Free Snowed In by Rhianne Aile and Madeleine Urban

Snowed In
     
     
    Warren walked in from the cozy cabin’s kitchen, stirring his spiked cocoa, and frowned. Kasey sat on the floor, leaning back against the couch, clacking away on a laptop. The blond walked over and nudged Kasey’s thigh with his sock feet. “Hey, it’s vacation, you. You’re not supposed to be working.” Settling in the corner of the sofa, he pulled his legs up so they lay behind Kasey and attempted to peer at the screen.
    Looking up at Warren as he made himself comfortable, Kasey smiled lopsidedly. “It’s not work. At least, not our work,” he said, meaning the international newspaper where they were employed. “It’s sort of a side job.”
    Snorting, Warren nudged the back of Kasey’s head with his knee. “Vacation,” he reiterated.
    Mitch stuck his head over the loft railing and looked down at them. His hair was stuck up at all angles. “Shit. Damn keyboard. I was dreaming that we were snowed in at the newsroom, and Carroll had announced that we had to write all of next year’s columns before we could go home. Put that thing away,” he ordered, trying to smooth his hair with his fingers as he padded barefoot down the stairs. “I need caffeine.”
    Kasey snickered at Mitch’s hair and typed furiously at the keyboard again while Warren lifted a foot and tried to rub Kasey’s ear with it, just to be annoying. Kasey swiped at him. “Get off me!” he said, though he was still grinning. The other two guys were his best pals, having formed a solid working relationship and friendship over the last couple of years. He swiped again at Warren’s foot.
    “Vaaaaa-caaaaa-tion...,” Warren drawled. “What’s so important that you’d ruin our lovely relaxation with the sound of that infernal thing?”
    “He’s probably writing to his girlfriend. I knew I shouldn’t have gotten the cabin with wireless Internet,” Mitch muttered, wandering in from the kitchen, blowing the steam from the top of an extra large mug.
    Kasey sighed. “If you really must know, I’m working on my book.”
    “Book?” Warren echoed.
    “Book?” Mitch repeated, pushing at Warren with his hip to get the blond to move over so he could look over Kasey’s shoulder too.
    Warren shuffled to the left, still reading over Kasey’s shoulder, and then he jerked back. “What kind of book is that?” he asked, his voice full of surprise.
    Kasey frowned and looked back at the two men. Both were blond, but personality-wise they were worlds apart. That was part of why Kasey liked them so much. Except when they wouldn’t leave him alone about something. “You know, I could say ‘This is my private business,’ but somehow I think that wouldn’t stop you two from bugging the hell out of me about it.”
    “That’s sex!” Warren exclaimed, surprise thickening his British accent. “Like, down and dirty sex, even.”
    Mitch had read farther than just discovering it was sex. “And it’s good,” he added. “This isn’t the first book you’ve written, is it?”
    Kasey grinned. “Thanks. No, it’s not my first book.” He had a thought and started typing again, then his eyes sort of slid to one side as he stopped short of typing a word, wondering if they were still watching. “Um, so, I can put this away, I guess.”
    Warren was now reading more closely. “Boy, she must be buff. Athletes, are they? Muscles, strong arms....” His voice trailed off and his eyes narrowed.
    Mitch chuckled, watching Warren’s reaction to the next series of words.
    “I think you left a letter off there, ‘she’ instead of ‘he’?” Warren asked, voice unsure.
    Kasey swallowed and sighed. “No,” he said quietly.
    “No?” Warren echoed, voice edging upward.
    “Back off, Warren,” Mitch said more seriously, wanting to head off any problems. “This is the first time you’ve written a gay sex scene, though, isn’t it?” Turning sideways on the couch, he stuck his feet between the cushions for warmth and stared at the