STORY EXCERPT

The next morning, he was the first into the kitchen. After starting a pot of coffee, he got his customary bowl of cereal and container of yogurt and sat at the breakfast bar. Not long after, Red came stumbling into the kitchen, pushing the ginger-colored hair that had earned him his nickname out of his face and reaching for the coffeepot before it had even finished its brew cycle. Good thing Fredrik had one of those fancy ones that stopped dripping as soon as someone took the pot away or they would’ve had a mess on their hands.

Sitting next to Fredrik, Red mumbled, “Morning,” as if the very word offended him.

Considering how often they had to be up early for practice or games, it was pretty funny how much Red hated mornings. Fredrik usually steered clear of him for the first hour or two, and so he continued to eat in silence as Red slurped his coffee like drinking it was a timed Olympic event. With a shake of his head, Fredrik brought his empty bowl to the sink, rinsed it, and put it in the dishwasher.

He and Red had agreed at the beginning of the summer that each of them would put their dishes in the dishwasher immediately, rather than letting the dirties gather in the sink and smell the place up. Neither of them was a clean freak, but through the years Fredrik had learned a few tricks that made living with another guy a little easier. Not letting the house become a pigsty was one of them.

Turning, he surreptitiously studied Red. Fredrik wasn’t into dudes, but he’d never understood why Red didn’t get more play from the ladies. He was a good-looking guy. Besides the red hair, which women seemed to think was adorable when they did pay attention to him, the kid had green eyes and pale skin dusted with freckles. Due to the nature of his occupation, he obviously had a nice body and was a good guy to boot. So why hadn’t Red had a single date in the time he’d lived with Fredrik? Yesterday’s encounter had proven pretty emphatically that he wasn’t gay, so what was it?

Fredrik shook his head again to clear it. Liz wasn’t up yet, and Fredrik had to admit he was curious about how the other man would react to seeing her again. Red continued to slump in his barstool, mainlining caffeine, and Fredrik left the house briefly to grab the paper. He’d just set it down on the breakfast bar when Liz made her appearance wearing one of his T-shirts, and, if Fredrik’s guess was correct, nothing else. What was she playing at? She was practically flashing the poor guy. He settled in to watch the show.

After grabbing her own cup of coffee, she set it on the counter next to the pot and then hopped up beside it. Long expanses of her shapely legs were front and center, yet she was keeping her thighs closed tight, something Fredrik was grateful for since he wasn’t in the mood to do CPR on his teammate after the kid had a heart attack.

Fredrik knew the second Red was aware of Liz’s presence. His back straightened like a rod and he stared into his coffee cup as if it held the answers to life’s great questions. But then Liz shifted so she could pick up her cup, and his gaze got caught on her, his eyes roving up and down her body as she re-settled and took a sip. She made a face and climbed back down from the counter, opening the fridge and adding a dollop more milk to her cup, and Red followed her the entire way. Fredrik had just eaten, but he considered making popcorn. This was even better than he’d hoped. With a surreptitious glance, he saw the younger man had popped an erection and doubted it was typical morning wood. Nope, Liz was into the kid, and it looked like he was into her.

Interesting.

She got back on the counter and swung her legs. “So what’s going on today? I’ve gotta go into the store and knock some heads. My employees aren’t using the new coding system for inventory control I had installed, which pretty much makes it useless. You’d think they’d be more concerned with keeping inventory costs down. I mean, I know they’re not the owner like I am, but when you carry the labels we do, you want to know exactly how much stock you have, right? Anyway, what’re you guys doing?” Liz looked at Fredrik over the rim of her cup, ignoring Red. Fredrik smirked.

The little minx. Man, the signals she was sending were enough to do any man in, but a young guy like Red? If he blushed any more, he’d be his own red-light district. Fredrik figured he was probably picturing Liz in one of the getups she put together for her store windows. She owned a high-end clothing shop, and her window displays were as risqué as possible without getting her in trouble with the local chamber of commerce.

“Nothing much. Red and I both have PT, and then we’re slated to go skate a bit, so we were gonna drive together. Wanna grab some lunch afterward, or will you be at work?”

“I’ve got a bunch of errands to run before I go in. I’m not scheduled today, but I need to be there when my employees are or lecturing them won’t be nearly as effective. Lunch sounds good.”

“I need a shower,” Red blurted out before jumping off the stool and hightailing it out of the room.

“What’s his problem?”

Fredrik sighed. He really did feel a little sorry for his roommate. “I’m pretty sure you were driving him crazy.”

