Chapter 36
Hanlon
“Hey, man. Thanks for starting dinner,” I tell Chase, grabbing his shoulders in a quick massage after dumping my work bag on the floor in the laundry room. “Smells good.”
Chase laughs. “Thanks for the free lift ticket. Throwing some beans in a pot and browning some ground beef was literally the easiest way to repay you.”
“Meh, you can repay me with your abundant medical knowledge once you become a fancy surgeon,” I tease, excited for him to be starting medical school this coming August. It’s been his dream for as long as I’ve known him.
“I’m going to be a trauma surgeon, Han. Hopefully, you’ll never need me,” he says with a tone of seriousness.
“Valid point,” I say, taking a seat at the small kitchen table.
Stone comes into the kitchen several minutes later. He had gone straight to the shower and his hair is still wet. Without giving it a second thought, I’m up from my chair and moving toward him immediately. He wraps his arms around my shoulders and allows me to burrow into his chest.
Chase turns to watch us as he continues stirring the pot of chili on the stove.
“I can honestly say I never saw this coming, but you guys look good together.”
Stone presses a kiss to my head as he rubs my back.
“Trust us, you’re not the only one it shocked,” he says with a laugh.
“I didn’t even know you were gay, Stone.”
“I’m not sure I am,” my stepbrother replies, making Chase laugh.
“Bro, I heard the sounds coming from your room last night, so either you have the most talented hand on the planet, you snuck a chick in without my knowledge, or you’re pretty fucking gay.”
Stone releases me as he looks me in the eye. “Can I go back to hating him?”
I chuckle. “No.” Turning my attention to Chase, I try to explain.
“There are a lot of labels these days. Some people appreciate having a group to identify with, while others hate the labels, but if we were forced to choose, we think Stone is probably demisexual, meaning he needs a strong emotional bond with someone before becoming sexually attracted to them. It’s not enough to just have a pretty face or be funny.
In Stone’s case, that bond happened with me because of the history we share…
but of course, I’m also hot.” Stone pokes me in the ribs, making me squirm.
He likes the reaction, so he does it again until my elbow catches him in the solar plexus.
“So, yeah, he’s probably gay,” I add just to annoy Stone.
“Interesting,” Chase muses as Stone stays quiet. “And you didn’t discover this about yourself until now?”
“No,” Stone answers shortly. “It answered a lot of questions, though. It just wasn’t something I’d ever considered.”
Chase nods, looking thoughtful. “Well, I’m glad you guys decided to give it a try. You both seem happier, even if your parents are being assholes.”
Stone snorts, and I smack Chase on the arm.
“Hey. That’s still my mother you’re talking about. She raised Stone from a young age. I know it’s weird for them.” I’m not entirely sure why I’m defending her close-mindedness, but if I want her to see where I’m coming from, I need to be willing to see where she’s coming from as well.
“Can we talk about something else? And when is dinner going to be ready? I’m fucking starving,” Stone whines.
“It’s ready now,” Chase says, opening our cupboard and grabbing bowls.
We dish up and carry our food to the living room, where we watch TV while we eat.
“Oh, Han,” Stone starts during a commercial break, “I talked to Rick earlier. He said the new resort owner asked Jeremy for your number. He wanted to get your thoughts on the tests you ran with Jeremy. Have you heard from him yet?”
I whip my head toward Stone. “What? No, I haven’t.” The owner of Ricochet Ridge Ski Resort wants to talk to me? “As the owner, I assume he’s in business. What does he want to know about avalanche forecasts?” I wonder out loud.
“Not sure, but apparently, he’s a boots-on-the-ground kind of guy. I haven’t met him yet. But I was thinking…what if he offered you a job?”
My heart skips a beat, and I pause my spoon on the way to my mouth before dropping it back in the bowl. The prospect of being offered a job with Stone is too good to be true.
“Is that a real possibility?” Chase asks from the recliner.
