Blondie Wannabe: A Billy Hargrove Fanfic

A Different Pain

Smut in this chapter, ** these will be around it in case you want to skip.

I didn't last as long on the slopes as I thought I would. The cold wasn't the problem, my lack of exercise for the past six months was to blame. My thighs burned almost as much as my lungs, and my calves started cramping so bad, I practically had to limp back inside and fling my snow-covered ass onto a nearby chaise. Most humiliating of all, my brother zipped down the slopes with no problem, a natural born athlete; I couldn't do kundalini yoga without getting winded.

"You alright?"

I looked up to see Billy hovering over me, arms folded, eyebrow cocked, but he didn't seem ready to mock me, so I admitted I was sore. "Guess I should've worked out a bit before we left," I said sheepishly.

"If you want, you could come over my place," he offered. "I'm kind of a fitness junkie."

"I can tell," I said, looking him up an down.

He chuckled and my face went red. "How about that drink?"

"Sorry, but I think I better take a rain check, I need to take a hot bath or I won't be able to walk for the rest of the week." I took the hand he offered and unsteadily rose to my feet.

"Don't talk about baths; you're putting all sorts of scandalous images in my mind."

Making my way to the elevator, I laughed off his comments, but they stuck in my brain, running around his circles. It was easy to allow myself to believe that fate pushed us together; he didn't want to ski, and I had to call it quits. The rest of our families were still enjoying themselves- our parents, our siblings- we had the whole floor to ourselves.

"Which room did you get?" I asked off-handedly.

"The one all the way at the end." He pointed down the hall to the narrow, wooden door.

"I thought they used that for storage," I said before realizing how snooty that sounded.

Thankfully, Billy just laughed breathily. "Yeah, I think they did, but it's storing me for now. To be honest, it's nicer than most places I've lived. All I'm doing in it is sleeping and reading and jacking off, so."

My eyes rolled automatically in response, but his crassness no longer got under my skin, if anything, I now found it slightly endearing. "Well, see you when I see you."

"Yeah," Billy said, scratching the back of his head. "Have a nice bath." 

I entered my room and closed the door tight, locking it, before sliding down to the floor, putting my face in my hands. What am I doing? I demanded of myself. 

The process of stripping was an arduous one. Each boot took five minutes to unlace and remove, socks cracking from cold sweat, blisters already forming on the soles of my feet. Once I got my snow pants and jacket off, I stumbled into the bathroom, turning on the hot water, sprinkling in some Epsom salt and shivering while I waited for the clawfoot tub to fill. When the water was just high enough that it wouldn't overflow when I climbed in, I peeled off my long underwear, and sank into the warmth, feeling my muscles unknot, skin tingling from the sudden change in temperature. 

I could've stayed in there all day, but finally shoved myself out when my fingers were all pruney and my hair completely soaked through, and dried myself off with one of my fluffy, white towels.  Returning to the main section of my suite felt almost painful, teddy bears and porcelain dolls on the shelves staring back at me.