“Come on, now! YoulikeJamie Burke.”
“I do,” Dare allowed. “I like him a lot. But he dicked you around, and I could kick his ass for that. He’s been in love with Parker since they were little, and when something forms in you that young…” He shook his head. “Youcan’tjust get over it. Doesn’t work like that.”
Dare spoke like this was a sad truth of life when he couldn’tpossiblyknow that for sure, because if he’d been in love with someone, I’d have known it. Dare had been a constant in my life for as long as I could remember, a silent moon orbiting around me with comforting consistency. I figured I was the same for him.
“So what you need to do is get to know a personfirst,young Bri-awan. And to dothat, you need to chill out. I can try to help you with it.”
I kept running my hands through his hair while I considered his offer.
“Okay,” I allowed. “Let’spretendI agree I’m not as chill as I could be, and I do need to figure out how to get to know a guy without scaring him off. What would you suggest, oh dating guru?”
“I’ll talk you through a convo with him. We can practice some scenarios and come up with a plan.”
“So you’d be my Cyrano? Helping me woo alovah?”
“Ugh. Let’s agree to never call it that, Bri-bri.”
I chewed on my bottom lip. The awkward-factor of this plan was dangerously high. And yet… Dare had honestly seen me do even more awkward shit, and he’d never mocked me for it, which was one of the things that made him my oldest and most trusted friend.
“Fine,” I agreed. “What do we do?”
“Right now?” Dare asked, sitting up with a groan. “Not a damn thing. You steer clear of the man and let his poor hindbrain forget the way he was stalked this morning, while I get back to the market ’cause I promised I’d give Silas a hand with some volunteer stuff he’s doing.” He got to his feet, then stretched out two hands to help me up. “Go read a book. Enjoy the sunshine. Eat some ice cream. Take an actual day off for once. Call me later to check in.”
“Do the guys you date get this treatment?” I asked as he pulled me to my feet. “Because if so, I’m beginning to understand why you’re so popular with them.”
Dare’s dark eyes met mine, and he braced his hands on his hips. “Brian, I don’tdatemen, remember? Ifuckthem hard and thoroughly andthatis why I’m popular.”
I swallowed hard and felt a tiny chill dance up my spine at those words.
When I was a kid, I’d had a husky named Morty who was a total derp—a harmless, lovable, living bean-bag of a canine who delighted in being cuddled—until the night someone tried to jimmy the lock on the back door, when Morty had bared more teeth than I’d known he possessed and growled like a fucking wolf. It had been a powerful reminder that, for all his sweet affection, Morty was, indeed, a dangerous creature.
Weird as it sounds, I had a similar realization about Dare Turner right then.
I mean,obviouslythe man didn't live like a monk.Pfft.
Legendary, remember?
But he’d also never come right out and discussed his sexual conquests with me either, let alone hispreferences. Suddenly, I was looking at his forearms, corded with muscle and covered with crisp, dark hair, and imagining them wrapped around some stranger, holding him immobile.
I imagined his broad thighs used for purposes besides hiking, and the power of that perfect, muscular ass harnessed for feats beyond squats at the gym.
I imagined the sculpted mouth that always turned up for me contorted into an expression of anguish as he came. I imagined—
“Brian? Hey, Brian!” Dare frowned and waved a hand in front of my face. “You doing okay? Too much sun?”
I shook my head fervently. “What? Oh. No. Yeah. Fine. Just tired!”
“Gohome,” he instructed again, looking concerned. “Rest up for Wednesday, yeah?”
“Yeah,” I answered faintly. “I’ll be there. You can count on me.”
“I know I can,” Dare agreed with a smile. “Always have.” And that warm, sunshiny, peaceful Dare-feeling bloomed in my chest again.
He really was just thebestbest friend.
He tossed me a wink as he bent to pick up our trash. “Call me if you need me.”
I nodded, even though he was already striding away and couldn't see me. “I will, Dare. I always do.”