“Sure. I mean, it’d be the smart thing to do. Hanlon’s already proven himself in the field. He has a strong work ethic, and he—”
Chase cuts him off. “Yeah, I know all that. Roommates, remember?” His eyes shift to me. “You’d do it? You’d move out here?”
I’m caught off guard by the note of possessiveness—and is that hurt—I detect in his voice.
“Um, I mean, yeah,” I stutter. “What would I come back home for? My parents aren’t speaking to me, you’re leaving for medical school, and I…
” I trail off, not knowing the words as I run my palm up and down Stone’s thigh while I find them.
“I want to stay with him. I’ve spent years worrying about him, being angry because I felt like I’d be the last to know if there was an accident.
And despite the pain from his absence, he’s been my hero since I was six years old. With Stone is where I belong.”
Of course, I can’t look at either of them as I admit this, but the next second, Stone is pulling my bowl of chili from my hands, setting it on the floor next to his, and is straddling my thighs.
“Chase, avert your gaze,” he says, taking my face in his hands.
“I’m not worthy of being anyone’s hero, Skittles, but I can’t stomach the thought of you leaving.
I’ve been dreading it as each day ticks by.
I don’t want to hold you back, but if you think you could be happy out here with me, then fuck, I want you to stay. ”
My hands dive under his T-shirt, demanding to touch his skin. I press on his back, wordlessly telling him to lean forward so I can kiss him.
He obeys, and I lower my fingers to his waistband, while the backs of my knuckles run along the sensitive skin behind it, and a low moan escapes as he rolls his hips forward and his tongue licks the seam of my lips.
“I know you said not to look, but honestly, that’s pretty hot,” Chase says around a mouthful of chili.
Stone’s forehead hits mine. “I will be so glad to have this house to ourselves again,” he teases.
He tries to climb off my lap, but I clutch his ass, keeping him in place.
“I’m not done with you.”
“Not here. You’re going to get hard, and your best friend already pays an unusual amount of attention to your dick as it is. You can have me once we get into bed,” Stone whispers.
“Then eat fast.”
The call comes in at four a.m.
We’ve ticked over midnight, so our team is officially on. The wind is whipping like mad in the darkness outside our bedroom window. Since we aren’t blasting today, we don’t have to be at work until eight.
But as soon as Stone’s phone goes off, a pit of dread opens in my stomach.
“Hello?” he answers, his voice rough from sleep. Because the house is completely silent, I can hear every word despite the call not being on speakerphone.
“Stone, Oscar Evans with Search and Rescue here. We’re gonna need your help.”
Shit.
“Are you telling me some asshole went out in the backcountry in this shit?” Stone says angrily.
It’s a tangled web of emotions. Accidents happen, and as a first responder of any kind, your internal nature is to help people in trouble, but it’s easy to become jaded when people’s poor decisions put others’ lives at risk unnecessarily.
For example, when evacuation orders are issued, and people don’t do it, then they cry for help when floodwaters begin to rise and claim the lives of those who have to go back for the ones stranded because they ignored the warning.
That happened to a friend of Stone’s a couple years back, and it put a hard limit on his tolerance for stupidity.
“Apparently, a group of three went out two days ago and were supposed to be back before it got really bad, but they never showed. Probably got turned around in the storm,” Oscar says.
“Why the fuck would you go out knowing this storm was coming?” Stone yells into the phone as he pulls his thermals on.
I throw the covers back and climb out of bed, prepared to do the same.
He throws me a stern look and shakes his head.
What the hell does he mean, no?
Ignoring him, I keep getting dressed as Oscar continues rattling off details.
“Your new admin won’t let you take the chopper.” Thank God. “So, you’re going to have to snowmobile in. Thankfully, the campsite was just over the western boundary of Ricochet.”
No. No. No. That snowpack is terribly unstable right now. The western boundary hasn’t been open for two weeks.
“You can’t go over that. You have to go around,” I tell Stone.
