Snow crunched pleasantly underfoot as they stomped in front of the little log cabin which would be their home for the next two weeks. There was a lingering odour of woodsmoke in the air around it that felt welcoming.
This trip was something Jack had been planning and saving up for almost fanatically, for the past two years. But as he glanced sidelong at his precious daughter, Lauren, face beaming with excitement, he knew the ridiculous amount of overtime had been worth every soul crushing second, just to see his princess glow as radiantly as she did in that moment.
21 or not, she would always be his princess and daddy's little girl.
Lauren was almost the spitting image of her mother, his wife Sarah, when Sarah was that age except for the hair. Unlike the soft loamy brown that Sarah used to put so much effort into maintaining, Lauren had chosen instead to dye it a deep cherry red that matched the lipstick she always wore.
With a sheen and lustre that would put any hair product advert to shame, her hair cascaded down her back in waves of curls that contrasted Sarah, who had been fond of smart ponytails until it became the untamed mess it was today.
Aside from that, they had looked identical with same bottle green eyes, heart shaped lips and hourglass figure that used to drive Jack absolutely nuts when Sarah was the woman he used to love, and not the fucking thing that had eaten her. It was an awful thing to think, but that's how he truly felt these days.
He had tried so very, very hard to support his wife as she slowly transformed into someone unrecognisable. No matter how much gym equipment he bought, no matter the diet plan he drew up, Sarah just never put the effort in anything anymore. Jack knew it was partly his own fault for focusing so much on work, but the bills had always been relentless and he always needed to do just a bit more to keep them above water instead of drowning in crippling debt.
Although it was likely that same work ethic that had made them grow ever more distant, and push Sarah to binge eat and do nothing but stay at home and watch reality TV instead of doing anything with her life instead. Once she had been so full of fire and passion, yet that flame had dwindled and pretty much died.
It had taken forever to save up for this trip to Austria, but when Lauren had said she wanted to go snowboarding for her 21st birthday two years ago, he'd sworn to her that daddy would make sure got her wish.
Even if that meant running himself into the ground and an early grave, he would do it gladly.
Sarah had been against the idea of course, but in a rare show of defiance, Jack had firmly stood his ground and said that they were going as it was an important birthday for Lauren. His wife had eventually given in but complained that she wouldn't be able to go on such an intensive holiday due to her weight. Ever the peacemaker, Jack had readily agreed they could do something as a family when they got back, and knowing she wouldn't be spending a penny towards either outing, Sarah had relented completely.
"Dad?" Lauren asked with a touch of concern, watching him curiously. She was wrapped up in a thick, green thermal jacket that went well with her eyes, black ski pants and matching black boots with furry ankles. "You ok?"
Realising he had spaced out in thought for a moment, Jack looked away and nodded to the log cabin with a big grin.
"Yeah, I'm good princess. I was just thinking it was nice to see you smiling again." He said sincerely, not remembering the last time both of them hadn't forced a proper smile. Between her last bad breakup with Mark and his own failed marriage, things hadn't been good on father and daughter. "I bet you are looking forward to letting loose out here."
They had been to ski facilities before, and without fail Lauren would always be the one doing the most tricks and reaching the bottom with grace and style that had made Jack compare his daughter to a bird in a cage that never truly got to spread her wings and take flight.
"In more ways than one." Lauren answered a little cryptically, with a mischievous smile he hadn't seen since she was younger. It was endearing now, but back then trouble was almost guaranteed to follow and in the messiest way possible.
And she was over Mark quicker than he would have thought, but hey, if she wanted to go down into the town and have some "fun" to get over a break up then he wouldn't stop or judge her.
Lauren was a grown ass woman now and didn't need her loser father clipping her wings further than they already were.
Although he did worry about her, and wanted to smash the face in of the ones who hurt her. Sadly supporting a family from prison isn't a fantastic prospect for the average father, so he simply imagined the scenarios instead.
"Well either way, the fun can start tomorrow... the coach ride into town after our flight finally did me in I think." Jack groused as he stepped up to the door, taking off his thick woolen gloves so he could retrieve the keys to the cabin. It was a two storied wooden building with a gabled roof covered in a thick layer of snow and wide porch that reached across the entire width of the cabin, and like the rest of the exterior, the door was made of thick spruce or pine.
Jack had no fucking idea, but the brochure had said that's what they were typically made from. The log lined walls and the rest of it looked nice, so that was good enough for him.
