A Gift of Snow Page 3

  I’d wanted a way to escape my self-imposed cage. Will just found where I’d dropped the key.

  Now, I no longer felt like hiding on top of the mountain.

  ****

  It’d been five days and Jen hadn’t called, yet. I couldn’t get her out of my head or my dreams, and it was driving me crazy wondering if she regretted our time together, or was just busy. We didn’t know much about each other, of course, but the girl was already in my blood. My favorite high. I knew if she’d just see me again, we could create something fantastic.

  ****

  My mother was hosting a New Year’s Eve party at her house. Wanting to avoid heavy traffic, I started for Los Angeles in the morning, the note in my pocket. I stopped for lunch at a diner within city limits and used the pay phone. The person on the other end of the line picked up after two rings.

  “Yeah?” Will’s voice.

  I sighed in relief that it was a real number.

  “Hello?”

  Speak, Jenny. “Oh, hi…I mean, this is Will, right?”

  “Jen?”

  Was it my imagination, or did he sound excited to hear from me? “Yeah.”

  “I was starting to think…um, what’s up, love?”

  I bit my lip. “Well, I know it’s last minute, but…do you have plans tonight?”

  “When and where.”

  I grinned and did a little dance in the booth. “My mom is having a party, so it’ll be mostly old people, but--”

  “I’d love to. Come and pick me up.”

  I wrote down directions to his apartment and hung up after agreeing on seven o’clock. Finished with lunch, I drove to Mom’s to change clothes. It had to be a good sign he said yes so quickly, right? I’d debated all week whether to call him or not, the note mocking my hesitance from the refrigerator.

  Getting ready in my old bathroom lent a sense of déjà vu to the whole thing. How many times had I prepped in front of this mirror for a date hoping this guy would actually get me?

  “Wow, sexy dress just for Mom’s party,” Shelley said.

  I applied lip gloss and assessed my reflection. “This old thing?”

  My sister smirked at me. “If it’s old, you might want to cut the tag off.” She reached for scissors in a drawer and snipped the tag off the back of my dress.

  “Thanks.”

  The dress bad a deep V in the back. I’d left my hair down, so there would only be flashes of skin as I moved, but I hoped Will liked it. He’d spent an entire love-making session kissing my spine on Christmas Eve. My blood heated at just the thought of it.

  Shelley leaned on the wall and watched me finish primping. “So, who is he?”

  “Who’s who?”

  “The new guy you’re sexing it up for.”

  “You’re fifteen. ‘Sexing it up’ should not be in your vocabulary.”

  “Pffft, whatever. I see sluttier stuff on TV. So? Who is he?”

  “None of your business.” I tossed the lip gloss in my purse. “I gotta go or I’ll be late.

  “Knock him dead, Jenny.”

  I hoped so. I ran out the door and to my car.

  ****

  I parked in front of his building at exactly seven. My hands sweating, I took the stairs to the second level and knocked on his door. He only made me wait a second.

  “Hey—whoa.” He looked me up and down.

  “Happy New Year’s Eve,” I said. I almost jumped him right there.

  The heat in his eyes promised more sinful delights if I just said yes. He answered the door while still buttoning his shirt, giving me a nice glimpse of skin, and his hair was tousled in similar fashion to how I’d made it look when he went down on me in the living room. I clenched my thighs together.

  “Come in, love. I was just about to grab my coat.”

  I walked into his home and looked around. It was a tiny one-bedroom with band posters taped to the walls, a futon couch, and a kitchenette. Two guitars sat on stands in the corner, one the acoustic I’d already heard, and one electric. A small TV was propped up on a board stretched across two cinder blocks. He came out of the bedroom with his leather coat.

  “Have to admit I was surprised you called today.”

  I blushed and chewed my lip. “Wasn’t sure I should. I mean, I don’t really do that…I mean, before I was married--”

  “Jennifer, I don’t think you’re a slut.

  “Oh, good. Wait, did you want a slut?”

  He grinned and took my hands. “I want someone that wants to be seen with me.”

