by Marie Carnay
“About the weekends?”
“No.”
From the deepening flush in her face, Conner could guess. Was Jake not satisfying her? He glanced up at his friend. The man had been a stud when they were younger. Women wrapped themselves around him at the bar for a chance to go home and do the nasty.
From the first-hand knowledge Conner had in the matter, he could see why. Giving Julie the cold shoulder didn’t make any sense.
“You can always talk to me, Julie. I know I started out as Jake’s friend first, but I’d like to think we’re friends too.”
She looked up and he could see the hesitation in her eyes. “Jake would kill me.”
He shrugged. “Only if he finds out. Your secret’s safe with me.”
Her tongue darted out and traced a pattern on her lower lip. Damn. He’d give anything for just a taste.
“I…um…told him I wanted to experiment. Be more adventurous.”
“What, you mean like try Indian food? Go wakeboarding?” He grinned and she smacked his arm.
“No, you jerk.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “In the bedroom.”
Conner stumbled a step. “And Jake Callen said no?”
She nodded.
“Wow. What, did you want to dress him up like a girl and spank him? Tie him up and tickle him ’til he cried? What could he possibly not want to do with someone as sexy as you?”
As soon as the words slipped out, Conner cursed himself. It was one thing to lust after her, but another to admit it. He probably came off as a total perv. He pinched the back of his neck. Hard. “Hey, Julie, I didn’t—”
“I shouldn’t have said anything. Just forget it.” She clamped her mouth into a line and picked up the pace. Head high and focused on her boyfriend twenty feet ahead. Feet determined, arms pumping.
He leaned toward her to catch her eye, but she didn’t even flinch. Damn it. “I’m sorry.”
She held up her hand. “It’s no big deal. Let’s just get on with the hike, okay? Jake’ll kill me if we fall any further behind.”
Conner nodded. “Sure thing. Whatever you want.”
He tightened his shoulder straps and picked up the pace. Whatever it was that had Jake in a pissy mood and Julie shutting down, it wasn’t any of his business. He was the third wheel on this trip and he needed to remember it.
An hour later, and Julie couldn’t do anything but put one foot in front of the other. Step. Step. Step. Trudge. Trudge. Trudge.
Her chest heaved, her head ached, and if they didn’t reach that damn cabin soon, she’d probably collapse and opt for sleeping out in the wide open. Screw the threat of bears. She’d break out that jar of peanut butter and dare them to come find her.
As she adjusted her pack for the nineteenth time, something cold and wet landed on her cheek. What the…?
She looked up and her mouth fell open. “Um, guys?”
Jake grunted in front of her. “Now what? If we take another break, we’ll never get there.”
Funny. “No, that’s not it. Did you notice? It’s—”
“Shit, man. It’s snowing.” Conner’s voice cut through Jake’s muttering and Julie’s winded questions.
“What? That’s impossible. The forecast said—” Jake stopped as a snowflake landed on his bare arm. “Well, shit.”
“It never snows in October.” Julie looked up into the sky and the little dots of white were coming out of nowhere. More and more with every passing second.
“I know. It’s never snowed this early. I even checked the weather. Clear skies all weekend.”
“This isn’t what I’d call clear.”
The snow fell harder. Constant. One wet, icy sting after another, dotting Julie’s arms and melting on contact.
“Maybe it’ll quit. It could be freak flurries.”
Conner nodded. “We are up a few thousand feet. The weather’s different at higher elevations.”
Jake blew out a breath. “If we hadn’t had to stop so many times, we’d be at the cabin already.”
Julie cocked her head and narrowed her eyes. “If you weren’t being such an asshole, maybe I’d have worked a little harder.”
“Hey! Guys, come on.” Conner walked back to Julie and came around behind her. He yanked on her pack and all of a sudden it was lighter.
“What are you doing?” She craned her neck, but couldn’t see.
“Taking some of your weight. You can go faster without all this stuff.” He let go of her pack and she turned around in time to see him adding her sleeping bag to his pack.
“Conner, you don’t have to do that.”
