by Lucy Lennox
“Oh, he’s in the kitchen helping Bennett with the food. He brought his mother, Wanda, who’s a little hard of hearing, so when you meet her, be sure and speak up. Come on back and you can give him that beer you brought before Xander steals it all for himself.”
As I did the rounds greeting everyone and wishing them a happy Thanksgiving, I felt my jaw tighten more and more with the stress of picturing Oz and Russell Hastings together. Russ was an excellent skier who taught lessons on the weekend at the nearby slopes and had an entire group of snow bunnies who fawned all over him. Whenever he was on skis or a snowboard, he showed off like a damned trained monkey. Except, instead of performing for tips, he performed for adoration.
The guy was a narcissist who didn’t believe in monogamy.
Albeit a handsome, fit one.
If I didn’t stop picturing the man driving into Oz’s sweet body, I worried my teeth might break.
“Hey.” This time it was Oz greeting me in a soft voice.
I snapped my head around and saw his beautiful face. His forehead was crinkled with worry, and he looked unsure. Seeing him like that made me even angrier.
“Mmf,” I grunted with a nod before turning and walking away. I took my place at the dining room table in hopes it would appear as though I was just being polite by taking my seat, since it was time to eat anyway.
Unfortunately, Oz’s place card was right next to mine. There was no way I could move it without being obvious, so I looked to my other side in hopes someone super chatty would be able to keep me faced away from Oz for the duration of the meal.
Fuck.
Keith McCreary.
Another attractive guy who would probably love nothing more than to get into Oz’s designer skinny jeans. The six-foot-tall mountain man owned a sandwich shop in town and was a notorious flirt. I closed my eyes and cursed Xander and Bennett for befriending all the damned gay men in town. Selfish fuckers.
I was still turned toward Keith’s chair when I felt Oz settle into the chair on my other side. A tiny pair of piranha teeth sank into my ankle.
“Jesus Christ,” I yelped. Sure enough, it was Princess Cujo. I leaned down to lock eyes with her. “What the hell is your problem?”
Oz’s voice was cold when he responded for her. “She’s very loyal to me.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, straightening up to look at him.
I shouldn’t have.
His eyes were a stunning blue, set off magically by the navy sweater he was wearing. His hair had some kind of product in it, holding a fauxhawk style I hadn’t seen on him before. It was hot as hell. I also caught a whiff of cologne that went straight to my cock.
I swallowed past the lump in my throat and barely noticed everyone else taking their seats.
“It means she’s punishing you for blowing me off earlier,” he said with a sniff. As if he didn’t care I’d done that.
“WHAT DID YOU SAY, DEAR?”
I looked across the table at Wanda. Was she asking me?
“HE SAID JAKE BLEW HIM, MOTHER,” Steve said with a devious wink at Lolly.
Complete silence. I took a sip from my water glass to cover my mortification.
“I wish,” Oz mumbled politely into his cloth napkin.
I spit the water across the table.
“OH DEAR,” Wanda said, clutching at invisible pearls. “THAT’S… THAT’S PERSONAL INFORMATION, STEVEN. NOT FIT FOR DINNER CONVERSATION.”
“OFF!” I barked. Both dogs went scrambling for the door with their tails between their legs. “Oh god. I BLEW HIM OFF, MA’AM,” I corrected. “I BLEW HIM OFF.”
Oz’s jaw dropped open, and Bennett almost spilled the mashed potatoes.
Lucky just stared between me and the older deaf woman. I could see his fingers itching to pick up his phone, probably so he could record the scene. Just to be sure he didn’t, I narrowed my eyes at him.
“This is a nightmare,” I murmured.
“That’ll teach you to be an ass,” Oz snapped.
“WHAT WAS THAT?” Wanda asked again.
“HE’S AN ASS, MAMA. OZ SAID JAKE IS AN ASS.”
I looked around the table. This wasn’t happening.
Wanda shot me evil eyes. “WELL, THAT’S A SHAME. OZ IS A NICE BOY. HE TOOK ME TO BED EARLIER, DIDN’T YOU, SWEETIE?”
