Gateway to Love

by Sarah Hadley Brook

And then Craig’s lips curved up into a sexy little smile—like he knew exactly what he was doing to Mitch. The fucker.

  Mitch’s took a deep, shaky breath. It was now or never.

  “I—”

  “Can’t believe you guys went on a road trip without me,” Adam exclaimed as he slid into the booth next to Mitch.

  He gaped at his friend. The timing could not have been worse. One look across the table and he could see Craig wasn’t happy either. Those sexy lips were turned down in a frown now.

  “Hey, Craig.” Adam flicked his blue eyes between the two men, his brow furrowed. “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah,” Mitch lied as his friend clapped his shoulder. He shot a look at Craig and bit his lip, lightly shrugging.

  “You guys order yet?”

  “No, not yet.”

  “Burgers smell good. Love a good greasy burger from a small grill like this.”

  Adam kept up the chatter, not really giving them a chance to talk. Mitch was used to it. He’d known Adam forever, and he’d always been a talker.

  He pulled his phone out and discreetly sent a text to Craig.

  Sorry.

  Mitch shot a little smile across the table when Craig’s phone pinged and he read the message. Adam chattered on, oblivious.

  You going to answer me?

  Fuck. He still wanted that answer. Mitch chewed on his lower lip while he thought about it. Hell. It was time. He’d been ready to tell him just a few minutes ago.

  Mitch: Yes.

  Craig: ???

  Mitch: Not on the phone.

  Craig rolled his eyes and slid his phone back into his pocket, and Mitch breathed a sigh of relief. He had a small reprieve.

  Their teenage waitress showed up and took their orders, all of them going for the basic cheeseburger and fries.

  Adam leaned his elbows on the table. “So what’s the plan, guys? Where to?”

  “We hadn’t really planned too much here. We thought about hitting some of the outlets and doing a little shopping,” Craig answered. “But we hadn’t decided if we want to spend the night here or go straight to Branson.”

  “How long to Branson from here?”

  “I think a few hours. Maybe two and a half?” Mitch offered.

  “Don’t you guys want to hang at the lake? Maybe rent a cabin?”

  “Or we could rent a motel room at Branson and just hang there for a few days. Might be better than staying one more place and packing again,” Craig mused.

  Adam cocked his head and looked at the guys. “Actually, maybe that would be better.”

  “Mitchell?”

  God, every time he heard Craig say his name, his skin heated. “I’m good with that. But I do want to hit the outlet stores. Looking for some new clothes for work.”

  Craig turned to gaze out the window, his lips pressed into a flat line.

  Their food arrived before anything grew too awkward, and then they were too busy eating to really talk. Adam was right. The burgers were great.

  His phone pinged, and he slid it out and read the message from Craig.

  Ride with me to the outlets.

  He didn’t text back but stared across to Craig until he caught his eye and then nodded.

  Adam finished up and slid from the booth. “I’m heading to the men’s room.”

  Mitch figured it was a good idea, so he followed him.

  As soon as the door shut behind them, Adam whirled around and grabbed his arm. “What the hell is going on?”

  Mitch furrowed his brow. “What do you mean?”

  “Shit, Craig’s staring at you like he wants to devour you. It’s all over his face.”

  His skin prickled as hope filled him. If Adam was seeing it, too, then Mitch wasn’t misreading the signs. “Is he?” he asked, playing ignorant.

  “There is no way you can’t see that. If I wasn’t here, I feel like you guys would be jumping on each other.”

  Mitch’s heart hammered in his ears. “Adam, you’re wrong.” Wasn’t he?

  “Whatever. When I got your text, I thought you needed an out. But it looks like you’re doing fine. Does he already know how you feel? Did you finally tell him?”

  Mitch shook his head as he unzipped and used one of the urinals lined up on the back wall. Adam joined him and stayed quiet until they were at the sinks washing up. “I think you’re wrong. He’s got it bad for you. I’ve thought that for a long time but wasn’t ever completely sure.”

  Mitch gaped at him. “Why didn’t you ever say anything? You know I’ve been crazy about him for years. Years, Adam!”