“I’ll call my team and touch base once we’re all on-site. Send me the coordinates, pictures of the skiers, and anything else you know.”
“10-4,” he replies, and then the call ends.
Stone immediately dials Deacon.
“We’ve gotta roll. Backcountry skiers are missing over the western edge of Ricochet.
No chopper, so we have to go in on snowmobile.
I’ll meet you at basecamp in twenty. Can you call Logan and ask him to prep team two?
I’ll call Jeremy and the others,” Stone says into the phone, pulling his snow pants on next.
“Will do, Boss.”
“See you soon.” Stone hangs up the phone and pins me with a murderous glare. “Don’t even think about it, Hanlon. No fucking way am I letting you go out in this shit.”
“If you’re going, I’m going. Deal with it,” I snap.
“It’s my job, Han. I don’t have a choice.”
“Yeah, well, you’re my life, Stone. My whole fucking future. So, I don’t really have a choice either. I’m not sending you out there alone.”
Stone grips my shoulders.
“Fine. Come set up at basecamp, but you’re not coming out on this mission, Han.
I can’t have my concentration divided, and I’ll be so worried about you that I won’t be able to think straight.
I need to know you’re safe and warm and waiting for me to get back.
Can you please do that for me? I’ll make sure you’re listening in on the comms channel so you know I’m okay, okay? ”
I don’t like it.
But I understand it. He’s right. They could be out there for hours, and as much as I hate it, I’d be a liability in these conditions.
“Fine,” I reluctantly agree.
Stone moves into the bathroom to brush his teeth when there’s a knock on our door.
“Sorry, did we wake you?” I ask Chase, pulling the door open.
“Yeah, I heard Stone yelling. Is everything okay?” he asks, wearing Snoopy pajama pants I’ve seen a thousand times. Suddenly, I’m really grateful Chase is here.
“A group of backcountry skiers is missing. The team’s been called in to help with search and rescue. I’m going into the office just to stay in contact with Stone. You want to come? I could probably use the company.”
“Yeah, sure. I’ll get dressed.”
My sweating palms are already telling me I’m going to need a stiff drink by the time this is over.
Five minutes later, we pile into Stone’s Tahoe, and I can’t stop touching him. Thankfully, he doesn’t make me.
The visibility is shit even down here at the base of the mountain, and the wind gusts shake the tall SUV. When we pull into the lot, the office lights are on, and several others are already here.
As the leader of the entire ski/avalanche patrol division, it’s Stone’s job to relay the plan and assign jobs.
The timing is terrible, but it’s really fucking hard not to notice how goddamn sexy my boyfriend is when he’s commanding this entire room. His thick, waterproof tactical pants make a satisfying swish as he walks back and forth in front of a whiteboard, drawing a diagram of the terrain.
He still has his beanie on, and the beard, coupled with the hard set of his jaw, makes him look every bit the badass mountain man he is.
“Deacon, Jeremy, Layla, and I will go out in the first wave,” Stone says, informing everyone of the plan. “The snowpack on the western ridge is unstable as all fuck, and the snowmobiles could easily set it off, but it’s the fastest way to get where we’re going.”
“That’s bullshit,” Logan mutters. “The fastest way to get where we need to be is the chopper.”
“I agree, but they’re not an option right now,” Stone says smoothly.
“We’re going to meet up with S&R here,” he marks an X on the whiteboard.
“From there, we’re going to see if any tracks are visible.
If so, we’ll follow them as a group and descend in a line.
Watch your step as you comb. Look for any cracks and fissures in the snow.
And listen for any instability. We’ve all heard it.
If you come across either, you announce it immediately and move in line behind the person to your right.
Once we lose the tracks, if there are any, we’ll fan out, heading southwest and southeast. It’s probably safe to assume that, despite the weather, they could still tell which direction was down.
We have six hours before we rotate. Team Two, try to sleep if you can.
Any questions?” No one raises their hands. “Good. Suit up.”