  “Oh. Well, party, so…” What was it about him that turned me into a babbling moron?

  “You look amazing.”

  “Thank you.”

  He kissed my cheek. “When does this party start?”

  I inhaled his cologne. He smelled delicious. He kissed the spot below my ear.

  “Pretty much now, but…people will arrive any time before midnight.”

  “So, there’s no rush.” He kissed my neck.

  I tilted my head to give him further access. “Not technically…”

  He wrapped one arm around me, his hand landing on my bare back. The smile he showed then was entirely wicked. “You wear this for me?”

  I nodded. “Bought it for you.”

  He moaned. “We’re not leaving right away.” He started walking backward to the bedroom.

  “Okay.” My panties were already soaked, so why prolong the inevitable?

  He dropped his coat on the floor and peeled the dress off my shoulders while I undid his belt buckle. My dress slid to the floor. Too impatient to get naked, we pushed enough clothes out of the way to join and fell to his bed. I climbed onto his lap, sank down on him, and sighed.

  “Missed this,” he said.

  I rolled my hips, making him moan and tighten his grip on my thighs. “Just this?”

  His hands moved up my waist to cradle my breasts. I gasped when he gave my nipples a little twist.

  “And these. And your smile. Come back with me after the party.”

  I slowed down. “What for?”

  “I want to buy you breakfast in the morning.”

  “Midnight isn’t morning.”

  “I know.”

  I could find worse uses for my time. “And after breakfast I go home?” I needed to know if this was just a hook-up, or…

  “Do you need to get home?”

  I shook my head. “Nope.”

  He sat up to kiss me. “Then we’ll see what comes to mind.”

  I smiled. Good enough for now. Talking meant we weren’t kissing, and Will’s mouth was made for kissing.

  “I could watch you bounce on my dick all night.” Except he felt like chatting.

  “We don’t have all night.”

  He flipped our position on the bed. “Then I guess we’ll have to pick up the pace, won’t we?” He nipped my breast. “Love your pretty tits.”

  “I don’t usually like that word.”

  “What, tits?”

  “Yeah. But you say it so nice.”

  He grinned and kissed me. I felt my inner muscles tightening, the ball of sensation growing with each stroke that rubbed my clit.

  “What else do you like, sweet Jenny?”

  “The…the…oh, god, like that…how do you do that…”

  He groaned. “Made for me, you were. Open your eyes, Jen.”

  I obeyed and stared into his baby blues. My orgasm started building. I was so close and he’d only been touching me for five minutes. I cried out his name.

  Wow, stars…

  “You know, we keep forgetting condoms,” he said next to me.

  “I’m on birth control. Are you…?”

  “Clean. Had a check-up after my last relationship.”

  “Okay then.”

  Once I could make my legs work, I got up to dress in his bathroom. My reflection made my jaw drop. Just-been-fucked hair--check. At least the fabric of my dress didn’t wrinkle or I’d have to wear my jacket all night.

&
nbsp; Oh, god, Mom’s so going to know when she looks at me.

  I found my brush in my purse and attacked the tangles he’d created. My mother would give me the evil eye if we were too late.

  Will walked in with a glass of water, his shirt still un-tucked. “Here.” He set the glass on the counter and took the brush out of my hand. “You look hot.”

  “I look like I’ve been up to no good.” I sipped the water and sighed at the feel of the brush on my scalp. Why did it always feel better when someone else did it?

  “I’d say you were very good, love.”

  I scowled at him in the mirror. “Not what I meant and you know it.”

  My tresses smooth again, he set the brush on the counter and ran his hands up my thighs.

  “Stop that.”

  He groped my ass. “Stop what?”

  “Stop--” I felt him slid into me again from behind. “Ohhh… You have a kink about mirrors, don’t you?”

  “You like it.”

  “With you I do.”

  That was the last time either of us spoke until we were done, this round a lot faster than the one before. The longer we spent together in one place, the harder it was to resist wrapping around each other. I did like watching us in the mirror, though it was hard to keep my eyes open when he made me feel so good.

