Snowed In... With My Best Friend's Dad Read online

  Snowed In…

  With My Best

  Friend’s

  Dad

  Seth

  King

  Copyright © 2020 by Seth King

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law

  It’s New Year’s Eve, and I’m stuck in a cabin with my best friend’s dad.

  Getting with him could wreck my life as I know it.

  But he is also all I want in the world…

  I’m on a ski trip with my best friend Benny’s family. After I fell and got lost on the mountain in a blizzard, Benny’s dad Hunter came to my rescue to helped me find an abandoned cabin near the summit.

  Hunter Torres is hotter than July, and last year he sent shockwaves through my hometown when he “came out” as a gay man and divorced his wife. Ever since then, I’ve been trying to ignore my growing curiosity about him…

  But the sudden proximity is making me realize just how badly I wanted him all along. And soon, I find myself tempted to cross a line I promised my BFF Benny I would never cross…

  Logically, I know I can’t have Hunter. I mean, come on – I’m best friends with his son, and that’s just weird.

  But technically…well, that’s a different story…

  As the snow swirls outside and the fire burns from the fireplace, the truth hits me:

  I am becoming infatuated with my best friend’s dad.

  Oh, and did I mention that our cabin only has one bed?

  “When I’m good, I’m very, very good, but when I’m bad, I’m better.”

  -Mae West

  “You are not afraid of new love. You are afraid of old pain.”

  -Unknown

  For my boyfriend

  I promised I’d never make you into a character in my books, so I’m dedicated one to you instead

  Thank you for being all of the light in my eyes

  Introduction

  Alex West

  “Did you just look at my dad’s ass?”

  I freeze, the bottle of wine I was sharing with my best friend hovering in the air halfway between the table and my mouth.

  “Well, speak up,” Benny says as we sit by the indoor hotel pool together. “Were you, or were you not, staring at my dad’s body?”

  I stutter and put down the wine. The truth is, yes, since my best friend Benny’s dad is both incredibly hot and – as of this time last year – openly gay, there’s a good chance I was just looking at his ass as he exited the pool in his little white short-shorts. But then again, who wouldn’t want to look at Hunter Torres’ ass?

  And his legs…

  And his back…

  And his face…

  Oops. Guess I should stop while I’m already behind…

  But okay, I’ll confess – so I want Dr. Torres to fuck the living shit out of me. But so does half the gay population of Atlanta, because he is Adonis come to life – so why am I different just because his son happens to be my best friend?

  Okay – so maybe that does make me a little different…

  I guess I should explain our background a little. I met Benny my freshman year in college, and his parents just kind of…weren’t in the picture. He said he never went home on the weekends because his parents’ marriage was “tense,” and it was stressful to be around – so I never pressed the issue.

  We all discovered the reason behind that tenseness when his dad came out last year. According to what I know, Hunter handled everything elegantly; sat down his wife and kids and told them separately that he was miserable and living a lie and feared he would walk off a bridge one day if he didn’t get real. And that was it.

  As Dr. Torres towels off, I finally pull my eyes away completely and turn to Benny.

  “Huh?” I ask. “No, I wasn’t looking at all.”

  “You just checked him out while he got out of the pool. I just saw you.”

  “What?” I asked with feigned indignation. “How dare you. I was actually just, um…staring off into the middle distance, thinking about God.”

  “God? But you’re an atheist.”

  “Excuse me, I am an optimistic agnostic,” I correct him. “Atheism makes me sounds so…hopeless. If God just totally doesn’t exist, how could you explain the existence of Beyoncé?”

  “Whatever,” Benny says. “Don’t think mentioning my queen will get you out of this one. I’m already stressed enough, since my sister’s wedding is our first family trip since my dad came out of the middle-aged closet. I don’t want to have to worry about my friends checking him out in front of me, too.”

  I sigh and put a hand atop his, then notice his fingernails are painted a shiny black. “First of all, cute nails.”

  “Thanks, sis.”

  “Surely. And second of all…look. I know we don’t really talk about this much. But…”

  “But what? There is no ‘but’ here. He’s my dad, and it’s weird.”

  “Benny. Come on. Your dad happens to be a gay man who is extremely attractive, no offense. And I happen to be a gay man who possibly, potentially, hypothetically, enjoys looking at attractive gay men. I respect boundaries and everything, but…get real. Even if I did check him out, did you really think something like that would never happen?”

  “No,” he says pointedly. “I didn’t. He’s my dad, and all of my other friends have respected it so far. I guess I just underestimated what a skank you were…”

  “Hey, stop slut-shaming! The word ‘skank’ comes with many toxic undertones, thank you very much. But anyway…ugh. I know it’s a sore subject and everything, but-”

  “It’s a sore subject because it’s weird, Alex,” Benny says quickly, his voice rising. “Having a gay dad is fucking weird, and I’m sick of you pretending it isn’t weird. I mean, thought my family life was already odd enough when I had to come out a few years ago and navigate all that stuff. And then my dad suddenly divorces my mom and comes out, too? Like, think about it: I’m a gay dude with a gay dad. That just doesn’t happen! Well, maybe in magazine articles or in soap operas or something, but not in real life. Why are you always defending him, anyway? Why don’t you just admit that the whole thing is fucking weird, and that you wouldn’t want it for yourself, either?”

