Snow Drop

Allison was a fantasy made real. When he was a teenager, she and her then-husband moved in three doors down from his parents. The brunette beauty was, back then, in her thirties, and would wear nearly diaphanous summer dresses that left him drooling over her figure underneath. Her husband left town when an affair with his secretary came to light, leaving behind a miffed -- and still gorgeous -- Allison.

Like many of Colin's hookups, she was not in this for a relationship, and rode him with cheerful abandon, her big breasts bouncing on her slim frame. She was a wisp of a thing aside from those plentiful gems, and he liked the sight of his hands on her trim, tiny waist. His grip tightened each time he thrust his cock up, meeting her stroke for stroke.

"Ooh, that's it, fast like that," Allison panted. She leaned back to rest her hands on his knees for better balance, still rocketing up and down on his cock. Her hair fell across her eyes and she tossed it back, grinning wider as her eyes closed. "Oh, oh fuck, that's the spot, like that, just like that..."

He ran a hand down to her ass and squeezed before gripping her waist tight again. Didn't want her to fall. Her thrusts grew more and more erratic, interspersed with sudden hard grinds. Sometimes she'd reach down and smack her clit, just slap the damn thing. She opened her eyes when she did this, watching him, amused.

"Ohhh, my clit loves it rough." She winked, and he smiled back. Message received. He moved a hand to her mound and thumbed her clit hard. He smacked it too, and she sucked in a sharp breath. "Oh, ohhh, harder..."

He spanked it again and one of her hands flew to his as she jerked up and down. Allison gripped his rough hand and she shivered. Her orgasm swept through her fast and she gasped out, "Oh, ahhhh, that was a g-good one... take me, take me how you want to..."

Colin gripped her waist again and lifted her. She was light and he had no trouble carrying her to wall beside the lockers. Allison gasped when he pinned her against the wall and started bouncing her effortlessly on his cock. He drove up into her with hard, sharp thrusts, the clock ticking now in the back of his head. She twisted his head, kissed him, her tongue exploring him as he grew more frenetic.

"Fuck, I'm close," he growled.

"My tits, my tits, you've always liked my tits."

He couldn't help a chuckle at that. Allison wasn't wrong. He let her down and she dropped like a stone. She looked up at him as he slid his slick cock into her cleavage. Her hands went to her breasts and she squeezed them together. He groaned as he started pumping through them. He lasted a minute, maybe two, and then he was pulling back, gripping his cock and aiming at Allison's chest. She licked her lips and pushed up her boobs. He glazed them with five, six shots of come.

Allison giggled as he took a step backwards. She ran a finger through the mess he left and swallowed a dollop. "You always leave me such a treat," she said.

He chuckled and offered her a hand. "Thanks. I was a little pent-"

Sirens. Or rather, a siren. And honking. Lots of honking. "That doesn't sound good," Allison said.

"Maybe they're sending the kids off for something?" he asked. "Is it time for basketball tournaments?"

"You're asking me?" Allison asked. She had no kids and even less interest in sports.

He flashed back on the conversation he had with Mrs. Fisher. "Oh oh oh, I'll bet that's Julie Fisher's homecoming welcome."

Allison started to ask a question, probably who Julie Fisher was, and then she lit up. "Oh, the sheriff's daughter."

"Yup."

"She was a pretty little thing. Home visiting?"

"Well, I don't feel comfortable talking the specifics, but I spoke to her mom. I think it's a little more than just a visit." Colin returned his attention to her. "Let me get you cleaned up."

"Oh, Colin, you're sweet but the showers are right there." She tapped her cheek and he leaned down to give her a kiss on the corner of her mouth. She gripped the back of his head and pulled him in for something more fiery, and reached down to give his soft cock a squeeze. "God, I still can't believe I'm sleeping with my neighbors' son."

"I'm nearly thirty," he protested good-naturedly, and squeezed her ass in return.

"I know but it still feels so... mm... taboo." She pulled back and looked up into his eyes. "And you know if you ever wanted to..."

The unspoken statement was something they talked about on their third hookup. After a session that ran late into the night at her house, she made him dinner. She told him hesitantly and shyly if he ever really did want to pursue a relationship, something more real than what they had going, give her a call. Colin tried to let her down as gently as he could, but there were always some barbs when it came to things like that, and he knew he hurt her, at least a little.

