A/N: Mature content. ❤️❤️❤️

Having grown up on the Northern California coastline, with beaches and cliffs, the mountains in both Calgary and British Columbia felt unworldly from when we first left the Calgary airport. I captured their beautiful grayish-black contrast against the perfectly white snow majestic in more pictures than I counted. Their size, scale, and rugged, natural beauty humbled and even intimidated me as we rode through and around them.

"Do you miss Canada?" I asked Logan while my head rested against his shoulder and eyes drooped from their constant gaze out the bus window on his right side.

"I don't think about it much," he admitted quietly and kissed the top of my head, where his mouth lingered for a breath. "Guess home is where your family is."

I sat silent for a moment, then agreed, "Suppose that's true."

Words couldn't have expressed how grateful I felt at how civil Jake and Logan acted towards each other so far, despite how they faced each other in the PAC-12 Conference title game once this trip ended. Since Logan arrived at our house the night before our early flights, Jake had largely kept to himself.

After whatever the hell exchange that was in Dad's garage, Jake even seems to be getting along with Harper.

On the bus ride from the Calgary airport, I caught Jake's gaze reflected in the window from where he sat behind Logan's seat, in the last row on the nearly empty bus. A few times on the flights up, I saw he wore the same unreadable expression on his face, and the way he gawked at Harper couldn't have been more obvious, but his body language read relaxed and casual.

Guess Mom was right, we needed the break.

My curiosity from how quickly Jake rushed me and Logan out of the cabin vanished the moment Logan and I were driven into the small, picturesque town of Golden, British Columbia. The shuttle drove under an adorable town sign that arched over the road into town and 'Howdy Folks!' at the top of the arch. Charming red brick, flat-front stores lined both sides of the main street until we stopped at a local grocery store.

The four of us were only here for four days but even just the quiet, subdued grocery store trip while Logan and I shopped without any eyes, or better phones, on us was both quick and relaxing.

"Jake asked for those." I pointed at some ribeye steaks in the meat refrigerator. "He actually said he wanted to cook dinner for Harper tonight."

"Huh," was all Logan responded, along with an unreadable expression of his own, but he grabbed a package and put it in the cart.

Once the resort's shuttle returned us to the cabin, Logan and I ate a quick lunch, then layered up our winter clothes. I felt like a puffy snowman as we walked to the Kicking Horse Resort's reception desk and followed the directions for ski lessons until we reached the Telus Winter Snow School office. Our boots thumped on the worn wooden floors of what looked like a ski shop with all the gear that hung off racks on the walls.

"May I help you?" A girl around our age, with jet-black hair and brown eyes greeted us cheerfully. Ironically, her name 'Summer' was clipped on a nametag near the Telus logo on her sweatshirt.

Gosh, she sounds like Grace.

"My girlfriend wants some ski lessons." Logan patted one hand on my shoulder.

"Or at least how not to kill myself flying into a tree," I added with a slight grimace.

Summer laughed quietly. "We can take care of that."

After an hour-long introductory class with seven to ten year old's, while I slowly and clumsily pizza-wedged my way down the bunny slopes, Logan skied circles around me.

Of course he's good at this too.

Freakin' snow god.

Despite my obvious lack of athleticism, I had fun, especially when Logan wrapped his arms around me while we rode the 'magic carpet' up the small hill. The black mountain peaks cut into the late morning sky and we went up and down on repeat until I'd lost feeling from my knees down from the cold.

After a quick warmup and lunch in a local coffee house, where every inch of my chilled skin appreciated the steamy cup of hot chocolate Logan bought me, we hit the snow activities again in the afternoon. We took a snowmobile ride where I clung to Logan like a spider monkey and clumped our way on snowshoes through the four kilometer-long Beaver Pond trail. The slower pace as we trudged through the pristine snow gave us a chance to appreciate Mother Nature's details up close.

Except bears. If I don't see any bears, then I'm good.

"I'm going to need a vacation from our vacation." Logan's breath huffed out white puffs as he plunked his poles into a snow bank near the trail's entrance. He sat down and stretched out his long legs with his heels dug into the snow so his snowshoes stuck up perpendicular to the ground. We'd jabbed all four of our poles similarly into the ground.

"And your legs are twice as long as mine," I teased, flopped down next to him, and smiled when my snowshoes came to where his shins were.

"What's next?" he deadpanned and looked sideways at me. "Chopping firewood or wrestling a Grizzly?"

