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“First night we were there we went out to the pub for tea. There was this slimy bloke who was flirtin’ with Ally when he took our order. Asked her to have a drink with him when his shift was up.” I raised an eyebrow at him, a little taken aback at the anger in his voice. “Anyway, turns out this bloke is a handsy son of a bitch. Ally had to push him off her. Me ’n Scottie were already walking over to them when she did it. I nearly put the bloke on his arse. Then we see him at the auction the next day bidding on your horse.” He shook his head, ridding himself of the sneer on his lips.
I had no idea how much Spook had cost, but if Craig was bidding against someone he had a grudge against, it would have been high. Ridiculous most likely. I had no doubt that the bloke deserved it, but Craig shouldn’t have to pay for it. He was my horse, my responsibility, and I would make sure Craig wasn’t out of pocket. “I’ll pay you for him. How much was he?”
Craig shook his head, a soft smile playing on his lips. “Nah, mate Just enjoy him. That’s enough for me.”
I nodded, all sorts of guilty that Craig had used his money to buy Spook. But I knew him well enough not to bother arguing. His loyalty was absolute. The only thing that outmatched it was his stubborn streak. It ran a mile wide. I rubbed my eyes, exhaustion dragging them down. “You were nervous to give him to me.”
Craig looked away, and in the dim light I couldn’t see it, but I had a feeling he was blushing. His voice was quiet when he huffed out a laugh and agreed, “I was.”
“I thought you were gonna tell me something different.” I couldn’t look him in the eye when I confessed my fear that he’d broken the promise we’d made to each other, and I hated myself for it. But I’d also been gutted thinking I’d lost any chance with Ally. It was stupid—we’d promised each other never to make a move, so I never had a chance with her anyway. Never mind that I thought I’d lost him too. “I thought you and Ally had gotten together. When she went off to get the Landcruiser and Scottie was being all encouraging, I thought he’d set it up and that we’d all be celebrating you two being an item.” I shook my head unhappily. “I kinda hated you a little. Then I wanted to kick my own arse because of it. Instead you go buy me a horse and make me feel like an even bigger POS.”
Craig didn’t say anything for a time. He was fiddling with his doona when I looked up. “I saw red when that bloke was touching her. I wanted to protect her. I’m fallin’ for her, man. I know you are too, and I know that we said we wouldn’t do anything…”
“But?”
“There is no but.” He sighed. “We said we wouldn’t make a move and I won’t. I can’t guarantee I won’t wanna kill any bloke who does put his hands on her… But I’ve got to look at the positives. We’ll always be mates even if she does move on. If one of us were with her, it’d leave the other alone, and I dunno that I could handle that. I sure as shit don’t want it to be you getting left behind either. So, unless she’ll have both of us, it ain’t gonna happen.”
I huffed out a humourless laugh. “Yeah, nah. As if. She’s not that kind of girl.”
“She wouldn’t want either of us two deros anyway.” Craig grinned at me and I laughed.
“Speak for yourself. I’m 100 percent grade-A man here.”
Craig laughed again and shook his head. “Yeah, mate, you’re as virile as a bull and just as randy.”
I chucked my pillow at him and collapsed back onto my bed before getting a face full of it thrown back at me. “You’re right though. We don’t exactly have much to offer her.” Stuffing the pillow under my head again, I watched the fan spin lazily, barely circulating the thick heat hanging in the air. “Should we ask her? I mean, that’s stupid isn’t it?”
Craig huffed. “That’s like asking if you like your balls attached to your body. She seemed to relax with us the other day at the billabong—”
“It’s like she’s finally feeling comfortable, hey?” I mused, adjusting my semi thinking of her in the water with us, naked. I’d wanted nothing more than to pull her close and kiss her, then pass her to Craig to do the same. My balls tingled as I imagined Craig and I looking after her. But this time when I closed my eyes, it wasn’t only her in my arms; Craig was too. The memory sucked the breath out of my lungs. Fifteen-year-old me had wondered what it’d be like to make out with a girl. I’d been worried that I’d screw it up, and I thought asking Craig to practice would be a better idea than fumbling around clueless. But now, lying in this bed, my best friend almost within reaching distance and the woman we’d both been fantasizing about in the main house, I was having an epiphany—did I want both of them? We’d never spoken about our kiss; sometimes I wondered whether I’d dreamed it, but I hadn’t imagined the touch of his lips against mine. And I hadn’t imagined the desire licking up my spine when I’d caught is gaze and he’d held it—back then and earlier that day.
Craig’s words snapped me back into the present. “Yeah. She knows she’s safe with us. I don’t want her to think for a second that she’s not.”
I cleared my throat. My voice was rough when I responded. “Me neither.”
“Night, mate. Don’t want to keep you up.”
He was expecting me to fall asleep, but a bomb had just dropped on me. My world had shifted.
I wanted my best friend too.
But there was no way it’d ever happen. Not only was Ally not that kind of girl, Craig sure as hell wasn’t that kinda bloke. Was I? I had no idea. But the thought of kissing him again certainly didn’t turn me off.