He waved her off. “It’s no big deal, really. This way you can keep up. It’s not that far, right Jake?”
Jake stared at Conner for a moment. “Another two miles. If we hustle, we can get there before dark. Assuming there isn’t a white out or something.”
“Then we better get moving.”
Julie smiled up at Conner. “Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it. Let’s go.”
They all picked up the pace. Julie with her lightened pack, Conner with the added weight. Jake with his bad attitude.
The more they hiked, the harder the snow came down. On and on it fell. Blanketing the ground, coating the trees. Turning the leaves from rich reds and yellows to stark white.
Julie’d never seen anything like it. She’d lived in Mill Creek her whole life and snow storms never started like this. Or came on so fast.
One mile in and she was tramping through snow. It drifted across their feet, blew in gusts down the hill and straight into their faces. Stinging, biting little pinpricks of cold that turned Julie’s pant into a shiver. She needed to get warm. Dry. Out of the air that had dropped twenty degrees and into a sleeping bag.
They broke through the line of trees and Julie gasped. It wasn’t a few flurries. It was a storm. “Oh my God.” She stuttered to a stop next to Jake.
“The forest must have protected us from the worst of it. It’s—”
“A blizzard.” Conner’s voice carried the unease roiling Julie’s insides.
The snow came down in sheets. It covered the tops of the mountain range in front of them. Turned the slow ascent up the closest mountain into a ski slope. Almost obscured the tiny cabin from view.
Julie blinked. “There it is!” She could barely make out the worn brown wood beneath the snow. If they’d been any later, they’d never have found it.
“Let’s go. We’ve got to make it before the wind picks up. Otherwise, we won’t be able to see.”
She nodded and started forward with Jake and Conner by her side. All they needed was to climb the base of the mountain—a slow incline to the next row of trees—and they’d be there. Safe.
She could curse Jake out all she wanted with warm toes and dry hair and all the food she could cram in her mouth. Maybe she’d even eat his share.
As they started the ascent up the mountain, Jake broke into a jog. Bounding through drifts of snow to break away from her and Conner.
It seemed like they’d never get there. Trudging through the snow, Julie held one arm in front of her face while she marched toward the little shelter. Gripping onto Conner’s arm, he braced her against the wind.
At last, Jake reached the front door and the sight spurred her on. She jogged the last fifty yards with her arm wrapped around Conner’s and Jake stepped aside so they could tumble in.
Julie exhaled in relief. The small cabin was just as she’d remembered. Air tight and cozy. Wood-burning stove in one corner. Dry kitchen in the other stocked with supplies. Everything they’d need to rest and wait out the snow.
She turned to Jake and smiled. “This is great, Jake.”
He shrugged. “Just glad we made it before the snow got any worse.”
“Me too.” Conner shut the door and the snow swirling around the front of the cabin fell to the floor.
CHAPTER TWO
A SHIVER WRACKED Julie’s body and she set her pack on the floor. “Thank
God this place has a stove.”
“No kidding. And plenty of dry wood.” Jake dropped his pack and walked across the cabin to the wood pile.
“Hey, Jules? You want to dig out some food while Conner and I get this fire going?”
Good for Jake to remember her priorities. She smiled despite the cold. “How’d you know I’m starving?” With a clatter of teeth, Julie kneeled in front of her pack. The first edible thing she pulled out, they’d eat. She was too hungry and too cold to care about anything else.
After a struggle with the top bungee of her pack, she got it open. Pillow, no. Toiletries, no. Jacket, well that would have been helpful. Ah! Brunswick stew! It might be freeze-dried and weigh next to nothing, but it would be hot.
She dug deeper through the pack and pulled out a pot, plastic dishes, and silverware. A jar full of Skippy. As far as Julie was concerned, that was the appetizer.
Standing up with a shudder, she fought down a wave of chills before hustling over to the stove. “Oh, wow.”
While she’d been busy digging out food, the men had started the fire. It crackled to life in front of her and the first blast of heat made her groan in appreciation. “Damn, that’s nice.”
