“Natch,” I said with a grin he couldn’t see.
“Right, so we hang out, cook dinner, watch movies, and snuggle on the sofa. And when the feeling strikes us, we bone. Little sucking here, little dick fondling there… all the things I’ve been missing out on. Maybe we stay away from my ass because it was recently rammed with a giant grain silo, but all the rest is good. Your ass is fair game, obviously. And we sleep together in the same bed, naked, as long-term boyfriends do. Sound good?”
His fake casual tone made me laugh. I loved him so fucking much. He was my favorite human, and he never failed to put me at ease and help me stop taking things so seriously.
“And tomorrow?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“Tomorrow, we’re going skiing because I promised Tiller and Mikey I’d help out a friend of theirs on the slopes.”
I lifted my head up in surprise. I hadn’t known he’d made any plans while he was here. “What friend?”
Parker shrugged. “Don’t know the guy’s name, but he creates content for one of those fitness apps. He’s doing a series of downhill runs and needs someone to help capture some of the footage. Tiller’s not supposed to be skiing because of the injury risk, and Mikey isn’t good enough to help this guy on the steeper runs. They agreed to give him access to the slopes if he’d promote Aster Valley skiing in the videos.”
He moved his hand up to trace my eyebrows with a fingertip. “I was hoping you’d want to join us, but you don’t have to. Or you could come hang at the mid-mountain restaurant and have lunch with us. Mikey said they’re serving lunch now because they’re hosting various athletes and media personnel to help create buzz about Aster Valley opening back up to skiers.”
“I’ll bring my skis, but while you’re doing your lessons, I’ll get some work done in the restaurant. After you’re done with your student, I’ll join you for some runs.”
After seeing Parker’s smile of approval, I laid my head back down on his shoulder and tried not to think about petty things. Like how he would introduce me to his ski student. Whether or not we’d hold hands on the lift. How long I would play it cool after returning to the cabin tomorrow before begging him for just one more night of playing pretend boyfriends.
Meanwhile, I went shopping on the fantasy aisle of my memories, tossing every hot idea I’d ever had of him into my cart and wondering how we’d fit all these sex acts into the short sixteen-hour period I had left with him as my boyfriend.
“Your dick is getting hard,” he said, moving his hands down to cup my ass and squeeze it. When he pulled my cheeks slightly apart, my dick got even harder. “What’s going on in that big brain of yours?”
“So many fucking things,” I admitted, shifting into a more comfortable position. “I wouldn’t know where to begin.”
Parker suddenly rolled us until I was under him, and he loomed above me. “Have you ever fantasized about taking a shower with me?”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s like me asking you if you ever fantasized about taking a shower with Natalie Freeman.”
Natalie had been one of Hazel’s friends growing up, and she’d also been, hands down, the hottest girl in school.
I continued. “And if I feel your dick even thinking about twitching right now…”
As soon as I said the word “dick,” I felt the movement on my leg and laughed. “You’re a teenager.”
He smirked. “A teenager with a crush on the hottest dude in school. A dude I want to bang in the shower.”
I steered my mental shopping cart to the bath products aisle and grabbed a sudsy hand job off the shelf.
Parker had a lot to learn about the joys of sex with another man, and I was happy to take one for the team to help him along on his journey.
The following day was bright and clear, with almost no wind and plenty of sun. After a hearty breakfast, we headed to the base of the mountain to hop on the lift. I’d brought a backpack with my laptop in it with hopes I’d get a little work done on a contract my dad wanted me to look over.
When we skied off the lift mid-mountain, we headed over to the sprawling wood-sided building that housed the restaurant and ski patrol office. Parker recognized one of the guys wearing a red ski patrol parka out front by the ski stands and went over to greet him with a big hug.
“Jules, come meet Dallas,” he said with a big smile and beckoning wave. “He’s the one I did that commercial with in Sun Valley, remember?”
I popped out of my skis and leaned them against the stand before reaching out to shake his hand. “Hi, yeah, it’s great to meet you. Parker has told me so much about you. Said you blew him away on the moguls that day.”
The guy was as tall and muscular as I remembered from the commercial, with sun-streaked hair and a friendly smile. When he pulled down his sunglasses, I could see the same little laugh lines formed by the sun that Parker had from spending so much time on the slopes. “He’s a flatterer. What the heck are you doing here, Parker? I thought I heard you were getting married this week.”
I knew from Parker that the Colorado professional skiing world was a small community where everyone knew everyone, but it still surprised me sometimes. They were notorious gossipers.
“I was,” he said with a self-deprecating shrug. “But it didn’t work out. Julian brought me to Aster Valley instead. I didn’t know you worked here. How do you like it?”
“It’s killer. Love it. I found a great deal on a rental over on Sunrise Trail. You wouldn’t believe the views. Best part? I can ski to work.” He glanced over at me and seemed to put some pieces together. “Wait. Wait. Are you the Julian? Parker’s Julian?”
It wasn’t the first time someone had called me “Parker’s Julian,” but it struck me very differently, coming from this guy. Before I could answer, Parker threw his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close, almost knocking us both over in our clunky ski boots.
“Yeah, this is Jules. He’s cute, right? And smart as hell. He’s a lawyer. He’s also—”
“Ha!” I burst in, trying to stop him before he said something else that might embarrass me or, worse, embarrass him. “I sound like a prime steer at auction.”
It was enough that he’d just had to tell his friend about calling off his wedding. I didn’t want to be the rebound relationship he’d have to try to explain next time he and Dallas met up. I wanted to protect Parker from everything that could hurt him, including himself.
The mischievous look on Parker’s face warned me a split second too late that I’d left myself wide open. “That would make you a nice, juicy piece of—”
I clapped a glove over his face and turned a cheerful grin at Dallas. “How long have you been in Aster Valley? You must know our friends Tiller and Mikey. Oh, and Sam and Truman, too.”
He laughed. “Yeah, they’re great. Mikey and Sam had their hands full through the holidays, but Tiller’s been here since the end of football season. Just in time for the skiing to ramp up. Can’t wait to see what it’s like next year when the lifts are open to the public and the runs are full of even more skiers.”