by Whitley Cox
Her smile grew wider and warmer as she squeezed his arms a little harder. Austin’s insides dissolved to mush. “I’m a good friend to have.”
“I bet you are. You’re incredible. You seem like the sweetest, most caring and genuine person I’ve ever met. I didn’t know they still made them like you.”
Where the fuck did that just come from?
Her eyes went wide.
His mouth dropped open. Oh God, what must she think of him?
“Uh… what I mean is, yeah? Discounts on organic clothes and handcuffs?”
Hurt clouded her face.
Fuck. Filter, Austin! Think before you speak.
Her lips pursed again into a thin white line before she spoke. “Yeah, discounts. Call me when you need new underwear.”
Austin opened his mouth to say something, but snapped it shut. Hunter eyed him suspiciously, sadness and disappointment coming off her in waves.
She let out a loud, long exhale that said so much. “All right then, well. Dinner’s ready.” Then, wringing her hands in front of her, she turned around and softly scuffed her cute little slippered feet down the hallway back toward the kitchen.
Austin smacked the heel of his palm to his forehead and closed his eyes.
Stupid, stupid, STUPID!
Chapter Eight
Will set his empty drink down on the arm of the chair, the ice rattling gently, reminding him he needed to get up and get another. He stared aimlessly into the fire crackling in the hearth. Austin might be a nerd unable to close a deal with a cute little blonde who was into him, but he could build a mean fire. Had Will ever made a fire before? Had he even been camping? He couldn’t remember.
“It’s really coming down out there.” Juney yawned, snuggling up tight next to Rowan on the couch. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close, planting a smacking smooch on the side of her head. The other four watched the two lovers, envying how easily the intimacy between them seemed to have emerged literally overnight. Sure, there’d been looks and smirks between the two as they all got to know one another last night, but if Will were going to put his money on any couple hooking up on the first night, it would have been him and Amber. It certainly hadn’t been Hunter and Austin. Those two were on different planets, they were so far apart at the moment.
“Oh, yeah,” he muttered, tipping back his scotch. “Total whiteout.” Will turned around, unable to watch the mush in front of him any longer. That should be him and Amber, but he’d stupidly gone and fallen asleep last night, and then the rest of the day had been awkward as all hell.
“Isn’t there a hot tub?” Hunter asked, biting her lip before taking a sip of her wine, her cheeks flushed and eyes bright as she sat in front of the fire. Austin was next to her on the floor among a bunch of pillows, but he managed to keep his distance, having childishly created a wall of cushions between them.
Amber nodded. “Yeah, there is, right off the patio. Did everyone bring a swim suit?”
There were nods all around.
Her smile made lust roar into his cock. “Well then, what are we waiting for? Let’s top off our drinks, suit up and get wet.”
Will groaned under his breath at her choice of words. He wanted Amber to get wet all right. He wanted her fucking saturated, and before the night was through, he would make damn sure she was, his name on her lips as she filled his mouth with her release.
It was no more than five minutes of grabbing towels and changing into suits before six half-naked bodies stood outside with chattering teeth, goosebumps chasing across their skin and Will hopping back and forth on his feet. The deck was freezing. Although the little dance wasn’t exactly manly—he felt like a bit of a garden fairy—somehow it felt right and staved off the frosty bite.
“Brrrr.” Hunter shivered, pulling her towel tight around her bare shoulders as they all stood on the freshly cleared patio, waiting for Rowan to lift the hot tub cover.
Austin had busied himself earlier that day when they’d first gotten back from the ski hill and shoveled the driveway, clearing a path to the woodshed and around the deck. So even though it was frigid outside, they weren’t ankle-deep in snow and close to losing a toe or two.
Juney and Rowan had prepped dinner, and Hunter and Amber had set the table, swept the floor and hung up everyone’s wet clothes over the heater in the garage. Will had grabbed a scotch, sat in the living room, and read a book. He loved being on vacation.
“Ah, there we go!” Rowan said with a satisfied smile, flopping the big cover over and sending fluffy snow flying all around as it landed on the deck with a loud thud. Steam rose quick and thick up in the air, but no one wasted any time admiring it. They all slid in.
