Page 81 of The Aster Valley Collection, Vol. 2

PARKER

The four of us made our way out of the restaurant building and into the sunshine. It was a beautiful day to be on the slopes, and I was looking forward to sharing the experience with Julian.

If only he’d stop acting like he was going to jump out of his skin any minute if I so much as looked at him funny.

I didn’t appreciate his hesitation in holding my hand or the way he’d refused to acknowledge our relationship in front of our friends because it made it very clear he didn’t trust the feelings I had for him.

His jealousy was kind of adorable but also kind of annoying for the same reason.

I should have insisted on talking things through earlier, regardless of his nerves.

Then maybe things wouldn’t be so awkward around us today.

But now wasn’t the time to keep pushing him. I’d been tasked with hosting Rocco on the mountain and making sure everyone stayed safe while capturing the footage for the fitness project.

“Where to first?” I asked Rocco before reaching for Julian’s skis and laying them out for him. “Intermediate or moguls?”

Rocco and BJ found their own skis in the stands and clipped into them before Rocco suggested warming up with the intermediate run. “I’d like to film two workouts if we can. One on each of the two slopes. But it’ll mean lots of runs down each one to capture different footage. That okay?”

I agreed and mentioned having been part of many video projects in the past for commercials and documentaries. “We’ll get what you need,” I assured him.

After everyone had skis on, I pointed us to the smaller lift that continued farther up the mountain.

We began making our way over to it as Rocco described the kind of footage he hoped to capture.

Since he was still talking when we got on the lift, BJ and Jules ended up on a chair ahead of us, and I was stuck riding the lift with Rocco instead of sneaking a private moment with Jules.

The chair wasn’t even out of the terminal when I saw BJ lean closer to Julian to bump his shoulder while they shared a laugh.

“How do you know BJ?” I blurted. “He seems… outgoing.”

“We met through the fitness app. Well, more specifically, on a chat for content creators. He makes killer yoga classes and shares tips about lighting and editing, things like that. When I posted about coming down here to make some content, he reached out to see if I wanted to split a place because he was looking for a location to film some outdoor winter classes, too.”

I couldn’t stop watching BJ’s animated charm being slathered all over my best friend. It set my teeth on edge, mostly because I remembered how eager BJ had been to hook up with one or both of us.

“You should chat with him,” I said.

“Chat?” Rocco repeated, amused. “In which sense of the word?”

I waved my gloved hand at the chair ahead of us. “I mean the other kind of chat. Like… with your dick. BJ seems like he’d be open to it. Probably. I mean… he uses Grindr.”

Rocco’s laugh was deep and easy. “BJ wasn’t kidding when he said you were ‘the world’s most adorable newborn baby gay,’ was he? You’re a hot mess. You really don’t know how this shit works.”

My back teeth hurt from grinding. “I just know he showed up at our place the same way you did. Since neither Julian nor I are available, it seems like you two…” I gestured again toward BJ. “Should consider each other.”

“No, thank you. I have a rule about hooking up with guys I know from SocialAdrenaline. Had a bad experience once with a fan who tried to ruin my reputation rating on the site. Thankfully, I was able to get him banned before he could do too much damage, but I learned a lesson. Don’t fuck where you eat.

Besides, BJ is a little too eager for me.

He seems more like a relationship guy than a hookup, and I sure as shit don’t need one of them. ”

I turned to face him. “Just so we’re clear. Julian is a relationship guy, too. So am I.”

Did I sound as stupid in real life as I felt in my head? I had to.

Thankfully, Rocco didn’t laugh at me. He met my gaze with a serious nod. “Message received, but I already knew that, Parker. You two are clearly into each other.”

I blew out a relieved breath and felt my face heat from embarrassment. “It’s complicated.”

Now he laughed, loudly enough for both BJ and Jules to turn around to see what we were doing. “Having fun back there without us?” BJ called.

Before I could respond, Rocco beat me to it. “Parker was telling me about the time he stuck his tongue on a metal pole because of a dare.”

Julian’s smile appeared with the memory. While he hadn’t been the one who’d dared me—that had been Hazel—he had been the one who’d reveled in being able to say, “I told you so,” over and over until I wanted to punch him in the face.

I turned to Rocco. “How the hell did you know about that?”

