electric pleasure that shook Jo’s entire body. His mouth was so warm in the cool apartment air and the hard suction on her sensitive nipples rocketed Jo toward climax without him making any contact at all with her clitoris.

  A.J. appeared to be in heaven. He had both her breasts in his hands and he kept alternating from one engorged nipple to the other—sucking them into his mouth, nursing for several seconds, then switching to the other breast. Jo continued to encourage him by running her fingers through his short blond hair and scratching his bare back with her long nails.