He felt Lauren step closer as they stomped the snow off their boots before he slid the key into the lock and with a loud, satisfying, click, opened the cabin and revealed the cosy haven within.
The downstairs was nice and spacious, somewhat of a combination of living room, kitchen and dining room all rolled into one, complete with a metal and stone fireplace with a thick glass sliding shutter that they could throw chopped wood into, which they had plenty of, with a mounted pile resting in a woven basket off to the side.
There was also a large comfy leather couch pressed up against a circular window, and in front of the couch was a lovely carved wooden table. Along with wooden shelves with little austrian knick-knacks and picture frames of local scenery, it was every bit the serene and peaceful escape they had pictured it to be. There was also a gentle touch of lavender that seemed to conceal the woodsmoke smell that was pervading outside.
Jack had been so distracted by the atmosphere, he hadn't noticed Lauren unzip her jacket and remove her ski pants until she was practically skipping past him towards the stairs with her bags in just her black under thermals, which was essentially just a skin tight, long sleeve shirt and leggings. And with an ass and tits as big and shapely as hers, it wasn't hard to notice how well the garments clung to her lithe body and accentuated her curved form perfectly.
He had to look away as he also noticed there was no outline of bra and panties beneath, meaning she wasn't wearing any, and he was completely mortified at her brazen disregard. The under thermals were technically clothes, but they left little to the imagination and Jack was positive that you were still meant to wear underwear beneath them.
"Er... princess..." He awkwardly started to say, after swallowing hard, but Lauren had practically vanished to the floor above, posterior slowly shifting from side to side as she ascended.
Probably to get changed, he reasoned and started to unpack his own stuff on the couch, eager to distract himself from what had just happened. The cabin had a double bed upstairs, but obviously they couldn't share that, so Jack had been happy enough to sleep downstairs and give her the actual bed. It was her birthday trip, and he wanted to make sure she had the best time, no matter what he had to sacrifice to make sure she did.
And so it went, for the first few days.
Everything was normal for the most part, except for the occasional oddity Jack picked up on but couldn't fully explain at the time. They would wake up, eat a hearty breakfast for plenty if energy, go out onto the snowy slopes and join the other skiers and snowboarders, sticking together for a while before Lauren disappeared off on her own as he could not keep up with her, instead choosing routes closer to his own level or stopping at one of the piste-side cafes for a hot chocolate and wiener schnitzel before later meeting up at the town at the bottom of the mountain to do some shopping or get something to eat.
The first odd thing was, despite being approached by a frankly alarming number of men in Jack's opinion, Lauren didn't seem to be interested in any of them and even Jack liked the look of a few of them as they seemed like nice, honest lads. Even the ones he didn't like were conventionally very attractive and he couldn't understand what she might have been looking for in them and bit finding.
The second had been the continuation of her brazen strutting around the cabin in her under thermals on the first night or in nothing but just towels after a shower or on one occasion just lounging around in her underwear.
The kind of underwear he used to buy Sarah from Victoria's Secret.
The only logical things he could come up with was either she felt like she was completely safe to do so around her father or had reverted back to thinking like her younger self.
Both ideas were very baffling, yet Jack didn't know how to bring it up without looking like he was creeping on his own daughter, so he let it go. They didn't get enough time together as it was and it would have been a shame to ruin the trip if he made things weird. Or weirder.
Yet it was on the fourth night, when things truly got out of hand.
As the shower room was connected to the bedroom, Lauren had been staying downstairs and texting on her phone, or whatever she did, while Jack used the shower, got changed and when it was her turn he would always call up the stairs before climbing up them when she answered. But on that day, as Jack left the shower with nothing but a towel to hide his shame, he found his daughter sitting on the bed in just her under thermals watching him intently, waiting.
"Is everything alright?" He asked after a moment of awkward silence. It wasn't just the fact she was on the bed, but also how she was sitting upon it, legs slightly spread, leaning back onto her hands as she made direct eye contact. If it had been Sarah 21 years ago, the towel would have been thrown out the fucking window and he'd have been on her in a matter of seconds.
But this wasn't his wife, it was his daughter.
She didn't speak for a moment, but her eyes seemed to flicker momentarily to his broad chest, to his tree trunk like arms and then back to his emerald eyes. Unlike Sarah, Jack had kept himself in good shape over the years. Sure, he had a bit of a beer belly but the rest of him?
Pure, raw muscle.
None of that steroid shit, either. And a man needed a hobby other than work, after all.