  “Because I wasn’t sure and didn’t want to give you false hope. Besides, I always thought you guys would figure it out.”

  “He wants me to ride with him to the outlets,” Mitch admitted quietly.

  Adam held the door open for him and ushered him out with a grin. “Somebody wants some Mitch time.”

  Mitch flipped him off, but Adam only laughed.

  They all paid and agreed to meet in front of American Eagle Outfitters at the outlet mall up the road.

  When Mitch slid into Craig’s car, he was so nervous he swore he was trembling. His heart felt like it was going to pound out of his chest, and he couldn’t look at Craig.

  But Craig didn’t start the car. He sat there, hands fiddling with the keys in his lap. He cleared his throat and looked out the front window. Mitch could hardly breathe, the tension was so thick. He wasn’t sure what to say.

  “I meant what I said, Mitchell. You could come to California and write.” His rough voice filled the car.

  Mitch breathed in sharply. He wasn’t expecting that. “Why?”

  “Why?” Craig repeated.

  “Why, Craig?” Mitch whispered.

  Craig was quiet, his breathing echoing in the small car. Mitch reached over and touched Craig’s thigh with his fingertips.

  Craig turned to face him, grabbed Mitch’s hand, and pulled it to his chest, pressing it palm-down against his heart. “Do you feel that?” His voice was gravelly and the vibrations shot from his chest through to Mitchell’s hand and up his arm.

  He felt the thump-thump-thump of Craig’s heart, matching the racing beat of his own, and he gasped.

  Craig leaned closer, dropping the keys from his fingers and cupping Mitch’s cheek with his hand. Mitch leaned into it, feeling the strength flow through Craig into him. When Craig’s lips brushed against his, Mitch let out a quiet moan of surprise. Craig slid his hand around and cupped Mitchell’s neck, pulling him even closer, and then his mouth came down on Mitchell’s again. It was soft and sweet. He could feel Craig restraining himself and his head felt light at knowing that. Mitchell felt cherished in a way he’d never known before.

  They moved away from each other, Mitch’s hand still on Craig’s chest, Craig’s hand still holding it there, and they looked at each other, eyes wide.

  Both started laughing at the same time.

  Craig’s eyes twinkled as he leaned in and kissed Mitch’s cheek. “I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time now.”

  Heat spread across Mitch’s face, and he knew he was blushing up a storm. “Me too,” he admitted quietly.

  “I know we messed around at the hotel, but… if I pushed you too far, I—”

  Mitch interrupted him. “No! You didn’t do anything wrong. I wanted… to do what we did. Have wanted to for a long time.” He moved his fingers against Craig’s chest.

  “I just felt like I jumped a few steps ahead. I wanted to kiss you first. Take you out. Show you—”

  Mitch’s phone rang. “That’s probably Adam asking where the hell we are.”

  Craig let go of Mitch’s hand and let him answer, but his attention was on him the whole time.

  “Hi, Adam,” Mitch answered. “Yes, we’re on the way. Something… came up.” He stared back at Craig. “Yes! Okay, we’re on the way.”

  Craig started the car and pulled out as Mitch hung up the phone.

  “So…,” he said, and laug
hed again.

  Mitch chuckled. “Yeah. Guess we need to talk, huh?”

  “Yeah, but not with Adam around,” Craig told him.

  “Yeah. I get that.” Mitch shook his head. “What the hell was I thinking? I swear I don’t remember texting him.”

  “I believe you. I do,” Craig said, his hand reaching over and patting Mitch on the thigh for a moment. “But we can’t just kick him out.”

  They drove in silence for a while, following the GPS to the outlet mall.

  “What if we go ahead and drive down to Branson today and rent a cabin instead of a motel? That way we’re not all in the same room.”

  Craig’s eyes lit up and he smiled. “I think Silver Dollar City in Branson has cabins. Let’s look those up.”

  Mitch pulled it up on his phone and made a call. Ten minutes later, they had a cabin rental for the next four days.

  “Perfect,” Craig said as they pulled into the parking lot of the outlets.

