Epiphany's Getaway - Part 1
Two long-standing friends meet up at a cabin in the woods for a getaway of fun and games.
Early in the morning, Andy and I go for a nature hike with a sled in tow up one of the two main trails at my family’s cabin in the woods. It ends at the top of a winding path, leaving us with a great view from on top of a hill. Behind us, we can see the smoke threading up from the log cabin. Ahead, we view nothing but miles of other snow-covered hills. While taking a rest to admire our surroundings, we share a plaid blanket I wear, like a shawl, for extra warmth.
The best part of this hike is going down. We appreciate the little sled we dragged along with us when, at last, we pile on it together. With both our weight as momentum, we fly down the slope, careful to avoid the evergreens. I scream most of the time, gripping the sled for dear life while Andy laughs at me from his side. It’s the most fun either of us have since being kids. We decide that we'll have to do that again before we leave the cabin in a couple of days.
“You can’t best me!” I cry after tossing a snowball. It struck Andy square on the back of his head.
“Some of us have to be adults around here.” Dutifully, my friend assumes the manly task of chopping wood while shaking his head. A generous pile of it collects, which I help stack neatly beside the one-story log cabin that’s been in my family for generations. My friend has a tremendous repetitious groove going, which exceeds my output in conjunction.
“Oh? And what’s that supposed to mean?” I scoop up more snow and slowly begin forming it into a ball. Quietly as possible, I traverse him.
“Well, duh! This wood isn’t going to chop itself,” Andy grumbles while swinging the ax. To be a slender man, he’s got some strength to him. Before the ax connects to the wood he places on the chopping block, I pitch the perfect shot of my snowball right in the center of his face with his arms still raised above his head. Curtis, my oldest brother who taught me how to throw, would have been proud.
“Really, dude?” Andy says with a grimace. His eyes close, and he shakes his head.
I snicker in amusement at the ax Andy buries in the chopping block. He wipes his angry, red face with hands clad in mittens like me as I reply in a snarky fashion, “I would have never imagined wood that chops itself. I’d love to see it.”
“You’ll pay for that, Epiphany!” Andy’s narrowed glare finds me dashing behind a tree, giggling.
The rapid crunch of snow under his boots gives chase. I hear his approach and how he gains on me fast.
“Gotcha!” Andy shouts, grabbing me by the shoulder and attempting to pummel handfuls of snow in my face and the hood of my parka.
I twist away from him, avoiding most of the snow. Another snowball is smashed to his face as I squeal and dash in escape. Along the way, I try to make a new snowball as fast as I can.
When a snowball whacks me at the back of the head, Andy roars in triumph, “Fuckin’ bullseye!”
I catch my friend’s celebratory leap and then his subsequent punching of the air like Rocky in Andy’s favorite boxing movie. “Da-da daaaaaaa, da-da, daaaaaaa, da-da, daaaaaaa , da-da, daaaaaaa,” he sings the theme song to rub it in I know. I hate that movie so much, especially right now!
Laughing, I toss my snowball at him as fast as I can, hoping to catch him unawares in his smug festivity. Andy’s laughing, too, as he ducks my throw and spins to the side. My snowball glides by his shoulder, leaving him unharmed.
“Shoot! Hold still, you!”
“Ah-ha! Missed!”
“Lucky. I won’t miss again.” I take off running, seeking to find shelter behind another tree. A snowball wizzes toward me but hits the tree at the last second.
“Missed, loser!” I taunt while forming another snowball.
I sneak a peek around the tree and see Andy nowhere. Frowning, I scan around the other side, and my friend tackles me to the ground. I scream in the puff of snow that flies around us. With his significant weight on top of me, I sink into the snow around the cabin that already comes up to my calf.
Straddling me, Andy takes full advantage of his superior position by dumping snow on my face. I shriek at the cold freshness melting at its contact with my pale skin and the burn as I try desperately to wipe it away before my friend shovels more on me. He laughs his ass off now.
“Who’s the loser now, huh?” Andy teases, never letting up burying my face in the snow.
I concede just so he’ll stop, “You win! You win!”
He scoops more snow on me and smooshes it in a little before he lifts off me in joy. Like a gentleman, he helps me to my feet. In the process, I smoosh the last bit of snow I gather in his face. Snatching myself away from his touch, I sprint back to the cabin while wiping at my wet face with the back of my mittens. Bright with firelight, I stomp, giggling into the warm interior, out of breath.
Andy follows me. Chuckling, he catches me by the waist as I turn to face him. He lifts me off my feet. “I’ve caught you, and you’re completely at my mercy!”