Conner took everything from her loaded arms and motioned to his pack. “Can you pull out the sleeping bags or are you too cold?”
“I can manage.” She gave him a quick smile and stuck her hands near the fire. One quick warm up and she’d be okay. With a deep breath, she tore herself away from the heat and sank to the floor in front of the gear.
I can do this. It’s not that cold over here. She struggled with the first bag, tugging on the cinch sacks with blue-tinged fingers until it slipped out of her grip. Shit. She knew what her fingers needed to do, but with her wet clothes clinging to her body, she couldn’t shake the cold. It was no use.
“Need a hand?” Conner’s voice sounded soft and gentle by her side.
“Please. I can’t get these open.”
He grabbed the first sack and pulled it open with ease. “You need to get warm while the stew cooks.” He stood and shook out the first bag. “Strip.”
She blinked. “What?”
“You heard me. Your clothes are soaking wet. Strip and I’ll wrap this around you.”
Julie glanced up at Jake, but he was too busy dealing with the stove and the food to notice. She’d been fantasizing about Conner all day. Trying not to think about all those muscles beneath his clothes. His tanned skin as he hugged her close. His hands running up her sides. But strip? Right there in front of him?
“Do you really think—”
His glare cut her off. “I’ll close my eyes, Julie. But you need to hurry. Just tell me when you’re done.”
“Okay.” She waited until he’d unzipped the sleeping bag and closed his eyes.
As fast as her frozen fingers allowed, she peeled off the soaked clothes. Boots. Socks. Shirt. Jeans. She glanced down at her sports bra and underwear.
“Everything.”
She glanced up in alarm, but Conner’s eyes were closed. “No peeking.”
“I’m not. You’re hesitating.”
With a frown, she yanked off the bra and shimmied out of her panties. “Okay. Lay it on me.”
Conner unfurled the bag and held it out as Julie walked into it.
The silky nylon wrapped around her and she sighed. So much better. “Thanks.”
Conner opened his eyes. “You’re welcome. Now come sit in front of the fire. Stew should be almost done.”
She trundled up to the stove and sat a few feet away.
“Feel better?” Jake’s voice had lost the harsh edge.
“Yes. But you’ve got to be freezing, too. I can wait on the stew. You should change.”
He smiled for the first time all day. “I will. But it’s ready. Here, eat.” Jake handed her the bowl and she took it with gratitude. For a moment, the Jake she loved was back.
He disappeared behind her and the sound of bags opening and clothes dropping made her cheeks flush. She could only imagine the view. Both men, buck naked. No way in hell was she turning around.
At last, both Conner and Jake ambled up beside her, wrapped in their own sleeping bags.
Jake ladled out the stew with one hand while he clutched the fluffy PrimaLoft around him with the other. When he’d filled two bowls, he handed one to Conner.
“Thanks, man.”
Jake nodded and sat down next to Julie. “Well, we made it.”
“We did. Sorry I held us up.”
“It’s okay. I’m just glad we’re safe and warm.”
Julie finished off the last of her soup. “Speak for yourself. I’m freezing.” She handed him her empty bowl and glanced at her fingers. While she’d been eating, the blue had crept up to the next knuckle. Shit. If the bag and the soup hadn’t done the job, what would?
Conner gripped the sleeping bag tight and stood up. If he sat another minute next to Julie, he’d never want to get up again. And his dick probably wouldn’t let him.
He set his empty bowl on the small counter in the kitchen and crouched in front of his pack. He was still cold, but at least in clothes he wouldn’t be so uncomfortable. Nothing like a raging erection and only a sleeping bag for concealment.
“Julie! Your fingers! Shit, you’re freezing.” Jake’s words stopped him still. “Conner, come here and help me out.”
He dropped the clothes and hustled over, trailing his sleeping bag across the floor. “She okay?”
“I don’t know. Give him your hand, babe.”
Julie held out a shivering hand. Oh, no. “She’s gonna go into shock. Get in the bag, man.”
Jake nodded and dropped his sleeping bag. He pulled Julie’s open and slipped in next to her. “You too, come on.”