Rocco’s face crinkled with a smile. “I didn’t. But you seem like the type.”

When the lift dumped us out at the terminal, I followed Jules down a short slope to the top of Sky Shadow. It was a nice, wide run, which meant plenty of room to film in the sun.

BJ eyed me while Rocco began unpacking some equipment. “Why don’t you have ski poles?”

“I figured I’d want my hands free to hold stuff,” I explained, moving over to adjust Julian’s helmet strap. “This thing is no good if it’s loose. You know that,” I murmured as I moved the webbing through the fitting.

His body tensed. “I…” His voice trailed off as I deliberately brushed my nose against his and gave a tug to the chin strap.

“Better,” I said softly.

“Mm,” he breathed.

I stepped back as if nothing had happened. “Besides, I don’t use poles when I’m teaching, so I’m used to skiing without them.”

After Rocco set me up with a lavalier mic and a video camera, he clipped a GoPro to his helmet and attached a second one to a harness on his chest. He was very familiar with the equipment and gave me a quick rundown on what to do.

“Most of the class is shown from my POV so the student is in my shoes, right? But if I can cut in some distance shots of me on the slopes, it helps place the student in the environment and gives them that destination feel. They want to see the vistas and know what it would look like if they were actually the person skiing down the mountain.”

“You have a calm, deep voice,” I said. “I can see why your videos would be popular.”

BJ chuckled. “That and he’s hot as fuck.”

I nodded and grinned. “Good looks certainly don’t hurt.”

Julian seemed to bristle. But then again, I’d been getting awkward vibes from him all morning. I tried to brush it off and do the best I could for Rocco.

“So I’ll go down first and ski backward. I’ll get as much distant footage as I can on this run while you do your thing. On the next run, you can tell me what to correct. Sound good?”

“This first pass will be just for the distance shots and whatever I can capture with these while I figure out how I want to structure the run for the narrated version.”

“How can I help?” Julian asked.

Rocco nodded. “Yeah, so I was hoping you could keep an eye on BJ. He’s going to get some distance shots, too, but he’s not a very experienced skier.” He handed Julian his cell phone. “Also, if you want to take video or stills with this, I can always use more footage.”

It took a few more minutes to get situated. BJ asked me to adjust his helmet strap the way I’d done Julian’s, and then he’d asked me to check to see if his boots were adjusted properly. I shoved the camera into my pocket before crouching down to help him with his boots.

As soon as he put his hands on my shoulders to brace himself, he hummed. “My, my, you have big strong shoulders. How does a ski instructor wind up with such big, broad shoulders?”

“Oh, ah… I swim? My gym has a great indoor pool, which is my excuse for going there. The real reason, though, is the sauna so I can get warm in the winter.” I noticed that his boots were already adjusted perfectly and gave him an encouraging smile. “You’re all set.”

I moved away and pulled the camera back out, making sure it was ready to go. When I looked up to check on Jules, he was glaring at BJ. I looked back and forth between them to determine what I’d missed. Before I could figure it out, Rocco was ready.

“Lead us off,” he said, gesturing ahead of him.

I glanced once more at Jules to make sure he didn’t need help with anything and then tipped my skis over the small lip of the run.

The snow conditions were great, and it was a treat to be the only ones in the entire area.

I turned around, testing the twin-tip skis Sam had found for me.

Once I knew my own gear was good to go, I began filming.

BJ and Jules rode out wide to the sides when Rocco began his run. All of us captured the run as well as we could, but the first pass was definitely a learning experience. This time when we got in line to ride the lift back up, I made sure I was paired with Julian.

Once the chair was out of the terminal, I put my arm through his and held him close. “Hi.”

He was still nervous, and his body language was sending me mixed messages. “Hi.”

I leaned my head on his shoulder. “What can I say to get you to relax?”

His head automatically tipped down on top of mine, our helmets clacking uncomfortably. Jules pulled away with a laugh. “Invent lower-profile ski helmets.”

I blew out a breath. As long as he was laughing, things were okay. “It was hard keeping my camera focused on Rocco when my eyes were following you,” I said, looking out to catch a peek of town through a break in the trees. “But then again, I always have that problem when you and I ski together.”

“You worry too much,” Jules said. “You don’t need to look out for me. I’m an experienced skier, Parks.”