Chapter 1
Justin sat in the coach section of the airplane headed to Montana. Who holds a conference in Montana, in the winter! He hadn't wanted to take this trip but his boss said it would be good for him and the company. He had graduated last spring and was working as a graphic designer in an up and coming advertising company. He really did enjoy his job most of the time. They let him experiment on a couple campaigns and they went over very well so he felt they listened to his ideas but the pay wasn't so good. He kept reminding himself there was no place to go but up in the company.
He had been offered a few jobs. Going into the interviews he was sure he wanted to work for Kinnetik. They were the hottest agency out there and they focused on including everyone. Their campaigns were always creative but when he went for the interview and met Mr. Brian Kinney he knew he would never be able to work for him. His assistant who actually did the interview was very nice but when the great Kinney appeared he was rude and did little more than grunt his way before he left. He knew what people SAW in him but what did they see in him. His looks couldn't have gotten him this far.
There was laughter coming again from First Class. That same Brian Kinney sat up in that area. He knew at least one of the attendants had added a notch on his mile high belt. Just seeing how arrogant he was, Justin knew he had made the right decision in not accepting the job he was offered with Kinnetik even though the pay was better.
Now Justin sat back and thought about Steven. He and Steven had met over a year ago. They had started out as friends but soon it had become a partnership. After he graduated in the spring, they would decide together where they wanted to make a life together. Just thinking of Steven stirred emotions. He had never felt so comfortable around a person. The problem was he wasn't sure if comfortable was what he wanted the rest of his life. Shouldn't there be more? He loved Steven's reliability. He truly was his best friend. Well, he might be closer to Daphne but she was more like a sister. They had grown up together. Was it wrong for him to compare them? He had been living with Steven for over a year although Steven was out of the country right now. He was on a class trip to a remote island in the Atlantic Ocean and would have very little chance to connect to the outside world . When he returned they were planning on making decisions for the rest of their lives.
Brian watched the attendant walk past and being the only person in first class he reached out and stroked his backside as he walked past. "Mr. Kinney!" he looked at Brian and winked. "I hear it is snowing in Montana. If you need a room to stay until the weather passes I am sure I have plenty of space in mine."
"I'll remember that. Is the weather supposed to be bad?"
The attendant bent over and touched Brian's shoulder, "It is supposed to be pretty nasty in the mountains but not where we are landing." He glanced back and lowered his mouth near Brian's ear, "Did you happen to see that gorgeous blond that walked on just before the doors closed?"
"I vaguely noticed him. I call him a twink with an attitude. He obviously has something stuck.....maybe he just wants...."
"Well he can't take his eyes off you but I don't think it's a compliment. Are you sure he hasn't hit on you sometime?"
"No, but I have a feeling I saw him somewhere once but maybe it was just in a club."
"He sure seems to have it in for you."
"Maybe he works for a rival agency or maybe I didn't hire him for a job. I have no idea but.."
The lead attendant started announcing the beginning of the descent.
"Remember, Brian, if you need a bed, and someone to warm it for you..." he squeezed Brian's shoulder and went to complete his tasks.
Brian strode off the plane with a bag over his shoulder. He had checked bags because he needed things for his presentation. As he checked phone messages and waited for his luggage he noticed the blond from the plane. He was getting a rental car. Brian had to admit he was definitely hot. He felt his dick twitch as he watched him fill out the paperwork for the car. That ass was choice. The luggage carousel started turning so Brian watched for his bags. By the time he had both bags, he turned to see that the blond had left. He strode to the same rental car to pick up his vehicle for the trip. He had a feeling he had seen him in connection with work so maybe he would have a chance to pick him up later at the conference.
The young gentleman had his car ready. “I was told there could be bad weather up the mountain.”
“Last I heard it wasn’t moving in until around midnight so I programmed a short cut for you which should get you there by 10:00 pm at the latest.”
