Chapter Thirteen
Nic
NERVOUS tics irritated Nic’s muscles as he headed out to meet Sasha and the kids. Yes, Sasha had invited him—demanded his presence, really—but the kids always played outside on their own. He couldn’t fathom them wanting the authority figure around when they were trying to have some fun.
As he got close enough for them to notice him, though, their smiles brightened. Neither of them hesitated or half ignored his company like they had before. Maybe the game night had finally earned some of the trust he’d sought the past few years. The idea alone squeezed the center of his chest until he could barely breathe.
“Uncle Nic!” Lucy leaped over her wall and threw her arms around him. The press of her cold cheek against his warm one made him laugh and jerk back.
She snickered, and then a jolt of icy cold dripped down the back of his neck. He yelped, and Lucy ran away, diving behind her wall.
“War!” she cried, lobbing a snowball straight into his chest.
“No fair,” he said. “You had a head start.”
“Nic,” Sasha called, waving him over to his snow bunker. When he got there, Sasha tugged him down behind the wall. “We can share.”
Sasha’s cheeks were flushed an adorable ruddy color, and his breath puffed out in wispy clouds. He’d never been more desirable than he was at that moment.
“You want to make the snowballs or launch them?”
“I played baseball, and my aim’s not rusty. You?” Sasha asked.
“I was a swimmer and a golfer. Not much use for pitching.”
“Let’s do some damage.” The maniacal grin Sasha sent him made him laugh out loud.
A monstrous snowball took out a chunk of their defense wall, but Ben had gotten close to be able to launch something that heavy, so he was still within range as he ran back to his trench. Sasha rose just enough over the barrier to lob a snowball, nailing Ben right on his fleeing ass. Ben screamed and rubbed the butt of his jeans as he hopped over his wall.
“Worth it!” he yelled across the yard.
Sasha was like a machine, launching ball after ball with speed, force, and accuracy, while Nic formed snowballs as quickly as he could. There was no keeping up with Sasha, though. Despite his aptitude at snowball fights, he was careful not to hit the kids anywhere sensitive, though he got hit several times—once on the side of his face, getting ice in his ear. That was something Nic loved about Sasha, his willingness to give others a chance to win. He’d done the same thing last night during their board games, making sure no one felt awful about the game’s outcome. Nic had never seen anyone so centered on making everyone else happy.
Fuck, that had to be exhausting.
The thought bit into Nic and wouldn’t let go. He turned and studied Sasha’s smiling face. Was Sasha as happy as he seemed? At first glance, he’d say yes, but the tiniest bit of tension around Sasha’s eyes said he was worried about something. When he caught Nic looking at him, that tension abandoned his expression and the smile widened into something wholly genuine. The thrill of bringing that out in him sent Nic soaring on an endorphin rush.
“We’re almost out of ammo,” Nic said. He’d been hit multiple times too, but mostly because he was more focused on forming the balls than on his surroundings. Luckily, his outerwear was high-quality and waterproof, keeping most of him dry.
“Yeah, I’m about ready to call a peace treaty and move on to the next competition.”
“What’s that?”
But Sasha was already over the wall and waving the kids in. Nic joined them, and Lucy hit him with one last snowball, complaining about not hitting Nic enough times.
“What the heck, Lucy? Are you trying to get back at me for something?”
“I have ice down the back of my pants, right into my butt crack. I’m getting back at you for teaming up with Sasha.”
“Hey, no one said you couldn’t team up with Ben,” Sasha pointed out.
“What? Why didn’t we think of that?” Ben asked. “Wait. Why’d we stop? I’m not frozen yet.”
“We’re having a contest now. Everyone gets to build a snowman or snowperson or whatever. Best one gets a prize.” Sasha turned to Nic. “What should they get?”
“And who’s judging?” Lucy puffed her breath out as she pretended to smoke.
“You automatically lose if you keep doing that,” Nic said. She grinned at him and threw her imaginary cigarette on the snow and pretended to grind it out. “How about a day off for whoever wins, school or work?”
Cheers abounded, and the easy normalcy of the moment hit Nic all at once, nearly choking him up. Once he’d gotten outside, there’d been no awkward moments. He wasn’t an outsider here but a welcome family member playing with loved ones. The kids hadn’t looked at him with fake smiles or blank expressions, waiting patiently for him to go away.
“I’ll judge,” he told them. He watched as they raced to build their snowmen. Lucy went literal with her design, opting for tradition. Ben? Who the hell knew what Ben was making? It looked like a penis between a pair of balls, but Nic didn’t want to say it out loud in case he’d misinterpreted the snow sculpture.
He couldn’t tell what Sasha’s was yet. It was a large, wide lump with two smaller oblong lumps pressed against the big lump’s side. As the time passed and more of the sculpture became clear, Nic smiled. It was a dog, an incredibly lifelike dog. Sasha began shading using the dirt he’d dug down to, and he pressed dark stones in for the eyes and a chunkier one for the nose. The dog was a husky, judging by the markings.
Most of their figures were complete when Lucy’s phone rang. She answered and within a few minutes, she’d arranged for her and Ben to go sledding with her friend’s family while the snow was still thick. Nic ended up giving the prize to all of them, and before he was ready to abandon the ever-evasive family time, the kids were gone, packed away in the minivan with several sleds and tubes. Sasha stood close enough to touch arms as they watched the van pull carefully down the drive.
They walked side by side back to the front of the house. When they reached the first step, Sasha slid on the newly formed ice. Nic just caught him but not in time to keep Sasha from clipping himself on one of the steps.
