Page 71 of A Lucky Shot

“Assault?” Josh snapped.

She was such a gentle thing, way too trusting. That was her problem. She let people walk all over her. The thought of someone touching her when she didn’t want to be thronged through his brain.

Not just someone touching her when she didn’t want it—the thought of someone touching her who wasn’t him.

“That’s it.” He crossed his arms and set his jaw. “No more dates.”

“Or maybe just not dates with assholes,” Libby said.

“I’m only halfway through. And besides, I’ve dealt with worse,” Cass said, and that did not make him feel even a little bit better. But if she wanted to keep going, it was her choice. At least he could make sure whoever she saw passed a higher bar than what he’d set.

“Fine,” Josh snapped. “You don’t want boring. You don’t want freaky. What do you want?”

Cass shrugged and took a sip of her drink. “None of these guys are around longer than one date anyway, so what does it matter?”

It matters if your lips end up on someone else.

And where the fuck was this coming from? He didn’t get jealous. Ever. Jealous meant he thought she was his, and no one else’s. The last thing he needed was to examine why. What he needed was to put distance between them.

By sticking with the stupid plan of sending her out with other guys.

He glowered at her and held out his hand. “Phone.”

He swiped. And swiped. Left, left, left. What a bunch of clowns. The ones who weren’t assholes were just wholesome chocolate chip cookies that would bore Cass to tears. Or put their hands on her. Whether or not she wanted it. Worse, how could he tell the difference?

Fuck. He sank lower in his seat and swiped left again.

“You literally let him do this,” Libby said, amazed. “I thought you were exaggerating.”

“What can I say? I’m a sucker for punishment.” Cass peered nervously over his shoulder, and her flowery scent enveloped him. His gut clenched at the thought of Face Licker close enough to get a noseful of her distracting fragrance. “You have to swipe right on at least a few of these guys,” she said.

“I thought the point of all this was fuckboy exposure therapy,” Stephen said. “Just swipe right on guys like you.”

A litany of ways to make Stephen regret opening his trap crossed Josh’s mind. Throw a wrench in scheduling. Or cancel a caterer.

Shit, no. Nothing that would affect filming. They were too close to the end for that. Only weeks away. He pictured himself getting on the plane, alone, and his gut twisted.

“Lord knows I don’t have the best track record,” Cass murmured. “And any time you meet someone new is a chance, right? People take a chance like this all the time.”

“Or maybe this has been a terrible idea from the start, and you should just spend time with people that actually care about you,” Libby snapped, shooting daggers at Josh.

Like he was in a position to do anything about that.

Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to swipe right on a few dudes who at least didn’t look like mouth breathers, or like they belonged on a government watch list. Each swipe bragged It’s a Match! and Josh repressed the urge to undo the matches with the firefighter, the architect, and the financial consultant with great hair.

“Here,” he said, passing her phone back. “At least a few fuckboys.”

Cass took her phone back and swiped through her matches with a resigned determination. “A couple of these guys seem okay,” she said, voice trailing off.

Fuck. He knew he shouldn’t have matched the firefighter.

“Shit, you got terrible taste in men, dude.” Stephen leaned against the bench, his arm wrapped around Libby and grinning. “Are you trying to make Cassie suffer or is that your natural state with women?”

That smirk was coming off his best friend’s maw if it took sandpaper. If they kept ragging on his swiping, he might take it personally. The point was to get Cass exposed to a bunch of different guys to help her get over that fucker who kept jerking her around. He didn’t think he’d been making bad matches for her. At least, not on purpose.

Had he?

He turned to Cass. “This is your cue to say, ‘Of course, Josh doesn’t make me suffer.’”

---