“Great! Thanks. That blond that was just here, do you know where he is going?” Brian slipped $20 across the counter. The agent took the bill and said, “Well, it just happens that I programmed his vehicle just like I did yours.”
“I knew I had seen him before! He must be in advertising. Thanks for the information. So how long of a ride is it?”
“It should be about three hours with the route I programmed in. Just remember to take it easy. You will be driving through winding mountain roads. I’d hate for you to go over the edge someplace. You’re too pretty for that.”
“Do you have any more cars being picked up in the next…”
“No….”
Brian walked to the door that led behind the desk and he was buzzed in. Twenty minutes later he came out, tucking in his shirt. Grabbing his luggage, he located his car and drove away.
As Justin followed the GPS he was still brooding over Kinney. He didn’t know why that arrogant shit got under his skin. He was probably born with a silver spoon in his mouth and had never worked for a thing in his life and with looks like that, he has always had men and women dropping at his feet. The GPS said to turn right in 800 feet. This was obviously the start of the short cut. “Well, here goes nothing,.” he said out loud. As he moved further up the mountain, he had to turn on the windshield wipers. There was a slushy mix coming down. “Damn.” Justin said as he continued to follow the road. A half hour later he began having trouble seeing the road. He had driven through a lot of snow in his life but nothing like this. If it was light, he’d feel a lot better. He wondered how much further it was. The display kept shifting from thirty minutes to three hours.
What the hell was he doing up here? If he got stuck up here he was going to demand a raise. That kind of thinking wasn’t going to help anything. At least all of this snow would make for good snowboarding. Maybe he would just spend his time on the slopes instead of sitting through the boring seminars. He supposed Kinney was in charge of one of them. He definitely would not be attending that one. Why did he keep thinking about that jackass? “Shit.” Justin saw a large drift across the road. Justin knew he had no choice but to try to get through it. His vehicle had four wheel drive so maybe he would make it. He backed up just a bit and then he floored it. It took him a couple tries but he made it through. He pulled out his cell, no service of course. Well, now that he was through that drift the road looked better ahead.
“Fuck,” Brian said as he saw the first flakes of snow. The road was so dark and he was still on what he figured was the ‘main’ road. The car agent didn’t know shit but at least he gave a good blowjob. He slowed down a little bit more. Blondy couldn’t be too far ahead of him, could he? He followed the directions when he was told to turn but he immediately regretted it. After 100 feet or so he couldn’t see where the sides of the road were. Why the hell was he in Montana anyway. Two years ago when he had planned to go to the conference it was on the big island of Hawaii. Oh, he knew why it was here. Cynthia, his assistant, looked into it. The president of the American Association of Advertising had a brother who just happened to own the ski resort. He crept along and felt his car being drug first one way and then the other. Once in a while he saw a glimpse of tracks. They had to be the guy from the airport but he should only be about 30 minutes ahead of him which means his tracks are filling in fast. Brian’s full attention was on the road.
Five miles ahead and a few hundred feet higher in elevation, Justin could not see where the road was anymore. The directions said he should be getting to the driveway to the place in half a mile. “I have a feeling this isn’t where I’m supposed to be. That little shit must have programmed the GPS wrong. He stopped a minute trying to get his bearings. He pulled out the brochure for the resort and looked at the address and then looked at the electronics on his dash. “Christ, he put the address in wrong!” He decided the only thing he could do was hope he found a cabin in the woods. He had to laugh at that. Stranded in a cabin on his own. Steven would not be able to imagine that. For a moment, with Steven out of the states, who would miss him if he got lost up here. His boss would figure it out when he didn’t show up at the office next week and Daphne would eventually. So would his mom but, although they were close, they didn’t talk more than once a month or so. She was out living her life and he was living his. “Well,” he said to himself, “it’s time to find a place out of the weather….I hope.”