  “Great,” I say with an eye roll. “Not this whole thing again. Complaining about something your dad can’t even help about himself, when you wanted – and received! – total acceptance from him when you came out, yourself…”

  He blinks. “And? What does that mean?”

  “It means I’m not ‘defending’ anyone by saying you’re being unfair about this. I know it’s not my place, but-”

  “Like that has ever stopped you before,” he mutters.

  “True. But I don’t know, I just think you’ve punished your dad for long enough, and it’s time you deal with it. He’s been ‘out’ for over a year. I know it might not be what you expected or anything, but he didn’t choose to be gay any more than you did.”

  Benny crosses his arms. “Fine. But it’s still the reason my parents aren’t married anymore.”

  “Ha! Coming from someone whose parents spent years too long shackled to a bad marriage because they were afraid of the shame of divorce, I think we both know this needed to happen. I mean, come on. He was gay. And they weren’t even compatible, either. Every visit to your house was like a trip back in time to my own childhood – the awkward silences, the bic
kering, the long pauses…”

  “Fine,” Benny says again, taking out his phone and getting lost in Twitter. “He didn’t choose to be gay. But he did choose to marry my mother and stay with her for twenty years. I mean, I’m glad they had me, and that I exist, but come on – you can’t blame me for taking her side.”

  I throw him a look. “Like you weren’t dating girls in high school before you knew you were a big ole homosexual, too?”

  Benny picks up the bottle, then slams it down just as quickly. “Look, Alex. Fucking listen, for once in your life. I want my dad to live his life, and I’m glad he came out. I am, I really am. I wouldn’t wish the closet on anyone. But, bottom line…he can live his life. He can just live it far away from me, with people who aren’t my best friend, because it’s weird. So keep your eyes away, got it?”

  Just then, the devil himself walks up to us.

  God, why do I always get so nervous around him?

  I look away to avoid any more accusations, but God, it’s so hard…

  “Hey Benny,” Dr. Torres says in that gruff voice. “And Alexander…”

  Neither of us respond, so Dr. Torres plows through.

  “Well, okay then. Say, Benny, were you guys gonna hit the slopes with me later? I’d really like to help you learn how to snowboard, and-”

  “Because I can’t learn, myself?” Benny interrupts, and I try not to cringe.

  “Um – it’s just that you said you’re sick of skiing every winter,” Dr. Torres says, “and you wanted to try something new…”

  “Oh,” Benny says dismissively. “I don’t know. We’re fine on our own. We’ll probably just go out to the slopes whenever Liz and all of them go. I’d rather hang with people my own age, unlike some people. So…sorry about that. Thanks, though!”

  The silence that follows is more awkward that when I farted in seventh grade history class.

  “Uh, sure,” Dr. Torres finally says. “Well, have fun…”

  Benny grunts. And with that, I hear Dr. Torres sigh and disappear through the side door.

  “God,” I say when we’re alone.

  “What?” he asks, and I shrug.

  “You’re just so mean to him.”

  “Stay out of it,” Benny spits. “You weren’t there last year, when he came out. You didn’t have to watch your mom learn how to live alone again. You don’t know what it was like to walk into a gay bar on a date and see your own father sitting there with a vodka soda, with a date who was my age. You don’t know how it feels. Just stay out of it, okay?”

  I bite my tongue. Like I said, Benny is a little delusional to just think I could just completely ignore his father, like he’s not even here. But…

  For one, I’ve always liked daddies, and Hunter Torres is a daddy in every sense of the word. He maintains that perfect amount of aloofness where he has a mysterious level of removal without seeming like an arrogant asshole, he has a banging career as head of anesthesiology at Atlanta’s biggest hospital, and his eyes are somehow brown and piercing at the same time, like a glass of brandy in front of a fire.

  In the five years since I’ve known Benny, I’ve admired Dr. Torres from the across the room countless times during visits to their home and at school events and, sure, I’ve had fantasies where he’d suddenly rip off my clothes, carry me to bed, and ravage me like a hero from a romance novel…

  But it goes deeper than that. At least I think it does. Every now and then, I swear our eyes would cross, and I would just…feel things. Weird things. Fluttery, horny things. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true. I just told myself I was being delusional, since he was a married father of two…

  And then he came out last year and changed all that. And now, well…I don’t know what to think anymore.

  All I know for sure is that I feel a strange pity for him, since Benny has been such a dick about the whole thing, and I really think he needs to just back off and be a little nicer about it all. His dad is here, he’s queer, and it’s not going to change just because Benny wants it to.