Conner balked. “What? No way.”
“Yes way. She needs to warm up. You’re furnace hot.”
Jake had a point. But sitting next to Julie? With Jake on the other side? He thought he’d been in heaven on the hike, but this was definitely hell. With his sleeping bag held tight to his crotch, he slid in.
Don’t look. Just don’t look. He eased next to her and Jake wrapped them up in all the bags.
“Warmer?”
Julie nodded. “Thanks.”
Conner tried to think of something to say. Anything to distract himself from the soft, silky skin pressed up against him. The curve of Julie’s hip against his. The brush of her arm as she wiggled next to him. The swell of her breast when she moved. Damn it.
“Sorry if you’re uncomfortable.” She gave him a nudge and his dick throbbed in the warm, trapped air.
“Pfft. Who says I’m uncomfortable? I sit naked next to my friend’s girlfriends all the time.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I’m getting warmer. Look not so blue.” Julie wiggled her fingers. They were almost pink.
“Totally worth it then.”
She shifted next to him and clapped her hands beneath the covers. “I’ve got it. What do you do when you’re stuck in a sleeping bag with hours to kill?”
Jake volunteered. “Sleep?”
“No, silly. When you were kids. What did you do at a slumber party?”
Conner snorted. “Waited until Jeremy fell asleep and put his hands in bowls of water to see if he’d pee.”
Jake laughed. “Every time, man. Every time.”
Julie elbowed the pair of them. “That’s mean. I wasn’t talking about practical jokes. I was thinking games. How about truth or dare? I haven’t played in years.”
Conner glanced up at Jake in alarm. Did he want his girlfriend playing truth or dare? With both of them?
Jake shrugged. “I’m game. How ’bout you, Conner?”
He shoved the flash of panic down and tried to play cool. “Alright. I guess.”
“Goody!” Julie’s eyes lit up and she turned to Jake. “Truth or dare?”
Jake looked at her for a second. “Truth.”
“Why have you been such a jerk
lately?”
Oh, no. When she’d said truth or dare, Conner assumed it’d be like old times. Daring someone to run around naked. Asking how many people they’d kissed. Fucked. Awkward but not nuclear.
A straight-shot into relationship honesty? Bad news. He shifted and focused on the floor.
At last, Jake exhaled. “Because you don’t think I’m good enough anymore.”
Oh, God.
Julie shifted and her ass rubbed against Conner’s thigh. “I never said that! I love you. I think you’re amazing. Why would you even think that?”
Jake’s voice stayed even. “It’s not your turn anymore. It’s mine. Truth or dare?”
Conner wished he’d never agreed to get in the damn sleeping bag. It was bad enough to sit next to a totally unavailable, hotter than hell, naked chick. But to listen to her and her boyfriend’s troubles? Way too much. He inched away.
“Truth.” Julie’s voice wavered on the word.
“Why do you want a threesome so bad?”
Conner stopped still. What the…? He glanced over at Julie.
She bit her lip and he couldn’t miss the desire in her eyes. Hello.
After a second, she turned to her boyfriend. “I want to try it. That’s all. It’s nothing to do with your ability or anything like that. I just want—God this is embarrassing.” She dropped her head.
“You just want what?”
The muffled answer was barely audible through the sleeping bag. “I wanted to know what it felt like. Two men at the same time. You know…doing it.”
If Conner had been a cartoon character, his eyes would have popped out of his head and stayed there. Julie—sweet, kind, sassy to boot, Julie—wanted to fuck two men. At once.
His dick thought it was a fabulous idea. His brain? Full-on freak out.
Jake kept talking, oblivious to Conner’s panic attack. “So it’s not about me?”
Julie lifted her head. “No. It’s not. I never would have brought it up if I thought you’d hate it. I just—you’ve had so much more experience than me. I figured you wouldn’t mind. I mean, you said you did it before…”
Conner’s jaw fell open. He didn’t. One look at Jake confirmed it. He told her about that night. Conner opened his mouth to ask when Jake held up a hand.