Chapter One: The Lodge
“I swear,” Chad said as he looked furiously at me. “Check your phone one more time and I will throw it away.”
I nodded. “You’re right,” I said as I put my phone away.
“She’s not worth it man,” Kevin said as he passed me to pick up his luggage.
“Wasn’t like you guys were really dating anyway,” Lilah said.
“Okay, I get it,” I nodded.
I picked up my suitcase and followed them out of the luggage claim. I couldn’t help it; after the promotion, things between my friend Candice had changed. We had sworn they wouldn’t, but they did.
“Candice is a great woman,” Lilah said as Stephanie and her held hands as they walked. “And if she wasn’t straight and I was single, I would go after her.”
“Here comes the but,” I said as the cold, snowy air hit me in the face as we exited the airport.
“No, no, there is no but,” Lilah said. “I am just saying she is a great woman.”
“There is a but,” Kyle said as he was the first to get to the rental desk. “A nice butt, a really nice butt, the way she….”
“Kyle!” everybody said in unison.
Kyle was the horn dog of the group. There wasn’t a woman that wasn’t his type.
“We are just saying, get over it,” Chad said. He was the big brother of the group.
“I know, you’re right,” I nodded.
I was the money maker of the group and the oldest. It was my thirty-fifth birthday, and we were going to celebrate by going to my uncle’s lodge in the mountains. I loved my birthday because it fell in December when the snow covered the mountains.
“Surprise your uncle didn’t leave the truck with you this year,” Kevin said.
“Nah, he said it needed work,” I said as I signed the rental papers.
I took one of the keys and gave the other to Stephanie, the second oldest of the group. Both of us worked for the same tech company and were the original members of our group.
Then came Chad and Kevin, twin brothers. Then Kyle and Lilah, Stephanie’s life partner as she liked to be called, the final two of our group Thomas and Rick, were meeting us at the lodge.
I got in my vehicle, a large Sports Utility Vehicle, and Stephanie got in her identical vehicle. We liked taking two vehicles just in case some of us wanted to go one place and the rest another.
I led the way, and Stephanie was right behind me.
“You know that I don’t hate her,” Chad said from the passenger seat.
Chad had become my best friend. We did a lot together, especially with his brother Kevin. The three of us had become inseparable. Kyle was always dragging behind, but sometimes it was nice to have him around.
“You dislike her,” I nodded.
“I don’t trust her,” Chad said, “There is a huge difference.”
“Not that huge,” Kyle said from behind.
“Fine,” Chad nodded. “I don’t trust her. There I said it, I never did.”
“That’s obvious,” I nodded again.
“Look,” Chad said as he turned to face me. “She always says she is busy right? Both of you got the same promotion, same level of responsibilities but, you could text, call, email or whatever, whenever you want, right?”
I nodded. “I prioritize better,” I shrugged.
“But and here is the kicker, anytime she is around she is on her phone, texting or snapping or laughing, smiling about something going on, with her phone,” Chad shrugged. “That’s not work!”
I nodded again. “Won’t disagree,” I said, looking at the side view mirror to make sure Stephanie was coping with the ice and snow on the highway.
“Don’t forget the time she said her life was boring,” Kyle added.
I shook my head and looked back at him. “Gasoline on a fire Kyle,” I said, shaking my head.
“No, he is right,” Chad said. “Can’t have a boring life and a busy life, that’s the definition of an oxymoron. You can’t be busy and bored at the same time.”
“Unless you do my job,” Kyle said. “Then you totally can.”
“Kyle!” I said, looking back. “Don’t you have pictures on your phone to look at?”
“Oh yeah,” Kyle said as he picked up his phone.
Kyle was also the youngest of our group. Sometimes I wondered why we kept him around, but then he would say or do something that made all of us laugh, and I knew he was one of us.
“So, what you are saying is, I should just stop talking to her?” I asked, looking over at Chad.
“Never said that,” Chad shook his head.
“Just don’t trust a word she says?” I asked.