Down the road, Brian was stuck. He opened the trunk of the car and was thankful to find a scoop. He wasn’t sure where the hell he was but he was sure this was no shortcut and Mr. Blowjob would be looking for a new job soon. Brian sighed under his breath as he got the car moving forward. He wasn’t dressed to be out in a snow storm. And his shiny dress shoes had no traction. He crept forward, needing enough speed to keep moving forward but not so much he would lose control. He wasn’t scared yet but he definitely wished he was a praying man. Where the hell was he?
Justin was finally told to turn and even though he knew it wasn’t the spa he hoped there would be some place for him to get out of the storm. He had only gone a few feet when his car refused to go any further but he was sure he saw a cabin. He didn’t see any lights inside but he would figure out a way to get inside. He grabbed his computer bag and his carry on, along with a flashlight that was in the glove compartment and struggled with them all the way to the cabin. The front door was locked but, leaving his bags on by the front door, he walked around the back of the building. As he walked he realized it was much bigger than he thought at first and as he got to the back, after finding the door locked, he carefully broke a small pane of glass and was thankful that the deadlock did not require a key on the inside. He turned the lock and entered the house. The next thing he did was look for a light switch. He found one but when he flipped it nothing happened. “Shit!” He was on a back porch that had a supply of wood and he was thankful that the door into the house wasn’t locked. He entered and was thankful for the flashlight.
After walking through the house he brought his luggage in and then started looking around. On top of the mantle he found an oil lamp and matches. Once that was lit. Justin got a fire going. There were several logs by the fireplace by the hearth and he was fairly sure he saw more wood in the back where he entered. Well, he felt bad for breaking in but he would definitely have the window fixed for the owner and pay for their unexpected hospitality. Looking around he saw the downstairs consisted of a kitchen and a living room, a bathroom and a bedroom. He figured if he would check out the rest of the place in the light. He brought some wood into the bedroom and started a second fire in a cast iron stove.
Now he wondered if there was anything to eat in the place. He had some airline peanuts and some kind of protein bar in his computer bag but that wasn’t going to last him long. He was happy to find that the water was turned on and although he didn’t look in the fridge he found a pantry full of canned goods. He grabbed a can of chicken noodle soup and found a gas stove so he poured the soup into a pan and turned the flame on low as he went back and found some crackers to go with it. From the supply of food in there, he wondered if getting snowed in here was common. He wasn’t going to dwell on that right now. He found a mug and poured the soup in. He took it into the living room and sat in front of the fire, taking his coat off now that the worst of the chill was gone.
Brian saw he was at the turnoff and managed to start what looked like a driveway.. He wasn’t sure where that would lead him but he had to find a place to stay because his car was not going to take too many more… Before he could finish his thought his car stopped and this time he was sure it wasn’t going any further on wheels. As he got out of the car he was sure he smelled wood burning. He wondered how far that kind of smell carried? He hoped it wasn’t too far because he was sure he wouldn’t last long out here. He was a city person and if he had to be outside he prefered it to be on a beach.
Brian grabbed his small bag and a flashlight and started walking. He knew there was nothing behind him so he moved forward. The wind was whipping the snow everywhere and soon he was freezing, especially his feet which were now soaked. He trudged along for a few more yards and then he tripped over something.buried in the snow. As he stood up his ankle nearly gave way. He shouted, “SHIT!” He knew he had to keep going. There was no longer frustration, but fear. He was not ready to freeze to death.
He struggled onward, but soon could barely propel himself forward against the wind and the pain. As he looked forward he saw his flashlight glint off of something. He had to make it that far. He was sure that was a car. If nothing else he hoped it wasn’t locked so he could get out of the weather. It seemed like forever but he eventually made it to the car. It was pulled off the road and was in what it looked like a driveway. The wood smell was definitely stronger here so he had to be close. He pulled at the car door and it opened so he fell into the car. He climbed in and sat for a few minutes. He was out of the wind but he was so cold he couldn’t stop shivering. After dozing off for a few minutes he knew he couldn’t just sit here. As he started getting out of the vehicle he accidently hit the car horn. He thought, ‘why not’? He pressed on the horn several times and then got back out and started up the drive.
