Page 30 of Crazy for You

“Yo, I’m not sleeping with Emma. You assholes are supposed to back me up here.”

7

Ryan had a problem. A big fucking problem.

A problem he’d spent the last hour jogging the twisting streets of Haven trying to tame, but it was no use. His sexual frustration had reached epic proportions. He’d given Emma her second rock-climbing lesson earlier today, and an hour spent staring at her ass in that harness was more than a man could take. Right now, he was coiled so tight he was about to jump out of his own skin. After that first night on his bike, the night they’d almost kissed, he’d set a ground rule for himself: no fantasizing about Emma.

Fantasizing about her would only make him want her even more, and he needed to get her out of his head as fast as possible so he was not going there.

Problem was, since that night, he couldn’t get off without thinking about her. He’d tried every distraction he could think of, but as soon as he got down to business, his mind filled with images of Emma, imagining her on his bike…beneath him in bed…her hand on his dick…

And fuck it.

He hadn’t had any relief now in a long, fucking time.

But he prided himself on his self-control, and he’d get through this. His attraction to Emma would fade soon, as long as he didn’t give in to it. It had to. Any day now, some other chick would catch his eye, and he’d make up for lost time.

In the meantime…

He jogged until his body was spent then went home and took a long, cold shower. At least he was bartending at The Drunken Bear later tonight. That ought to provide a healthy distraction from Emma and his libido.

Emma reached for her beer and took a lengthy sip. Across the table, her date did the same. Cal Rocha aka Outdoorsy Bearded Guy from Tinder flashed her an easy smile. They’d messaged with each other for a few days, so when he asked her to dinner at The Drunken Bear, she’d happily accepted. Okay, maybe she’d been partially motivated by her hope that Ryan would be tending bar tonight so he could see firsthand that she was serious about dating. That she’d moved on. She’d even worn one of the new dresses she’d bought on her very successful shopping spree with the girls last weekend.

But Ryan wasn’t here.

And Cal was sweet…but her heart wasn’t in it.

“So what do you do for work?” she asked, offering him what she hoped was a cheerful smile.

“I’m a wildlife rehabilitator,” Cal said, brushing his blond hair out of his eyes. “I work at the Bear Tracks Institute in Silver Springs.”

“Oh, that’s so cool. What kinds of animals do you work with?” This time, she knew her smile was genuine because, aww, he worked with wild animals! That was really amazing and also kind of adorable.

“Pretty much anything you find in the Smoky Mountains National Park. We’ve got orphaned bear cubs, deer, raccoons, snakes. I’m rehabbing a red-tailed hawk right now. Came in with a broken wing, but she’s almost ready to fly again.” He reached for his burger.

“That is really amazing. Wow.”

“It’s pretty cool, yeah,” he answered, a smile crinkling his brown eyes. “No two days are ever alike, that’s for sure.”

“I like that about my job, too.” Emma reached for her own burger and took a big bite. The more she got to know Cal, the more she liked him. They had things in common, and he was really cute, not to mention a perfect gentleman. The only problem was, she didn’t like him. There was no spark, not for her at least. But she totally wanted to set one of her friends up with him.

“I could give you a tour of the facility if you’re interested,” he offered with another easy smile.

“I’d love that.”

“You’d like Nancy. She’s one of our bear cubs. Cute little thing, but watch your back because she’s a pickpocket. She lifted my cell phone last week and prank called my mom.”

Emma laughed so hard she almost snorted beer up her nose.

“She’s a character, all right.” Cal’s brows bunched. “I’m pretty sure the bartender is throwing some major shade our way. He your ex or something?”

Emma glanced at the bar, and her gaze collided with Ryan’s. It zapped her system with a ridiculous burst of heat and sparks. So he was here tonight after all. But instead of feeling giddy about rubbing his nose in her date with Cal, she just felt mad. Because she couldn’t even enjoy her date, and it was all his fault. Well, her fault really for letting herself get so hopelessly hung up on him, but right now, it felt better to blame him for her misery. “Oh, um, something like that.”

“He needs to chill,” Cal commented, taking a big bite out of his burger.

“Yeah, he really does. I’m sorry. I didn’t know he’d be working tonight.” Which was technically true, but now she felt terrible for hoping he would be, because she hadn’t considered that it might be awkward for Cal. What a disaster. She shot Ryan a pointed look.

He glared back at her, the heat of his stare enough to make her body sizzle. She felt it even after she’d turned her attention back to her date, a tingling feeling on the back of her neck that let her know Ryan was watching.

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