Chapter 5
Damon
I’m not going to survive this trip. It’s been seventy-two hours, and I’m riding the edge so hard it’s a matter of when I go over, not if.
Thank God Julie’s name happens to end in the same syllable as Liam’s nickname. Otherwise, it would’ve been really fucking awkward trying to explain why his name was falling from my lips as I came. Julie was nowhere in my mind as I spilled my release.
And now, Liam’s long legs are stretched across my lap as we watch this movie.
Sure, I could have chosen to sit in the recliner, but Liam would’ve called me on it, and I didn’t have an excuse ready. Li needs physical touch like a fish needs water. If I had chosen the overstuffed chair, he would’ve probably climbed into it with me.
As it is, having his sweatpants-clad legs across my lap is easier to manage than having his naked, muscular torso pressing into me.
Suddenly, a piece of popcorn hits me in the forehead, and my eyes snap to Liam’s.
“What was that for?” I ask.
“Why are you staring at me? TV’s over there,” he says.
Shit.
“I don’t know. Lost in my thoughts, I guess. My bad.”
“Are you okay, man? You’ve been acting weird, all tension-y and stuff,” he says, picking up on my sketchy-ass behavior. “Is this because I heard you jacking off? Because I really don’t care. It was actually kind of hot,” he rambles. “You know, like live-action porn.”
“Li, stop talking,” I beg, pinching the bridge of my nose.
The absolute last thing I need to know is that he thought me getting off was hot, but it’s too late.
He already threw it out there, and now, my dick is swelling under his left calf.
Fuck. “I’m good. Swamped with some stuff for work and this other thing I need to take care of, but I’m not ready to do it yet, so it’s just taking up space in my brain,” I explain cryptically.
He sits up, dragging his lower leg across my aching cock, and I almost come in my pants. Leaning over, he squeezes my shoulder. “If something’s going on, you can talk to me, you know.”
I know I can.
I need to.
I will.
But not right now. Not yet. I just want a couple more days before I ruin his trip.
“I know, Li. It’s all good. I’ll fill you in eventually.”
Liam and I have been sailing through fresh powder for hours. Usually, he likes me to ski in front of him so I can set the pace…and he doesn’t like to navigate. When I’m the leader, it allows him to turn his brain off and just enjoy the ride.
I love being able to do that for him.
He doesn’t ever say it, but I know he feels pressure to figure his life out, even though the truth is we’re still so young that he has plenty of time.
He wants to find direction; I just think that between the trauma of losing his mom and the shit with his dad, he’s unable to figure out how to move forward.
But on this run, he passes me with a smack on my ass, gliding down the mountain like he owns it. He’s fully in control on a pair of skis, and watching him move is magic.
Liam is a work of art, six-feet-two-inches of pure athletic masculinity. His shoulders are broad, his waist is tapered, his abs have abs, and his quads could make statue carvers weep.
He captures everyone’s attention as he effortlessly moves down the mountain.
It’s a bluebird day—bright and sunny, with no clouds in the sky, and uncharacteristically warm. Liam is skiing in waterproof snow pants and a form-fitting white T-shirt with a light jacket unzipped over it.
God, I’m so fucking in love with him, it hurts.
“You still want to go hear that band play at Meltdown tonight?” I ask once we get back to the lift.
“Yeah, sounds fun!” His eyes widen in excitement. “Maybe we’ll run into Julie and Hannah again.”
My stomach plummets.
“Yeah, maybe,” I return with much less enthusiasm. A second later, I feel like a dick. I need to handle my shit, come clean to Liam, and stop dragging him down.
One more night, I tell myself. I’ll tell him tomorrow, but let me have tonight.
“It’s already three-thirty, so this will have to be our last run anyway,” he points out.
Plastering on the mother of all fake smiles, I knock my shoulder into his. “Race you down the mountain?”
“You’re on.”
Spoiler alert.
Liam not only wins, he decimates me. The laws of gravity really help him out here, though. He weighs a good fifty pounds more than I do, but he’s also willing to hit speeds I’m too chickenshit to attempt.
He whoops when I finally come into view halfway down the last slope, at the turnoff to our house. Staying slopeside really is the way to go.
I follow him to the ski rack outside of our place, and we both unclip before sitting on the bench and working our boots off.
“You mind if I get a bit of work done before we head down?” I ask, knowing we have a couple hours before the band starts.
Out here, the lifts close at four to give the CATs a little bit of daylight to start grooming the slopes.
It also helps give all the skiers and boarders time to get down the mountain before darkness sets in.
The terrain is so massive and wild that there’s no such thing as ‘night skiing’ because there’s no way to light the slopes.
“Nope,” Liam says. “Do you, boo. I’m going to find the gym and grab a workout.”
I nod because words are lodged in my throat.
This is miserable.
