Free .5 To Have and To Code by Debora Geary

gazillion blobs of cookie dough onto monster baking sheets.  And Nell would forever associate it with hot-pink aprons and easy sisterhood.  She gave the dough one last, vicious stir.
    Easy sisterhood was about to come to an end.
    "Change isn't always bad," said Sammy quietly.
    If you were the gorgeous whirlwind who had swept a sexy rancher off his feet, maybe not.  Nell hurled the first blob of dough at a cookie sheet.  If you were anyone else, change should be met armed with lightning bolts.  Big ones.
    -o0o-
    “Dude, you are seriously distracted.”  Pedro watched Daniel’s bank shot miss—badly.  “What’s up?”
    Daniel cursed under his breath.  Pool had always been his buddy’s favorite venue to launch a sneak psychology attack, but Jesse was supposed to be the target of tonight’s game.  Which might get easier if Jesse ever showed up.  “Not enough sleep.  That’s all.”
    Pedro looked skeptical—for good reason.  They’d been partners for some serious pool marathons in college.  His game was normally immune to abuses of sleep, alcohol, and pitching elbows.
    “You still playing those computer games?”  Truck raised an eyebrow over the top of his pool cue.  “When you going to grow up and get a real job?”
    Daniel rolled his eyes and mentally lined up his next shot.  “You sound like my mother.” 
    Truck snorted and knocked in an easy corner ball.  “Your mother wants you to shrink back down into her Little League all-star.”
    One very short, totally unplanned visit by his mother to their college team locker room almost a freaking decade ago, and none of them would let him forget it.  Sadly, his mom had been way too memorable.  As had the snapshot of him at about eight, festooned in trophies.  Daniel decided gaming was the topic of lesser evil.  “Found a new online game.  The regular levels are decently cool, but they have a set of elite levels with the best graphics I’ve ever seen online.  Fast.”  Especially when a certain wizard was throwing lightning at his head.
    “Never gonna catch up with video games.  The net’s too slow.”  Truck sank another ball, a tricky side shot this time. 
    Daniel didn’t bother to answer—it was an old argument, and he was pretty sure history would eventually prove him right.  Besides, Truck’s time to play games these days was seriously limited by his “real” job.  If he wanted to stay old school, that was his right.  “This one’s kept me interested for a few weeks.  Comes complete with wizards and sexy gypsies.”
    Truck only snorted—and still made his shot.  “The gypsy’s probably a twelve-year-old boy.”
    Nope.  Not this gypsy.  Daniel hadn’t seen her often, but he figured her for a lock on Nell Sullivan.  She had the kind of moves that twelve-year-old boys just hadn’t met yet.
    Pedro looked up from his plate of hot wings, frowning.  “You’ve been playing the same game for weeks?”
    Crap.  Clearly his friend’s instincts were buzzing.  They weren’t always fast, but they were damn accurate.  Spidey senses ran in the family—Pedro’s sister Becky could smell a single guy at a hundred paces.  “Some of us aren’t busy planning weddings.”
    “I got fired from wedding planning ages ago.”  Pedro grabbed a cue as Truck finally missed a shot.  “Lately I’m mostly on three-year-old terrorist duty.  And reminding Becky which of our relatives hate each other.”
    Given a choice between small, sticky girls and seating plans, Daniel would have run for the hills.  Love did really strange things to formerly excellent second basemen.
    Pedro made his shot and raised an eyebrow pointedly.  “Weeks?”
    The man could stick like a saddle burr when he wanted to.  “It’s a good game.  The creators play, and I’m pretty sure they’re the top two players in the elite levels.”
    “Hmm.”  His friend made one of his signature impossible bank shots.  “Good game, leading-edge graphics,