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  With a shake of her head, Penny tuned back into the conversation.

  “Seriously? Didn’t see that coming. Mack wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of here when we were younger. You didn’t tell me he was back. What’s he been up to?”

  Craig lifted a shoulder. “Sorry, I thought I told you. He’s been back a few months now. He ended up going to Denver and playing hockey for Colorado College. Got his business degree there, played a few years for a variety of teams in the ECHL and AHL and then decided to come back home. I’ve seen him a few times since he’s been back. We’ve hung out at the Powderhorn. Just like old times. We should give him a call.”

  She nodded absently. Just like old times, indeed.

  She wasn’t sure if Craig ever knew how close Penny had come to dating Mack. Actually, she had dated Mack. Exactly once. They’d gone to the movies, which Craig was very much aware of. It wasn’t too long after that night that Craig had admitted he had feelings for her. The rest was history. Mack had scared her in a lot of ways, as much as they were friends. He’d had a darker edge than Craig, and even in high school he’d gotten around. Not manwhore territory, but definitely getting close to it.

  She followed Craig toward the master bedroom, peering around at everything as they walked past the rest of the house. “Have you redecorated at all since your parents moved out?”

  Craig snickered. “Why should I? This came furnished, didn’t it?”

  “Right, how foolish of me.”

  “Come on. Get undressed and under the covers.”

  Penny arched a brow. “Say what?” Sure, they’d been flirting, and she was pretty sure where they were eventually going with this, but that was quick even for Craig.

  He grinned wickedly. “What? You can’t blame a guy for trying.”

  “Just go get the movie. I’m stealing one of your shirts.”

  “Go for it. I’ll be right back.” He closed the door behind him.

  She looked around now that she was alone in his bedroom. The walls were painted dark, and were offset by the light wood of the floors. The furniture was all white, while the bedspread was a light beige, echoed in color by the beige plaid rug in front of the bed.

  It had been twelve years since she’d last been in Craig’s house, but she was positive his parents hadn’t had that bed frame. God, how weird would that be, sleeping in his parents bed? Walking over to the dresser against one wall, she opened a few drawers before finding one that housed sinfully soft cotton shirts. She picked one at random before stripping down to her panties and sliding the shirt on.

  Craig knocked on the closed door. “You decent?”

  “Just a minute.” She walked back to the bed, crawling under the covers and pulling them up to her chest before calling out again. “Okay.”

  Craig held up a DVD case in one hand while he carried two sodas in the other. “Figured you didn’t want anything too hard tonight. I don’t have root beer, though. Sorry about that.”

  “This will do. Hey, this is all new furniture, right?”

  “Of course. It’s my stuff from university. All joking aside, mom and dad really did take most of their stuff when they moved out. But, they were downsizing so they left the kitchen and living room pretty much as is.”

  “Cool. How weird is it living back in your parent’s place?” She watched him put the DVD in the huge TV/DVD combo that dominated the wall in front of the bed. Was that a guy thing that their TV had to be longer than they were tall or they felt inadequate? Geez.

  “See, that’s the thing, though. It’s not their place anymore. I own it fair and square. Just like The Candy Store. So, it’s not really all that weird.”

  Penny nodded in understanding. Yeah, that made sense.

  “Scootch over. I’m coming in.”

  Craig lifted up one corner of the sheet and slid in beside her as the opening credits began to roll. He handed her a soda, before popping the top of his own.

  Craig nudged her before raising his arm with a grin. “Come on. My side is going to get all cold if you don’t at least snuggle in.”

  She moved closer and placed her head down on his shoulder. The weight of his arm folded her closer still. Was it weird? That they could go from passion to friendship? She didn’t think so. This was what she wanted, to be in a loving relationship with her best friend. “Thanks.”

  “For what?”

  “For not making me talk about all that stuff tonight.”

  “Hey, tomorrow’s another day. We can afford to take at least one night off.” Craig pressed a kiss to the top of her head before turning back to the TV.

  She sighed and took a sip of soda. Until she figured out what really happened twelve years ago, nothing was going to get better. She just wished she knew where to start.

  ***

  Mack rolled over in bed, stretching his arms above his head with a yawn. Unfortunately for him, he was currently the only occupant of said bed. He was going through a dry spell. Through no fault of his own, but things hadn’t exactly happened the way he thought they would when he’d come home. The prodigal son and all that, Mack snorted. His life wasn’t quite as exciting as he’d once thought it would be.

  He’d come back here a year ago to scope out the lay of the land and see if he could really come back full time to start up a brewery. He’d been talking about it for awhile and he’d known he wanted to do it right. Coming back to Bandit Creek was the only option as far as he was concerned, but he hadn’t been sure if it would be possible.