"Thank you, Allison. I mean that. And I hope it's not too painful if I continue to politely decline."

"No. I'll take you how I can get you." She squeezed him again. "And take. And take. And take."

* * *

Slater and Kittrick burst through the door in a flurry of snowflakes, already arguing about something. Like all close brothers, they were the best of friends and the worst of enemies. They were so intent on locking horns they didn't notice their aunt kneeling with her arms wide open in the living room as they stomped towards the kitchen.

"Iron Man has a metal suit and stuff. Spider-Man just has stupid webs," Slater said. The older of the two, he was the serious authoritarian, the worldly expert, and the boss of the show. It was commonly agreed in the family that he was the genetic copy of Grandpa Lester in both appearance and temperament, much to Lester's alternating pleasure and surliness.

"He's really strong!" Kittrick was a tiny bundle of flamboyance, always dancing or shouting or singing. Forget food. Attention was his fuel, and he craved no one else's like his big brother's.

"So is Iron Man!"

"Well, I feel loved," Julie said to her sister-in-law Shannon when she came in the door.

Shannon grinned. The boys still didn't notice, and Kittrick asked his grandfather, "Grandpa, who would win in a fight? Iron Man or Spider-Man?"

Kittrick looked at his teary grandmother curiously. "Why are you crying?"

Julie scrambled towards them and grabbed them both around the waist. They screamed and she noshed on their necks with mad flurries of kisses. Kittrick's scream turned to laughter and they spun away.

"Julie! Julie!" Kittrick shouted gleefully.

But Slater looked at her with big, tear-filled eyes and blurted, "You m-made me pee!"

"Oh God," Julie gasped. And she had. The boys both had lots of outfits in the spare bedrooms for sleepovers, and Shannon rushed their oldest son away, making sure he was all right. Julie collapsed against the base of her parents' couch, laughing into her hands as Kittrick clung to her.

Mickey eyed her, unable to keep a straight face. "Smooth. Thanks for his nightmares for the next month."

"I'm so sorry."

"Yeah, you look it."

She kept hold of Kittrick and pulled him in for more smooches to his delighted giggles. Then she hopped up and gave Mickey another hug before checking in on Slater and Shannon. When Slater was all cleaned up and changed, he came to Julie, still angry but unable to resist the pull of seeing their aunt again. She held him and told him how sorry she was, and this time she meant it.

Finally Slater seemed to forgive her, and asked her with furiously red eyes, "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I moved back!" she said brightly. "I'm staying here with Grandma and Grandpa for a few weeks, and when you come to the hospital for a shot, I'll be there ready to give you a big old poke in the keister."

He giggled tentatively at that. "You're really going to live here?"

"Uh huh. And when I find my own place, we're going to have so many sleepovers."

"Okay," Slater said, oh so seriously.

Impersonating him gruffly, Julie put her hands on her hips and said, "Okay."

They dug out a board game, and after Lester pulled the drop leaves out at the kitchen table, the whole family gathered around it, Shannon and Julie on team, the boys on the other. Karen started up a batch of tortillasoup, the family's general favorite. She also assured Slater that yes, she had a can of tomato soup just for him, since he didn't like the smell of the other.

Julie smiled at all the easy familiarity. She missed this so much. Brendan liked board games too but it grew impossible to play with him when his mood swings left him a sore loser and an asshole of a winner. Here, at home, she could just be.

When they all ate a bowl of soup and demolished most of a loaf of garlic bread, Mickey and Lester set about rinsing and putting the dishes in the dishwasher. The kids, utterly emotionally exhausted, were sacked out in Julie's bed.

"I'm sorry. I know it's going to be crowded in there tonight," Shannon said.

Julie smiled. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Wrapping her hands around a big mug of tea, Karen said, "Speaking of kids... Cameron's kids, Annie and Lonnie? You remember them?" Julie did, though she hadn't seen them since... gosh, Christmas before last. The deputy was a family friend, as was most her father's staff. "Well, she was under the weather, so Cameron left them at home to work the booth with me. I guess she must have been feeling better, because in she and little Lonnie came with... guess."

"I... how am I supposed to know?" Julie asked.

"Bugs Bunny," Mickey said.

"The Easter Bunny," Julie said, falling back into an old sibling rhythm.

"A Playboy bunny," Mickey said.

"Little Bunny Foo-Foo."