“Pick the words,” Chad agreed. “You know the saying; actions speak louder than…”
“Words,” I nodded. I had to agree with Chad on this one. Most of Candice’s actions never met her words, not even close, or as Lilah would say, not even in the same cul de sac.
“Here we are,” I said as I pulled into the long driveway that led to my uncle’s lodge.
“Never gets old,” Chad said, staring at the three-story lodge cut into the side of the mountain. On the other side of that giant mountain was the ski resort.
My uncle said he had won it in a bar brawl when he was younger. I always thought it was a joke until some locals confirmed his story.
My uncle was the only family I had left. Many years ago, my mother, father, and brother were lost in an airplane accident. My uncle raised me for most of my young life.
“You know,” Kyle said as Lilah and Stephanie walked inside.
“Shut it! Kyle!” Stephanie said.
“I was just going to say….” Kyle started to say as he walked behind them.
“We know what you were going to say, and the answer is still the same,” Lilah said.
I walked past him. “One day, you are going to have to let go of that fantasy.”
“I will let go of it the moment you stop looking at your phone,” Kyle said.
“Good one,” Kevin said, giving Kyle a high five.
I shook my head.
The lodge was as big inside as it looked outside. It had eight rooms, each with a bathroom. The most significant room that I always claimed as my own was on the third floor. It was the biggest because it took up most of the top floor.
Lilah and Stephanie always took the bottom room. Chad took a room on the second floor just by the stairs. Kyle took the room directly above Lilah’s and Stephanie’s room. Kevin and the others switched every year.
I flung my suitcase into the corner and collapsed onto the bed.
I took out my phone and checked my emails, but nothing, messages, nothing.
“I bet,” I said, shaking my head.
There it was, a social media post from one of her friends was immediately responded to, while the message that said I was leaving for the airport was still unanswered. I sighed.
“Stop it!” Chad shouted from downstairs.
“Not doing anything!” I shouted back. I tucked the phone away and started to unpack.
I laid down to rest but soon found myself drifting off to sleep. I woke up much later to the sound of Rick and Thomas arriving. They were the loud ones of the group, always yelling and cheering about something.
I got washed up and headed down the stairs.
“Morning,” Rick said as he greeted me.
“Ha!” I said as I went to the kitchen.
As usual, Stephanie had already made dinner. She loved to cook, especially for large groups, and tonight was no exception.
“Ribs!” I said, staring down at the stove.
“Yeah, figured I might as well,” Stephanie shrugged.
“I’ll make the potato salad,” I said.
“Great,” Stephanie nodded.
There was a secret between us that no one else knew about, not even Lilah. Before the group started, when it was just the two of us, we hooked up. Nothing big, just making out on a very daily basis.
Namely, I got to fuck her big DD tits anytime I wanted. And by anytime, I meant every sense of the word. Unlike most women who didn’t like to get their tits fucked, Stephanie loved it.
We were never an item, so it wasn’t a surprise when she said she was bisexual, and she was getting with Lilah.
“Hey,” Stephanie turned around to look at me. “Want to help me get the grill out of the shed and onto the balcony?”
“Of course,” I said.
I followed her into the dark of the night and the snow filled backyard.
“Where’s Lilah?” I asked as we got to the shed in the far back of my uncle’s huge yard.
“Fast asleep,” Stephanie said as she opened the door.
“Where is the grill?” I asked as I looked behind the snowmobile and my uncle’s large truck. We used it to plow the roads around the neighborhood when it snowed.
“Oh yeah,” Stephanie said. “Blonde moment, I already put it on the balcony.”
I shook my head. “You’re going to lecture me, aren’t you?”
“Just a little,” Stephanie said as she approached. “We have known each other for how long now?”
“Too long,” I shook my head.
Stephanie stood at a good five foot four inches. Long blonde hair fell to her mid-back, and crystal blue eyes hid behind her bangs. She had what some would call a fuckable body, not too thin and not fat.
“What is going on?” she asked. “It’s not like you to act like this over someone that is….”
“Go ahead,” I nodded.
“Not worth it,” Stephanie shrugged. “If this was Angelica or Teresa, I wouldn’t say a word, but Candice?”
