It had already been a bumper year as far as snow goes. Normally we might see a couple of inches that stuck around for a week, perhaps two; but this year we had been blessed with three large dumps. Boom, boom, boom. One after another, with no time for the previous snowfall to melt. As a result, everything had a lovely covering of fluffy white stuff, turning crusty and gray. My snowshoes had been getting a lot of use on the local trails. The skiers of the region had been having the time of their lives in the powder. And snow shovel sales had been going great. If you had to take transit? Not so much of a good time, slushy puddles of spray and canceled buses were the norm.
The other thing that had been getting a good work out was my snow shovel. Living in a small condo complex, we had the roads plowed regularly, but few people kept even basic snow removal equipment due to the size of the condos. The box-like units were short on storage. A snow shovel for a one in ten year snow storm was not something most folks had. And by the time the need became clear to all, the big box stores were all sold out.
That created a variable patchwork within the complex. Some people really didn't give a damn and left the snow to pile up and get trodden down until it became an icy slip and slide. I had hung on to the snow shovel for some reason that had escaped me the first two years I lived in the complex. I was always moving it around my small storage room to access one thing or another. This winter though, I remembered why I had it. The latest snowfall was four to five inches of fresh snow overnight, and with temperatures not going to climb even close to zero for the next week, it would be hanging around.
With a sigh, I looked out of the window as I started the coffee maker. Although it was still snowing, and I knew that it was a sisyphean task, I grabbed my boots and the shovel and headed out to clear the snow from my walkway. The last few times I had done this, I had done my neighbors' side as well; down the steps to the parking lot and to the side of the cars. It only added five or ten minutes of shoveling to do both sides, and they had seemed like a decent enough couple when they moved in over the summer. Jesse and Mark (maybe Mike?). Odds were they didn't have a snow shovel. We didn't chat over the fence or anything, but we were on the 'waving at each other' kind of terms.
Shoveling the snow, and thinking about my neighbors - mostly about the wife - I made short work of the pathway in front of my place. Remembering back to the summer when I had often seen her in cut off denim shorts and a cropped sleeveless t-shirt kept my mind off the cold. She was truly one of those women who you look at their partner and wonder what kind of hold there is that keeps them together. While she was slim and tanned, and looked like she worked out regularly, he was getting a pot belly and looked like he was losing his hair - a prime candidate for a combover in a few more years. She seemed to be about my age, late 20s; while he seemed like he was a few years older. They didn't have any kids, and as I daydreamed about the cut off denim, how well she filled out her top and the warm days of summer I slung the snow off the steps down to the parking lot.
Coming back to do their pathway and steps, although it had been cold enough at the beginning to be wearing a hoodie and gloves, the exertion had warmed me up something fierce and I was sweating now. I always feel that if there's physical work to be done, that working hard at it gives you the benefit of the exercise. So I peeled off the hoodie and tossed it on my steps and began to clear the snow from in front of their place.
As I was getting to the end I straightened to stretch my back out - shoveling is hard work if you don't do it regularly, and although I kept myself in shape it was good to stretch. As I was stretching out my lower back I glanced up and saw that I was being watched. Jesse was standing in her kitchen window, overlooking my work. She was dressed in a silk looking robe, and was cradling a big cup of something warm in her hands as if just seeing me in the cold was chilling her. I gave her a wave and set off to finish up the last few meters of pathway. Standing around admiring her through the window was just going to get me chilled. My t-shirt was stuck to me with sweat, dark patches on my chest and under my arms.
I was trudging up the steps to my unit when I heard her call out to me.
"Peter, have you got a sec?" I couldn't see her so she must be shouting from the doorway. Very sensible, staying warm. I grabbed my hoodie and as I jogged over I pulled it on.
She was standing with the door open, and I could feel the heat from inside. It must have been 25 degrees, no wonder she was happy in a silk kimono. Now that I got closer I could see it was quite short and very sheer. It was patterned with little birds, but what held my attention was that it barely came mid thigh on her. It molded smoothly around the contours of her breasts. I had already seen that she had lovely legs over the summer, but the kimono seemed perfectly made to show them off to me again. They were slim and tanned, and I wondered what it would be like running my tongue up the inside of her thigh. The tie that kept it together was artfully just below her bust and it seemed like the cold was affecting her despite the heat in the house. I could clearly see the indentations of her nipples poking at the thin fabric. Her breasts seemed like they would be a good handful, but not much more. A big B cup perhaps, but they fit well with her slim build and made her look more top heavy than she actually was.
I greeted her, and tried not to look like I would be willing to eat her for dinner. Which was tough, because she made me feel like a wolf about to devour little red riding hood. I'm sure I only partially kept the look of lustful appreciation off my face, though I did manage to avoid addressing myself to her chest.
"Thanks for shoveling the pathway, we really appreciate it." She laid on the emphasis on 'we' as she stood leaning against the door frame. Well I'd done it four times already, so I was glad to be appreciated, though it would have been OK if it had just been her appreciating me.
