The second we pulled into Anthony’s garage to his winter mansion I clapped my hands and rubbed them together.

“Christmas vacation has officially started, gentlemen,” I announced.

Matt and Anthony both laughed and we unloaded our bags and took them into the cabin. Seriously though, the word “cabin” sounds so unfitting for this place. Anthony’s “cabin” was incredible and I loved coming here. I put the groceries away with Matt while Anthony went outside to his deck.

“He’s messing with that potted tree,” Matt said as he glanced outside while putting stuff away.

“I think it holds sentimental value to him. I know that each time he’s up here, he takes fresh soil for it,” I said.

I guzzled a bottle of water while we waited for Anthony to come back inside. I was looking forward to hitting the slopes tomorrow. Matt and I were going to teach Anthony how to ski. We were talking about the fresh powder on the slopes across the way when Anthony came in.

“How’s the tree, Anth?” I asked and got him a Coke out of the fridge.

He nodded and pulled his coat and beanie off, took the Coke and sat down at the breakfast bar.

“It’s good. Doing well.”

I glanced at Matt. There was some attachment to that tree. Though I didn’t know what it was, I understood that it existed and respected that.

Anthony started a nice fire in the fireplace, and after we had dinner, we played cards. It was so relaxing; no cell phones, TV’s, stereos. Just the company of Matt and Anthony. I had been looking forward to this.

We were having fun and joking around with one another until Matt made a comment that obviously didn’t sit well with Anthony. Though Anthony didn’t say anything about it, he got really quiet.

“Fuck, Anth. Your cabin is making me sweat,” Matt said and pulled off his long sleeved sweatshirt.

He pulled his undershirt away from his body to fan himself.

“Between the furnace, heated floors and the wall of fire behind me, I think you’re trying to burn me,” Matt joked.

I was looking at Anthony, waiting for the reaction. In a split second, I saw his whole body tense and his eyes flinched. He looked down at his hand of cards but remained quiet. He tossed a few cards down, and I dealt him the replacement cards. Anthony glanced at them and then up at Matt.

“I like being comfortable,” he said while looking at Matt.

“Comfort, I completely get, Anth,” Matt said in a calmer tone.

Matt wasn’t an idiot or oblivious to the change in Anthony since he made that comment. I knew he was trying to smooth things over.

Soon, Anthony folded his cards on the table and said he was turning in so he could get some rest for tomorrow’s ski lessons. Just before Anthony climbed the stairs, he turned to face us at the table.

“Matt, I made sure your room has the flannel sheets and the extra blankets. Just in case,” he teased.

Matt and I laughed, and Anthony smirked before heading upstairs. I knew that with Anthony joking and making light of it before bed that he and Matt were ok. I heard Anthony’s door to his room close and then glanced at Matt.

“You almost got your ass tossed outside in the cold,” I said quietly.

“What? Seriously, Col. It’s fucking hot in here.”

“It’s not that hot. We’ll put the fire out, and it’ll cool down. You knew he had a thing with being comfortable.”

Matt and I went over to the fireplace, and I worked on putting the fire out.

“I wonder if my room will feel like a crematory,” Matt joked.

“Close the vent and shut the floors off. Then you’ll be cold and roughing it just like you want.”

I stood up and put the fireplace tool back in its place, and a noise in the kitchen caused Matt and I to whip our heads around. Anthony had just closed the fridge and was facing us. He held up a bottle of water.

“Forgot my water.”

He headed towards the stairs again. I know he heard Matt’s crematory comment and I felt bad about it. I know Matt regretted it, but Anthony was already upstairs and closed the door by the time Matt said his name. Matt and I stood at the bottom of the stairs and I thumped him on the shoulder.

“Fix it in the morning, Matt,” I said and headed upstairs to my room.

Since it’s usually deathly silent at this cabin at night, any movement or noise inside, or out, can be heard easily. I woke up very early to the sound of something being shifted and moved around on the deck. I finally pulled on my sweatshirt and went downstairs.

The kitchen light was on, and there was a soft glow of light out on the deck. I saw the top of Anthony’s beanie near that potted tree. I grabbed my coat from the back of the chair and opened the door to the deck. Anthony turned around to the sound of the door.

“Hey,” he said. “Hope I didn’t wake you.”

“Anth, the dead rolling over in their graves would wake anyone up here,” I said and took a seat under the heat lamp.

Anthony had all of the old soil out of the pot and had a fresh bag next to him. He’d pour some in, mix it around with his hands and then put a little bit of another soil in. He really took care of this tree. I was so curious about it now.

“I like the fact that it’s quiet up here. It’s an easy drive from Vegas to be able to just sit and be.”

“It’s incredible up here. So peaceful. Cold though for a guy who hates the cold,” I said.

He smiled, stood up and wiped off his hands on a towel and sat down on one of the other chairs. From his coat pocket, he pulled out a new San Francisco 49ers decal sticker and set it on his lap.