He turns to head back outside, and I know I’m toast if he makes it out there. So, as my giggles die down, I do the only thing that I can think of before Andy gets me through the cabin door. I kiss him square on the mouth. As I anticipate, Andy freezes in mid-step. Nevertheless, what I never count on is my friend responding to my kiss in a way that makes my heart beat faster than it already does.
His lips soften with his moan. The sound surprises me and encourages new strokes of my lips over his to see if perhaps I might elicit more gratified sounds like what flutter from me. Never before have I been so impulsive, except for that one time I got drunk and went topless one late night in a hotel pool in Cancun. Andy joined me, although fully clothed and probably just as drunk.
I’ve always wanted to know what it feels like to kiss him but have been sure that I’d hover the rest of my life in the friend zone. Why? Well, because good ole Andy is in the unique position of having dated all my girlfriends. From every one of them, I heard the stories of his antics in and out of bed.
To sum it up, Andy’s a no-good boyfriend. His redeeming quality is being a great fuck due to his supreme skills, getting a girl to orgasm at least, so Katie told me. All warned, he's trouble with his wicked smile, slender bod, hazel eyes, and beachy hair in waves. Even with the stories, I’ve had the biggest crush on Andy since the day we met.
Unlike any of my girlfriends, though, he’s my oldest friend from college. We’ve flirted plenty over the last eight years. Hell, we do it as our favorite pastime. I’ve convinced myself that this is what works best for us.
Andy’s tongue explores the interior of my lips and along my teeth. Such a tease he is even in this, making me want more. I let him in. How can I help it when the man positively makes me light up brighter than Polaris?
What happens next has me forgetting all about how cold it is outside or about how hot my face feels. I turn my head for a better angle and even lift my arms around Andy’s neck to get more comfortable as I slide down the front of his parka. My friend lowers his head, never releasing me of the lip lock. Our exploration is slow, showing no signs of the awkwardness I anticipate. The more time we take engaging in the shift of intensity of this first kiss, the more confident I grow in claiming what I want.
Andy stuns me in the taste of him, which is fantastic! Don’t get me wrong. As flaky as others accuse him of being, Andy always finds his way to be at my side at the lowest points of my life. If I have a terrible break-up, he’s the one that rallies me out to the club followed by my girls. If I lose my job, Andy prevents me from lingering long in my pity party, helping me find something else. Even that time my brother got in a horrible car accident, he stayed with me at the hospital for hours until we knew Curt would pull through.
I pull away with my hands braced against Andy’s chest. Shaking my head, I stare at my friend. His hazel eyes regard me with heat that flushes his skin redder than the snowballs had. I feel all the blood run to my face also because this is a reaction I do not count on from him. Before I can think it through, I jump him where he stumbles, but he stays on his feet, clutching me firmly. The door slams shut with the weight of his back against it.
When I kiss him again, it tastes even better than the first time our lips meet! Bizarre, I know, but I have to see if it’s a fluke. I soften our kiss, taking my time. A moan escapes him. Part of me wants to turn away, to let go of this crazy train I’m hanging on to, but the other part of me wants this badly. I desire Andy. Closing my eyes to the warning thoughts, I lose myself in this unprecedented moment.
Andy wants this, too, in how he moans into my mouth while kissing me back. He is no more immune to the attraction ignited between us than I am. Perhaps the spark has been there masked under our friendly but flirty play because we weren’t ready for it? We like our dance along the edge of meaningfulness, careful not to tip beyond our strong friendship.
My tongue flickers in a tease at the little spark nurtured between us. It grows like the heat of my body pressing against his. My friend’s arms tighten around me, and I gasp with a moan, wanting more of that. More sensation of Andy responding to me feeds the need building inside.
I push away again, trying to catch my breath and tremble for it. My head swims in a fog of need. “What the holy fuck?” I question, barely audible. I can’t be horny for Andy, or am I?
He lowers me to my feet and smiles with a warmth that washes over me the way it never has before. I feel hotter than ever. “Do you regret it?”
“No,” I reply with the shake of my head before thinking. I do not even want to think about what any of this means.
Andy releases me altogether. “Good because you’re a damn good kisser, girl, and I want more. But… first, I need to get more wood for the stove and fireplace.”
I nod, understanding. Of course, he’s right as the day slips away from us. The light dims with the sunset close. “I filled the generator full of gas, too.”
“Great, I won’t check it then. Do I need to get anything for you from your truck?”
I shake my head. “Nope, brought in everything yesterday.”
Andy bends with a quick kiss on my forehead before walking out of the cabin. “I’ll be right back.”
