“Renting it to who? Serial killers?”
CJ chuckled and slapped him on the arm as he opened the door, letting an icy blast of wind flood in. “That's what Isaac said. It's mostly writers and artists, people who want to get away from the city for a while.”
Jace nodded and zipped up the front of his coat. “Exactly. Serial killers.”
“Come on.” CJ shook his head and started to walk toward the barn. “Looks like we're the first so we have to get the generator going.”
Jace frowned as he took in the words and then scrambled out the door yelling, “Generator? Are you saying there's no electricity? Are we going to freeze to death?” The only reply was CJ's taunting laughter as he walked swiftly across the frozen grass.
The buildings might have been old, but the generator housed in a small shed next to the barn was modern and shiny and revved up in a split second, much to Jace's relief. The feeling was fleeting, though, when CJ started piling hunks of wood into his arms from a stack in the corner and talking about getting the fires going. CJ only laughed when he saw the horrified look on Jace's face, and started ribbing him about being a city boy, not caring that Jace was grumbling about getting hypothermia. CJ, of course, didn't have to worry about turning into a mancicle with his freaking superpowers, meaning that he barely seemed to feel the cold at all. Jace figured it was the generous covering of muscles that the man was blessed with keeping him insulated. Not that he could appreciate the tight physique much under the thick plaid shirt CJ wore, but after being his roommate since their first year of college, he'd seen enough to know every inch of him intimately. Or, he knew as much as he could without them ever actually being intimate.
The wind was awful as they walked back to the house. Jace kept his head down, partly to shield his face so his nose didn't drop off, but also so he didn't lose his footing on the uneven ground. CJ had warned him that he'd need a pair of good winter boots. Of course, Jace had worn his sneakers on the plane and didn't think to change them when they'd picked up the rental for the drive when they landed. There was a path of sorts but it was slippery in places, and he was glad as all hell when they reached the back porch and climbed up the grip tread on the shallow ramp.
Jace was perturbed when CJ walked straight in without having to use a key. “You don't keep the door locked?”
CJ snorted as he fumbled for the light switch. “People around here know half the family are in law enforcement and the other half would eat a burglar alive if they tried it, so there's not much need. And they don't get many people passing through who might break in. Plus, there's not much to steal. Dad figures if anyone needs something so badly that they'd come out all this way to take it, they're welcome to it.”
“Your dad's a generous man.”
“I think you mean rich enough to replace his shit,” CJ said with an embarrassed smile. He crouched down and started building a fire in the large black range that took pride of place in the kitchen. CJ had never made a big deal out of the fact his family was loaded, unlike some of the other rich kids on campus who liked to make a show of throwing parties and flashing their money around. His parents might have paid his tuition and housing so he didn't have to work but it was on the condition that he volunteered at two different charities so he wasn't taking his privilege for granted. Not that Jace could ever imagine him doing such a thing. CJ just wasn't like that.
It only took CJ minutes to get the stove loaded with logs and blazing away, and then they moved through the door into what seemed to be the main room of the house. The sitting room was on the large side with a big fireplace, a couple of comfy looking leather couches strewn with cushions and homemade Afghans, dark wooden floors, and a table by the large window that looked out over a deep scoop in the landscape that passed for a valley in Nebraska. There were rugs and stacks of blankets and shelves filled with paperbacks and houseplants making the whole ambience cozy, even though frigid air filled the place.
It took about as much time as it did for Jace to take in the room for CJ to get a fire going, and even the small flames started to make a difference. Jace turned away from the window as CJ jumped to his feet. “You wanna get the bags in from the car? I'm gonna get the fire going in our room upstairs. The others can take care of theirs when they get here. You sure you don't mind bunking in with me?”
“Well, seeing that I have to keep living with you for another six months, I'm pretty sure I can put up with sharing a room with you for a few nights.”
“I don't know,” CJ said, rubbing the back of his neck and looking weirdly embarrassed. “You might be sick of me and need the break.”
Jace shook his head and cuffed CJ's shoulder before turning toward the front door. “Sure. I'll let you know as soon as that happens.”
His smile dropped away as soon as he was back outside, and not only because of the way the wind cut through his parka like it was a string vest. He halfheartedly wished that he could get tired of being around his best friend. It would make his life a hell of a lot easier. Being in love with a guy who only thought of you as a brother was tiring, and after three years of fighting his attraction, Jace was almost looking forward to graduating and not having to deal with it anymore. He needed the rest.
The other half of him was dreading it.
The idea of being away from CJ for any length of time made him feel sick to his stomach. From the first day they met, there had been something between them, a connection that took them from being strangers to thick as thieves within the first few hours of being randomly assigned to share a dorm room. Maybe if they have met under different circumstances, Jace might have made a move and they would've ended up something more than friends. However, since they had to live together, and the not insignificant fact that CJ intimidated the hell out of Jace—to the point where Jace lost the use of his tongue every time the guy looked at him for the first few weeks they knew each other—friends was all that Jace was going to get. Mostly, he was fine with it. Right up until the part where they'd be graduating and moving out of their apartment so CJ could move back to New York and Jace could…. Well, Jace didn't know what was going to happen to him yet. He just knew it sure as hell wasn't going to be falling back into the loving embrace of his family.
Wrestling the bags from the back of the car, he decided against making two trips and toughed it out, carrying two backpacks, a sports bag, and dragging a large suitcase along. He was pretty sure he pulled a muscle wrestling the suitcase up the front steps. Although, while he was taking a breather midway, he noticed something on the porch that made him smile.
“There's a package outside,” he called as he squeezed through the door, the bags ricocheting off the narrow entranceway walls and battering his legs as he walked. CJ, who was evidently done upstairs, leaned against the desk, plugging his cell phone into a charger with a pensive look on his face.
“A what?”
“Package,” Jace said, unceremoniously dumping his cargo in one big pile. “Maybe some kind of festive foliage?”
As expected, CJ's face lit up, whatever had been bothering him forgotten in a flash of childlike excitement. The way he bounded out of the front door like a puppy made Jace smile. Some people thought CJ's love of Christmas was stupid, but Jace had always thought it was sweet. CJ was the exact same way over Thanksgiving and Easter, Midsummer—and Valentines. Not that Jace'd had the pleasure of experiencing that particular holiday with him, not really. Sure, CJ always cajoled him into decorating the apartment, and they maybe watched a rom-com or two over beer and pizza. Yes, CJ got him a tacky gift each time, too, but in the last few years they had both dated sporadically, and usually one or both of them had a plus-one to take for a real romantic meal or a night out.