I’ve been hiding my attraction to Liam for thirteen years, but I seem incapable of ignoring it on this trip. I’d hoped the reality of what I have to tell him would make my dick behave and keep my emotions in check, but it seems to be having the opposite effect.
Thankfully, and somewhat miraculously, I’m able to get lost in my work.
We have several high-profile clients we provide cybersecurity for, and the code coming across my screen is a familiar language to me. One that doesn’t require me to have emotions, let alone be consumed by them, and before I know it, an hour and a half has passed.
Knowing Liam will be back soon, I close my laptop and head to my room to grab a shower before getting ready for tonight.
The hot water feels so fucking good on my aching muscles. I love the physicality of skiing, but it takes its toll on this office worker. We usually plan a couple of non-skiing rest days, but we haven’t hit one of those yet.
As I rub soap over my tired body, my mind wanders to Liam on the slopes today, and my cock immediately perks up, but I refuse to touch it. I can’t come without saying his name, and the fact that he fucking heard it last time was way too much of a close call.
So, I ignore the damn thing, angry that it almost got me into deep trouble.
Of course, my dick retaliates by not deflating at all through the entire shower.
He doesn’t even have the decency to go down when my mom’s fucking picture shows up on my phone when her call comes through as I’m getting out and drying off with a towel.
I decline the call, choosing to call her back once my hard-dick crisis is no longer happening.
Wrapping the towel around my waist, I move to crack the bathroom door open, letting some of the steam out, when Liam bursts through it at the same time.
“Holy shit, Li. It’s like you’re determined to see me naked.” My tone is off, harsher than I ever am with Liam, but what the fuck is up with him barging into my bathroom so much on this trip?
“Sorry,” he winces, making me hate myself. “I was just going to ask if I could borrow your body wash because I like the way it smells, but when I went to turn the knob, you were already pulling the door open.”
I scrub a hand down my face. “I’m the one who’s sorry. You scared me, that’s all. Of course, you can use my body wash. You’re welcome to anything of mine. You know that.”
His face brightens, and before I can move out of the way, he’s turning to the side to squeeze through the tight doorway. His ass brushes against my stiff cock, and I freeze, knowing he felt it. The fucking thing snapped back like a spring.
He hadn’t been looking down, but he sure as shit is now.
“Damn, D. I think your case of blue balls is more dire than I thought.”
Shaking my head, I push a hand against his sweaty chest…which is bare…again.
“Get out of here, and quit looking at my dick, you perv.”
“Quit trying to poke my fucking eye out with it, and maybe I would,” he jokes back, trying to ball-tap me.
“For fuck’s sake, Li, go take a shower. You smell like ass.” He moves toward me, raising his arm, and I try to back away because I know what he’s about to do, but I hit the doorframe, and there’s nowhere for me to turn. “Don’t you da—”
I’m cut off mid-sentence when his giant hand lands on the back of my neck, and he pulls my face into his armpit.
Laughing his ass off, he says, “Are you telling me my pits don’t smell like Ocean Breeze? I’m asking for a refund on this deodorant.” He shimmies, making my nose trail back and forth in his hairy armpit.
I could die a happy man here.
Nothing is headier than Liam’s scent, and it’s at its strongest when he’s drenched in sweat like he is right now.
All it will take is for his hip to knock into my dick one time, and I’m going to blow my load all over this towel.
Trying to push him off me, I plant my hand anywhere I can reach, but when I connect with the bare skin of his taut stomach, the most embarrassing groan leaves my mouth.
To make matters worse, my stupid, traitorous fingers curl into the waistband of his gym shorts, pulling him closer to me.
Laughing, he drops his arm, trapping me against his ribcage in a headlock.
“Thought that reverse psychology would work on me, huh? Pulling me closer to pretend you like it, so I’ll let you go? No one can like this sweat-fest, least of all you, my germophobic pretty boy. So now you shall suffer for trying to trick me.”
Oh, God. Please. No.
I’m insanely ticklish.
Like, so bad.
With my head trapped and my torso bent, Liam drives his free hand to my ribs, poking me in the side, making me squirm.
The good news is that it’s enough to make my dick finally take a chill pill.
The bad news is that my towel slips from my waist, and now, I’m naked from head to toe, trapped against Liam’s sweaty, naked torso.
He’s howling with laughter as he smacks me on my bare ass, and I jerk in his hold.
I’m trying to tell him to stop, but he pokes me again with his blunt fingertips, and I can’t catch my breath fast enough to form words.
Finally, I turn my head and bite down on the flesh next to my mouth.
A burst of Liam’s sweat explodes on my tongue, and I know I’ll remember this for the rest of my life.
“Ow!” he yells, still laughing. Finally, he pushes me away from him. “Did you just fucking bite me?” he asks, looking at his side while I grab my towel and cover myself.
“Yes,” I pant, hitting new levels of annoyance.
“I liked it.” Liam winks, grabs my shower gel, and walks out of my bathroom.
I can’t get my hand around my dick fast enough.