Winners by Allyson Young

 
    WINNERS
     
    Marking Time, 3
     
    Allyson
Young
     
    Copyright © 2015
     
     
     
    Chapter One
     
    “ What’s that …
mark on your butt cheek?” Sinclair’s tone of voice indicated that she
knew, and was both intrigued and shocked.
    Candy swiveled her head to one side
and arched her back to stick out her ass, but despite how voluptuous her bottom
was, she couldn’t really see the impression she knew her best friend was
referring to, the one she’d admired herself in the
bathroom mirror earlier that day. She took pride in the marks Reece gave her,
and didn’t much care if people judged her for it. Not that it was something
she’d overtly share. She had waited a long time to connect with her Sheriff
again. Once again she blessed Reece’s determination to reconnect, despite her
equally determined efforts to dissuade him. Not that she’d have imagined handcuffs
being involved!
      Still, her other cheeks
suffused with color, if the heat rising up her neck was any indication. How was it that she was embarrassed? After all her sexual shenanigans over the
past years, many of which she’d shared in detail with Sinclair, why was she
suddenly diffident about talking now? And why was the other woman intrigued?
Maybe it was because her best friend had finally roped and tied those two men
Sin had been in love with forever.
    With a casual air that she hoped
belied her churning emotions, Candy reached out and
grasped a light robe, shrugging into it to cover up her bra and thong, before
sinking onto the vanity seat. Only then did she meet Sinclair’s eyes and answer
her—with a question. “I think you know?”
    It was her friend’s turn to blush. “Uh. Yeah, I guess. I mean…”
    Equilibrium restored, Candy
laughed. “Seeing as your guys and mine grew up together and partied some, it
makes sense they share some of the same interests.” She wiggled her eyebrows
suggestively, and she and Sinclair giggled.
    With a candid burst of information,
Sinclair said, “They blistered my butt when I ran away when they rejected me
the first time around. I was humiliated, and it hurt! But it kinda didn’t, too. Like I deserved the punishment, and it freed all my pain and upset, you know?”
    “I do,” Candy agreed, no longer
smiling. She did understand. Totally. And then she
smirked again. “And that caveman approach got you hot.”
    Face and neck now a glowing
carnation, Sinclair nodded. “Uh huh. And there’s a
definite difference between punishment and erotic spankings.”
    “You’ll turn into one of those spanko people,” Candy teased.
    “Like you won’t.”
    The give and take, the teasing,
made Candy’s heart swell, and she sighed with contentment. She’d missed her
best friend when Sinclair had been away at school, training to become a vet.
Now back in the Barrister area to do her field work, Sin was happily involved
with both Craig and Ashton Russell, and to judge by her lighthearted demeanor,
sweet, virginal Sinclair—the total opposite of Candy—was also content. Okay,
not so virginal anymore, but nothing could change the sweetness unless her men
screwed her over. And if they did that, Candy would sneak Reece’s service
pistol and deal with them both.
    Her thoughts immediately fixated on
her handsome Sheriff, back home after his discharge from the military, home for
her. They’d sorted out that terrible miscommunication and repaired their
relationship. Candy frowned when she thought about how her father had
interfered, and a twinge of anxiety assailed her when she considered running
into her old man. She tried not to grind her teeth, the thoughts about what
could have happened spoiling some sexy images of Reece.
    “Candy?” Sinclair’s pretty face was
etched with concern. “You okay? I didn’t pry?”
    With an effort, Candy shook off
thoughts of Daddy Dearest. “No, honey. No secrets
between us.”
    “Well…”
    At the uncomfortable look on her
friend’s face, Candy returned fully to the present.