“What the hell?” Justin had drifted off after his dinner. He looked out the window and of course couldn’t see anything but he felt like he had to go out and look around. He had noticed some winter gear in the kitchen so he pulled on a pair of boots that were a bit big but they would work. He also found a coat that was obviously warmer than his. By the time he walked out the door the only bare skin showing was around his eyes.
Brian couldn’t go any further. His ankle was throbbing and he was just so cold. He just couldn’t move his feet one more step. He dropped to his knees in the snow and closed his eyes.
Justin started down the drive with his flashlight. It looked like it had snowed another 4 or more inches. He had to move carefully because the boots were a little loose and he didn’t want to lose one. He realized it wasn’t safe for him to go too far. He kept turning to make sure he could see the glow in the cabin window. He went as far as he dared. He could just make out the cabin but if he went any further he thought he’d lose it. As he stood there he used his flashlight to shine out as far as it would go. “Hello? Is someone there?”
‘Was he hallucinating?’ Brian questioned himself.
“Is someone there?” Justin called again.
“Help!” Brian shouted. “I’m over here, near the car.”
Justin had to risk it. He couldn’t let a human being out there. He just prayed he could see his tracks until the cabin came back in view. A couple more steps and he thought he saw something. “Are you there? Can you wave at me?” Brian sat up and now Justin was sure he saw the man. As he moved closer he spoke, “Are you hurt?”
“I twisted my ankle. I’m so cold. I….”
Justin picked up the bag Brian had been carrying and threw it over his shoulder. He then reached down and helped the man to his feet. “Lean on me. The cabin isn’t far.” Silently they moved through the storm. Justin was thrilled when he could see the light in the window. “See, you can see the cabin now.”
They stumbled into the living room and Justin immediately helped the man take off his coat and to get him to sit down in a chair right by the fireplace. That’s when Justin recognized him. Could this night get any worse? Without saying anything he took off Kinney’s shoes and socks. He grabbed a quilt off the sofa and draped it over him.
“Thank you. I don’t know how much longer I would have made it.”
Justin didn’t talk but he walked into the kitchen and started heating some water. He knew he had to warm him up and no matter how much he disliked the man he would help him if he could. He brought back a cup of tea and handed it to Brian. “What is this?” Brian asked through chattering teeth.
“Tea,” was all Justin said. He went back to the kitchen and made another can of soup with some crackers and about the time that was ready Brian was just finishing his tea. Justin took the empty mug and handed him the new mug, “Soup,” he stated and walked away. Brian immediately started eating it.
“Thank you for finding me and letting me in your home,” Brian said. Justin just nodded and walked away.
When Justin reentered the kitchen he took off all the winter gear he had on and hung them back up. Before taking off the boots he went back to the porch and grabbed another load of wood and brought most of it to the bedroom before finally entering the living room and setting the last couple logs down by the fireplace.
“You!” Brian said surprised to see the young blond. “I thought you were the owner.”
“No, my GPS was wrong. I broke in.”
“Same car rental.” Brian’s body started to shiver so hard he dropped the empty mug. He bent and tried to rub his feet. They were so cold. Justin knelt in front of him and wrapped the blanket tightly around them. “Name, what’s your name?”
“Justin, Mr. Kinney.”
Brian looked him right in the eye, “You know me?”
“We’ve met. I think the bedroom will be warmer than in here by now. Can you walk?”Justin looked at his bruised ankle. “The cold may have helped it from swelling.”
“I will need your help, I think. And it’s Brian.” Justin extended his hand and Brian gratefully took it. It took some time but they managed to get there. The room was very cozy now and Brian tried to unbutton his shirt but his fingers were still shaking. Justin unbuttoned his shirt for him.
“It’s wet.”
