A Wintertime Love

A WINTERTIME LOVE

A
LYSON
R
AYNES

Booktrope Editions

Seattle, WA 2015

COPYRIGHT 2015 ANISA SEIBEL

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

Attribution
— You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).

Noncommercial
— You may not use this work for commercial purposes.

No Derivative Works
— You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.

Inquiries about additional permissions

should be directed to:
[email protected]

Cover Design by Anisa Seibel

Edited by Steve Trinward

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to similarly named places or to persons living or deceased is unintentional.

EPUB ISBN 978-1-5137-0796-9

IT WAS THE SECOND WEEK
of December, and school had just let out for winter break. The campus was like a ghost town, with the exception of the few who were catching later flights or were locals avoiding the return home sooner than they had to. It would be the first Christmas I wouldn’t be spending with my family in Russia, as I had agreed to attend a holiday charity ball with my buddy Dylan that his family was hosting.

The Prescott’s were wonderful people and always welcomed me into their home. This year was no exception. As soon as Dylan’s mother heard I would be attending the charity event, she insisted I spend Christmas with the Prescott family. I felt a bit out of sorts not going home to my own family, but since my mother had passed away from breast cancer a few years back, Christmas just hadn’t been the same. I missed her terribly, and being back at home just brought back all of the painful memories of what I no longer had.

Dylan and I had been dorm-mates our freshman year of college, and when we’d been able to move into an apartment our sophomore year, we’d agreed to get a place together and split the rent. Not that either one of us was hurting for money, but it made it fair.

I was just sitting on the large, leather couch watching
Big Bang Theory
when Dylan and Christina entered the room holding hands.

“Hey man, we’re gonna go watch the Broncos game over at The Tavern. You wanna come along?” Dylan asked.

“Sure,” I grumbled. “Can you give me at least ten, so I can clean up before we head out?”

“Hurry up, man! Brody and Andrew are waiting for us.”

“Shit! Brody’s gonna be there?”

“He sure is, and you know what that means,” he said with a chuckle.

“Yeah. Tits, everywhere. Not that I’m complaining, but the dude doesn’t attract the highest quality of women, if you catch my drift.”

“I hear you, man. I wouldn’t worry too much though, Trist. Christina’s friend A. J. will be joining us as well.”

“Even better. I sense a hook up coming on,” I said, rolling my eyes heading to the shower. 

I showered as quickly as I could, threw some gel in my hair, and dressed in jeans and a Broncos jersey. When I walked back into the living room, Dylan and Christina were practically doing each other on the couch.

“Man, you have a room over there,” I, pointed towards his room.

“I do, but I like it on the couch. If you’d loosen up a bit, you might like it too!”

I laughed. “Dude, do you ever not think of pussy?” I knew that was making Christina feel uncomfortable.

He stood and placed his arm on my shoulder. “We really need to get you out more, Tristan. Man, you’re so uptight, and I think meeting someone might actually help you to relax a bit.”

“I have plenty of warm holes to stick my dick in, Dylan,” I replied, irritated. “Can we go now?”

I wasn’t usually so down and reserved, but I’d spent the day feeling guilty about not going home to see my family, and I was really missing my mom. I had to attribute that to my emotional state, since I normally acted as carefree and wild as Dylan. I hadn’t dated much back at home, spending most of my time going to school, helping with the family business, and taking care of my mom. I dated one girl back home, Anya. I had known her for many years, and she was my sister’s best friend.

We lived together for a short while before I came here to go to school. My leaving was hard on both of us. I was in love with her, but I never told her because I knew it would just make it harder when I left. There wasn’t a day that didn’t go by that I didn’t think about her. My first year at school, I called her almost daily. Then I made friends and started messing around with the American girls, and eventually I just stopped calling and texting. I know it’s an asshole move, but every time I heard her voice, it made me miss her, and we both needed to move on with our lives.

Thinking about Anya, I grabbed my coat as we headed down the stairs to Dylan’s truck and climbed in the back of the cab. I knew Christina wanted to sit next to him so she could talk his ear off about A. J., and I was fine with it. I also wanted to be left alone and sitting in the back provided that.

As the truck veered onto the highway, I could hear her telling him how A. J. wanted to be a writer, and that she was really good. Of course my buddy humored her because he was in love with the girl. I hoped one day I could find a girl as cool as Christina, too. She was the type of the girl who was beautiful, dressed well, and acted like a lady, but also loved sports. All sports. You could take her to the bar to watch the games, and she wouldn’t complain. She was every man’s dream—including mine, though only from the sports point of view. I preferred my women a little on the thicker side; I wasn’t into skin and bones on a girl. I didn’t like fat, either, but a little cushion was right up my alley.

I’d been lost in my own head as we arrived at The Tavern. Parking downtown was a nightmare and expensive as hell. We drove around the corner at least three times before we found a spot close enough to the bar. Since it was freezing outside, none of us wanted to walk very far.

As we walked toward the bar entrance, I saw Brody through the window, sitting next to a hot blonde. The place was hopping, and I was suddenly grateful we were meeting Brody and Andrew, since they had saved us a seat at their table. It had been a long time since I’d last seen Brody. He had gotten picked up by a professional hockey team in Arizona, while Dylan and I still played for DU.

“Hey, man, it’s good to see you!” I said, giving Brody a hug. “It’s been a fucking long time! How’s life been treating you? How’s life in the desert?”

“I love it, except for the heat,” he told me, taking his seat. “That shit is brutal!”

I took the seat across from him, giving me the perfect view of the oversized plasma-screen TV. The place was so loud you could barely hear anyone speaking. It suddenly erupted into cheering as the Broncos scored the first touchdown in the game, making it 7 to nothing.

A beautiful waitress came by in her school-girl uniform, exposing her large, fake breasts. I ordered a Bud Light on draft and some fish and chips. Dylan and Christina ordered the same. I was still lost in my own world, going through the motions of watching the game on TV. If I were being honest, I really wasn’t paying all that much attention to it. I just wasn’t in the mood to be around people, but sitting at home wasn’t the answer, either. I was feeling very unsettled, and I hated it.

The waitress arrived with our beers and food and was nearly knocked on her ass by a beautiful brunette trying to take a seat next to Christina on the wooden bench. Deafening screams and girls hugging became the scene around me.
That must be Christina’s friend
, I thought. Beautiful blue eyes, gorgeous long brown hair, pretty smile, hmm . . . lovely thighs! Now that was the kind of girl I could see myself hanging out with. She was everything I looked for visually; I just hoped she had a personality to go along with it. Then she’d definitely be the perfect girl for me.