Author's Note: Thank you for taking the time to read my work. This is my first time writing pretty much anything. I've always enjoyed reading erotica, but wanted to try my hand at writing them. I did my best with editing and used Grammarly, however I'm sure there's still some errors so I ask that you please excuse them. I'm open to constructive criticisms to help improve my writing too.
Now, onto the story...
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Whoever thought it was a good idea to send me over the Sierra Nevada mountains at the end of February was now officially on my shit list. Usually, I would've loved the drive, but in the later part of winter, when the snow machine was in peak form, it was miserable and downright dangerous.
"Shit," I muttered as I downshifted into 3rd gear, feeling the 2H turbo diesel engine in my 1989 Toyota Land Cruiser send a jolt of power and torque to the snow-covered road.
"Joel?" The worried voice of my young Croatian co-worker Ljubica caught my attention. I knew she wasn't used to these conditions since she'd grown up in the mild climate of Pula, Croatia.
"We'll be alright, Lu," I offered reassurance as I grabbed 2nd gear to climb the steep grade. "She's not fast, but there's not much this old Landy can't get through. Although, I wasn't expecting it to be this snowy."
"Me either," Ljubica's voice was still shaky. "How far is it to Reno?"
"We're just outside of Colfax," I said, glancing at Google Maps. "Looks like 80 miles or so. It'd be about two hours in good weather, but in this shit, who knows how long."
All my scared co-worker could do was nod and then look out the window at the blanket of white covering the mountains. Any other time it would be beautiful, but on the road and driving to a client's office? Not so much.
To try and reduce my worry, I started thinking about what the next day had in store. Ljubica and I were in medical sales for a company based in Sacramento, California. Our job took us all over the Western US and while the company was quite large, we ended up paired together frequently. Being with her was always a plus; we always had fun wherever we went.
On this trip, we were heading to St. Mary's Medical Center in Reno, Nevada, before stopping at Renown just down the road. Then the following day, we'd head to Carson City to stop at Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center and up to South Lake Tahoe to visit a few clinics around there. While it had been a snowy winter, our director figured we'd be fine if we stuck to the interstate. As the snow piled up, it became apparent that we wouldn't be.
As we climbed in altitude and the snowfall became heavier, I glanced over at my co-worker sitting in the passenger seat. Ever since she started working in my group a year ago, I had found myself attracted to her. While she wasn't traditionally beautiful and had a few extra pounds here or there, she had the most enchanting personality out of anyone I'd ever met. Ljubica's ability to make me smile and melt away negative energy made her a perfect 10 in my book. Even just a simple good morning or how are you today would be enough to brighten my day.
This wasn't to say she was ugly though; in fact, I thought the opposite, although the other guys in the department disagreed with me. With silky smooth black hair that flowed down her shoulders, piercing green eyes that looked through dark-rimmed glasses, full pink lips, and milky white skin, she didn't fit the California mould. Ljubica was a bit on the tall side too, nearly coming up to my 5'10" frame while wearing flats. This seemed to intimidate other men for some reason, which always confused me.
I sighed, wondering if I'd ever get the courage to ask her for dinner. I knew deep down that I wouldn't since, in my mind, Ljubica was way out of my league and I didn't want to risk our friendship either. Still, by not asking, it continued to eat away at me with the what-if scenarios.
My pondering and train of thought were quickly interrupted by a buzzing from my phone. I tapped the screen and brought up the weather alert that showed the road was quickly going to become impassable if we continued going up in elevation. I looked back at the map, saw that we were coming up on Emigration Gap, and asked Ljubica to find a place to stop.
Unfortunately, there was only one option, a lodge just outside of what passed for a town. I eased off the freeway, ploughing through at least seven inches of snow and pulled into the Sierra Woods Lodge, which already looked pretty crowded.
"I hope we aren't shit out of luck with rooms," I said as we trudged through the snow. "I'm not sure how much further we can get up the road and going downhill in this will be a bitch."
"I'm sure we'll be fine," it was now Ljubica's turn to reassure me.
We approached the check-in desk and talked to the exhausted-looking receptionist behind the counter. It was clear they'd had a massive influx of people and that she was the only one trying to run more or less everything, including the coffee bar.
"We have one room left," the receptionist replied when we asked her if they had any vacancies. "Are you two a couple though? It's probably our smallest room and only has one queen-sized bed."
"We'll take it," Ljubica responded before I could tell the receptionist that we'd have to pass.
I was shocked, but given the state of the weather outside, it was likely the best option. I had no idea what the road conditions were like further up the mountain, but they were undoubtedly the same or worse and with the low winter sun starting to set, the danger would quickly ramp up.
We got the keys, pulled the Land Cruiser around, and parked it in front of the door. After taking out our bags, we entered the small room that was warm, toasty, and quite cosy, all things considered. It was also clean and new, which made me feel a bit better that we wouldn't be stuck in the equivalent of the Bates Motel in the Sierra Mountains.
"You can have the bed," I gestured to Ljubica. "I can sleep on the floor. I think some of my camping stuff is in the back of the truck."
"Nonsense, Joel," Ljubica gave me a stern look. "The bed is big enough for both of us. Plus, your back will be ruined if you sleep on the floor like that."
Ljubica wasn't wrong; the floor was rather firm and even with my camping stuff, it wouldn't be pleasant. Still, I didn't want to creep her out and I still felt a bit uneasy, but I ultimately agreed since trying to drive the rest of the way to Reno tomorrow with a backache didn't sound ideal.
With that out of the way, we settled in, got out our laptops, and Ljubica texted our director to inform her that we wouldn't make it to Reno due to the weather. While Ljubica typed away on her phone, I flipped on the TV to better understand the weather. Unfortunately, the forecast was pretty grim and it looked like we might be stuck here for a couple of days. The highway behind us was already closed and further up the mountain, they were expecting upwards of 50 inches of snow.
I informed Ljubica of the news and she sighed before going back to texting our boss, presumably to tell her we were in a dire situation.