  “Fine,” I tell Benny as I get up from my chair. “I can’t believe I even have to say this, but I am your best friend, and I am not going to fuck your dad. In fact, I will not even glance at him for the remainder of the trip. He no longer exists, actually. I promise. But what do you have to worry about, anyway, even if I was some devious skank who wanted him? This is your sister’s wedding, where we’ll be surrounded by your family, and all of Liz’s friends – not some slutty college weekend where I’ll be on the prowl. By the way, who decides to have a destination wedding on New Year’s Eve? Isn’t that, like, hijacking the holiday and making it all about yourself?”

  “I already explained,” Benny says, “Liz was sick of pushing it back again and again because of lockdown rules, and she could only have twelve people at the ceremony, anyway. My family was already coming up here for New Year’s – well, everyone except my dad – so she decided to get it over with and just have it here.”

  “Whatever,” I sigh. “At least it’s pretty here, and snowy. But get over it – it’s not like I’ll even be around your dad anyway, much less be alone with him.”

  “Good point,” he says. “Or maybe not. With my luck, you’ll end up trapped in a hotel room with him or something.”

  “Shut up.”

  Benny gets more serious and puts away his phone. “Okay, I will shut up. For now. But just remember. If you fuck my dad, I will kill you.”

  I turn to him. “What?”

  “Yep. I mean that literally. I know you like older guys, and I know he’s your type. And I know you’re his type, too.”

  “How do you know that?” I ask, trying not to blush, but he just shrugs.

  “You’re hot. You’re everyone’s type. And don’t give me that look, we both know that if this friendship was The Simple Life, I’d be the Nicole Richie and you’d be the Paris Hilton. I see how guys react to you at the bars; I’m not stupid. So yeah, if you move in on him, I will kill you, just so you know. My aunt is a famous criminal defense attorney. I’m pretty sure I’d find some way to get away with it.”

  I try to smile, but I genuinely cannot tell how serious he is being. “That is…insane, it really is,” I finally say.

  “Whatever, it’s still true. And if you go near him, I won’t let you move in with me, either.”

  I freeze, because this time, I know he is serious.

  I just had an emergency appendectomy while under partial insurance, meaning I am ten grand in debt and can no longer afford my apartment – but Benny threw me the ultimate bone when he offered me his second bedroom for pennies on the dollar.

  I’m supposed to move in next month, if all goes to plan. But if I lose that, well…I would have to move back in with my mom, which simply is not an option. I mean, I love her, don’t get me wrong, but we fight like sisters, and I would go absolutely crazy within a few weeks. So for my mental health alone, I will not be able to fuck this up.

  “Noted,” I say. “Again, please chill.”

  “Fine,” Benny says. “And ugh, I can’t believe we have another two days of this before Liz’s wedding. I’m already bored. Wanna go get stoned and watch Drag Race in my room? I saw on Twitter that Vanessa Jade gets kicked off tonight and throws a fit, could be fun to watch.”

  I smile, because I really do miss those moments with Benny. I know things have gotten weird between us lately, and he’s not himself, and is kind of being a dick – but I do understand a bit of it. I mean, his dad’s suddenly gay, he just had a bad breakup, his family is a mess – anyone would be struggling right now.

  When our friendship is good, it’s very good – we almost have a secret language, like he does with his twin sister. I’ve never had more fun with anyone, and I really want to get back to that – even if that means dealing with his angst over his dad and the divorce.

  “Fine,” I say. “Drag Race it is. But hold on, all this wine is getting to me, I’ve gotta pee like a show horse before we head back.”
br />   “Racehorse,” he says.

  “What?”

  “The saying is racehorse. I doubt anyone wants a show horse to pee during a show.”

  “Whatever, you know how I am with idioms. Be right back!”

  I get up and charge into the locker rooms, humming a Kesha song in my head as I go. And then I turn the corner and freeze.

  Because Dr. Torres didn’t go through the side door, like I assumed when I was looking away.

  He went into the locker rooms instead, and is now totally naked, and stepping into the tiny, steamy stall. And I caught him in the middle of it, at just the wrong time.

  Or maybe just the right time, instead?

  Before I can process what is happening, we lock eyes. He doesn’t look away. He doesn’t even hide his cock, which is hanging a good portion down his leg to his knees.

  As I stand there, frozen, Dr. Torres’ lips part. A strange look comes in his eyes, like he is shocked, and confused, and yet somehow intrigued at the same time. And suddenly he does not feel like my best friend’s dad to me in my mind. He does not feel like some off-limits piece of forbidden fruit I should be running away from. He just feels like…a human, standing in front of another human, and showing that human his cock in the process.

  My mind wanders. So maybe I wasn’t crazy…maybe all those times, he really was noticing me, like I noticed him…

  But no – I can’t do this. I shouldn’t. I won’t. I could lose my best friend, my place of living, my sanity, and my dignity.

  No matter how fucking hot this man is…

  And just like that, reality hits.

  I can’t do this. I won’t.

  So I turn on my heel and head back out the door like a toddler who got caught in the candy drawer. I take a breath, and I keep my face neutral to keep from revealing anything. But in that moment, I swear I feel more alive than I ever have before…and to be honest, it scares the living daylights out of me.