“Fuck.” He wiggled free.
I clapped a hand over my mouth, trying to hold back my laughter.
He glared at me, shaking glitter from his hair. “It is a disaster in there.”
“It’s storage.” And by storage I meant I tossed stuff in there and closed the door as quickly as possible when I didn’t have another place for it.
“It’s a safety hazard.” He looked at his hands. “Is this glitter?”
“Could be…”
“Why would you even have glitter?” He ran his hands through his hair again, sending it raining down around him.
“You’re snowing glitter.” I took a step back to not get caught in the shower.
“Ugh. It’s all over my clothes, too.”
“Oops.”
“Honestly, why do you have this?” he asked again, pulling his shirt off.
I swallowed hard, staring at his chest. I was not going to get used to him shirtless anytime soon. The dark hair on his pecs was entirely distracting. “Sorry, what was the question? I wasn’t paying attention.”
“Why do you have glitter?”
“I bet it would be from my clubbing days. I used to put it on while in college and go out.” I heated at the memory.
Jensen’s brows went up. “Did you? What kind of clubs?”
I stared at my feet. “Sex clubs, and gay clubs.”
“Did you like getting fucked in them, Aiden?”
“Yes,” I said under my breath. “Until I met my ex.”
“I would love to fuck you in a club.”
My head jerked up. “You’re into that?”
No. I had to shut it down. Why did everything feel so natural between us? It made knowing I had to end it that much worse.
“I love sex in public and outside. Why do you think we had so much fun in the library in front of all those windows?” He stepped closer. “I’m a park ranger, remember.”
My mouth went dry and my heart picked up. “Oh,” was the only word I could manage.
“So many ways to have fun.”
It was one of the things I’d loved about playing in the library as well. It had all the allure of a public place but all the safety of privacy as well. There was always the risk. I fed off of it. Fed on the energy of the risk. I imagined public sex would be even more intense. So many people watching. I’d done it for months, hadn’t I?
I reached out, wanting to touch him, desperate for him to touch me. Desperate to have any part of that connection back, but what would that mean? I dropped my hand. He wouldn’t allow any of it until we talked.
I blew out a breath, trying to center myself and not think about sex. “What were you looking for anyway?”
“Snowshoes. I wanted to try and get to my truck for a change of clothes. I more so need to now.” He shook his shirt, raining glitter all over the floor again.
“Those wouldn’t be in the junk closet.” I headed back to the bedroom, waving him after me. “They are in here.” I dug through my master closet, finding the second pair. “Here, my brother’s should fit you.”
“Adam left his snowshoes here?” he asked me, checking them for dry rot.
“No. Avery.” Adam and I had taken over living in our childhood house when our parents moved to a condo.
“Oh, wow.” He tucked them under his arm and headed back towards the front room. “Why do you have his snowshoes still?”
“I kept them when my parents moved out, figured they would be good for a spare.” I shrugged.
I didn’t know how to feel about Avery. I didn’t know him anymore. I wanted to, but it wasn’t easy after fourteen years. We were strangers but I was trying.
“Grab your shoes, come out with me,” he said after a silent moment between us.
“How are we getting out the door?”
He pushed me towards my room. “You’ll see.”
I went and retrieved my snowshoes and some warmer clothes, returning to find him with his glittery shirt back on, a jacket, and tying his boots.
I slipped into my boots and tied them where I was standing before pulling on my jacket. He returned to the junk closet and dug around for a minute before producing a stepladder and a grabber. I crossed my arms and stood back while he opened the door. He set the ladder in front of the four-ish feet of snow banked against my door and his snowshoes went on top of the snow. He then climbed the ladder, grabbed the top of the frame, and stuck his feet into the shoes way more gracefully than I’d be able to do anything.
He stood for a moment, testing the snow. He didn’t sink. It appeared to be heavy and wet. The skiing would be good in a couple of weeks with this as the base.
“Come on now.” He took a couple of steps and turned around.
“We are going to get stuck.”
“Have a little sense of adventure. It will be good for you to get out of the house.”
He wasn’t wrong. I could feel the space closing in on me every hour I stayed inside. I zipped my jacket and set my shoes in the place he had to use the ladder, nearly falling when I made the huge step from the ladder to the shoes while also ducking.
Carefully I straightened and jumped. “Oh shit.” I braced as I sunk an inch.
Jensen pulled a hat over his head and rolled his eyes. “It's a wonder you’ve lived this long up here.”
“I don’t usually get snowed in.” I’d been back in town for two years and it hadn’t happened once.
“And here I thought you prepared for everything with your survivalist crap.”
“I am prepared to be snowed in, but not for the emotional consequences of such things happening,” my voice was getting higher with each word.
I waddled towards him. It had been years since I’d gone out in snow like this. I didn’t ski. I was way too awkward for it. I loved the outdoors but there wasn’t much use to be out if you didn’t like snow sports. “Wait! How are we closing the door?”
He stepped around me, showing me the grabbing thing he’d taken from my closet. First, he picked up the step ladder and set it aside and then grabbed the knocker and pulled the door closed.
“Smart. So smart.”
“I’ve been a ranger for a long time. I’ve learned how to make things work for me.”
The ingenuity was attractive. Who was I kidding? Everything about him was attractive. He strolled to his car like walking on the snow was nothing. Drifts had mostly buried the vehicle, but the roof peeked above the fluffy white.
“How are you going to get to it?” I asked, following after him and holding a hand in front of my eyes to block the glare of the sun off the snow. I already felt better. I tilted my face to the sky and let the warmth from the sun soak into my skin.
“Dig out and use the grabber.” He already had one shoe off and was using it as a kind of scoop while balancing on one foot.
I wanted to push him over, but that would end in both of us stuck in the snow so I let him be. Instead, I slowly bent and scooped snow between my hands, rolling it into a ball. The cold burned into my skin. I pulled back and let loose, elated as the ball thunked into his back.
“Hey!” Jensen said, teetering. He swayed then in slow motion, started to fall towards the hole he’d dug.