There were “Ahs” all around as chilly and sore bodies slipped into the warm water and found a seat and jet to soothe overworked muscles.
“I’m going to feel it tomorrow,” Amber drawled, tipping her drink and taking a healthy sip. “I haven’t boarded in years. I’m not sure I’ll be able to move in the morning. My quads were screaming at me on that last run. I might even sleep in tomorrow.”
Hunter smiled through clenched teeth as she sucked in air. “Oh, yeah . . . sleep in. I guess we can do that, can’t we? We’re on vacation. I can’t remember the last time I truly slept in. You know, wake up closer to lunch than breakfast. God, it’s been years.”
Juney shook her head. “Me, either. It’s up at the crack of dawn, off to yoga, then work, and then I write until midnight. Only to do it all over again the next day.”
The girls yawned and nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I run,” Hunter said sleepily, “yoga on Wednesdays and Sundays.”
“I prefer kickboxing, myself,” Amber added. “Helps get out my frustrations with some of the bone-headed men I work with. I can’t exactly lose my shit the way I’d like to and be taken seriously, so I envision their ugly mugs when I’m sparring with a partner or hitting the bag. They’d all tell you I’m a super zen boss, but in reality I want to drop-kick at least one of them daily.”
Will snorted.
Damn, she was tough.
He loved it. He studied the little redheaded pixie in the corner as she clutched her wine glass in her hand and closed her eyes from the pleasure of the jet behind her. He only managed to catch a glimpse of her body in her bathing suit before she sank down beneath the bubbles, but that glimpse had been enough to make his cock start to rise in his shorts. He was thankful for the water and the secrets it kept.
No-nonsense, just like Amber, her bikini was small and black. Three simple triangles, but damn if those triangles didn’t turn him on. And the rest of her body was like alabaster, with peachy freckles across her chest and on her arms. He wanted to find out what each one tasted like. And tonight he would. Will had stopped drinking and traded his scotch for water. The others were still imbibing on wine, beer and scotch, but he wanted to be alert and present for Amber. He wasn’t going to miss another opportunity to hear the little red kitten purr his name.
Amber rolled her bottom lip between her teeth. Was she even conscious of how damn sexy, how sensuous and seductive she was being right now? Probably not. She glanced out into the ravine below, and Will took a moment to watch her. An unencumbered view of the beauty. Slowly, her little pink tongue darted out and ran between the seam of her lips.
Oh, fuck me now.
He wanted to lick those lips. He wanted to bite them. Fuck, he wanted to lick and bite more than that lip, he wanted every goddamn inch of her beneath his hot tongue as he savored her taste. He wanted to sink deep inside her sweet pussy lips and apologize profusely for his stupidity of the night before. Never again would he choose sleep over fucking Amber.
Never.
Now, if only the puppies would leave so he could take his little redhead right here and right now, under the stars. His cock jerked in his shorts again. Yes, he needed to get rid of the others.
Austin had been rather quiet since dinner. He’d ducked out twice since tidying up to shovel the driveway or
make sure enough wood was in for the fireplace. Having designated himself the house pyro, he was diligent in his responsibility of ensuring there was always fresh wood on the fire and lots of newspaper crinkled up and ready to go in the event the fire did go out.
He had a lot to think about, and the monotonous tasks helped. His little temper tantrum after Sam’s departure and his chat with Juney on the chairlift had been eye-opening. But at the same time, it made him worry more than ever that he wouldn’t be able to hold a candle to the other men Hunter had been with. That she would grow bored with him within months, if not days. What was the point of even trying? It’d been like a knife in the gut watching her laugh and chat it up with Will earlier, though, as the two goofed around on the hill, pushing each other over and smiling. He wanted that. Why couldn’t he have that? And wasn’t Will interested in Amber? What the hell?
He peeked over at the curvaceous blonde, who sat in one of the shallower seats, her breasts bobbing near the surface.
Jesus Christ, why the hell’d she have to go and wear that? Was it even a bathing suit?