“YES, MA’AM,” Oz replied with a giant smile. “YOU NEEDED SOME BEAUTY REST, AND IT WORKED. YOU’RE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN THE ROOM.”
He seemed to realize there was one other woman he’d overlooked.
“SORRY, LOLLY. YOU’RE ALSO GORGEOUS.”
Wrinkly Steve reached for Lolly’s hand and beamed at her. “My two lovely ladies.”
At that point Keith wandered in with a bottle of wine in each hand. “Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Sorry I’m late. I had to drop my brother off at work. Apparently, the college kids don’t take a break from their beer nights for Thanksgiving. What’d I miss?”
Most people around the table were laughing too hard to answer.
“Hi, Keith,” Oz said with an overly familiar smile, leaning forward to greet the man as if I wasn’t sitting between them. “I didn’t know you were coming today. How wonderful to see you again so soon.”
“You two know each other?” I growled.
“ARE ALL OF THESE MEN HOMOSEXUALS? NOT THAT THERE’S ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT.”
“MOM!” Steve shouted with embarrassment. “YOU DON’T ASSUME SOMEONE IS GAY. Everyone, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Oz said, still laughing. “WANDA, IT’S OKAY. I AM GAY AND ALREADY HAVE A DATE WITH KEITH, SO IT’S FINE TO ASSUME WITH THE TWO OF US. JAKE ISN’T, THOUGH.”
I choked on nothing, Keith stared at me in surprise, and Lucky finally pulled his phone out to start recording.
Xander snorted, immediately held his hand out for Lucky’s phone, and reached out with his other hand for his fiancé. Bennett set down the dish of potatoes and buried his face in Xander’s neck to keep from collapsing from laughter.
“This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” Bennett gasped. “Is it my birthday?”
My face was surely crimson as I began filling my plate with whatever I could get my hands on.
“Wow, Jake. You’re a tough nut to crack. I could have sworn you were on my team,” Keith said with a wink in my direction.
“Careful, Keith,” Oz cut in. “He’s slightly homophobic and doesn’t appreciate being mistaken for one of us.”
Keith stared at me while I stared at Oz. “That’s not true,” I said through my teeth. “Can we talk about this another time, please? Like maybe not in front of all of these people?”
“No need. We’ve already said all we need to say, anyway,” Oz snapped. “You’ve made your opinions about everything very clear.”
The way he said the word “everything” made it sound like he was referring to himself.
“I’m… I’m sorry, Oz. I just…” What I should have said was nothing, but that’s not what came out of my mouth. “How did you get here? Your car was still at the cabin when I left.”
“I got a ride.”
“Oh.” There went my teeth again, clamping against each other like a vise. “Did you tell Keith about Russ?”
Okay, now I was officially going off the deep end.
Oz tilted his head at me. “What about Russ?”
“That you’re sleeping with him,” I hissed under my breath so only he could hear me.
“WHAT, DEAR? SAY IT LOUDER SO THE REST OF US CAN HEAR.”
“HE SAID OZ IS SLEEPING WITH RUSS, WANDA,” Lolly called out with a shit-eating grin. “Xander, Bennett, you’re hosting the holidays from here on out, okay, sweeties?”
“I’m not sleeping with Russ. I’ve never even met the guy,” Oz muttered.
“Jake, Russ isn’t even in town. He’s in Florida,” Xander said.
“What?” I asked, swiveling my head around in shock. “But the Jeep—”
“Oz is borrowing the J
eep for the winter,” Bennett interjected.
Keith let out an exaggerated breath of relief. “Good. For a minute there, I thought I was horning in on someone else’s action.”
“You are,” I bit out without thinking.
“What? Whose?” Oz asked, forehead wrinkled in confusion.
“ARE THEY ALL GAY EXCEPT FOR JAKE HERE?” Poor Wanda looked both horrified and confused.
I felt myself starting to shake with frustration and looked around to see if the entire world had gone mad.
Lucky snuck the dogs some turkey, Xander snuck Steve’s bottle of my craft beer out from under his nose, Bennett poured more wine in everyone’s glasses when they weren’t looking, and Oz’s face turned a dangerous mottled shade of purple. He almost looked like he was going to burst into tears right there. I couldn’t stand the thought that I had anything to do with it.