  I looked at my watch and swore. After redoing my lipstick, I rushed him out the door.

  ****

  Will was perfectly attentive all night. He refilled my glass without being asked, stayed by my side, and charmed the people we talked to. We even managed to dodge my mother for the first hour.

  “Jenny, who’s this?”

  I turned around. “Mom! Great party. Um…this is Will. Will, meet my mom.”

  He put out his hand and shook hers.

  She examined him. “Where did you two meet?”

  “Christmas Eve,” Will said.

  Mom arched a brow. “During the storm?”

  “Jennifer was gracious enough to let me thaw out in her living room.”

  That was one way to put it.

  “And you hit it off?” Mom asked.

  We shared a look. “So to speak. Will asked me to give him a call when I was down from the mountain, so, here we are.”

  “Well, it’s nice meeting you, William. Jenny, could you help me refill the snack bowls?”

  Uh-oh. I shrugged at Will and followed my mother into the kitchen.

  “Not your usual type,” Mom said, opening a bag of pretzels.

  True, I’d gone for jocks in the past, but that didn’t make Will any less desirable. “So what if he wears black and bleaches his hair?”

  “Are you sure this isn’t just rebound from Lee’s death, honey?”

  “Mom!” I opened the jar of salsa she handed to me. “It’s a first date, okay? I don’t know if it’ll last a week or a month or what, but I like him. I’ve been alone almost a year and I’m ready to move on. I’m ready to live again.”

  I even started writing again. The day after Christmas, I’d woken up thinking about my unfinished manuscript for the first time in months, and when I sat down at my keyboard, it was with a smile on my face.

  My mother grinned at me. “That’s all I wanted to hear.”

  My jaw dropped. She’d been screwing with me. “You so suck.”

  Shelley opened the kitchen door, Will in tow. “There you guys are. Someone needs to change the CD. People are starting to get bored.” She nudged Will into the room. “And I found this. A couple of Mom’s cougar friends were getting grabby.”

  I sighed. “Will, meet my little sister. Shell, aren’t you supposed to be upstairs until midnight?”

  “I ran out of munchies.” She started piling a plate with snacks and hors d’oeuvres.

  I rolled my eyes and muttered about teen brats under my breath. Will moved to my side, placed his arm around my waist, and kissed my cheek.

  “Half hour to midnight,” he whispered in my ear.

  A half hour to kissing in the New Year, then fleeing to his apartment and a private celebration. I shivered.

  “Well, kids, I better return to my hostess duties.” Mom left the kitchen.

  Shelley stayed, leaning on the island and watching us with a dorky grin on her face.

  “What?” I asked.

  “You guys so got busy before you got here.”

  “I’m gonna tell Mom to wash your mouth out!”

  “You so did!”

  I crossed my arms under my breasts. “And what makes you say that.”

  My little sister smirked. “You’re missing an earring.” She picked up her plate and left, looking entirely too smug.

  Will laughed. I hit his arm.

  “Shut up.”

  “Oh, come on, love. It’s funny.”

  “It’s embarrassing! She won’t forget this, either. She’s evil.”

  He brushed my hair behind my right ear. “Well, you are missing an earring.”

  I pouted. “I like this pair.”

  “I’ll help you find it in my bed.”

  I poked his chest with my finger. “I’m holding you to that.”

  He nuzzled my cheek. “Think of it this way, love…if we don’t find it tonight, you have an excuse to come back.”

  “It’s a long way to come for an earring,” I said.

  “How about a date with an earring bonus?”

  I smiled. “Deal. But I have one question.”

  “What is it?”

  “What’s your last name?”

  “Oh.” He smiled. “It’s Snow.”

  And they say the universe has no sense of humor. “Well, that’s appropriate.”

  He grinned, and held me tighter. “I guess it is.”

  “Happy New Year, Will Snow.”

  The End.

  Author’s Note: Thank you for reading this story. Feel free to join me on Facebook, Twitter, or Livejournal.

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  A Gift of Snow