  They met Adam and told him the plan, and he was psyched about it too. So they went off in search of clothes and pretended nothing had changed. They couldn’t do anything until they talked, anyway. But it was difficult because Mitch wanted nothing more than to feel Craig’s lips on his again.

  Chapter Nine

  Mitch

  THE DRIVE to Branson was long, and unfortunately, Adam had begged Mitch to ride with him, admitting he was worried about falling asleep on the road since he’d driven all day and had barely slept the night before. So he and Craig were apart, which meant all he did was worry and overthink everything—while Adam talked the entire time.

  Mitch had been staring out the window as the skyline got hillier the closer they got to Branson. Everywhere he looked were trees, hills, and narrow winding roads veering off the main road. Sometimes he glimpsed a cabin or small house far back amid the trees, but for the most part, they were alone.

  They drove through a few places that were listed as towns in his GPS, but they were so small, Mitch had a hard time believing it. One looked like it consisted of a house and a gas station.

  “You gonna tell me why you got drunk and texted me to come out?” Adam finally asked as they pulled into Branson. “I mean, I guess I know why, but what triggered it?”

  Mitch sighed and wondered how much he should reveal. “Craig was talking to me and he was really close and touching my leg and he asked me to go with him to California.”

  “No shit?”

  “But I figured he meant as a friend, and it really got to me. So I grabbed some of the bottles we picked up at the brewery yesterday and sucked them down.”

  “Is he pissed?”

  “About me getting drunk?”

  “No. That I’m here?”

  Mitch shook his head. “No, but he and I need to talk. Something… happened today.”

  Adam turned to look at him, his eyes wide, before turning his attention back to the road. “What?”

  Mitch took a deep breath and let it spill out. “He… kissed me.” More than once and not just today.

  “And you’re just now telling me this? You’ve been in the car for almost three hours,” Adam exclaimed incredulously.

  “I wasn’t sure if I should tell anyone, but the more I thought about it, the more I figured I should let you know Craig and I need some time tonight to talk things over. I’m not sure what’s going on. Maybe he’s just going to miss me. I don’t know.” Mitch had tried to figure it out, but all he kept going back to was the way Craig had kissed him in the car earlier and the way it had made him feel. There was more behind that kiss. Much more than just two friends fooling around on a road trip.

  Adam pulled behind Craig as they made their way through the curving roads. The sun had set and the streetlights were few and far between, making it difficult to determine their way. Mitch hoped Craig knew where they were going, because he thought they should have turned about a mile back.

  In the end, Craig was right and they pulled into Silver Dollar City’s Wilderness Campground. They found the place to check in easily, and Craig went in and got the keys to the cabin, as well as a map.

  Within minutes, they were pulling up to a rustic-looking log cabin. Mitch climbed out and glanced around. They were definitely deep in the woods, or at least that’s what it looked like. The air smelled of pine and dirt, but clean. He eyed the place—it wasn’t huge, but it appeared the three of them would fit comfortably enough.

  They all grabbed their suitcases, as well as the bags of items they’d purchased earlier. They might be hidden away from most of the city, but nobody wanted to take the chance of anything being stolen from their cars.

  They climbed the stairs of the wooden porch stretching across the front. Craig unlocked the front door, and they walked inside. It was an open floor plan, but Mitch was still surprised to see a queen bed right there in the front, covered in a blue-and-cream quilt. The walls and floors were wood, of course, and a small kitchenette in the corner featured a table with four chairs, a refrigerator, and a microwave. A multicolored braided rug covered the center of the room.

  Craig gestured to the kitchen area. “They said there’s a grill out front—probably by the picnic table, I figure—and they have a small grocery store here.”

  “We should head up there and get stocked up,” Adam said as he looked around. “Um, is there really only one bed?”

  Craig pointed to the stairs leading to a loft. “No. There’s another one upstairs.”

  Adam eyed the loft warily. “Ugh, I didn’t even like sleeping on the top bunk as a kid. Mind if I take this one down here?”

  Craig glanced at Mitch and he smiled. “Sure. Mitchell, you want to check out the loft?”