“Jesus Christ, he’s not gay, alright? JAKE ISN’T GAY!” Oz suddenly burst out, his voice cracking just a little.
Before Oz could push back his chair and storm off, I turned and grabbed his face and slammed my mouth down on his the way I’d wanted to ever since the afternoon I’d found him stuck on the side of the road.
Chapter 9
Oz
In the space of about three seconds I went from angry, hurt, and disgusted to thoroughly, blissfully entranced in the time it took for Jake to grab me and cover my mouth with his.
What am I… what? What is he doing? Why…?
Those were all the things I should have said after pushing him away, but I couldn’t have talked even if I’d tried. I was too lost in the kiss. The warmth of his mouth, the softness of his lips, the tenderness of his hands as they brushed the sides of my face. I could smell his clean scent and feel the fine fabric of his dress shirt over the firm muscles of his chest. His throat made a low groaning sound, and I heard my own make more of a whimper.
Oh god, it was incredible.
It’s not real.
I pulled back as soon as the thought sank in, and I slapped him hard on the face. Gasps exploded around me, reminding me we weren’t alone. Not only had he fucked with me, he’d done it in front of our friends.
“Fuck you,” I spat before finally throwing back my chair and racing out of the room.
It had to be a joke. One done in such poor taste, I almost couldn’t believe it of him. I hadn’t thought he was that kind of guy–the kind to toy with someone’s feelings that way. He had to know I was attracted to him, so for him to kiss me just to prove… what? That he wasn’t actually homophobic?
Who did that? Who was that cruel?
I came to a stop when I realized I’d accidentally escaped into the pantry between the kitchen and mud room. I turned around to close the door for some privacy so I could burst into tears like the strong man I was, when someone came barging in right after me.
The door slammed closed behind Jake, and he stood blocking my escape. He flipped on the lights so there was no missing the play of emotions on his face as he stared at me.
“Move,” I snarled. “Get out of my fucking way.”
“Oz—”
“No. Nothing you can say to me right now is going to change the way I feel. Nothing is going to take away what you did back there. You lying sack of–”
His mouth crashed down on mine again, stealing my words away and swallowing them whole. I found myself instantly transformed from an indignant victim of his rude prank to a willing participant in the second-best kiss of my fucking life.
In that moment, Jake owned me whether I liked it or not.
His mouth controlled me with the barest touch and the lightest flick of his tongue against mine. He was sweetness and strength, ache and possession. While his lips softened their assault on my mouth, his hands began touching me everywhere.
“Not straight,” he spoke into my ear after his lips traced a path there with teasing nibbles. “Gay. Really very gay. With you, possibly even more gay.”
I moaned despite my best intentions and may have arched my throbbing cock up into his hip.
“Wha? I don’t… what?” My lungs were having a hard time supplying enough oxygen to my brain, and the only message I was sure of from my body was more, more, god please more.
“Want you. Want you so badly. You have to know how much,” he admitted with a hoarse voice. “Tell me you know, Oz. Please.”
The last word was spoken with such longing and desperation, as if it would break him if I didn’t believe him.
“Touch me,” I breathed into the side of his face. The sharp scrape of his beard scruff was like a match to the flame of my desire for him. I fucking loved a man’s scruff against my tender skin. “Oh god, please.”
His arms locked around me, hands spreading wide across my back and pulling me against his chest. I felt the long thickness of his erection against my lower belly. I felt my knees instinctively start to give way so I could sink to them and put my mouth around his cock.
That was when reality splashed over me like water from an ice-cold bucket.
“Fuck, fuck, stop,” I blurted, shoving him off me. “What the hell is happening? Jake, what is this? Why do I feel like I’m being played with?”
His face was flushed dark pink and his eyes were glazed. Red lips were swollen and shiny wet from our kisses. His dark hair was messed up and I realized I’d had my fingers buried in it. In short, he looked debauched and irresistible. My fingers came up to brush across his lips before I could help myself.
