“I’m used to the cold,” he says, eyes running the length of my body, fingering the hem of his hoodie that falls mid-thigh. “But you look good in my jacket.”
I answer him by unzipping said jacket, revealing bare skin underneath. He groans when he realizes I’m wearing nothing else but boots, his hands landing on my ribs. Lifting onto my toes, I use the jacket to cover both of us, our bodies molding together.
Dare brushes his thumbs against my nipples, and I shiver, my lips parting on a sigh. He takes the opportunity to slide his tongue between my lips before sweeping it inside. I circle my arms around his neck, and he lifts me. My legs wrap around him, boots locking behind his back, my already slick center against his lean abs. This kiss is slower. Deeper. Snow falls around us, but our bodies are too busy speaking a language our tongues don’t speak to care about the cold.
“Wait here for a second,” he says when we finally break apart. I stand, arms wrapped around my middle to keep warm as Dare runs back inside the house. When he comes back out, he has a Thrasher hoodie on and two blankets in his arms. He wraps one of them around my shoulders.
“I want to show you something,” he says cryptically.
“If you’re about to show me a dead body, I’m out.” I follow him into the wooded area, my boots crunching against pine needles and leaves coated with a thin layer of snow. We walk for maybe five minutes before we come to a clearing. Dare spreads the blanket out onto the ground, sitting right in the middle. He holds his hand out for me to join him. I move to sit next to him, but he pulls me in between his bent knees.
He takes the other blanket from me and covers my front before resting his chin on my shoulder.
“I’ve been coming here to be alone for more than ten years. You can probably still find where I carved into that tree over there,” he says, pointing off to the left.
“What’s it say? Dare was here?” I tease.
“Probably more like fuck off.”
I laugh, holding out my palm to catch the snowflakes.
“It’s beautiful out here. Peaceful.”
“That’s why I had to live here. My house was nothing more than a shack when it went up for sale. It was a piece of shit and dirt cheap, but I wanted it. I added on and fixed it up. It’s taken me years, and it’s still not completely done.”
We’re silent for a while—long enough for the cold ground to start seeping through the blanket. My butt is numb, but I’ll sit out here all day long if it means seeing this uncensored side to Dare.
“This is what I wanted to show you,” he says, just as the sun starts to peek through the trees, casting a pinkish glow where it hits the fog. This moment feels like magic. Like something out of a fairytale. Fairytales are for princesses, I remind myself. Not ghetto girls from Oakland. But right now, in Dare’s arms, I can pretend. Even if only for a while.
“I could stay here forever,” I say, leaning my head back onto his shoulder. Dare bites the shell of my ear, and I shiver, but it’s not from the cold.
“Let’s get you warm.”
Dare leads me back inside, and I’m confused when he doesn’t go back upstairs, but out the back door. Walking over to the hot tub, he lifts the cover, and I all but run over, kicking my boots off on the way. That is definitely what I need right now.
“A hot tub, huh? I bet this is where you bring all your dates.” I wiggle my brows.
“Actually, I think I’m the only one who hasn’t had sex in this thing.”
“Well, now it’s my turn. It’s only fair.” I bite my lip, unzipping his jacket before letting it fall to the ground.
“Thank God for chlorine.” Dare takes his hoodie off, too, drops his sweatpants, and I gulp at the thin happy trail between his Adonis belt, pointing to his thick cock, already hard. I do nothing to hide the fact that I’m staring. I’ve never felt this kind of attraction before. I step into the Jacuzzi, lowering my naked self into the water. Goosebumps break out all over my body, and my stomach flips as I watch Dare’s tattooed body move toward me. He flips a switch on the side, the jets bubbling to life as he joins me.
He sits on the submerged seat, pulling me onto his lap. His erection bobs between us, and I lean forward to rub myself along his length. Dare fills me with a shift of his hips, groaning once he’s fully impaled me. “I think you’re my new favorite hobby.”
Ditto.
Seeing Lo in the snow the other night was a sight I’ll never forget. Unlaced boots, hoodie to her knees, sleeves hanging past her hands, pretty face tipped toward the sky. She’s been hardened by life, and she puts on a tough front, but show the girl some snow, and her eyes fill with childlike wonder. It reminded me that she’s still just a twenty-one-year-old girl underneath all that false bravado.
It also reminded me that the girl needs some fucking winter clothes. The snow is officially here, and I saw her head into Blackbear yesterday morning with nothing but that stupid flannel to keep her warm. Which brings me to now. In the tourist trap near The Pines Ski Resort with Briar and Cam’s girl, Mollie, on my lunch break. Cam used to teach snowboarding lessons here, and he knows all about brand names and what’s best in the snow—shit that I’ve never cared to
learn. When I texted him, recruiting his help, he sent me a text with a bunch of hahahahahas followed by you’re next before sending Mollie and Briar in his place, much to my annoyance. If I wanted Briar’s help, I would’ve asked her myself. She’ll never let this go.
“Oh, this store,” Briar says excitedly, pulling me inside by my sleeve. “What size do you think she is? Small? Medium?”
“Fuck if I know.” I could probably guess her bra size, but I don’t know shit about women’s clothing.
“Let’s go with medium to be safe,” Mollie says, combing through a rack of coats. “Plus, if it’s a little big, she’ll have room for layers.”