  He couldn’t even speak he was so freaking nervous, so he nodded and followed Craig up the wooden staircase, trying hard not to watch how Craig’s ass flexed and moved in those khakis. Yeah, he completely failed.

  The second they got upstairs, Craig dropped his suitcase and spun around, grabbed Mitch in his arms, and pulled him close. Mitch let his bag fall from his fingers as Craig leaned in, then pressed his lips against Mitch’s. This time there was no sweetness. The kiss was urgent and hot, and Mitch moaned when Craig urged his mouth open with his tongue.

  When he swept in, tasting him, Mitch’s knees felt week. Craig slid his arms up and down Mitch’s back, and Mitch pressed his body closer, eager to feel him. He wrapped his arms around Craig’s waist and began to touch too.

  The kiss grew in intensity, and Mitch moaned again when Craig’s hard cock pressed against him. He loved knowing Craig was just as turned on as he was. His hormones were raging out of control and he felt like a goddamn teenager.

  “Guys?”

  They jumped apart, and Mitch laughed nervously.

  “Yeah?” Craig called down, his voice rough with passion.

  “Is that store still open?”

  “Yes. For another hour or so.” Craig’s eyes were on Mitch.

  “There’s nothing here to eat. Want to run with me to get some things?”

  “Be down in a sec,” Craig hollered as he moved to stand in front of Mitch and tilted his chin so they were looking at each other. “I like this look on you. You’re all flushed and your lips are wet and you look so fucking hot, Mitchell.”

  “I like kissing you,” Mitch blurted. His jaw dropped, mortified at what he’d just admitted.

  “Good, because I plan on doing it a lot more,” Craig whispered. “What do you want from the store?”

  “You know what I like,” he whispered.

  Craig winked and kissed him quickly on the lips. “Yeah. I do.”

  Mitch turned to watch him walk down the stairs, and as soon as the front door closed, he flopped onto his back on the queen bed, which took up most of the room, and stared at the ceiling. What the hell was happening? His pulse was racing and his cock was throbbing. He reached down to adjust himself and tried to think of anything to help his dick go down, but then he realized they’d be sharing a bed and he was har
d as marble in seconds. It was hopeless. He might be hard for the rest of his life at this point.

  Since they were going to stay there for a few days, he decided to unpack and put his clothes away in the small dresser next to the bed.

  He looked around, then glanced over the rail down to the main level to discover the TV. Maybe that would take his mind off Craig.

  But that kiss. It was hot as fuck and turning on the TV did nothing to change his train of thought. How long had he wanted this? Dreamed of this? He’d been in love with Craig for years. But what if they weren’t on the same page? God, they really needed to talk.

  This might mean something entirely different to Craig. Yes, they were attracted to each other—the chemistry was off the charts hot. And yes, Craig had mentioned him coming to California with him. But what did that really mean? Craig was bi. Had he ever really thought about a long-term relationship with a man? Mitch knew that wasn’t a fair thought, but he still worried about it. He shook his head as he found CNN and left it on.

  Mitch wondered again if this was just because Craig was going to miss him when he moved. They’d been so close for so long. Going their separate ways was like losing a part of themselves. Maybe Craig was just feeling emotional and didn’t really want Mitch the same way Mitch wanted him. Maybe this was a way for Craig to gain some closure on this chapter of their lives.

  Mitch knew he had to find out what was going on in Craig’s mind, because Mitch wanted more than he’d admitted. He’d been the one to bring up the whole “what happens on a road trip” idea, but that was just a cover. He’d been too afraid to admit his feelings, but now that there was a chance Mitch and Craig could have something real, Mitch was going to find out before anything more happened between them.

  The door opened, and he couldn’t help but smile as Craig and Adam came through, toting brown paper bags full of groceries. From the looks of things, they were definitely not going to go hungry.

  Craig winked at Mitch and desire shot through him. Hmm, maybe they could talk tomorrow. The urge to touch Craig filled him. No. We have to talk tonight. He glanced at Adam, who was setting the bag on the counter and beginning to unpack, and wondered how early he could get Adam to go to bed.