"We could do that." I giggled and swatted his closest bicep. "Or go out to dinner. Jake got us a reservation, Eagle Something."

"He's being awfully nice," Logan grumbled more to himself than me, then shook his ruddy pink-cheeked head.

"I know, Jake being nice is weird." I laughed quietly, then stood up and offered him a thick-mittened hand. "I'm still getting used to it myself. C'mon, I'm losing the feeling in my toes again."

Logan eyed my outstretched hand, took it, then tugged me forwards. I hinged clumsily over the tips of my snowshoes and pancaked flat on Logan's hard body. Not even the puffy winter layers spared me upon contact and I groaned.

Warm waves of his breath puffed over my lips and two ocean-blue eyes blazed bright up at me. A smile flinched across his thin lips followed by a cocky compliment, "Is it bad I think you make a pretty sexy snow bunny?"

"If you like all these layers..." I leaned down and ghosted a kiss on the tip of his chilled nose. "Wait until you see them tossed onto our bedroom floor."

"Let's go." Logan sat up so quickly, I rolled off into the snow. He towered over me, shot me a boyish grin, and kissed me roughly but quickly walked back to return the snowshoes.

"Shameless," I grumbled, picked up my ski poles, and clumped behind his long strides.

"Out skiing. If Jake doesn't come back, he deserved it," I read off the note Harper left us on the kitchen counter, then lifted my eyes to a wide grin on Logan's face. "Guess we have the place to ourselves."

His closest hand grabbed mine and tugged me upstairs. "Not wasting a minute of that."

After a much-needed hot shower that heated up from more than the water but left both of us clean and completely satisfied, Logan laid down on the bed. Dressed in just a towel wrapped around his waist and his damp hair darker blonde, he pulled me down into his bare chest and wrapped his muscular arms around me. I happily rested my cheek against his warm, soft skin and pressed my palm flat over his heart space.

"Do you want to go out for dinner?" He murmured into my forehead, which prompted a loud growl out of my stomach. "Guess that answers that but we could stay here."

"I'm torn," I admitted. "We should probably go as a group but selfishly, I still like spending time with just you."

"Still?" He echoed with a low chuckle. "Better not be tired of me already, baby."

"I don't think that'll ever happen," I admitted as my impatient stomach reminded me I still hadn't filled it. "Let's eat out tonight since Jake made the reservation for us, then group meals the other two nights."

"Good plan." Logan groaned slightly as he sat up and dressed in a casual gray sweater and black jeans. Not that I owned fancy clothes, definitely hadn't brought anything and had no desire that I bared my legs to the cold, windy nights here, but I wore my 'best' black leggings and a dark purple V-neck long-sleeved shirt that highlighted the promise ring necklace that I'd taken off earlier.

Once I applied a light round of fresh, natural makeup, dried my hair, and we put our winter coats back on, Logan and I found ourselves on a romantic gondola ski lift ride. In what felt like an endless ascent, we climbed higher and higher over the resort, the skiers and snowboarders, until we were surrounded by only the snow-tipped mountains, cascaded in the soft pastel colors from an endless sunset in all directions.

Logan stood silently behind me the entire gondola ride up, my back pressed against his front and his arms wrapped around my chest. I clamped my winter gloved palms over his puffy coat-covered forearms, leaned against him, and just enjoyed the private moment.

Inside what looked like an adorable, red-roofed log cabin perched atop a cliff in the middle of nowhere was a romantic restaurant. My mouth dropped when we walked into an open dining area with enormous peaked roofs held up with exposed dark wood beams and highlighted by brass chandeliers with a sunburst pattern on the bottom and candlestick shapes for the lightbulbs. Every single window framed out an untouched mountain backdrop view.

"Thanks for sticking with me today," I admitted quietly to Logan once we sat at a small, square wood table near one of the windows that showcased a perfect golden sunset.

"Is that a serious question?" Logan's eyebrows lifted but eyes glimmered like the sunlight that glowed outside our window. "Or a test?"

"No." I smiled and rested my elbows on the table. "Grocery store, bunny slopes. I'm sure those couldn't have been the most exciting activities you could've done today."

"That's not what it's about for me," he replied in a low voice. "Besides, if I get injured before the PAC-12 game then I'll never hear the end of it."

"True... So it's just about football for you then?" I teased and reached my left hand out for his. He slipped his palm under my hand, intertwined our fingers, then looked down at them.

