Chapter 21
Lucky
Sachi:
Got it. Who else is coming?
Just us. I want to see you ride. We can review those process diagrams on the gondola.
Can you get Bode to come?
Lucky:
Bode doesn’t snowboard, remember?
Come on. You know Emily can’t keep a secret. I know he went up with you guys yesterday.
I'll ask, but no promises. You must know how stubborn he is.
I do. It's genetic. See you in the morning. You can invite the other roommate too, if you want.
I‘d known her less than two months, but I already understood that when Sachi Hayashi told you to be somewhere, you showed up. Not out of fear, but because whatever she had planned was invariably worth your while. And a powder day with her was guaranteed to be epic.
I knocked on Wade’s door first, leaning against the doorframe as he opened it, his hair still damp from the shower, wearing sweatpants and nothing else.
His chest was broad and inviting, the kind that made you want to press your face against it and just breathe for a while.
Two months of living together, and I still wasn’t immune to the sight of him half-dressed.
“Sachi’s summoned us to the mountain,” I said, trying not to stare at the trail of blonde hair disappearing into his sweatpants. “Fresh powder. You in?”
Wade grimaced, rolling his shoulder. “I don’t think I can move after yesterday.
Everything hurts in ways I didn’t know were possible.
” He stretched, and I watched the play of muscles across his torso with an appreciation I was happy I no longer needed to hide.
“Is falling on your ass fifty times an Olympic sport? Because I’d definitely medal. ”
“Poor baby,” I said, unable to resist reaching out to stroke his shoulder, then sliding my hand down to tweak his nipple, making him moan. “But it’s worth it, right?”
“Yeah, painful, but worth it.” He grinned, the full-face Wade smile that made my heart flip-flop, and leaned in close. “Did you see his face?”
“I know, right. Fuck, imagine what it’s like when Bode’s actually joyful.”
“Get him to join you. I took a sick day at the hospital. There were no surgeries scheduled, and I need a day to recover my dignity and, you know, the ability to sit down without wincing.”
I nodded and headed to Bode’s door, knocking once before pushing it open slightly. He was sprawled on his bed with a book, in his pajamas.
“Hey,” I said, leaning against the doorframe. “Sachi just texted. She wants us to meet her there.”
Bode glanced up, his dark eyes unreadable. “I’m not going out today.”
I raised an eyebrow. “There’s a foot of fresh powder.”
“I‘m aware.”
“Your loss,” I said, shrugging with deliberate casualness. Then I reached down and cupped him between the legs, holding eye contact as I stroked his cock. “There will be no fooling around with Wade while I’m gone. Only good boys get to suck cocks.”
He blew out a breath, eyes darting up to meet mine for an instant before he shook his head. "Yes, Duchess."
Twenty minutes later, I was strapping in on the bench on our back porch, ready for the short ride down to the base area. Sachi was already waiting, her petite frame somehow commanding the entire space in a way that made everyone else look like background characters in her story.
“Right on time,” she said, her smile warm and knowing. She was wearing one of Moriko’s newest outerwear sets, and it looked perfect on her.
“Wade‘s recovering from yesterday,” I explained as we headed toward the gondola. “And Bode’s... being Bode.”
She nodded. “He’s been ‘being Bode’ for about six months now. I’m starting to lose patience with it.”
The lift line for the gondola was mercifully short, and within minutes we were settled in the gondola, rising smoothly above the trees.
“How is it living slope side on the mountain?” Sachi asked, eyes sharp and assessing.
“Amazing. I grew up on slopes like this in Jackson, Wyoming, but we were never this close to the mountain. Always a thirty-minute drive, or more. Snowboarding right out our back door is unbelievable.”
She grinned. “But Nebraska?”
“My mom got a job there, and the whole family moved. I was not happy about it.”
“But you kept up with it?”
“When I could. Trips to Colorado with my dad during winter breaks, that sort of thing. Enough to keep the muscle memory.”
She nodded as if I’d confirmed something she already knew. “You’re good. Better than you let on.” It wasn’t a question.
I shrugged. “I don‘t like to oversell.”
“Can I ask you something?” Sachi said suddenly, her eyes fixed on the view. “About Bode?”
“Sure,” I replied, trying to sound casual despite the sudden increase in my heart rate.
“What was it like when he got out with you guys the other day? Was he happy?” She laughed softly. “Such a stupid question, but it’s all I think about sometimes. The depression has hit him hard, and he won’t agree to get help for it.”
