Page 8 of Joy Ride

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Dane stared at Walker, his jaw hanging open.Had he heard his best friend correctly?

They were surrounded by friends so tight they seemed more like family than any of the blood relatives the two of them had ever known.The connections between the Hot Rides, Hot Rods, and Powertools crews reminded him of the one he and Walker had formed in high school and strengthened during their time overseas.The shit they’d gone through had made it impossible to tear them apart.

Yet somehow the two of them had been included in this gathering, welcomed with open arms to the celebration of a new year.A new life too for most of the Hot Rides, who’d had a hell of a time lately, fighting for their soulmates and earning some damn peace.

Dane could relate to that aspect at least.Stability, honest work, and a network of kind and kickass people—well, those were greater gifts than he’d ever expected to receive this holiday season.

He was beyond grateful.Swear to God he was.

With their immediate needs taken care of, though, old cravings had resurged.For him and he could tell for Walker, too.They had so much, yet no one special to share it with.And the one person they’d always wished had all these things they now possessed, they’d left behind.In the clutches of two men neither of them respected any more than they did themselves.

Here they were, on New Year’s Eve, partying in the Hot Rides garage and contemplating even more new beginnings.That’s when Walker had dropped his bomb, proving that their brains often thought just alike.“Maybe we need to try something different this year.”

“Like what?”

“How about a serious relationship?”Walker asked, nonchalantly, as his stare tracked Kyra, Ollie, and Van across the impromptu dance floor they’d fashioned out of the Hot Rides garage bays.The trio was so fucking happy it almost hurt to look at them.

For years, Walker had insisted that their liaisons with women be limited to a single night of multiple orgasms.It was the best policy when the two of them were unreliable at best and dangerous at worst.Seeing Trevon, Quinn, and Devra along with Wren, Jordan, and Kason and now Van, Kyra, and Ollie all making their complex poly relationships work…

Well, Dane was starting to wonder if they might be able to do better—bebetter.So that they deserved that kind of love and could give it back tenfold.

If Walker was ready to commit to a relationship, especially a permanent ménage, then Hot Rides had really been a miracle for them.A place where they belonged and could openly pursue their most intense desires without repercussions or shame.

That sort of acceptance and understanding was having an enormous positive impact on them both.It was changing them.

But was it too late?

Dane recalled Joy’s angelic visage and how she’d looked after they’d made love to her before slipping out into the darkness.There had been no going back, and still wasn’t.But he would regret it for the rest of his life.Not the night itself, but the aftermath and all the things that had come before to make them unworthy of her love despite having stolen a taste of her body.

Walker was still staring at him.Waiting for a response.Hell, he had to know Dane was hungry for what he was proposing.Dane scratched the scruff on his cheek, wondering if he was understanding correctly.Afraid to hope only to be disillusioned again.“You mean, each of us with a woman by ourselves or one where we share someone together but for more than a night?Something like what they all have.”

“Either, I guess.”Walker shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal.Except to Dane it was.Those two things were entirely different.And if he had to sacrifice Walker to gain a girlfriend…frankly, he wasn’t interested.He couldn’t give up the one constant he’d had.Not now that things were finally looking up.“But if I have a choice…I vote for together.”

“You have someone in mind?”Dane asked, focusing hard on Walker’s eyes.His best friend didn’t have any tells really, but Dane knew this man better than any other.And he could see it when Walker didn’t deny what they both longed for.

Holy shit.

Dane considered whipping his phone out right then and texting Joy to see what she was up to and if she hated their guts as much as she should.

Except he didn’t have to.

Tom—the honorary patriarch of their newfound family and actual father of Eli, who himself was the head of Hot Rods—strode into the garage from the office, where he’d gone to see who’d pulled into the driveway.With a grim expression, he cut the music.Tom slapped his palm on the garage door button.As it rose, bit by bit, a very shapely, very familiar pair of legs came into view, followed by the very person Dane had been thinking of moments earlier.

What.The.Fuck.

“Hey, Walker.Is that Joy?”Dane shot to his feet, scrubbing his eyes as if she was some sort of mirage.Hell, he thought he saw her in every crowd, his soul longing for it to be true even when it wasn’t.But no, she was as real and gorgeous as ever.Not in a traditional way; her features were too bold for that.But something about the sharpness of her nose and the angles of her jaw drew him to her inner strength.

Dane would know that auburn hair and no-longer innocent, still-nervous smile anywhere.His cock never got this hard this fast for anyone else.It was her all right.

Instead of answering Dane, Walker asked, “Why the hell is she carrying a baby?”

What?He tore his gaze from her breasts, covered by a soft, fuzzy sweater, to the tiny bundle she was carrying.

“Oh, shit.”Dane’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head.He glanced over his shoulder at Walker before rushing from the rear of the garage toward the door to take in Joy and—if his mental math was correct—a child that belonged to either him or his best friend out of the cold.

He’d played by Walker’s rules last time.They’d only spent one night with her before moving on, but apparently those priceless hours would change him in more ways than they already had, ruining him for other flings.

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