"You two are impossible to tell a story to, you know that?" Karen said, and Shannon giggled. "Colin Shaw."

"Oh, Colin," Julie said softly.

The story was heartbreaking. Colin Shaw and Silje Ebbesen were a couple that should have been together forever. Julie was in the same grade as them in school, and as far back as she could remember, they had always been a pair. First as friends, then one day sometime in the fifth or sixth grade, Silje planted her flag and declared to the world -- and to Colin's surprise -- that they were boyfriend and girlfriend.

She was delightfully impetuous like that, never hesitating, always storming forward with Colin following along good-naturedly. She would grab him up and make him dance with her, or plop down on his lap without so much as a warning, sometimes before class started, to the exasperation of their teachers. Silje had a bright mind and a devil-may-care attitude, but when it came to Colin, she burned her brightest. She was his staunchest supporter, his defender, his constant shadow. And he was her rock, her silent boyfriend, the one person in this world who could calm her rampaging mind.

It became obvious in in high school that Silje had some mental health conditions. She flew off the handle at random, often. Her weight never seemed the same day-to-day. Julie had an English class with her and Silje could compose the most heartbreaking poetry or write the most amazing stories, then the next day write a hundred lines of "I hate this I hate this I hate this" before balling up her work and darting out of class to hide in the bathroom and cry, usually until Colin came to peacefully coax her out.

The two of them stayed in Pike Bridge after graduation, and Julie was sorry to say she didn't keep in touch. She knew they got married that fall. There was a picture Julie forever loved they posted to Bottlegenie, one of Silje tugging Colin behind her as she charged out of the church after they were married. A bunch of friends attended and said the reception was a riot. Grilled hot dogs, a couple of sheet cakes from Wal-Mart, music arranged by Silje and played over a tinny old CD player. And dancing. Everyone said Silje outdanced them all, still twirling with Colin into the morning hours.

A few years ago, word spread among their high school circles that Silje committed suicide. Julie's heart broke for Colin. In some perfect world he and Silje would have been the perfect doddering old couple, him driving a big old car, her riding with gleeful waves at all the people she knew. But Julie understood too sometimes a fight was not to be won, that hope and love could not always prevail. She cried a little when she heard the news, and sent Colin a card and a message online. He sent out a brief, terse thank you to her and everyone who inquired after him, then vanished from Bottlegenie and the world in general.

"He's still living here?" Julie asked. "I thought maybe with Silje gone, it might be too much."

"I think he stayed because of her," Karen said softly. "I think he loved her too much to let her memory go." She smiled a pained thing. "That's speculation. And I don't like speculating about him. I don't like all the nasty rumors. Anyways, while Colin was talking to me at the festival, he did the sweetest thing." She filled Julie and the rest in on how Colin stood up for the two little ones.

Shannon touched her heart. "Aw. That's the sweetest story,"

"It was good to see him," Karen said. "He's such a kind soul."

"Mom..." Julie said.

"Honey, I know. And yes, maybe I'm trying to play matchmaker, but... well. You could do worse."

At the dishwasher, with his back turned to them, Lester said so softly they barely heard him, "Colin Shaw is one of the best men in this town."

Everyone looked at him and Julie realized something. "You would have had to... deal with the... with... um..."

"Yes," Lester said. "And that's all I'd like to say about that." He turned, and his lips were pressed firm together for a long moment before he spoke again. "We have no right stepping into his business, but I think maybe if we have a casserole or something some night, maybe we ought bring some up to him."

"I want to stop by anyways, give him a hug," Julie said. "That would give me the perfect excuse."

"I don't think you'd need one," Karen said. "I think that's a man desperate for a friendly face."

* * *

Colin was used to people staring at him long before Silje's illnesses and death. By the time he was fifteen, he was already six foot and as broad shouldered as most men twice his age. He used to buy beer for classmates because he looked seven or eight years older than he actually was. When he played sports, coaches from other teams demanded to see paperwork verifying his age until his was a well-known face and presence, and there was still some grumbling about Colin playing football.

So he didn't. He was not, by nature, a confrontational person. Protective, yes. He would have done anything for Silje, and on occasion when someone dared to make fun of her around him, her bear showed he had teeth. But sports didn't interest him all that much. He liked working out and running, but he didn't have that killer urge to win win win, hoorah. Really, it was mostly due to his parents' wishes that he even started playing sports in the first place, and since he showed a love of exercise without playing football or baseball, they gave him their blessing to quit.