I bit my lip, trying to think of what to say without saying too much. “He seems like he’s afraid. Of what it might mean. Of the next step? I don’t know, just speculating, of course. You know him far better than me.”
Sachi’s smile was small and sad. “No, you might be onto something. His father was never really a father to Bode. Hans is obsessed with backcountry snowboarding, with chasing the next untouched line, riding the peak no one has snowboarded yet. It consumes him completely. I wouldn’t be surprised if Bode is afraid of feeling so intensely for a mountain that he’d leave everything else behind to chase it. ”
I shook my head before I could stop myself. “I don’t think that’s a risk for Bode. He already feels so intensely for the people he cares about.”
As soon as I said it, I felt heat rush to my face. I’d revealed too much, shown my hand.
“I mean, maybe you’re right. Maybe he’s afraid of it feeling that passion, but it’s a dumb thing for him to fear, because I don’t think Bode is anything like his dad. If anything, he’s like you, with a heaping dose of the grandmother who stress cooks.”
Sachi laughed and shook her head. “You might be right about that. But sometimes our stupid fears hold us back, don’t they?”
She pulled out her phone and typed a quick text.
“Who are you texting?” I asked, suddenly nervous.
“My son. You gave me an idea,” she said, sliding her phone back into her pocket. “We‘re almost at the top.”
When we reached the summit, the world opened up below us, endless white, glittering in the morning sun.
The anticipation built in my chest, the familiar pre-drop excitement that nothing else in life had ever matched.
We set down our boards and strapped in in silence, and when I stood up, Sachi waved for me to go first.
I didn’t need to be told twice, and I pointed my snowboard downhill. The first few turns were tentative as my body remembered how to handle powder. Then muscle memory took over, and I was flying.
The powder was perfect: light and deep, offering just the right resistance as I carved through it, soft and completely silent.
I lost myself in the rhythm of it, the weightless feeling of untracked snow deep enough that I couldn’t feel the base.
This was what I’d missed most in Nebraska; this perfect communion with gravity and momentum, this marriage of precision and abandon.
I was vaguely aware of Sachi behind me, taking a slightly different line but keeping pace. We descended rapidly, the trees blurring past as we followed a route I hadn’t taken before. After a little while, she shot ahead, leading me down a run that curved around towards a cluster of houses.
The realization hit me just as we carved to a stop in our backyard. Bode was standing on the deck, fully geared up, phone in hand, frowning at both of us.
“What the fuck, Ma?” he called out, his voice carrying clearly in the cold air. “You said Lucky was lost?”
Sachi’s smile was pure mischief. “Did I? How careless of me to worry you.” She looked between us, not even attempting to hide her satisfaction. “Well, you might as well join us. We’re headed back to the gondola.”
“Ma, come on. You can’t manipulate things like this!”
“I’m not,” she huffed. “Well, okay, maybe a little. But it’s a powder day, Bode!”
Before Bode could protest, she pushed off again, gliding effortlessly down the last bit of run leading to the base area. I stood awkwardly across from him, still buzzing from the ride down.
“I mean, she’s not wrong.”
He sighed, but there was a hint of something else in his expression: a reluctant spark of interest, maybe even excitement. “Fine. But she will gloat, and it will be all your fault.”
I laughed. “If you look a little less grumpy, I’ll let you suck Wade’s cock when we get back.”
“Why do you keep acting like that’s a prize?”
“Because it is.”
“Fine, whatever,” he said, which was Bode for “Yes, it is.”
I waited until he strapped into his board, then followed him down to the base area. And five minutes later, the three of us were on the gondola heading back up the mountain. Bode sat beside me, his knee occasionally brushing mine, while Sachi watched us with undisguised amusement.
“I have a meeting in an hour,” she announced as we neared the top. “So I’ll take one more run with you two, then head back. Hope you enjoy the powder a bit more.”
“Ma,” Bode said.
She grinned at him, raising her hands. “Fine, I won’t push! But Bode, I ran into Coach Watson, and he asked me if you’d had a chance to call that therapist yet? I didn’t know you were thinking of a therapist!”
Bode narrowed his eyes at her. “Is this a good place to ask that?”
She lifted her hands. “Sorry. You're right. It's private. I'm just worried.”
The first run with Bode was a revelation.
I’d seen videos of him in the halfpipe, but watching him in powder was something else entirely.
He moved with liquid grace, his body in perfect harmony with the mountain.
Each turn was effortless, each line impeccable.
It was like watching someone speak a language they’d invented.