"Think you already know the answer there." Warmth flowed up my wrist from his touch and my heart squeezed at the tenderness in his voice. "Love you baby."

"Love you too." I squeezed his hand but his eyes stayed fixed down at our joined hands.

Logan lifted his eyes only once I squeezed his hand again and, right as my mouth parted to ask if he was alright, he fixed his eyes on a spot around my chest. I glanced down at the promise ring that, like always, hung on the long chain around my neck.

When I looked up, his eyes were fixed on mine and bright with determination. In a voice so soft I strained my ears so I heard him, he murmured, "Someday I'll upgrade that with two more."

My mouth gaped open, I sat back at his words, and my heart rammed itself into my chest walls. A dryness crept up my throat and I croaked out with a soft, hollow laugh, "Someday. No pressure on my side."

Logan's only answer was a slight uplift in the corners of his mouth, that damn devious smirk of his full of unspoken promises.

Once we arrived back, both Jake and Harper's doors were shut with the lights off, but the smell of burnt food tinged the interior air in the cabin.

"Guess Jake's losing his cooking touch." I shrugged my shoulders at Logan while we climbed up the wooden stairs to the bedroom level, where loud snores out of Jake's room practically rattled his door.

Guess skiing with Harper wiped him out.

With a slight head shake, I stepped in my shared room with Logan, who shut the door behind us and flicked on the light.

"I'm glad we went to dinner," I started with small talk, which thankfully dominated our dinner conversation after Logan's bombshell suggestion about potentially getting engaged.

Which, for the record, I never brought up.

While the idea of forever with Logan felt like a dream come true, we still had so much life to get through on our own before that happened.

Starting with school, his games, my court date... One day at a time.

"Me too," he replied in a low voice behind me.

At the shivers just the sound of the deep baritone tones in his voice broke out, I turned around and wrapped my arms around his muscular torso. His fresh, reassuring scent wrapped around me and I pressed my cheek into the soft material of his sweater.

Warmth and security surrounded me with his embrace, which was enough on its own but then he added, "Love you, Ellie."

"Love you too." I hugged him tight, then lifted my lips up and he met me halfway.

With one arm sweep, Logan tucked one arm behind my knees, lifted me into his arms, and tucked me into his chest. I squealed softly but he laid me down on the bed as if I was as fragile as glass. When he pulled back, I tugged his shoulders down until he climbed over me.

"Was hoping to do this slowly," he groaned into the side of my neck, where his lips definitely warmed my internal body temperature. "We have all the time we want here."

"Can we be quiet with Jake and Harper nearby?" I whispered, even though I was surprised I hadn't heard Jake's bear-like snores from inside our room.

With one more soft press of his lips against mine, Logan promised, "I can do quiet."

My lips barely smiled when his locked onto them and moved with familiarity and an infuriating level of patience. His tongue edged itself around the seam of my parted lips, then he rolled my lower lip into his mouth and tugged gently on it with his teeth.

An internal rash of heat spread through me the longer we kissed, from the warm buzzes of contact from his lips on mine to my core area, where his pelvis pressed tightly and pinned me down with evidence that he was just as worked up as I felt.

"Slowly," he whispered and broke off, nuzzled his nose down the side of my neck, and trailed his lips behind. The soft sucks and nips into my skin tingled and gently stung in all the right ways and throbbed a pulse beat in my core area, which practically begged for a faster speed.

Logan ignored the whimper I was sure left my lips and lowered himself down my shoulder, kissed a trail along my collarbone, and even softly nuzzled his head into my chest. Like my heart's frenetic pace, I panted wildly as one of his hand's fingers rolled up the edge of my shirt and his fingers traced soft lines over my stomach. By now my underwear was so damp, I needed another pair for tomorrow.

In what felt like an agonizingly slow pace, his hand raised to my ribs, where his knuckles brushed the underside of my left breast, which tingled and weighed down heavier as his hand squeezed the outside of my bra and he groped a feel. Under the trembles that quaked down my spine, I sucked a deep breath into my lungs, which burned so much I feared they'd burst.

"Okay, let's just -" I huffed, sat up far enough that I removed both my shirt and bra, then tossed them aside. "Speed this up a little."

With three hand yanks, my underwear, pants, and all of Logan's clothes joined mine in a floor heap. The look Logan gave me, wide-eyed, amused, but his pupils definitely enlarged, was comical if I thought anything about the frustration that burned inside me was funny.

