Page 18 of Average Joe

Conversation came too easy. Joe’s laid-back persona was comforting, his laugh addicting, making me crave his smile, and shit, I hadn’t thought of Dylan since we’d sat down. Oh, God. What was I doing? I was in danger of falling in like with my new neighbor, and that could not happen. “Thanks for the beers and the company, but I should get to bed.”

A groan rumbled from his chest, deep and desperate. “Was it you who called the paramedics when she had her stroke?”

“No. I was out of town. Got back the next day. Mr. Slavic from across the street filled me in. She was having tea with her church friends when it happened. Why?”

Those blue eyes darkened, and Joe seemed lost in thought for too long before he cleared his throat and met my gaze. “I just wanted to thank whoever it was.”

The pain he wore broke my heart, reminding me that I danced too close to the danger zone. I could not afford to care.

I rocked forward, ready to head inside. Joe plucked the empty bottle from my fingers and dropped it at our feet, theclinkringing in the night air. Before I could stand and flee to the safety of my house, he cupped my face and claimed my mouth. His kiss was fast and desperate, vicious and hot. Frantically, he groped everywhere, my breasts, my thighs, my ass, like he couldn’t decide which part of me he favored. One second he was at my side; the next, I was on my back and he was over me, sliding his fingers under my waistband, searching for that sweet spot, stealing my sanity.

“Let’s go inside,” Joe growled, working me into a frenzy.

“No.” I bit his lip, then pulled him closer, hooking an arm around his neck.

Men were not welcome inside my domicile.

“Have it your way.” He chuckled, shifting his weight to one side to tug a condom out of his back pocket. “I’m fucking you here, then.”

“No”would have been the correct response.Nowas not an option. Joe’s strength and weight, his scent, those heavy breaths and desperate kisses, the contrast of his hard to my soft, the gravity of my need… If I sent him away, I would die. Combust into a billion shards of molten flesh. “Shut up and get naked.”

Our clothes disappeared in a blink. Joe sunk into me, slow and smooth before finding his rhythm, his girth beautifully brutal, his words crude and demanding.

Clawing and clinging to his sweaty ridges, I bucked and writhed, a wanton woman desperate to feel desired, to feel anything other than the hollow ache that haunted my every waking hour.

One tiny corner of my heart still pumped healthy and vibrant. As flutters erupted in my belly, pain pricked my chest because what was left of that vital organ needed protecting, and everything about the man pounding into me screamed devastation.

As an orgasm tore through me, I pulled at his hair, mumbling profanities. Tears fell, and sweet coffee and cream, I’d never come so hard or wanted to cling to a man like I did Joe.

My head and heart were so messed up.

Ashamed and still riding the high, I held Joe through his last orgasmic tremor and wallowed in his caresses until he rolled to my side. Only then did I kiss his cheek and whisper, “Thanks for the drinks,” before leaving him naked in my backyard.

* * *

“Oh, my god. You did it again, didn’t you?” Lilly clapped her hands and bounced on her toes, her breasts jiggling in the cups of her red sequined bikini top.

“Did what?” I bumped into the counter behind me, dodging her overly enthusiastic greeting.

“It!” she sang, throwing her arms around me and swaying, her vanilla-scented hair tickling my nose.

I wrestled my face out of her loose curls. “You’re confusing me.”

“You hooked up with some dude. Good for you, girl. Same guy?”

How did she know? I’d checked for new bruises. “None of your business.”

With a hard slap to my ass, she stepped back, giving me room to breathe. “It’s about time you have some fun.”

Fun was the seed that had rooted deep and grown into the prickly weeds that infested my soul. A good time had led to me growing up too fast, bearing adult responsibilities, and making decisions based on need, not wisdom.

I shook a finger at Lilly. “You have enough fun for the both of us.”

Brow quirked, hip cocked, she said, “Okay, seriously, twice now. You gotta tell me about this guy.”

“How do you know I did anything?” I shrieked, throwing my hands up in frustration.

“I just know. And don’t bother trying to lie. Look at you. You’re beaming.”

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