And fuck if it wasn’t the hottest thing I’d ever seen.
I tried to focus on my own riding, but I kept finding my eyes drawn to him, the fluid strength in his shoulders, the perfect balance, the way his entire body seemed finally, completely at peace.
This was Bode as he was meant to be, not the flat, restless man pacing our living room, but this creature of pure motion and joy.
After Sachi left for her meeting, Bode and I continued riding.
We raced each other down challenging lines, laughed when one of us took a spill.
On our fourth trip up the gondola, Bode sat closer than necessary, his thigh pressed against mine.
And since we were the only ones in the car, I climbed into his lap and kissed him.
“Thank you for riding with me,” I said, cupping his face. He grabbed my ass and hauled me closer, letting me feel, even through our snow pants, how hard I was making him.
“I can’t remember the last time I snowboarded just for fun. Not training, not grabbing footage for socials, just riding for the hell of it.”
“Why not?” I asked, genuinely curious. The mountain was literally in his backyard, and he was probably the most naturally gifted snowboarder I’d ever seen in person.
“I was working so hard for that goal. Olympic gold.” He was quiet for a long moment. “And it was worse once I won. I just... stopped feeling anything. The joy, the rush, whatever you want to call it. It was like someone had unplugged something essential. I kept trying, but it felt empty.”
“And today?”
His eyes met mine, dark and suddenly vulnerable. “Today doesn’t feel empty.” He looked out the window for a long minute. “Do you think I should call that therapist my coach suggested?”
“Do you think you should?” I asked carefully, not sure what the best approach was.
“I mean, I think I want to feel good again, about snowboarding. About the mountain. I’m not sure what my career would look like, but…”
“You don’t have to worry about the career part yet,” I said gently. “Focus first on feeling better, I think.”
“I hate phone calls. It’s ridiculous, really, to let that stop me.”
“I can help you call, if you want. Whatever you need.”
He smiled up at me. “Okay. Okay, I can do that.”
I leaned in and kissed him again. His lips were cold at first, then warm as the kiss deepened. I felt it everywhere: in my chest, in my stomach, between my legs. When we broke apart, his smile was small but real, reaching his eyes in a way I hadn’t seen before.
“You really gonna let me suck Wade’s cock again?”
“Only if you are good.”
“Good like I make an appointment with that therapist?” he asked.
“That would be very, very good. And if you are very, very good,” I said, kissing the tip of his nose. “You can eat me out, too.”
He groaned, then looked past me. “Almost at the top. Better stop talking about my newfound obsession with giving oral. Doesn’t even make sense to offer it as a prize.”
“But it is,” I said, and he huffed out a breath, smiling a little.
“Maybe. I love it when you come on my tongue. The way you whimper my name, shaking all around me, calling me your good boy again and again.”
I leaned in and kissed him softly. "Because you are my good boy." Every single time I said it, he shivered, and I loved that about him.
We rode until our legs burned and the light began to soften. With each run, Bode seemed to come more alive, his movements more fluid, his rare laugh appearing more frequently. By late afternoon, we were sitting side by side on the gondola, exhausted and content.
“Wade’s going to be so pissed he was too sore for today,” I said, leaning my head against Bode’s shoulder.
“He’ll get there,” Bode replied. “He’s persistent as fuck. Kind of admire that about him.”
I nodded, thinking of Wade’s determination on the bunny slope yesterday, getting up again and again despite spectacular falls. “He doesn’t quit.”
“No, he doesn’t.” Bode’s voice had a strange, thoughtful quality to it. “I like watching him try new things. He‘s so... uninhibited. Just throws himself into it. Reminds me of the joy you can find in things.”
“Yeah.” I smiled, thinking of how Wade approached everything with the same wholehearted enthusiasm.
Bode was quiet for a moment, then: “I want his cock in me so bad.”
“Oh yeah?” I laughed. “I wasn’t sure which one of you would top.”
He shrugged, a small smile playing at his lips. The gondola door slid open, and he leapt to his feet, grabbing his snowboard. “Come on, let’s ride back to the house and ask him.”
“You’re not supposed to call last run,” I called, jogging after him. “It’s bad luck.”
“No one said last run here, Lucky. Did we?” He was grinning big as he strapped in, and his joy was infectious. “We’re just going home for a fuck break.”
I looked down at the mountain, and for the first time, in forever, I pulled out my phone and snapped a quick selfie for social media, captioning it quickly and swiping away, before I could think much more about it.