  He hadn’t expected to run into Craig right away on his first night back. He definitely hadn’t expected their late night at the Powderhorn to move to Craig’s house and then into Craig’s bedroom. Sure, they’d been at least partially drunk, but Mack had been wanting a repeat of their time together in high school and he suspected Craig was just as bi as he was. Mack closed his eyes, bringing that memory closer in his mind.

  Mack leaned forward, capturing Craig’s lips with his own and melding their bodies together. The bulge at the other man’s crotch was more than satisfying.

  It’d been too long for Mack. He needed to get off, but this felt like more than that.

  He swallowed the moan Craig let slip out. Craig grasped his shoulders and pressed his hips hard against Mack. He inserted his thigh between Craig’s legs and gave him something to grind against.

  Mack pressed Craig backward and they fell to his bed with a thud of tangled limbs. He was nearly frantic now, but he couldn’t pull his mouth away. He inhaled deeply, taking the scent of Craig deeply into his lungs. Fuck, he felt fantastic. Memories of their last time threatened to intrude but Mack focused on the here and now. They’d had sex once upon a time, exactly once. But, this time Mack intended to savor Craig the way the man deserved.

  Mack released his lips and stared at his friend.

  Craig let out a moan that sounded suspiciously close to a whimper. “Please…”

  Reaching down, Mack drew up Craig’s shirt and helped him out of it. The cotton tee was flung somewhere behind him. He didn’t give a shit where it ended up right then. Without pausing, Mack drew up his own shirt and sent the tee in the same direction.

  Craig lifted a hand to run it down Mack’s chest. He threaded his fingers through the mat of hair before flicking his thumb over Mack’s nipple. Mack growled. “Do it again.”

  With a cheeky grin, Craig repeated the gesture. “Your turn.”

  Mack gladly took up the challenge and reached down with both hands to re-familiarize himself with Craig’s body. It definitely wasn’t the same build he’d had in high school. When the hell had Craig grown up? And who could Mack thank for the privilege of being here and getting to experience it?

  Craig made no move to stop him, instead his hips jerked infinitesimally, silently begging for something more.

  He intended to give it to him.

  Mack stood up and stripped both their jeans off without pause, followed by socks and underwear. He was done playing.

  Crawli
ng back onto the bed, Mack pushed up Craig’s legs and dove right for the sweet spot. Without letting Craig anticipate his movements, Mack licked a path straight up Craig’s dick. Craig let out a strangled moan. Yeah, that wasn’t going to do.

  With a wicked grin, Mack decided to let his fingers join the action. He grasped Craig’s cock in one hand, keeping his friend’s mind firmly between his legs. Pressing a hot kiss against the furry sac below, Mack kept moving down. He licked along Craig’s crease before centering right on the hole he intended to visit shortly. He arrowed his tongue and teased the ring of muscle. Hell, Craig tasted like the best kind of aphrodisiac. Mack grunted in pleasure.

  “Shit. Oh, man. Please, Mack. Fuck me. Enough. Please…”

  “Lube? Condoms?” He had some, but he didn’t think he’d be able to last to look for them.

  “In the, shit… In the table.”

  The condom was slipped on without any trouble. Removing the lube from the bedside table, Mack squeezed slippery liquid into his palm before coating his covered cock.

  “Knees or back?”

  “You want me to think?”

  Mack let out a pained laugh. Yeah, his brain was shorting out too. Back it was. Probably better for both of them if they didn’t have to move.

  He crawled back up toward that gorgeous body, leaning down to press a kiss against Craig’s lips. He grabbed the bottle of lube again and moved his hand down to get Craig ready, pushing first one and then two greased fingers into that greedy hole.

  Craig whimpered, removing one hand from where he’d fisted it in the covers to press over his mouth. Mack paused, bringing up his free hand to cover Craig’s.

  “You’re going to need both hands to brace yourself.”

  “I can’t...” His hips jerked, fucking himself on Mack’ fingers.

  He removed his fingers and pressed his cock against Craig’s ass in the next breath. He’d just reached the end of his restraint.

  “You okay?”

  Craig nodded wordlessly.

  Mack thrust, pressing insistently until he was balls deep inside his friend. Man, he felt good. Warm and inviting. Mack reached down with one hand to jerk Craig off in time to his thrusts. He drove his hips forward, bringing them both up to the edge and over until stars flashed in front of his eyes and he came explosively. He was dimly aware of Craig following him into paradise, achieving his own orgasm. They moved at the same time, lips clinging together. Mack felt his heart turn over in his chest, shocking him into drawing back to stare into Craig’s lazily sated gaze. What had just happened?

  He’d freaked. No excuses. He should have called or done something, but he’d tried to play it too cool. He hadn’t wanted to be hurt and his feelings for Craig had suddenly solidified into something major. He hadn’t known how to deal with it so he’d left. By the time he finally had his head screwed on straight, he’d come back for good and Craig was talking about a long-distance relationship with Penny.

