Page 32 of The Pucking Proposal

“Already?” He balks as he throws an arm over my shoulders like he’s gonna keep me here by force. But then he grins evilly and looks around. “Where’d Everly go? She waiting on you somewhere?”

“Who?”

My brow furrows in confusion and Shep chuckles. “Not a love connection with the blonde, then, I take it.”

Oh yeah, the picture girl ... Everly. I shake my head. “Nah, not feeling it.”

Don’t ask questions. Don’t ask questions. For the love of fuck, don’t ask me anything.I send the prayer up to the moon high in the sky, hoping Shepherd doesn’t pry into my personal life right now. But one way to ensure he doesn’t is to take a play from his book and go on the offensive instead of waiting and playing defense the way I typically do.

“What about you? You hunt down Joy’s friend?” I thread a heavy dose of teasing into the question to lighten the mood.

“Jealous?” he replies.

I chuckle, pushing his shoulder. “The only thing I’m jealous of is your heart because it’s pounding inside you and I’m not.”

“Aw, love you, too, bro,” he drawls, shoving me back. “See you next week then?”

I nod, mentally checking my schedule for the next few days. “Yeah, I fly home Wednesday and back on Sunday. I’ll tell Mom you said hi.”

We high-five and I escape, still searching for Joy as I get to my truck.

By the time I get to Joy’s apartment, I’ve mentally psyched myself up and am 100 percent certain I’m gonna end up grabbing Flannel Guy by his too-long hair and shoving him out the door in his underwear.

Bang, bang, bang.

Joy opens the door in a midthigh-length T-shirt and nothing else. Or at least nothing else I can see. “Are you fucking serious? Where is he?” I roar.

She leans against the door, digging a bare pink-painted toe into the floor. “Who?”

The smile on her face says she knows exactly who I’m talking about and is enjoying this.

I slam a hand to either side of the door, gripping the frame so hard that my knuckles creak. “I swear to fuck, Joy, if that guy’s in your bed, I’m gonna—” I grit out.

“You’re not gonna do shit,” she hisses, “but there’s nobody here.” She twirls around, giving me her back as she saunters sassily away. She has to be fucking with me—swishing her hips and swinging her hair to put a spell on me.

I follow, shutting the door and looking around for any telltale signs. The sweater she was wearing is draped over the arm of the couch, but that’s not unexpected for Joy. There’s no extra drink on the coffee table or any sign of the asshole’s flannel, though.

Maybe she’s telling the truth?

In the kitchen, Joy leans against the counter, watching me. “Wanna check the bedroom? Bathroom? Closet? Oh, you should check under the bed, too, but watch out for the dust bunnies.”

I stalk toward her. “What the fuck was that tonight?” I hiss. I’m angry as hell, and though I won’t let her see it, I’m hurt too.

She hops up on the counter, kicking her dangling feet like she’s not the least bit affected by my fury. “Dalton, you know what this is. Remember saying that? Both of us agreeing to it?” she reminds me. “We’re not dating. We’re not anything.Iwas reminded of that when I saw Blondie all up in your business, offering you her personal sucking service like her name’s Hoover. So I can dance with whoever I want, fuck whoever I want, and it has nothing to do with you.”

She glares at me as if she actually believes that.

“The hell you can.”

“It’s okay, you can too,” she generously offers.

As if that’s remotely happening. I shake my head, her words rattling around and not making any sense. “You don’t mean that,” I challenge.

“Maybe I do,” she huffs, jutting her chin two inches higher in the air.

“I don’t want to fuck anyone else. You basically own my cock at this point.” The confession passes my lips before I can stop it, and as much as I hate to admit it, it’s the truth.

I don’t know when or how that happened, and it’s probably going to be the thing that gets me killed or kicked off the team when Shep finds out. But I look forward to talking to Joy every day. She’s a bright spot in my existence I didn’t know I was missing. I want to see her, listen to her, and I sure as shit want to touch her.

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