Thick as Thieves (Aster Valley 4)

And I totally would have scrambled to the floor to help pick them up if I hadn’t been standing there stupid and brain-tied, wondering why my face felt like radio static as I watched Parker walk away.

“Huh?” I asked, apropos of nothing.

Parker quickly pulled me away from the broken glass before waving for a server’s help. When the server insisted they’d take care of it, Parker thanked them and gestured for me to follow him outside.

“Try to catch up, Jules,” he called over his shoulder as he stepped out into the sunshine.

And I was pretty sure he wasn’t talking about skiing.

15

PARKER

The four of us made our way out of the restaurant building and into the sunshine. It was a beautiful day to be on the slopes, and I was looking forward to sharing the experience with Julian.

If only he’d stop acting like he was going to jump out of his skin any minute if I so much as looked at him funny.

I didn’t appreciate his hesitation in holding my hand or the way he’d refused to acknowledge our relationship in front of our friends because it made it very clear he didn’t trust the feelings I had for him. His jealousy was kind of adorable but also kind of annoying for the same reason. I should have insisted on talking things through earlier, regardless of his nerves. Then maybe things wouldn’t be so awkward around us today.

But now wasn’t the time to keep pushing him. I’d been tasked with hosting Rocco on the mountain and making sure everyone stayed safe while capturing the footage for the fitness project.

“Where to first?” I asked Rocco before reaching for Julian’s skis and laying them out for him. “Intermediate or moguls?”

Rocco and BJ found their own skis in the stands and clipped into them before Rocco suggested warming up with the intermediate run. “I’d like to film two workouts if we can. One on each of the two slopes. But it’ll mean lots of runs down each one to capture different footage. That okay?”

I agreed and mentioned having been part of many video projects in the past for commercials and documentaries. “We’ll get what you need,” I assured him.

After everyone had skis on, I pointed us to the smaller lift that continued farther up the mountain. We began making our way over to it as Rocco described the kind of footage he hoped to capture. Since he was still talking when we got on the lift, BJ and Jules ended up on a chair ahead of us, and I was stuck riding the lift with Rocco instead of sneaking a private moment with Jules.

The chair wasn’t even out of the terminal when I saw BJ lean closer to Julian to bump his shoulder while they shared a laugh.

“How do you know BJ?” I blurted. “He seems… outgoing.”

“We met through the fitness app. Well, more specifically, on a chat for content creators. He makes killer yoga classes and shares tips about lighting and editing, things like that. When I posted about coming down here to make some content, he reached out to see if I wanted to split a place because he was looking for a location to film some outdoor winter classes, too.”

I couldn’t stop watching BJ’s animated charm being slathered all over my best friend. It set my teeth on edge, mostly because I remembered how eager BJ had been to hook up with one or both of us.

“You should chat with him,” I said.

“Chat?” Rocco repeated, amused. “In which sense of the word?”

I waved my gloved hand at the chair ahead of us. “I mean the other kind of chat. Like… with your dick. BJ seems like he’d be open to it. Probably. I mean… he uses Grindr.”

Rocco’s laugh was deep and easy. “BJ wasn’t kidding when he said you were ‘the world’s most adorable newborn baby gay,’ was he? You’re a hot mess. You really don’t know how this shit works.”

My back teeth hurt from grinding. “I just know he showed up at our place the same way you did. Since neither Julian nor I are available, it seems like you two…” I gestured again toward BJ. “Should consider each other.”

“No, thank you. I have a rule about hooking up with guys I know from SocialAdrenaline. Had a bad experience once with a fan who tried to ruin my reputation rating on the site. Thankfully, I was able to get him banned before he could do too much damage, but I learned a lesson. Don’t fuck where you eat. Besides, BJ is a little too eager for me. He seems more like a relationship guy than a hookup, and I sure as shit don’t need one of them.”

I turned to face him. “Just so we’re clear. Julian is a relationship guy, too. So am I.”