“I meant what I said, Oz,” he said in the same wrecked voice. “Don’t doubt for one minute how much I want you. When I saw Russ’s Jeep at your place these last two nights, I wanted to come over there and carry you off like a fucking caveman.”
He stepped back and ran his own fingers through his hair before continuing.
“I’m sorry for what happened in there, for being an ass when you were just trying to be your usual sweet self. I’m sorry for all the shit I said to keep you at arm’s length.” He shook his head. “Two nights,” he began before pausing, his eyes on the floor. “I spent the last two nights imagining you with him…”
Another shake of his head.
“Who, Russ?” I asked. “I told you, I never even met the guy—”
He put up his hand, and I quickly fell silent.
“I couldn’t stop thinking about him touching you and tasting you and… I don’t care if you’ve never met him. I don’t want you even thinking about him. I don’t want you going out with Keith. I know how fucking crazy that sounds… but I can’t. I just can’t,” he implored.
I stared at him. He looked so fucking torn up, it was hard to piece it together with the stoic Jake I knew. The man who seemed to have no feelings and who refused to allow color and joy into his life. But now here he was with need and want and please written so clearly in every part of him. The change from the Jake he tried hard to show the world was making me dizzy.
He must have seen my uncertainty because he began to backpedal.
“At least let me take you home,” he whispered. “Just let me get you home safely tonight. That’s all I ask. You can hate me when you’re back in your cabin for the night. There’s a storm coming and I just… I need to know you’re safe.”
“And we’ll talk?” I asked, because as badly as I wanted to give him what he was asking, I really wasn’t even sure what that was. He hadn’t said anything about things changing. And honestly, I was still reeling from the truth about him. He clearly wasn’t in the closet, since he’d kissed me in front of everyone, but then why hadn’t he just admitted to being gay?
Jake swallowed hard but gave a little nod. He held my gaze for a moment longer, then reached for the door and opened it. We were greeted by a curious-looking Xander and a worried-looking Bennett. Xander was holding our coats and Bennett had Boo in his arms.
“We thought you two might want to head out,” Xander said softly.
Jake looked at me and I nodded.
“Sorry for ruining the eve
ning,” Jake began, but Bennett shook his head.
“This was categorically the best Thanksgiving ever.” He handed Boo to Jake, who looked at her like she was a bomb. The expression on Boo’s face wasn’t much better.
But Jake took her and held her out in front of him like she’d go off at any moment. Xander gently pushed Jake’s arms so he was forced to cuddle my dog against his chest.
“You two be careful heading up the mountain,” Bennett said. Xander handed me our coats. “Lucky went out to start your truck, Jake,” Bennett added.
“And, ah, Keith wanted me to tell you he’d call you later, Oz,” Xander said quietly, his eyes shifting between me and Jake.
Jake didn’t look at me, but I could practically feel the tension vibrating off him. I knew I shouldn’t do it, because I owed Jake nothing.
But I did it anyway.
“Xander, would you mind telling him not to bother. I don’t think it’s going to work out.”
I could have sworn I heard Jake let out a little breath, but I couldn’t be sure. I gave Bennett and Xander each a hug, then followed Jake out to the car. Lucky was waiting by the truck, which was sitting just outside the front door. He gave Jake a fist bump, then said his goodbyes to me.
As I got into the truck, Jake was waiting by the open driver’s side door. He carefully eased Boo into the back seat, but not before he laid his coat down on it for her to snuggle up in. My dog seemed to sense the tension in the air because she gave Jake a little lick on the inside of his wrist as he was pulling his hand away. He paused, then gave her a gentle pat on the head before climbing into the truck. The truck was cold, so I tucked my hands under my armpits.
“Here,” Jake said as he grabbed my coat from where I’d put it on the back seat and placed it over my lap. “Truck takes a while to warm up,” he explained.
“Thanks,” I said as he got the vehicle moving.
Despite the million questions I had, I couldn’t find the courage to ask any of them as we made our way up the mountain. And my mind was reeling with everything that had happened, so it was hard to focus on any one thing.
By the time Jake pulled the truck to a stop in front of his cabin, we hadn’t spoken even one single word to one another.