Page 29 of Home Town Advantage (Fourth Quarter Fever #1)

THIRTEEN

SULLEY

N ew Year’s has come and gone. I’m anxious to get back to Philly.

The Camels were upset in the playoffs a few days ago.

They lost on a Hail Mary at the end of the game.

It was heartbreaking. Seeing the devastation on Vance’s face was hard to watch.

He thought this was their year. He played his heart out.

Beau got hurt at the beginning of the game, and the defense wasn’t nearly as strong without him.

In the end, the defense broke down, and the Camels’ season has come to an end.

I was planning to fly back tomorrow, but there’s a snowstorm forecasted, and my flight was already canceled.

The temperature has dropped, and the wind has picked up, but the snow hasn’t started just yet. I got a notification on my phone that the power is out at Finn’s cabin and the generator hasn’t kicked on.

It looks like I have a few hours before the supposed storm of the century hits.

Meteorologists are warning that the snowfall will be at historic levels.

I have no idea when else I’ll be able to get up to the cabin and am afraid to wait.

If the temperature in the house drops and the water in the pipes freezes, the place will flood when it warms up again.

My father is out making sure heaters are working everywhere. Despite my mother’s protests, I decide to head up to the cabin about an hour away. I’m hoping it’s a quick fix and I can turn around, getting me back home before the storm gets too bad.

I grab a handful of tools and throw them in a bag. I also throw in a box of granola bars and a few cans of soup on the off chance I need to ride out the storm up there. My Girl Scout group motto was to hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

VANCE

I look up at the sky as I help my father ensure all the animals are fed before the snow worsens.

The storm hit earlier than projected and is coming in super-fast. We already have eight inches on the ground with no end in sight.

And it’s unusually cold, much more so than a normal storm.

I don’t ever remember a storm this bad. It’s being called a bomb blizzard.

I got home last night. My season ended earlier than I thought it would.

I was in the process of moving when I saw a bad storm was coming to my hometown.

I knew my father would need me. I hopped on the first flight out of Philly, which ended up being the last one they allowed to land in Helena before they shut down the airport indefinitely.

Over the deafening sounds of the hurling wind, I yell out, “Dad, we should get back to the house.”

The man is in his mid-sixties. He shouldn’t be running around in this weather. The well-below-freezing temperatures are dangerous for anyone, let alone a man his age.

We make our way to the main house and walk inside. I immediately remove my sweater, which got wet and is practically a frozen icicle, leaving me in a T-shirt and damp jeans.

MeeMaw greets me at the door and holds her hands out. “Give me that sweater, tiny Vancer. I’ll throw it in the dryer.”

I hand it to her as I chuckle at the new nickname. She has an endless supply of them. “Thank you.”

She wiggles her eyebrows. “Thank me in a few hours. I’m making your favorite snow day meal.”

I smile. “Your special chili?”

She winks and does a little dance. “I loaded up on Tums and Gas-X. Be sure to take a few. I don’t want you farting while we’re snowed in. You’ll stink up the joint.”

I can only shake my head at her while I hear my mother on the phone, saying, “Keep us updated, Nancy. I’m sure they’ll be fine.”

She hangs up and walks toward us with a worried look on her face.

“What’s wrong, Mom?”

She turns her head toward me with concerned eyes. “Nancy is worried about Frank and Sulley. They’re not home.”

My eyes widen. “Where the hell are they?”

“Frank is being Frank and making sure every heater in the town is working properly. Sulley went up to the cabin. There was some sort of power issue, and she wanted to fix it before the storm came in. The snow has started, and she can’t get hold of Sulley.

You know there’s no reception up there. Nancy is worried sick. ”

“Where are my keys?”

She shakes her head. “You can’t drive in this Vance. Your old truck won’t make it up there at this point. The roads are covered in ice.”

I find my keys, grab my jacket, and head right out the door to the loud protests of my family. What if she got stuck and is freezing to death? I can’t sit here and do nothing.

A little over an hour later, I see the snow-covered sign for Beartooth Mountains. I smile thinking of my favorite Miley Cyrus song and the fact that Sulley remembered it. The sign means I’m about a mile out from the cabin.

Suddenly, my truck makes a few weird noises and then stalls out. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I try everything to get her up and running but have no luck.

