“No, Chesteria,” he dismissed quickly. “Just to be safe, I’ll give youfifteen minutes maxwith the jets. No heater, no extra lights, no blow dryer when you get out. After that, I’m cutting it off from the panel myself.”
“I can dofifteen.”
Adrian slung his arm over the back of the couch. “So let me get this straight. We’rein the middle of a blizzard, running on generator fumes, with Doomsday Pilot over here acting like Light Patrol is the new law,Miss Netflix-and-Nailsis mad ‘cause she can’t stream her showsordo TikToks with her press-ons, and my phone got supervised visitation hours… but Chesteria gets a full jacuzzi pass with bubbles and grace?”
I grinned slowly. “Look at it this way… if I get fifteen minutes in that tub, I’m less likely to commit murder. That’s a win for the whole cabin, if you think about it.”
“This is ghetto!” Isis groaned.
“Chore,” Bryce said automatically.
She threw her head back and yelled into the ceiling. “Ugh!”
“Another chore,” he added.
Adrian shook his head, laughing. “Nah, these next few days about to be entertaining as hell.”
Bryce closed the notebook with a snap. “From this moment forward, power iscurrency.Do not waste it. Memorize the rules, or violations will be enforced. I’m not playing with y’all. And if anybody got a problem with anything I just said, take it up with the snow, the bear, or Jesus… not me,” he finished, chest rising and falling like he had spiritually prepared for idiots.
“Where you going?” I asked a little too quickly and concerned, when he headed toward the hallway.
Bryce glanced back at me, eyes softening just a little. “To check the propane levels and set a timer.”
“For what?”
He gave me a look. “For your fifteen minutes, jacuzzi princess. Light Patrol gotta be fair, right?”
I giggled. “Yes, Captain Frost. But I’m not getting in right at this moment. I’ll let you know when, though.” I spoke in a tone as if I wanted him to join me.
Adrian watched him go, then let out a low whistle. “That man really turned a snowstorm into boot camp.”
Isis grumbled again, softer that time. “And I still can’t stream.”
I hugged my blanket, smirking. “Welcome to Bryce’s Cabin Academy for the Cold and Unprepared. Class is in session.”
And even in the middle of a blizzard, with chaos swirling all around us… I felt safe.
Chapter eighteen
Bryce
“She Got Her Guard Up… I Got My Hope Down.”
Icame back from the pool room, wiping the condensation off my arms with a towel. The jacuzzi was still hot. I’d turned the jets off and dropped the heat to conserve energy. There was no point in wasting juice, not with the generator already doing the heavy lifting. Chesteria wasn’t getting in until later anyway, and it would heat back up quickly when the time came.
I stepped back into the main room where the real heat was—the human kind.
“Jacuzzi’s good,” I let Chesteria know. “I turned the jets off and dropped the heat to low, though, so it won’t drain too much power. The generator’s holding steady, but we’ll shut it off after tonight.Whenever you ready, just say the word and I’ll crank it back up.”
Chesteria smiled. “Thank you, Bryce.”
My eyes didn’t bother hiding where they landed—right on her lips. I thought about how they used to wrap around my dick, and how I used to suck on them like I was starving.
Yeah. Chesteria’s lips had history with me… good history.
“Ooooh, can I make a suggestion?” Isis exclaimed, bringing me out of my freaky thoughts.
It seemed like the whole room sighed at once.