  Hadn’t that been a fucking shock? How was Mack supposed to compete with Penny of all people? She’d been it for Craig back in high school. During their first short-lived time together, Mack had always been aware that he was competing against Penny.

  Speaking of Penny, he figured she must have arrived by now. Craig hadn’t been able to stop yammering about it for the past week. It had nearly been enough to drive Mack fucking batty.

  He wasn’t sure when he should go to see her. He’d have to put in an appearance in at some point. They’d been friends a long time ago. Hell, he’d wanted to be more than friends with her at one point, but she’d probably made the right decision there. Mack hadn’t exactly been the most genuine guy back in high school. How the hell else was he supposed to figure out what he wanted? Nothing wrong with experimentation.

  Although, his life had gotten complicated when he’d fallen for the girl his friend was dating. Honestly, he’d fallen for his friend too, but he’d known even then that nothing would come of it. He’d backed off of Penny when it was obvious how she felt about Craig, and he’d backed off of Craig when it was obvious how much better off Craig was without him.

  Not that he’d been entirely noble. He’d left to pursue his own dreams, after all.

  He was back. What the fuck was he going to do now?

  With another stretch, Mack figured it was time to get moving. He was due at the brewery this morning to see how far the work had gotten. He’d never thought he’d be back, but at least he returned on his terms. He’d made a few dollars playing hockey over the past number of years, and it was time to invest a bit of it into something he loved doing. Shit, he loved drinking beer, and the only thing better than drinking it was making it.

  If he could just get his personal life going the same way his professional life was, he’d be a happy camper. Mack snorted. Yeah, like that was going to happen. He’d had great hopes, but his biggest claim to fame was his horrible sense of timing back in school. Some things never changed. He still had a horrible sense of timing. If he’d moved back two years ago, or even a year ago… But, nothing could be done about that.

  If there was one thing his old man had taught him, it was that life often sucked and then you died. If you got a few happy years in before, then you had it made. Mack figured he wasn’t going to fall far from the tree, so he might as well enjoy what he had. If a part of him wished for more, he would just have to live with the disappointment.

  Chapter 3

  If Craig could kick his own ass, he would have happily done it about a dozen times. He couldn’t believe he’d been responsible for the bruised look on Penny’s face last night. Of course, he’d made it up to her with an oldie but goodie movie and some undemanding company. Hopefully.

  “Morning.”

  He turned around at the sound. “Hey, Penny Candy.”

  “What’s for breakfast?” she asked.

  He brandished his waffle iron proudly. “Waffles. With whatever you want on them. And my special kick-ass coffee.”

  Penny smiled. “Chocolate chip with strawberries and whip cream?”

  He burst into laughter. “How’d I know you were going to ask for that? Of course I can do chocolate chip waffles.”

  Man, she looked biteable, and not just because she was wearing one of his tee shirts and nothing else. Her hair was pulled back into a youthful ponytail, and it was still the same chestnut brown. Combined with her warm brown eyes, he’d always thought she looked like a playful chocolate Labrador. She’d kick his ass if he ever actually said that out loud, and he wasn’t stupid. Although, if she wanted to put her sinfully curvy body against his in any way, he’d take it. He wanted to ask her again if she was planning on moving back, but he didn’t want to look too desperate. He could wait.

  “Sit down, I’ll get breakfast. Coffee?”

  “Of course. Sure you don’t need help?” She stepped up beside him while he poured the coffee and wrapped an arm around his waist.

  “Nah, I’m good. Sit your ass down. Mom would have my hide if I made a guest work in this house.”

  Penny grinned before pressing a kiss to the side of his neck. “How’s your mom doing?” She wandered over to the table and perched on the chair with her knees drawn up to her chest.

  Craig took a second just to stare at her. Beautiful. He shook his head and walked to the fridge.

  “Awesome, now that she doesn’t have to teach any of the little kiddies anymore. Her and Dad love Missoula like you wouldn’t believe.”

  He got out the proper fixings for his waffles, placed everything on the counter and mixed it together. He liked this. Being with her first thing in the morning, all cozy in his kitchen. She hadn’t even had a shower yet. No make-up on, either. Fucking stunning. And the fact that she was comfortable enough in front of him not to worry about primping was a very good thing. Especially after last night.

  “I’m glad for them.”

  Craig nodded as he set the timer for the waffle iron. “Yep. Me too.”

  “So, are we just going to wa
lk around what happened last night?” She asked.

  “Nothing happened. We fell asleep. Just like old times, right?” Shit, he wasn’t sure how to treat her right now. She was giving mixed signals like crazy, but he knew a lot of that was the lingering confusion over her parents. If he helped her out with that, their own relationship would probably become a lot clearer. She deserved to know the truth.

  “Yeah. Right. I meant before that and you know it, jerk.” She smiled to soften the insult.

  “Can we talk about it after we eat?”