Do I try to walk the last mile or try to fix my truck? If I stay and can’t fix it, I could very well freeze to death out here. I make the decision to walk the last mile through what must already be nearly two feet of snow.

Forty-five excruciating minutes later, the cabin finally comes into view.

I’ve never been this cold in my life. My clothes are wet and icy.

My hair has icicles hanging from it. Actual icicles.

I can’t feel my fingers or toes. I think I’m minutes away from hypothermia setting in, if it hasn’t already.

I see her car. At least I know she made it here in one piece.

I just need to make it to the cabin. The door approaches, but my vision begins to blur. That’s when everything goes dark.

I wake feeling warm and…turned on. I don’t need to open my eyes to be able to smell Sulley. I’ve been smelling that perfume for over six months. The floral coconut mix drives me wild.

Maybe I froze to death and am now in heaven.

The last thing I remember is Finn’s cabin door finally being within reach.

I remember I wasn’t sure I could make it up the final hill.

I had lost all feeling in my body at that point.

I think my brain was frozen too. I know I made it up, but I remember nothing after that.

Blinking my eyes open, I realize I’m in only my boxer briefs, and Sulley’s bra-and-panties-clad body is wrapped around mine.

She’s fast asleep. We’re under a sea of blankets in front of the cabin’s fireplace, which has a fire roaring and crackling.

I can see the stonework around it that I fucked up, but it was too late to fix.

The mortar had hardened. Finn and I had a good laugh about that and all the other imperfections in this place due to our inexperience.

I lift my head enough to notice my clothes laid out in front of the fire. She must have found me and somehow dragged me inside and gotten me undressed. I’m a big man. I’m not sure how she could have done that on her own.

I lift my head further and scan the room for someone else. The person who must have helped her. Nope, no one else is here.

She lets out a soft moan in her sleep, and my dick further hardens to a near-painful level.

I look down at her body as best I can while it’s pressed against me.

She’s so sexy. She was beautiful all those years ago when we were in her bed together, but she’s filled out a bit more.

She’s got curves she didn’t have then. So damn perfect.

I don’t dare move for several minutes for fear of waking her and ending this. I simply hold her and stare at her. Her cherry red lips curve perfectly. They adorably murmur slightly in her sleep. I ache to suck them into my mouth.

Her face is relaxed too. She’s not looking at me with her usual pained animosity. There are so many things I wish I could tell her.

I continue to take in the most stunning creature in existence. There’s no denying how much I want her. I think I’ve wanted her since that last day with Finn.

Sulley stirs a bit before sleepily rolling onto her back. She manages to pull me with her. My cock presses into her warm, soft center.

Oh my god. My heart is beating a million times per minute. She must feel it with our chests pressed together.

Her eyes slowly begin to peel open. The eyes I spend every night dreaming of. The eyes I pretend are staring up at me every time I stroke my cock.

They widen slightly when reality hits, but she doesn’t push me away. She stares at me. I don’t see the normal hurt in them. Maybe I’m delusional, but I think I see lust swimming in them.

The pace of her chest rising and falling increases in intensity. Her sweet, warm breath fans my face.

Unable to help myself, I touch her soft, flawless face with my fingertips. “Your eyes look so blue right now. You’re beautiful, Sullivan Aisling.”

With the last of my restraint gone, I bring my lips to hers. It’s been nearly six years since we last kissed, but her taste is immediately familiar and comforting.

I’m not sure how she’ll react. I brace my balls for the knee I’m confident will land on them but am pleasantly surprised when her tongue slips into my mouth and she runs her fingers through my hair.

That’s all the signal I need. I turn into a greedy, starving man. I suck on her lips and then deepen the kiss, welcoming her taste as I devour her.

My hands roam over every inch of her warm body. At least those areas within my reach. She’s just as smooth and soft as I remember her being. God, she sets me on fire.

She wraps her legs around me and grinds her hips over my hardness, letting out a series of moans that cause my cock to leak.

Every little noise is sexy. She’s usually careful with her words and actions around me. But not right now. Right now, she’s in the moment, feeling what I’m feeling.

I kiss and lick my way down her neck. Her coconut scent is strengthening. Her hands begin to tug on my hair like they did that night in her bedroom. I swear I’ve only left my hair long in hopes that she’d one day tug on it again.