“You think I can do better?” I asked, leaning against one of the snowmobiles.
“Way,” Stephanie nodded. “So, what’s going on?”
“I don’t know,” I shrugged. Stephanie was right on one thing. I never got hung up on someone. It wasn’t like we had even dated, slept together, or even been on a date. “I wish I could tell you, or anyone, why this bothers me so much, but…”
Stephanie shook her head. “I swear, the next time I see her,” she shook her fist.
“No, you won’t,” I smiled, standing up. “Leave her be, she can’t help the person she is, probably doesn’t even know what she is doing.”
“Then you need to open that mouth and tell her,” Stephanie said as she reached for the door.
“I will,” I nodded, heading back out.
The night went great. We stayed up late talking and teasing each other. The great thing about being at my uncle’s place was that we could be as loud as we wanted. We were the only ones around for miles. There wasn’t another building for thirty miles except for the ski resort.
As I went to bed, I peered out of one of the windows.
“Chuck?” I said, looking out the window.
A lone coyote stood outside by the tree line.
“Yup,” I nodded. I ran downstairs and opened the fridge. Grabbing the last big rack of ribs, I bolted out onto the balcony.
There he was, pacing back and forth along the tree line. I had known this animal since it was small. My uncle had shot his mother, and we later found him alone. We nursed him for a while then released him. He always returned to the house now and then.
I jumped down the stairs and waited. Chuck slowly got closer, inching toward me before snatching the rack from my hand. Like a rocket, he took off into the trees.
“See you next year,” I smiled as I saw his eyes looking back at me.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Shawn!” a young woman said as we entered the resort.
“Staci,” I smiled as we all walked up to the desk.
My uncle had sold some of his land to the resort years ago. He only requested that we get lifetime free passes to the resort anytime we wanted.
The owners of the resort, as well as the town and city, happily obliged. What they didn’t know was that my friends and I would take full advantage of it every year.
Usually, I would have to talk to one of the main bosses or managers, but since Staci was a local and had worked here since she was a teenager. She knew everything.
I signed my name as usual then passed it down the line. Each of my friends printed and signed their names.
“Here for the week or just the weekend?” Staci asked.
“Week,” I nodded.
“Here you go,” Staci said, handing out the wrist passes and the neckbands.
“See you in a few hours,” Stephanie said as Lilah and her took off.
This was where the group separated. We all had our favorite places to go, and since we got to do anything and go anywhere on the mountain for free, it wouldn’t be until the end of the day before we saw each other again.
Chad, Kevin, Kyle, and I headed for our favorite place. It was called the tube. A long halfpipe with music blaring through speakers. As we walked up, we were instantly greeted.
“Shawn’s here!” someone yelled.
Instantly there was a crowd of young teens and early twenty-year-old’s surrounding us.
“Okay,” I said as I calmed everyone down. “You know the rules,” I said, turning around in a circle so I was talking to all of them. “Chad, Kevin, and I will be checking the papers. If you meet the standards, you ride,” I smiled. “You don’t. Well, I will see you next year.”
All the kids presented their grades for school, college, or papers from work, saying they had good attendance and no bad dealings. I had my marker and put checks on the ones that met my criteria and x’s on those that didn’t. There were a lot fewer Xs this year than last.
“Here,” Folly said with his head down. Everyone fell silent as I looked at his paper from his drug rehab.
“No shit?” I said, looking at it.
He looked up with a smile. “Yeah,” he nodded.
“No way?” Chad said, looking at it before taking it from me.
Folly had been a street urchin, living on the streets, doing drugs, dealing drugs doing everything he could to get the next fix.
“One whole year?” Kevin said. “Dude!”
Kevin gave him a high five. Most of the others hugged or shook his hand.
“I am frigging proud as hell!” I said.
I put a check on his paper, the largest I could do. “Really?” he asked.
“You earned first run,” I nodded. “I expect to see two years, next time.”
I started this program over five years ago. I bought the early morning slot and made the halfpipe private for that time. If anyone wanted to go in the halfpipe and do their tricks without the public being in the way, they had to meet my standards. No drug use, high grades, good attendance at work and school.