“Really?” Brian said cynically. Justin dropped his hands. Brian looked up, “Sorry,” he said apologetically. “I am just so cold nothing works.” Justin pulled off Brian’s shirt and then helped him balance as he dropped his pants. Now all he wore was a pair of briefs.
Justin had pulled the blankets back while he stood to remove his pants and said, “Lay down.” Brian followed his direction. “I found this,” he showed him a wrap he had found and he put it around Brian’s ankle carefully. Then Justin made sure the blankets were tucked in. “I’ll be back.” Justin said softly. He checked in the hall closet and found a couple more blankets. He figured he would sleep in front of the fire in the living room. He figured the sofa would work. He brought one more blanket into the bedroom and laid it over Brian. He could see how much he was still shaking. He had curled up in a ball but Justin didn’t like the way he looked. He was sure Brian had hypothermia. He couldn’t leave him like this. He would be scared to leave him alone. Justin stripped off his jeans and shirt and started getting into the bed on the other side. Brian looked at him, “Don’t flatter yourself, Kinney, but I think you need as much heat as possible right now.” It hadn’t slipped his attention that Brian Kinney had an amazing body, too bad he was such a pompous ass. Oh well, that didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy the feel of him while he helped warm him. Justin spooned up behind him and wrapped his arm around Brian’s mid section, pulling the blanket tight. Brian was sure if he wasn’t so cold he could be behind Justin.
Throughout the night Justin got up every couple hours to make sure the stove had plenty of wood. He also looked out the window each time and saw the snow continued to build up. About 4:00 a.m. Justin heard a voice, “Hey, you awake? I need to piss but my ankle won’t hold me.”
“Justin. I’m guessing you forgot my name.” Justin said as he slipped out of the warm bed and walked around to help Brian. “I’m guessing you don’t care much about names.”
“Fuck, give me a break! I nearly froze to death. I could have broken my ankle and…”
“Ya, I remember. I’m the one who went back out into the storm to help you.”
Brian hurt too bad to challenge him but he WAS going to find out what his problem was with him later. Justin left him standing there so he could empty his bladder and then helped him back to the bed. Once Brian was seated, Justin added another log to the fire and got back in bed. Soon both men were asleep again.
The next time Justin woke the sky outside was getting light. It cast a glow over Brian’s face. He was beautiful. He noticed Brian’s cheeks were maybe a little too red. He may have gotten a little frost bite on his cheeks and maybe his nose. He almost reached out and touched him but he decided he wanted a little piece and quiet before HE woke up. He needed to check out the food situation and later he needed to check out the wood supply and just see if there was anything nearby that would be useful. He started the fire in the living room. He had found a heavy robe and slipped into it along with a pair of slippers. It creeped him out a bit, not knowing whose clothes he was wearing or whose bed he was sleeping in but right now he was just grateful.
He found another oil lamp in the kitchen and lit it. The fridge and freezer were totally empty which he had expected. Next he went into the pantry and he started to look at what was there and estimate how many meals worth of food there was. From the amount of snow, he expected they were going to be here for a while. He rearranged the food a bit. He found a big supply of oatmeal along with most of the baking staples. He was excited when he found powdered milk and eggs. That would help him make a lot of things along with the flour and sugar he saw. There was a lot of pasta and sauce. He saw shelves and shelves of canned vegetables and soups. The one thing they didn’t have much of was meat. He found some canned tuna and chicken but he saw a lot of vegetables in his future. He brought the lamp back into the kitchen and was glad to see a cookbook near the stove. He may have to try his hand at bread. He and Steven had taken a couple’s cooking class in making bread. There had been yeast by the flour and sugar so he could make bread or try to make bread.
“Where have you been? I called for you?
“Did you call for ‘Hey you’ again?”
“What is your problem with me?” Brian managed to get to the table and sat by the table but regretted it as soon as he sat down. “Fuck, it is cold in here.”
“There’s a fire going in the other room.”
“You didn’t answer me. You don’t even know me so why do you dislike me?”