"Better." I smirked, cupped my hands around the back of his head, and tugged him back down to me skin-to-skin.

I absorbed the vibrations of his inward laugh with my parted lips and gently flicked the tip of my tongue against his. The slight contact, along with the way I bucked my hips upward until my folds rubbed heated friction over the head of his erection. If he needed any further encouragement, I reached down, aligned his tip with my entrance, then slipped him inside with one push of my heels on his butt.

"Fuck, Ellie," Logan choked out and detached his mouth from mine, but he rolled his weight onto one elbow, thankfully pushed further into me, and grabbed my breast in his large palm.

I dug the pads of my fingers into his back as he slowly pushed in and out of me, until a slow coil of heated frustration built up in my pelvis. Once he rolled his hips and gently nudged himself deep inside me, I bit back a moan at how he lovingly stroked just into the right place. Our steady, rolling motions felt tender, soothing almost, and just as gentle as when we'd tried this the first time.

Or, second. First should be erased from my memory.

My skin broke out in a light sheen of perspiration under the heat that rolled off Logan's body, tight with restraint, and his hot breath on the side of my neck. His hand released my breast and elbows squeezed around my shoulders like he clung to me. Internally, his cock throbbed and pulsed, so I clenched down my inner muscles on his next deliberately slow thrust.

"Ellie..." Logan groaned, lifted his head, and took what little breath I still had at the sight.

The blue in his eyes stormed with the internal battle he fought against letting himself go against the pressure that throbbed between us both. Like a silent battle of internal wills, Logan stared down at me with an almost tortured expression of restraint. Behind the lust that clouded over his eyes, I saw straight inside him - his heart, his devotions, and a raw, pure, endless amount of love that put tears into the corners of my eyes and struck a sobering pain into my chest.

I gasped and doubled over the next time my inner walls clenched around him because it wasn't voluntary. As my orgasm blanketed both of us, Logan gritted his teeth tightly, squeezed his eyes shut, then exhaled hard, relaxed, and released a flush of warmth inside me.

After a few seconds where we just breathed hard at each other, Logan's mouth pulled back into a lazy grin and he rested his forehead against mine. Once the last pulses of his finish twitched faintly inside me, he pressed the softest, sweetest kiss against my lips.

Logan and I woke up this morning in almost the exact same position we'd fallen asleep in, his large frame curled around the back of mine. The only exception was now his morning glory poked in between my bare ass cheeks. Once fully awake, we took care of his issue in an amazing wake up moment.

I wasn't sure what had possessed my ridiculously handsome boyfriend, but our sex rounds had changed since we'd abstained for a few weeks after Dad's funeral. His movements slowed down, he took his time with both his lips and touch, and gazed intensely into my eyes as he thrust and rolled his hips into mine.

Like every time Logan was on top, this morning his large frame dwarfed mine, two muscular arms caged around my shoulders, his knees spread mine open, and he used the strength and power in his muscular form as he buried himself bare into me. I felt every throb, every flinch, twitch, and movement while he dragged out and pushed back in.

Once both of us came and shivered through our releases, Logan kissed me gently once, twice, thrice, then rolled us over with his cock still inside me. Warmth radiated from our damp skin's contact and internally I felt as his shaft twitched and relaxed.

Only when I remembered I probably needed to use the toilet I begrudgingly got up and, once I did, winced at the soreness in my body. Knots appeared in muscles I apparently never used, particularly my legs and calves, and Logan's light smack on my ass on our way to the shower hadn't helped.

A hot shower dulled but hadn't worked out my soreness, so after a late breakfast, I practically ran over to the resort's spa. My new best friend, a lovely woman named Bethany with light blonde hair and magical hands, rubbed and massaged out every knot, kink, and pent up tension until my muscles felt like melted butter and I practically fell asleep on the table. Only my arm muscles worked as I held Logan's hand during the couples massage which, by the relaxed look on his closed-eye expression, he enjoyed more than he admitted.

"That was amazing," I cooed to Logan afterwards.

In a sleeplike walk, we both made our way back to the cabin, where the lights were on but other than two pairs of snow-covered boots on the front porch, we saw no signs of Harper or Jake. I stomped the snow off our boots, stepped inside, but stopped instantly. Logan bumped into me from behind but stilled at the sight that greeted us.

My mouth hung open, eyes stretched wide, and I screeched out in a near-panicked voice, "What the hell!?"