Page 42 of A Sudden Response

For years, he’d forced himself to ignore the way Joe made him feel, like he would go out of his fucking mind if he didn’t touch her, and now that he knew just how fucking good it felt to touch her, he was losing his fucking mind. She was his best friend, the only person he could go to for absolutely anything or nothing at all. He loved being with her and just talking to her over the phone eased his soul and that’s exactly why he couldn’t have her.

If they ever took it to the next step, he knew that it wouldn’t be long before it ended badly. They were both horrible at relationships. None of his previous girlfriends could hold his attention longer than it took to get them into bed and that usually didn’t take long. After sex, being with them felt like a chore, one he despised.

The same could be said for Joe. None of the guys that she dated could hold her attention for very long. For the most part, they seemed to irritate the living hell out of her. She didn’t do long-term relationships, a month was too much for her. Hell,two weeks was too long for him and that’s exactly why he knew this would never work.

She was forbidden fruit and the moment he had her, he knew that he’d get sick of her, too. Then, they’d be left with an awkward situation that even their relationship wouldn’t be able to recover from. Then what? Did he continue dating her, pretending that he still wanted her because of their friendship? For her, he would try, but he knew he’d come to resent their relationship and push her away like he did with so many women before her.

Then what?

If they managed to go back to being friends, there would always be an awkwardness between them. They might continue being friends, but their relationship would never be the same. He’d miss their easy conversations, her companionship, her smiles, the way she pissed him off, but most of all, he’d miss her. She might be the woman that he wanted more than his next breath, but she was also his best friend, his world and no amount of sex was worth risking that.

“So, it wouldn’t bother you if she was in the arms of another man right now?” Nathan asked, sounding amused.

Yes.

“No,” Eric bit out.

“Good,” Nathan said, nodding. “Then, it shouldn’t bother you that Dave and Johnny have their hands all over her right now.”

“What?” The word practically exploded from his mouth as he jumped to his feet, sending his chair flying back in the process. He turned around, ready to kill someone only to come to an abrupt halt when his eyes landed on the trio near the door. He felt his brows clear his hairline and he doubted that he was the only one.

“Just let me go!” Joe demanded as she fought against the two large men struggling to hold her back. “I promise that I’ll only kill him a little bit!”

He felt his lips twitch while he watched as Joe managed to drag the men closer to him.

“You said that you only wanted a drink!” Johnny said accusingly as he doubled his efforts to pull the little pain in the ass back.

“I do. Killing makes me thirsty,” Joe explained as her homicidal gaze landed on him.

Any other man would probably make a run for it, but that wasn’t his style. This was the reason why he was going to make damn sure that he never touched her again. He loved her, loved the way she drove him crazy, and hereallyloved pissing her off.

“How was the ride, Joe?” Eric asked as he walked over to her and chuckled when she tried to lunge at him.

“It was great. Nothing like a smooth ride through the country. Why don’t you come closer so that I can thank you properly?” Joe suggested sweetly even as she stomped down on Dave’s foot, forcing the poor bastard to let her go.

She didn’t waste any time in reaching up and going for Johnny’s nipple. The look on the poor besotted bastard’s face was priceless. He took one look at the hand nearing his nipple and practically dove away from her, leaving Eric with absolutely no doubt that she’d done it before. Probably as soon as she got off that backboard.

Joe wasted no time in going for him and probably would have gone for his throat if Nathan hadn’t suddenly appeared between them and caught her around the waist with a bored sigh as he threw her over his shoulder, wrecking all of Eric’s fun.

“Let me go, Nathan!” Joe demanded, grabbing the back of Nathan’s pants to push herself up so that she could glare at him.

“Are you going to behave if I do?”

“Yes!” Joe lied and everyone knew it. She was eager to kick his ass and as much as he enjoyed a good laugh, it probably was for the best if he didn’t have a reason to put his hands on her right now.

“Will it make you feel better if I take you out to dinner?” Nathan offered even as he headed for the door.

Joe glared at him for a moment as she thought it over. “Can I have dessert?”

“When the hell did you turn into such a little gold digger?” Nathan demanded, earning a rather cute eye roll from Joe.

“Don’t turn your back on her, Nathan!” Eric called after them, “or she’ll order an appetizer!”

“Betraying bastard!”

“Are you still mad at me?”Eric asked as he stepped into the bunkroom and tossed his sleeping bag and backpack on the empty bunk.

Joe didn’t look at him as she jammed the pillow into the pillowcase with more force than he thought was necessary.

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