Page 17 of See You Next Winter
“Oh, yeah?” he says, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. “What’s the deal with you two, anyway?”
“We’re just friends,” I tell him, my default answer.
“With benefits?”
“Something like that.”
He gets up to follow me down the stairs that lead to the boot room and out of the house. “How come you’ve never mentioned her before?”
“I don’t know, man.” How do you explain a woman like Kayla, or our situation? “We’ve known each other since we were kids. At some point it became something else, but it’s just a holiday hook-up thing.”
“Do you like her more than that?”
“Sure, she’s great.” I pull on my coat and my boots. “But it’s never going to bemore. We both know that.”
“Doesn’t sound very convincing, bro.”
“It’s casual. Don’t worry about it.”
“If you say so.”
“The dude who’s fucked hundreds of women is a relationship expert now?”
“Oh my god,” he groans. “For the millionth time, my audiossimulatesex. I’m not actually recording it.”
I don't know how he makes his content, and don’t want to know, but I love to wind him up about it.
“You cool if I head back later in the morning? Hannah will be here if you need anything.”
“It’s all good, man. I can keep myself entertained. Have a fun night.”
Outside, soft flakes sweep through the air, but for now the road is still clear enough to drive the five minutes up the hill to the next village where Kayla lives. Normally I’d ride the chairlift that connects the two villages to head up there for dinner or drinks at Rico’s, but it’s late and it stopped running hours ago.
This after-hours rendezvous would be easier if she were staying with her parents a few houses down the road, but I love the idea of alone time in her apartment. Dad won’t mind if I take the car from the garage and bring it back in the morning, but even if he did, I’d find a way to get to her.
We’re no strangers to sneaking around. I’ve lost count of the number of times I climbed up to the balcony outside her bedroom window after everyone was asleep. It was risky, but we both loved the thrill.
The roads are so quiet, I pull up outside her house in record time. Kayla answers her door in low-slung sweatpants and a tight, white tank top.The sight of her will never not take my breath away.
“What are you doing here?”
She might want to act like she wasn’t expecting me, but I know it’s all for show. Freshly showered and buzzing with nervous energy, I can tell she’s been waiting. I’ve always loved her best in comfy clothes, and she knows it. The damp ends of her hair leave a wet spot near her nipples, and I can see the outline of them poking through the ribbed fabric. It’s an effort to look at her face instead of them.
“Forgot to give you your Christmas present,” I tell her, stepping inside and closing the door behind me.
“Is it your penis?” she asks, biting the side of her thumb. Her directness is one of the hottest things about her. Kayla tells it like it is and has no reservations about asking for what she wants.
“Is that what you asked Santa for?” I tease, scooping her damp hair behind her shoulders and bending to kiss the spot where it meets her neck. “You're very naughty.”
“Shut up.” She cups the front of my jeans where I’m already half-hard, grabs the back of my neck and pulls my mouth to hers. Kayla always smells incredible, but tonight she’s somehow clean and sinful all at once. She opens first, her tongue running along my lower lip until I’m kissing her back, hard and hungry.
We’ve danced this dance a hundred times, her arms around my neck, my hands gripping her ass, lifting her to hook her legs around my waist. I should take my boots off, but getting inside her is my only priority right now.
In her room, I sit us both down at the end of her bed and tug her top straight off. Mine goes next, and then we’re lost in a blur of hands and tongues, fighting to taste as much of each other as we can.
Kayla rolls her hips and grinds hard against my erection, painful at the thought of being inside her if we could only slow down for a second and focus on getting the right parts in the right place. I can’t concentrate on shit when she’s sucking at my neck and taking my earlobe between her teeth.
When I reach into my pocket for a condom, she hops off and removes my boots and the rest of our clothes. Before she has a chance to climb on top of me, I scoot further up the bed, half sitting against her pile of pillows.