“Ow, ow, fuck!” Sasha covered the bleeding scrape above his right eyebrow with a hand. “Great. Now I feel like an idiot.”
Nic chuckled as he helped Sasha get to his feet. “Why?”
“I’m supposed to be an athletic, agile man with a great sense of balance.”
Nic guided Sasha to the first-floor guest bathroom where a first aid kit was stored before he lost his mind, forgetting all about his resolve to stay professional. “Well, maybe it’s better if I keep you on your back, then.”
Sasha had been leaning against the sink counter at first, but after Nic’s comment, he lowered the toilet seat cover and sank down to sit on it. His silence was unnerving.
“I’m sorry, I—”
“Maybe you should,” Sasha said as Nic crouched in front of him to clean the blood from the scrape above his eye. “Keep me on my back, I mean.”
Nic didn’t answer but continued caring for the wound. He cleaned it with an antiseptic wipe, wincing at Sasha’s hiss at the contact, and pressed a long, slender bandage across the cut. With their faces very close, Nic’s eyes met Sasha’s for a long while before he spoke again.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had this much fun,” Nic murmured, afraid to break the connection growing between them.
Sasha’s lips quirked up at the corners. “I’m glad it was fun. I had fun too. You’ve never played in the snow?”
“That obvious, huh?” Nic’s laugh was halfhearted. “I’ve gone skiing before. Nothing else, though.”
“I liked that igloo Ben had going on before the snowball fight. If there was enough snow, it could be pretty amazing.” Sasha leaned even closer. “Just wondering what the hell he made for the snowman competition.”
Nic huffed out a chuckle. “I had some ideas, but they weren’t fit for mixed company.”
“Penis and balls, I take it?” Sasha grinned widely. “You don’t even need to answer. You’re blushing.”
Yes, he was. The warmth of it wasn’t only in his cheeks but spreading all over his body as his attraction to Sasha sank him in desires he couldn’t deny anymore.
“It was a little family of snow people he was making, an adult and two kids. I think the penis was you, Nic.” He laughed. “Don’t tell Ben I thought he and Lucy looked like balls, though.”
There was no one on the planet cuter and sweeter than a teasing, laughing Sasha. Fuck it. Sasha clearly wanted this too. Nic swooped in and took Sasha’s mouth, pushing his tongue inside to glide against Sasha’s. There was nothing holding him back anymore.
“You okay?” he asked, panting against Sasha’s mouth. “No headache or anything?”
Sasha shook his head slightly, unable to answer, his pupils blown and his breath rushing in and out. He unzipped Nic’s coat and pushed it off him, his movements frantic, impatient. Just as quickly, he whipped off his Carhartt and peeled off two more layers before revealing that golden, masculine chest Nic loved so much.
“Goddamn, Sasha.” Nic ran his hand all over the soft skin and hard muscles before finding Sasha’s nipples and playing with them, circling, tweaking, and lightly tugging before he tongued and sucked on them one by one, drawing heady, deep moans from Sasha.
He leaped to his feet, pulling off his two shirt layers, kicking off his shoes, and dragging his pants down his legs until he was naked for the first time in front of Sasha, who utterly devoured him with his eyes.
“I love the way you look at me,” Nic said.
“I love looking at you.” Sasha smiled a real smile, the kind that took over his whole face. “Get me naked, Nic.”
Sasha lifted up while Nic drew his jeans and briefs down. Holy fuck, Sasha was perfectly formed, like he’d been set from a precise mold. He’d barely cleared the clothing from Sasha’s legs before he knelt in front of him and ducked his head to take Sasha into his mouth and blow his mind.
Too bad Sasha bent for a kiss at the same time. Their skulls collided enough to jar Nic, so he couldn’t imagine how much it had to hurt Sasha’s already wounded head.
“Oh fuck,” Sasha groaned, his voice tight with pain. “It was all going well until that last second. Good thing I was sitting.”
“Sorry.” Still kneeling, Nic lifted his hand to run it through Sasha’s hair. “How is it? Okay?”
Sasha winced but nodded and then went for Nic’s lips again, sliding his arms over Nic’s shoulders to wrap around him. The kiss barely deepened before Sasha pulled away suddenly and braced his elbows on his knees. He cradled his head in his hands.
“Nope. Not okay enough,” Nic said.
“Might be feeling a little sick,” Sasha mumbled before peeking up at him.
He leaned his head against Sasha’s shoulder, trying to get his breathing under control. “You should lie down. I’ll call for a doctor to check on you.” Then, ignoring Sasha’s muttered protest, he cupped Sasha’s jaw. “I like you, Sasha. So much,” he said. “I didn’t want to. We’re not in the best situation, but—”
“I like you, too, Nic, and I know it’s not the best circumstances. I want this too much to care, though.”
“Yeah?” He waited for Sasha’s nod. “Okay, but we need to keep it to ourselves. You okay with that? The kids can’t find out, at least not for a while. I don’t want them to get confused about anything.”
“It’s all right,” he said. “I can live with that.”
That expression had reappeared on Sasha’s face, the one with the tension all around his eyes while a fake smile stretched across his face. Nic would love to replace it with something real, but it wasn’t something he could do for Sasha in this case. It didn’t matter how strong their attraction. The fact was, Sasha was his employee, and he’d never seen workplace relationships succeed.
Who the fuck was he kidding? He’d never seen any relationship work out. Still, he was going to enjoy every second with Sasha while their time together lasted because it wouldn’t be long before whatever was between them fizzled out.