Page 56 of Love Without Demands

“Thanks, sir,” Cruz answered. “We were just leaving.”

I stifled my giggles until he was gone. “Do you think he knew what we were up to?”

Cruz groaned and shook his head. “I don’t know. Your face is all flushed, but maybe he didn’t get a good look.” He winced. “Sorry, that probably wasn’t a very smart thing to do. In public, you know?”

“I know,” I agreed, but I couldn’t bring myself to regret it. Not even a little bit.

Chapter 16

“Good job with thatjumper today, Estrada,” Curly said as we stripped off our gear at the station. They no longer called me New Fucker, so that was progress.

“Thanks. I’m glad I was able to talk him down. Poor guy’s been through a lot lately.”

“But threatening to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge? Damn,” Maverick said, pulling a gray T-shirt over his head. “Mentioning his kids was a good idea though. I could see it the second those words hit home, and I knew he’d back away.”

“You stinky fuckers go clean up, and we’ll meet at the pub in an hour,” Curly ordered before picking up his black bag and heading for the exit.

An hour later, my hair was still damp when I took a seat on the booth side of our regular table.

“Ordered you a beer,” Chris said from beside me.

“Thanks, man.”

“Didn’t you go out of town last weekend? Was it a romantic getaway with a special lady?” His voice was lightly teasing.

“It wasn’t for me. It was for a friend who is getting married. Or was. She ended up breaking off the engagement while we were there.”

Eyebrows lifted all around the table.

“You don’t sound exactly broken up about it,” Kai mused.

I took a long draw of beer and swiped the back of my hand over my mouth. “He doesn’t deserve her. Guy’s a prick.”

Jayden’s eyes sparkled as he leaned forward. “Sounds like you think a certain blue-eyed Latino deserves her instead.”

I measured how much I wanted to say and finally thought,fuck it. “I would treat her like a goddamn queen.”

“You down for just some fun or is this something you want long term?” Curly asked.

“Long term,” I said, with assuredness.

“Hmmm.” He glanced around the table, and the guys seemed to be having some kind of unspoken conversation.

“What?”

Curly blew out a breath. “You want to be careful you don’t become Rebound Guy.”

“Or Revenge Guy,” Mav added, and they all bobbed their heads in agreement.

My eyes shifted between them. “Who are they?”

Jayden pointed at me. “You know, when a woman gets divorced or breaks off a long relationship, she finds Rebound Guy to get over the last one.”

“And that guyneverlasts,” Chris advised. “I’ve seen it twice with my sister. And then you’ve got Revenge Guy. They usually get with this one after they’ve seen their ex with another woman. They find the hottest dude out there and bang him for a while to make the ex jealous. Even if she doesn’t want the ex back, she still wants him to see what he’s missing.”

“Agreed,” Mav said with a nod. “If you actually want a relationship with this woman, you do not, under any circumstances, want to be these guys.”

“I was Rebound Guy once,” Kai added. “Only lasted three months.”

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