“The peacefulness up here outweighs the cold.”

“Hence the heated floors and crazy insulated garage with a heater?” I joked with him.

He nodded but laughed.

“Yes, all of that.” He paused, and I glanced over at him. When he noticed that I was looking at him, he started tracing the decal as it sat on his leg. “I didn’t have a lot while growing up.”

That sentence coming from him told me so much. Much more than the eight words would insinuate. In the time I’ve known him, I’ve learned that he’s not one to share much about his life. I knew that warmth was something left out in his life. Plus, Blake had mentioned that he didn’t think Anthony came from a loving background.

“I understand,” I told him.

And I did. I could tell though that he struggled to believe that I knew what it was like to go without. And that, I didn’t. Despite losing my family at nine, Matt’s family that was just as well off as mine was, took me in. I always had a warm house in the winter or cool house in the summer. But, that doesn’t mean I’m not sympathetic to what others go through.

“Our house was always cold, Colin. I went to bed cold and I’d wake up cold. I didn’t have a blanket, just the thin sheet. I hated it and vowed that I’d never be cold in my own home when I grew up.”

I felt like I had been punched in the stomach at his declaration. I knew that I had to grab Matt in the morning and tell him so he wouldn’t jab about the warm cabin again.

Anthony seemed like he was deep in thought for a moment and then picked up the decal and crouched down by the tree again. He began scraping off the old decal that has weathered the weather and needed replacing.

“Can I ask you something?” I chanced.

“Yep,” he said while cleaning the ceramic pot.

“What’s the deal with this tree?”

“It’s just a tree, Col.”

“Bullshit.”

He glanced at me and went back to focusing on putting the decal on the pot. He cleaned up his mess and gave me a pat on my shoulder as he walked by with his tree supplies.

“Sorry I woke you up.”

He walked around to the front of the cabin, down the steps and crunched through the snow to his garage. I hadn’t moved but knew that was his destination because I could hear everything. I looked at the little tree.

“What’s your story, little tree?” I whispered and then went back inside to the warmth.

Anthony was a natural on the slopes. He only fell a few times, but it looked like he had the hang of it pretty quickly. We spent the day on the slopes and decided to go to the lodge for dinner and some drinks.

The three of us ordered big steaks for dinner and devoured them.

“So, how’d you like skiing?” Matt asked Anthony.

“I liked it. After we had been out there for a while, I was warm and didn’t notice the cold.”

“Good to hear,” Matt said and looked over at me. I knew what he was thinking. He was noticing how much Anthony either mentioned cold weather or prevented being in it. “Anth, I apologize for my comments last night about the warm cabin.”

Anthony shook his head and grabbed his glass of Coke.

“No worries, Matt. It’s probably warmer than it needs to be.”

“Anth, no shame in a warm cabin. Fuck, it’s an awesome place,” Matt said.

Through the rest of dinner, Anthony was quiet, and I could tell that he was tense. He looks forward to coming up here so he can unwind and relax.

After dinner, we walked around the lodge and ended up in the bar. We stood laughing and joking at the bar and I kept noticing some women a short distance away that kept looking over at us and were whispering to one another.

I bumped Anthony in the arm and gestured over to the group of women checking us out. Well, I thought they were checking us out until Matt rained on my parade.

“What are you smiling at, Col? Those women aren’t checking you out. They’re looking at Anth,” Matt said.

“What? Not all of them are looking at him.”

“Yep, I’m pretty sure they are,” Matt said as we glanced over that the women smiling and doing a flirty wave at Anthony.

Anthony flashed a smile and winked, causing the women to crowd together and laugh. He just had that look about him. Anthony wasn’t what society or magazines would call “dashingly handsome,” but he just had that look that drove women nuts.

“Anth, we could have all those women tonight,” I mentioned to him as the three of us looked over at the women.

“If they’re not into kink, I don’t want a part of it.”

I frowned at him and looked back over at the women. There were five women, most likely close to my age. Anthony could, and often did, have a different girl to scene with at Irons each night. I was typically his co-topping partner with these ventures.

“You guys go. Enjoy your evening with the ladies. I’ll leave the door unlocked for you,” Anthony said.

He was serious.

“You don’t want to go have some fun with them?” Matt asked him again.

“No. My thing is kink. I’m not getting into bed to fuck. I don’t cuddle. I don’t make out. I don’t kiss and whisper sweet shit,” Anthony said and finished his Coke.

“You’re going to miss out,” Matt teased.

“I’m not. I’ll catch you guys later.”

Matt and I stood at the bar and watched Anthony leave.

“I can’t believe he didn’t want to unwind with the ladies,” Matt said.

“He’s headstrong. If he doesn’t want to do something, he simply won’t.”

Matt and I finished our beers and headed over to the ladies.