“It doesn’t surprise me that you don’t remember me although your firm did offer me a job. Oh, and Cynthia is a great lady.”
“Cynthia has been with me a long time. I don’t know what I would do without her. If we offered you a job why do you hate me? And why didn’t you take the job? I know I pay better than anyone else in the city.” Brian wandered into the living room so he could warm up by the fire. He had pulled his clothes on from yesterday but he didn’t have any other clothes in the house.
Justin followed him disgusted by his comment, “Well, Mr. Kinney, not everyone thinks money is the most important thing in the world. And you probably have never worried about money in your life.”
“Don’t talk about things you know nothing about!” Brian spat the words out and Justin realized he had hit a nerve. “Do you know how to cook?”
“I can make a salad, grill a steak, boil pasta…”
“Well the only thing of those foods we have is pasta so I am guessing I am going to be in charge of food. Since I don’t know how long we will be stuck here, I am going to make a few loaves of bread. If you're not a picky eater we should have plenty of food but I hope you don’t need meat to be happy. There is a little canned meat, like tuna, but there isn’t much.” Justin looked over at him. “How’s your ankle this morning?”
“It isn’t perfect but it is much better than last night. Thank you.”
“It should probably be rewrapped.”
“I think it is OK for now. It is feeling better than I expected.”
“We need to talk about meals. From the amount of snow we had, unless we can get through to civilization we could be here at least a couple weeks, maybe a month.” I am thinking if we eat a couple meals a day, that will stretch out the supply and we aren’t going to be working hard so two meals should be enough. Agreed?”
“I hope you are wrong about how long we’ll be here but better safe than sorry. What do we have for breakfast?”
“Hope you like oatmeal because it is going to be our main breakfast food. Hopefully we can have protein once a day. We have powdered eggs we will have every couple days. The other days we will have some protein for dinner.”
“I’m hoping you know how to cook better than me.”
“It won’t be fancy but it will be edible.”
“I was raised with very little. I ate a lot of bologna sandwiches and pb &j I will eat about anything.”
“Well, I’ll go make oatmeal. Rest your ankle. I might need help later. Oh, and you might want to look around the house and see if you can find more clothes.”
“Are you always so bossy?”
“I’m not bossy, I just make a plan. You can’t just wing it. Steven taught me that.”
“Who the hell is Steven?”
“He’s my partner. We’ve been together over a year.”
“Oh, are you going to be happy homos living in the suburbs?”
“We probably will even get married and have a couple kids once we can marry.”
“Why do you want to tie yourself down? With someone that looks like you, you can’t have trouble finding someone.”
“But I have found someone and he loves me for who I am , not just someone to screw.” And with that he walked into the kitchen to make breakfast. He had never met someone that infuriated him as much as that man did.
Fifteen minutes later, Justin came back into the living room with two bowls. They didn’t have butter or milk but he had cooked in a little of the powdered milk and then for flavor he added some coconut oil and topped it with some dehydrated berries and a dash of cinnamon. Brian opened his mouth to say something but Justin cut him off. “Can’t we just eat in silence. I know you like the sound of your voice but I really don’t.” And with that chit chat stopped. The remainder of the day, they only spoke when necessary. Justin bundled up early in the afternoon.
“It isn’t snowing right now and the wind is fairly calm. I am going to see if I can find anything outside and bring in more wood. If I don’t come back….never mind.” Justin went out into the frigid cold.
Brian looked at his watch. If blondie wasn’t back in thirty minutes he would go out looking for him but in the meantime, shit, what was there to do? And with that he fell asleep.
Justin wasn’t sure he had ever felt air this cold. He knew he couldn’t stay out long but he wanted to find the propane gas tank to see how much was left. That was how the stove worked although they could use the fireplaces. Justin was sure he heard skittering in the woods. He hoped it was rabbits and squirrels and not wolves and bears. As he turned the corner of the house he froze in his tracks and whispered, “Holy shit…”