Page 29 of Crazy for You

He had to get a handle on himself where Emma was concerned. If he could just hold her off long enough, this attraction between them was sure to fizzle. She’d find someone new, and he’d hook up with another woman—and he and Emma could go back to being just friends. Because if they slept together? Forget it. That would change everything, and he’d never forgive himself if he fucked up their friendship because he was thinking with his dick.

Thirty minutes later, he, Ethan, and Mark were seated at their usual table, a pitcher of beer and a platter of wings between them, and—ribbing or not—Ryan felt his tension leaking away after a few good laughs with his buddies.

“So back to this thing with Emma,” Ethan said after they’d moved on to their second pitcher.

“There is no thing,” Ryan answered, reaching for another wing.

“We definitely saw something,” Mark commented. “And it’s not the first time I’ve seen it. There’s been kind of a vibe between you two lately.”

“It was the first time I saw it,” Ethan said. “But I’m telling you, if we hadn’t walked in and interrupted you…”

Ryan shrugged. “Maybe there was a vibe, or whatever. But that’s all it is, and all it’s going to be.”

“Why’s that?” Mark asked.

“Yo, we’re talking about Emma here.” He shook his head, taking another gulp of his beer.

“Is this about Derek?” Ethan asked.

“Yeah, partly. I made a promise before he enlisted that I’d look out for her, and more specifically, that I wouldn’t go after her.”

Ethan raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, that made sense when she was fifteen, but you’re both consenting adults now.”

Pretty much what Emma had said. “Doesn’t change the fact that she and I have been friends, practically family, since we were kids. If I sleep with her, sooner or later things will go south and she’ll end up hating me.”

“That a common problem you have?” Mark asked drily.

“No, but I don’t date chicks like Emma. I just hook up. You know, keep it casual. Emma’s not a casual, hookup kind of girl, and I won’t take advantage of her.”

“You have a point there.” Ethan bit into another wing. “But on that note, when’s the last time you did hook up with someone?”

Ryan took a drink from his beer to avoid having to answer that question.

“Not sure I’ve seen you with a woman since I got back in town,” Mark said. “Other than Emma, of course.”

Ryan shrugged. “I’ve been busy, between Off-the-Grid and tending bar…”

“Too busy to get laid?” Ethan’s eyebrows arched.

Ryan snatched a wing from the platter and bit into it.

Mark glanced across the table at Ethan. “It’s worse than we thought.”

Ethan nodded. “I can’t remember the last time I saw you with a woman other than Emma either. Damn. I had no idea you were this hung up on her. How long’s it been, man?”

Too fucking long. Ryan finished eating his wing, flipped Ethan the bird, and lifted his beer.

“Interesting.” Ethan took a drink from his own beer. “So why are you so sure you couldn’t have something real with her, something more than a hookup?”

Ryan took another drink from his beer. “Emma’s got this thing right now where she’s trying to shake things up. She wants to get a tattoo and date outside her comfort zone. I think it’s a dare her friends put her up to. But this isn’t who she is, and sooner or later she’s going to come to her senses.”

“You sure about that?” Ethan asked with humor in his eyes.

Ryan grimaced. “She’s looking up guys on Tinder…shady guys. I don’t know how to stop her.”

“I know how.” Ethan was laughing now.

Even Mark was grinning from ear to ear.

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