"No worries - that's what neighbors are for right?"
"We don't have a shovel, and I've felt so bad seeing you doing it by yourself. If you leave the shovel out, Martin said he will do it this evening so you don't have to. It's probably going to snow all day, do you think?" I guess his name was neither Mark nor Mike.
"That would be great Jesse, I'd like that. I don't mind leaving the shovel out. I'll tuck it behind the screen door. If he can do it this evening, I'll get back on it tomorrow morning. I think I heard that it's just going to keep snowing on and off for the next few days - it would be great to have the help; I work up quite a sweat getting it all done."
"Mmhmm, I saw." Her eyes met mine, and for the first time I thought I saw something there. Had she been admiring me as I slung the snow around? "I mean, yes, ugh. You're probably getting cold. I'll get Martin to do it tonight. Bye." Suddenly acting flustered she spun on the spot, inadvertently giving me a greater glimpse of her legs and ass, and then she was gone and the door was closed.
Fair enough, I was getting cold and didn't want to spend all morning in the cold, no matter how attractive I thought she was. I needed to get into the town center and do some shopping before the roads got bad, or before some idiot with bald summer tires decided to get out for a drive.
By the time I got home just after lunch, the snow had paused for a bit, and there wasn't more than about an inch of freshly fallen snow since the morning. Martin would have an easy job of it in the evening if it stayed like that. I had some housework projects to keep me busy and spent the rest of the afternoon working away. Winter was when I did 'projects' so that they didn't need doing over the summer. Today's task was replacing a light fixture in the bathroom, and hanging a barn door fixture for the hallway closet. The original fixture had been a bifold mirrored door that had probably been cool in the 80s but not since.
When I caved at 6pm and ordered some food for delivery I looked out and saw that Martin might have a job ahead of him after all. There had been a little more snow and now there was about two or three inches had fallen now. Still easy to do, and only about 15 minutes of work all told. By the time my food arrived there was still no sign of Martin, though I could see his footprints in the snow leading to his front door.
Cracking a beer and settling down to eat my szechuan pork and catch up on some Game of Thrones, I thought to myself about this morning. Which brought a small adjustment in my pants as I thought about the sheer fabric of Jesse's kimono and how it would feel to run my hand down the slick material and over her tight ass. Feeling myself thicken at the thought, I adjusted and tried to put the thought out of my mind. It had been 6 months since I broke up with my last girlfriend and I was obviously ready to get back out there if my reaction was anything to go by. Oh well, I'll shovel the snow in the morning if he doesn't get it done, and I'll be no worse off than I would have been without Jesse's offer. But I got to see Jesse looking hot, and that was worth a little snow shoveling.
By the time I'd binged my way through a few beers and three episodes of GOT it was time for bed. The snow had come back with a vengeance and true to my suspicions, Martin had done fuck all. My mom always told me to try and be charitable, so I tried to think that perhaps he'd hurt himself or there was some good reason that he couldn't do it. In the end, it was tough to put the suspicion out of my mind that he just preferred to stay in the warm with Jesse's trim body. It sure would have been a temptation for me too. So I drifted off to sleep cursing one half of my neighbors, and imagining undressing the other half.
Sunday dawned with a silence that told me everything I needed to know, without even rolling out of bed. The quietness could only mean one thing - well, perhaps an EMP flare taking out the world electronics. More likely cause: a nice big dump of snow. Everyone looking out of their windows at their blanketed cars, and dreading the effort that would be required to do even the simplest of things today. Lot's of 'fuck it, I'm going back to bed' happening. Might be a good day for a snowshoe later. Once I got the sidewalks cleared. Ugh. I rolled out of bed and peeked out the window. Sure enough a solid eight or nine inches had fallen since yesterday morning, and the temperature was hovering around -8c. Martin hadn't bothered with his promised shoveling. Well, he hadn't promised, Jesse had. Hmm.
Jumping in the shower to warm up, I couldn't get my mind off my sexy neighbor and what was under that kimono. Enjoying the warmth of the shower and thinking about Jesse left me nursing a semi erection as I tucked myself into my carhartts and prepared to address snowmageddon once again. I was stopped in my tracks in the kitchen, a real what the fuck moment; before I even got my coffee and mentally limbered up for shovelling in the cold.
My sexy neighbor was shoveling the snow. The job that she had said her husband would do was getting done by her. Well, almost. She hadn't been out there when I looked out, maybe half an hour ago, and she had barely made a dent. Each shovel full seemed to tax her to the limit. Each one seemed like it was just short of her one rep max as she dug down into the snow and lifted it to fling aside. Her blonde hair looked plastered to her and I could see that she was sweating hard. Good girl. Getting it done. I felt really proud of her, that she had stepped up, and despite being out of her depth - almost literally - she was doing what she could.
