Chapter 1
Ryland was out Christmas shopping with his father, Victor. After everything that happened between them, there was so much tension between the dad and the son that they barely even talked to each other anymore. Ryland still couldn’t get over what happened to his mom, but Victor insisted that it was important for them to present a socially acceptable picture that they have moved on and that there was nothing ‘weird’—as he put it—between them.
So, here they were, two strangers, buying Christmas presents for more strangers that they never talked to and that they saw once a year. The sexual tension that Ryland felt between himself and his dad, was almost completely gone now. At first, it was very hard. He was confused about how he felt towards his dad, he was feeling beyond guilty about what happened to his mother, and he was relieved that no one found out after all, but now all that attraction and sexual lust that was engulfing him when he looked at his dad was nonexistent. Even more so, Ryland was quite annoyed with his father and what a coward Victor was.
They went into Bath & Body Works to choose a gift for aunt Jane next.
“What do you think of this one?” asked Victor, trying to be civilized with his estranged son. “Do you think your aunt Jane would like this scent?”
Ryland sighed. He had no idea what his aunt Jane liked. “I don’t know, Dad. You tell me.”
Victor gave Ryland a stern look. “Be careful, Ryland. My tolerance for you has its limits.”
“How should I know what aunt Jane likes or not?” said Ryland defensively. “I’ve only seen the woman couple of times in my life and talked to her even less.”
“Well, do you like this scent?” asked Victor, shoving the little bottle in front of Ryland’s nose.
“I guess,” said Ryland reluctantly, and turned around.
“Ryland?”
When the teenager lifted his head, he froze: it was Corbin Matthews, the hunky lumberjack they rescued back at the Hidden Lake, right before the entire tragedy took place. He was dressed in black jeans, a green sweater and a long navy-blue coat and he looked completely out of place in these urban surroundings.
“Victor?”
Victor turned around when he heard his name, and he froze just like his son did, but he recovered much faster than Ryland, who was still standing there, just looking at the dude he hooked up with that cold April night in Montana, while his dad and uncle were sleeping in the same lake house, mere feet away.
“Corbin, was it?” said Victor and shook Corbin’s hand, who was beaming at both of them, as if they were old friends.
“Yes, it is so crazy to run into you guys here,” he said, putting his hands in his coat pockets.
“Not as crazy as running into you,” said Victor. He still wasn’t sure how he felt towards the guy that fucked his son, but Corbin didn’t know that Victor knew, so he had to be polite and keep up appearances. “I thought you lived in the woods.”
“I do,” said Corbin and chuckled. “But even I have to get out every once in a while, y’know?”
Ryland was still staring at Corbin, and the situation got kind of awkward.
“Ryland, you’re not a child,” said Victor, looking at his son with eyes that were hard to read. “I don’t have to teach you to say ‘hello’.”
“Hey,” said Ryland and offered Corbin his hand. Corbin took it and shook it. The touch left Ryland’s hand burning and even though he did sleep with a couple of girls after the entire episode, his dick reacted at the lumberjack’s touch as he remembered how Corbin fucked him raw on the couch in their lake house.
Similar thoughts were going through Corbin’s head, because his cheeks got a little redder, but he didn’t fully blush. “Sooo,” he said, “what are you guys up to?”
“Just Christmas shopping,” said Victor, unnecessarily raising the bottle of lotion he was trying to decide if he wanted to buy for his sister-in-law or not.
“It is Christmas season,” said Corbin. “I always forget, because I never celebrate the holiday myself.”
“Oh,” said Ryland, speaking for the first time since he said ‘hey’ to Corbin. “So, what are you doing out here?”
“I came to stock back up on my hardware supplies for spring,” said the lumberjack, and then he added: “Are you guys almost done? I would love to buy you dinner, if you haven’t eaten.”
“That is very thoughtful of you, but I’m afraid we have to get going soon,” said Victor. “I am marinating the food for tomorrow, and if I let it sit in the marinade for too long it won’t taste right.”
“I understand,” said Corbin. “I just wanted to express my thanks for saving me from that bear trap, but maybe next time.”
“We can stop by the house and then go have dinner?” suggested Ryland. His dad looked at him again with the same look in his eyes, but didn’t say anything.
“I’m sure Corbin doesn’t have the time for all that,” said Victor, and gave Corbin a fake polite smile.
“I don’t mind,” said the lumberjack who continued beaming at them, and he pretended like he didn’t notice Victor’s forced smile.
“Great,” said Victor. “Let me just pay for this...”
Fifteen minutes later they were all in Victor’s Jeep and were driving through last-minute Christmas shoppers’ traffic in Spokane. The conversation in the car was shallow and polite, but about nothing in particular. Corbin’s lifestyle was so different from the city life that Victor and Ryland lived that they didn’t really have too many common things to talk about.
When they got to the house and Victor parked the car, Ryland said:
“Me and Corbin are going to wait for you in the car, if that’s okay, Dad?”
Victor didn’t like that idea at all. It was bad enough that he caught Corbin and Ryland giving each other glances in the rearview mirror, and he wasn’t about to leave them in the car while he went to take the fictional food out of the made-up marinade.
“It might be a minute while I do what I need to do,” he said. “Just come on inside the house, it’s no big deal.”
“Alright,” said Corbin, and smiled. “It’d be cool to see where you guys live.”
They got out of the car and they went up the stairs. Victor tried to unlock the door, but it was already unlocked.
“Ryland, did you lock the door before we left?” asked Victor.
“Yeah, why?”
“Because it’s unlocked now.”
“That’s not possible.”
“It is, because the door is unlocked and I didn’t do it.” Victor felt his blood boiling up. He was already cranky for his day not going the way he planned it. “Why don’t you just stop making excuses for once in your life and take some responsibility for your actions?”
“I’m telling you I locked the damned door!” shouted Ryland. “Why don’t you take responsibility for your actions for a change? You always blame me for everything! You probably blame me for what happened to mom too!”
“Don’t talk to me like that, you little piece...”
But Victor didn’t get to finish his sentence, because the door to his own house opened wide and Tanner Smith was standing there in Christmas sweater and sweatpants, holding a cup of steaming hot chocolate in his muscular hand.
“I thought I heard you guys,” he said, looking from Victor, to Ryland, to Corbin. “And I remember you!”
“Hello,” said Corbin, who was standing uncomfortably behind Victor and Ryland while they were arguing, and he offered his hand to Tanner who considered it at first, but then shook it.
“Tanner,” said Victor in a weak voice. The last thing he expected was to see his brother-in-law and ex-lover standing at his threshold. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I had no place to go, and Tabitha gave me your house key a long time ago in case I needed somewhere to stay on a short notice,” explained Tanner. “You see, me and Jane… we’re getting a divorce.”