ADULT EXCERPT

Every cell in Rick “Red” Armstrong’s body wept with relief. He’d just finished his most grueling PT session yet and couldn’t wait to plop on the couch and watch movies for the rest of the day. The older defenseman Fredrik, whom he lived with, had a huge-ass TV. Red liked to say the people were life-sized in the movies they both loved to watch. The season was starting soon, and he needed to take as much time as he could to rest before the rigors of training camp and the marathon season began.

Reaching into the fridge, he grabbed a bottle of water and downed half of it in one long gulp, wiping his mouth with his hand as he exited the room through the swinging door. His thoughts about what movies he would pick of the hundreds Fredrik kept on hand flew out of his head as he stopped dead.

Fredrik and his girlfriend Liz were going at it hot and heavy on the couch. Liz’s long brown hair was tangled in Fredrik’s hand as he pulled her head back. Her eyes were closed in ecstasy, but Red knew they were a rich brown. Sure, Liz was his roommate’s girlfriend, but Red wasn’t dead. Of course he’d noticed how hot Liz was, and yes, even though he’d felt guilty for it, she had starred in more than a few of his fantasies late at night. Between her beautiful face and curves that seriously would not quit, how could he not imagine what it would be like to fuck her? And watching her in the throes of passion right now? Holy shit. He stumbled backward, trying to give his roommate some privacy, but his ass hit the door frame and both Fredrik and Liz looked up. Red felt a flush begin in his neck and work its way up to his face.

Damn stupid pale skin.

“I’ll…” His voice broke, and he cleared his throat, trying again. “I’ll just leave you alone.” Red’s hands were up in front of him like someone was holding a gun to his head, the bottle of water wobbling in his less-than-steady hand.

Liz smiled. “You don’t have to.”

“Huh?”

Real smooth.

“Come on over here. Join us.”

Red’s eyes practically bulged out of his head. It wasn’t like he was a virgin, but this was some crazy shit. He knew some of his teammates had gotten into ménage relationships. Hell, he’d watched in fascination as his two goaltenders had passed their woman back and forth as they’d kissed her a couple of weeks ago when a bunch of the players were hanging out one night. But he’d never done anything like this, hadn’t even really considered it. From the way his cock twitched in his sweat shorts, though, it was clear at least one part of him was definitely considering it. Actually, more than one part was considering it. A whole lot of his parts were “all systems go.”

Liz crooked her finger, while Fredrik continued to pump in and out of her with measured thrusts as he watched Red. From his viewpoint, Red couldn’t tell which hole his roommate was utilizing, and then he mentally slapped himself. It wasn’t any business of his what his roommate was doing, but damn, did he want to know. He’d always been attracted to Liz, but he knew the bro code. You didn’t fuck with your friend’s woman. But now it seemed like they wanted him to fuck with her. Or fuck her.

He had to fight to keep the drool from running down his chin as he watched her tits sway back and forth as Fredrik kept right on going.

Mustering every ounce of self-control he possessed, Red said, “I shouldn’t. You guys need your privacy.”

Liz laughed. “If we wanted privacy, Fredrik has a perfectly good bed.” She looked down at his obvious erection pointedly. “Let me help you with that.”

Before he could censor his actions, his feet went on the move, propelling him toward Liz’s outstretched hand. “You don’t”—he cursed his inability to speak—“don’t have to do anything. I can just—”

“Go in your room and jerk off?”

“Geez,” he muttered. Then she cupped his erection through his shorts and his breath caught.

“Let her suck your cock,” Fredrik said, and Red’s gaze shot up to meet that of his teammate. “She loves to suck cock, and she’s always wanted to have a threesome. I’d let her do me, but, well…” He motioned to what he was doing. “I’m kinda busy at the moment.”

Red’s mind was reeling. Could he actually do this? “Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure.”

Red looked down at Liz again. The woman was stroking his dick like it was a dog, and damn, if it didn’t sit up and beg. Sometimes being twenty-three was awesome, but when he couldn’t control his freaking hormones, it was no walk in the park.

He gasped as Liz pulled his shorts and boxers down before engulfing him in her warm, wet mouth. “Oh, fuck.”

Liz removed him from her mouth long enough to say, “No, honey, that’s what Fredrik’s doing.” With a smirk, she licked his cockhead, and he barely managed to hold in a groan of pure pleasure. It had been months since he’d been with a woman, between sustaining his knee injury during last season and then his subsequent concentration on physical therapy, and he had to admit his roommate’s girlfriend was very good at giving head. So good, in fact, Red wasn’t at all sure he was gonna last. How freaking embarrassing.

When she swallowed him again his free hand shot out, gripping her by the hair and pulling her away from his throbbing dick. “Gonna come if you keep doing that.”