After the second year, I was approached by teachers and some law enforcement, and they thanked me. Now it was a yearly thing.
“Crank it,” I yelled at the DJ. Immediately the speakers rattled with loud music that couldn’t be played while the tourists were around.
Folly immediately jumped down into the tube and showed off some impressive skills.
“If you had told me that kid would be drug free for a full year, I would have laughed at you,” Chad said as we watched him go down.
“Go,” I nodded to the next one. “I would have laughed at myself.”
We spent over four hours at the tube. Seeing them challenge each other and congratulate each other was always fun. They even showed others how they pulled off tricks they had learned or watched online.
“That’s it,” I said as a few of them groaned and sighed.
“See you tomorrow,” Chad said.
“Bring the papers back,” Kevin reminded them.
The music turned back to holiday music as the gates opened for the public. I smiled as I walked back through them.
“Shawn, is it?” a lady came up to me.
“Yes,” I said as I stopped.
“I’m Nick’s mom,” she said as she introduced herself. I knew of three Nicks in the group. So, when she saw the puzzled look on my face.
“The tall kid with the carrot top hair?”
“Yes!” I nodded.
“I want to thank you, he has got straight A’s this year, the first time in forever,” she said with tears in her eyes. “I am a single mother and I….”
“Don’t have the time,” I said. “I understand, my uncle raised me, and I was a troubled teen, if it wasn’t for a different program, I would be just like them. No thanks are needed. It’s just as much fun for me as it for them.”
“Thank you!” she said as she walked away.
Chad shook his head as we walked away.
“What?” I asked.
“The amount of woman that throw themselves at you and you just brush them aside, and then you fret about the one you can’t get,” Chad said, shaking his head.
“I am not going to take advantage of someone,” I smiled.
“I would,” Kevin said.
“We all know you would,” Chad shook his head.
The rest of the day went the same as it usually did. We went around doing our thing. Whenever I was away from the group or had time to myself, I checked my phone. Still nothing. I had no idea why I did it.
Chad was right. It wasn’t like I was desperate for female attention. There were several women I could get with, go on a date with, or, as Kevin put it, have ‘relations’ with, so why was I hung up on her?
“You guys have fun?” I asked as we met back at the lodge.
“Oh definitely,” the others said.
I got the fire going downstairs, and the place heated up quickly. I loved this place. It was quiet, cozy, and out of the way.
“Well, we got to go,” Rick said. “We got a date with some snow bunnies!”
“Don’t bring them back like last time!” I shouted at them.
We had a new rule find your own place to shack up. The last time they brought some ‘friends’ back, the lodge was filled with noises of squeaking beds and loud groans. It was just wrong to hear our friends making out.
We didn’t mind Stephanie and Lilah because they were quiet. If they did anything at all, no one could tell.
“Take pictures!” Kevin.
“Ew, that’s gross,” Lilah said as she stared at Kevin.
“We will send them to you,” Thomas winked.
“Just fucking go already,” Chad said as he plummeted down onto the oversized couch.
Thomas and Rick always picked up women, no matter where they went. I wouldn’t say they were good at it; they were just good at finding women that had the same things in mind that they did.
For the rest of the night, the rest of us played board games and drank a lot. It was our usual thing to do.
Stephanie and Lilah were the first to call it quits for the night.
‘Good, hope you have fun!’ the text from Candice came. It was the reply to my heading to the airport text.
“Late as usual!” Kyle said, shaking his head.
Chad just got up from the table and headed to his room.
I wanted to reply, but something inside me said to let it go. She wouldn’t respond; if she did, it wouldn’t be tonight.
I followed suit and went up to my room. Tomorrow will be a better day. It had to be.
***Author’s Note: The rest of this story, as well as many others of my stories, are on my other pages, the links to which are*** [***here***](https://www.reddit.com/user/Shadowforce2/comments/w4aumo/self_promo_time/)
Source: reddit.com/r/Erotica/comments/10nu9fw/king_of_the_mountain_part_one_21_m31f40_straight