Silje, of course, told him he should have quit when he wanted to.

"You don't do anything you don't want to do," she said, snuggling in tighter to him on the couch. "Just say no. I'm not going to. It's that simple."

"Like you telling me to invite you to the party at Steve's this weekend."

Silje nipped his chest, and he kind of liked it. "No. I'm the exception."

"Why?"

"Because. I am. Are you really ever going to tell me no?"

He chuckled. "No. See? Just did."

She bit him again.

They didn't go to that party. Instead, Silje wanted to ride their bikes out to the river. He didn't know why, or ask -- sometimes when Silje changed her mind like that she didn't really know why and the not-knowing frustrated her to tears. Instead, at fifteen, Silje in her poofy party dress and Colin in his good jeans and his best shirt, they sat in the mud holding hands, watching the sleepy waters gurgle by.

Now.

Now Colin was trying to just finish a beer at the bar, but he was being watched from two sides, and he suspected more were probably stealing peeks at him. To his left were two thirty-something guys he vaguely remembered as being part of a construction crew, and to his right were a pair of women and their respective teenagers. The men watched him with smirks, the women watched him like he might come over and pluck their children off their stools.

When a waitress hurried by, one of the women said none too quietly, "We need some go bags."

The waitress looked right at Colin, then back at them and said, "Sure thing."

"Don't," Colin said, smiling tightly at all of them. "I'll go."

"Goddamn right," one of the guys muttered.

Colin finished his beer in one long drink, then stood up and grabbed his coat. He thought about trying to reassure the mothers that whatever they heard, he wasn't a monster, but what was the point? As his dad was fond of pointing out, this was 2021, and when it came down to believing truth and common sense or whatever insane bullshit people wanted to be true, they were going to pick the bullshit every time, especially if it gave them a reason to hate and fear someone.

He thought about his parents on his drive home, and called them up when he pulled into his driveway. His mom picked up on the second ring.

"Hey, honey. Lyla said she saw you going into the bar."

Colin smiled. Though he might be the center of much of Pike Bridge's gossip, his mother was its greatest collector. She managed a hair salon, and in their early sixties, she and his dad were now frequent guests at the town's senior activity centers. All of those were hotbeds for the juiciest gossip fit for consumption, and his mom delighted in gobbling it all up. She didn't spread rumors, not unless she could substantiate them, but she was its great stew pot.

"Yeah, figured I'd give it a shot. Didn't end up working out. I scared a couple of mothers and decided to get out of there."

"Aw, sorry to hear that. You need a ride?"

"No, I drove home. And don't worry, only one beer."

"Good. What are you up to?"

"I was thinking pizza. If you and Dad hadn't eaten."

"Ooh, that sounds good, but we'll treat."

Colin chuckled. "I'm still in the SUV. Let me know what you-"

His words faltered. Someone slowed and stopped at his curb. He frowned, thinking maybe it was one of the guys from the bar, or maybe one of the mothers there to chew his ass out for whatever reason they had made up in their head. But no, the woman who stepped out in a down parka was someone he knew and hadn't seen in a decade.

"I think maybe... black olive and pepperoni?" his mom said.

"Hang on just a sec, Mom. Julie Fisher just stopped at the house."

"Oh, tell her hello!"

"I will. Call you back soon."

Colin hung up and stepped out of his SUV as Julie popped open the back of her crossover. She waved and called, "Hey, Colin! Not interrupting anything, am I?"

"No, not at all. Hi. Hi."

"Hi, hi yourself," she said, grinning.

Julie was beautiful in high school but she was stunning now. Back then she was wafer thin, and she still was in tremendous shape. But her face had gained some character to it, that vitality of a woman comfortable in her twenties. She had her mother's butter blonde hair, but her smile was all her own, wide and effortlessly charming.

They hadn't exactly been friends in high school. More like friendly acquaintances. Silje was closer, but then again, she was so much more decisive in that regard. If Silje decided she liked you, you were going to be her friend, no matter your say.

"I hope you haven't eaten," Julie said. "Well... even if you have, you could freeze it and unthaw it later. All you have to do is pop it in." She took a deep breath. "Let me start over. Hi! Long time no see. My mom and I made some chicken casserole today and thought you might like some too." Her smile broke, and she said, "Oh hell, Colin, I'm so sorry."