It looked like three of his grandmother’s doilies. Crocheted sage-colored patches that covered (just barely) her breasts and cleft. His doctor had warned him that overworking could lead to a heart attack. But the man hadn’t bothered to mention that a vexatious blonde with a fetish for leather, lace, and lascivious sexual proclivities, with breasts so perfect he couldn’t help but wonder if they were real, might also cause him to have a jammer. Or at the very least a stroke from a blood clot as his veins fought to pump enough blood up to his brain, because at the moment, it was all between his legs. Might as well call the EMTs now, because sharing a hot tub with Hunter in those scraps of fabric was surely going to kill him in some way.
He sipped his drink, enjoying the way the alcohol numbed his limbs and brain. His big brain that never stopped thinking, never stopped overthinking. Could he go to Hunter’s room tonight? Knock on her door and kiss her? Could they start off slow? Did he want to start off slow? Did she?
“You look like you’re trying to solve the world’s energy crisis over there,” Juney said with a laugh, her head resting on Rowan’s shoulder as the two snuggled up sickly sweet in one of the corners, both of their hands hidden beneath the bubbles. Austin could only imagine the debauchery going on under the water right now.
Hunter snorted. “He probably is.”
Austin’s eyes flicked up to Hunter’s, and she gave him a big, genuine toothy grin. Was that her third or fourth glass of wine?
“Are you?” she asked. Apparently she’d forgiven him for his comment earlier. Or the wine was numbing her frustration.
He glanced down into his glass and swirled the ice around for a second. “Sure. Maybe not the world’s energy crisis, but a crisis for sure.”
“I bet I know what the crisis is,” Rowan said under his breath against Juney’s temple.
She elbowed him, and he just snickered.
A warm tingle wormed its way into Austin’s cheeks, and the tips of his ears prickled with heat. He averted his gaze and instead glanced up at the dark gray clouds. It had stopped snowing. But not for long. The forecast was calling for another eight to twelve inches.
Snowed in and set up, indeed.
Only now it was starting to feel like snowed in, set up, and slowly suffocated.
“Hey, you’ve got a tat, too,” Will said lazily, noting the ink on Hunter’s shoulder.
Austin sat up straighter. Oh yeah, that tattoo he’d been ogling the corner of all last night. Finally, he was going to get a glimpse of the whole thing.
Hunter contorted her body around so everyone could see. “Yeah, it’s a flock of birds. A tad morose, but each bird represents a foster home I was in. There are seven in total.”
Will whistled. “Jesus.”
She shrugged. “Ah, it wasn’t so bad. Made me tough and independent. I’ve heard some foster home horror stories, and I don’t have any of my own, so I consider myself lucky. I bounced around the system a bit because families couldn’t keep me for very long. Either they moved, had their own kids’ issues to deal with, or couldn’t make ends meet even with the subsidy they got from the government for me. A couple of families were a little neglectful, using me as a cash cow and spending the money meant for my needs on themselves. I didn’t last long with them.”
“So, the birds are more like a badge of honor or a symbol of freedom?” Juney asked.
Hunter nodded. “In a way, yeah. I wouldn’t be who I am today without each of those foster homes, each of those birds. But at the same time, they don’t really define who I am, you know? I’m not a foster kid. I’m Hunter Kingsley, owner of Breathe, Babe, Breathe. I’m my own person, free of my past, free of it all. I dunno. I saw the sketch when I was seventeen and carried it around in my wallet for nearly six years before I finally got it put on me permanently. I love it.”
Everyone nodded.
“It’s beautiful,” Juney added.
“Thank you. You have tats, too?” Hunter asked, turning back to Will.
He nodded and then stood up, the water sluicing off his body in dark rivers. He spun around and showed everyone his calf. It was the head of a proud male lion with a shaggy mane and open mouth, exposing ferocious sharp teeth. Because Will was so dark-skinned and the only light from inside the house was from the Christmas tree, it was tough to make out. But you could see enough to know what it was.
“That’s cool,” Rowan said. “You a Leo or something?”
Will made a noise in his throat and sat back down in the water. “No. I got this right after my trip to Africa. A lion came into the local village I was working in and started to drag away a kid. There was a drought; everyone was hungry, including the animals. And the lions were getting desperate.”
Gasps echoed around the hot tub.
“Holy freaking shit,” Rowan said, his mouth just hanging open and his eyes bugging out. The rest held similar expressions.
Will nodded and lifted one shoulder. “Yeah, anyway, I’m not entirely sure what happened. I think I blocked a lot of it out. But somehow in my sleep-deprived, thirsty, heat-stroked brain, I thought it would be a good idea to go after the lion. I leaped onto him, and he released the kid, then went after me. But by this time, the game warden had arrived. They ended up putting the cat down. He was getting too comfortable and used to humans. It would have happened again at some point.”
“Jesus Christ,” Hunter muttered. “So, you decided to get its face tattooed on your leg?”
“To cover up the scars of its teeth marks, yeah.”
“Isn’t there a movie like that out there?” Austin asked.
Will took a sip of his water and lifted one eyebrow. “Yep. Watched it on the plane ride back. Talk about reliving a nightmare.”
Everyone continued to shake their heads, new admiration and a dash of awe on their faces.
“See, I don’t hate kids. I saved one from being eaten by a lion, for crying out loud. I just don’t want any of my own.” A nervous chuckle bubbled up through his chest. Austin gave the man an appraising look. Normally Will came across so confident, almost to the point of being cocky, but right now he seemed downright uncomfortable. What was going on?
“That’s a pretty crazy story,” Austin finally said, his eyes taking in the way Amber was looking at him, as if he’d just saved her from the clutches of a starving jungle cat.
Will shrugged. “Not really. You hear all kinds of tales like that in Africa. I honestly don’t even like talking about it.” He swirled his empty scotch glass around, letting the ice tinkle. He’d switched to a big bottle of water after he drained his drink and had been nursing that for the last ten minutes. “But when I’m in the sauce, I tend to share a little more. Loose lips and all that.”
Austin grunted and finished off his drink. “Loose lips.”
Eventually everyone fell into a bit of a companionable silence. Juney and Rowan huddled up tight in the corner, hands beneath the frothy wate
r. Amber and Will sat on opposing corners, avoiding each other’s eyes. Hunter was in the remaining corner, and Austin was left to sit awkwardly in the middle on the bench, between the two lovebirds who were undoubtedly doing hand stuff under the water and Hunter, whose breasts were practically heaving out of her tiny and tight crocheted bikini top. He didn’t know where to look. So rather than looking anywhere, he closed his eyes, tilted his head back and sank down into the heat as deep as he could, until nothing but his face was visible. Yeah, that ought to solve all his problems.
Amber’s heart beat wildly in her chest. Jesus Christ, the way Will was looking at her—she knew she was in a hot tub, but damn, she was wet. Those eyes . . . they said so much. And everything they said was downright filthy.
“Well, I think I am sufficiently pruney,” Rowan said with a yawn, standing up and stretching, a noticeable bulge at the front of his shorts, especially since they clung to his wet legs. “I’m going to go have a shower and head to bed. Are you pruney, Juney?” He snickered at his silly rhyme and smiled down at her, offering her his hand. Juney took his hand and stood up, her hot pink bikini doing all kinds of justice to her lithe and dripping frame.
“I think I’m ready for bed, too,” she said, following Rowan over to the step and allowing him to help her out. He wrapped a towel around her shoulders and rubbed the sides of her arms several times.
“All right guys, well, Merry Christmas Eve and goodnight. We shall see you all tomorrow. Hopefully Santa Claus brings you what you want.” Rowan winked at Austin, then at Will and finally grinned wickedly at the other two girls before placing his hand at the small of Juney’s back and ushering her toward the French doors.
“Cocky fucker,” Will grumbled.
Amber snickered. “Wouldn’t you be?”
Will’s eyes flashed from the door to her face, his dark brown eyes blazing pure fire. “Abso-fucking-lutely, but at the moment I’m just a dumb fucker who fell asleep when I should have been wide awake.”