“Yeah,” I sigh, “I’m just going to have to give my brother and his wife one hellof an apology tomorrow.”
Joey chuckles. His laugh is manly, but playful too. Is there anything about this guy that doesn’t reduce me to a quivering puddle of desire? He just makes me feel . . . fired up.
“You know,” Joey says, “I sort of feel like I owe Jax an apology too.”
“Oh yeah? What did youdo?”
“I may have lost my patience with him. He was trying to give me advice and I — never mind. I don’t want to bore you.”
I put my pizza down and look Joey firmly in the eye. “Was he telling you to find love and yada yada?”
Joey looks amused. “Yes, actually. A whole lot of yada yada.”
I smile. “He’s been doing that a lot. Ever since he married Julia, it’s like he’s transformed into some kind of life coach or something.”
“So true,” Joey says. His eyes widen with bemused relief. “I mean I’m happy for him and all . . .”
“. . . And he means well.”
“Right. But that almost makes it worse.”
I laugh. “I know what you mean. Jeez, are we terrible people for thinking that?”
Joey considers this possibility before nodding. “Yeah, I think we just might be. Oh well. Cheers to being terrible.”
We toast with our plastic cups of water and just like that, I find myself getting lost in his eyes again.
There’s a second of silence, and we both laugh nervously.
I blush and look away first.
“It’s funny,” I finally say, “for someone who wants all his friends to find love just like he did, my brother certainly didn’t do me any favors in the romance department tonight.”
Joey cocks his head and looks at me with a faint, quizzical smile.
“Oh, come on,” I chide him. “Don’t even pretend he didn’t tell all of you guys to keep your hands off his sister.”
Joey laughs, and his eyes seem to sparkle. How can one man be so attractive? Was he made in a lab or something?
“You’re right,” he says. “Jax did tell us something along those lines. But to be fair, that’s just kind of how things work at the station. Sisters and exes are off limits.”
I roll my eyes. “It’s a stupid rule.”
“Maybe so. But most of the guys take it seriously.”
I look at him wondering if he’s one of those guys. Does he want me to challenge him on this? Seduce him into going against the outdated bro code? Hard to say, but I want to take a chance. I reach out and place my hand on top of his. “How serious are we talking?” My thumb lightly strokes his hand.
His eyes lock onto mine. He doesn’t pull his hand away. “Do or die serious. I don’t think I could keep it a secret from my teammates. It wouldn’t be right.”
“So there’s no way you’d go against the code?”
“Not necessarily. I’d have to fall deeply for the girl to summon the courage to confront—“
He stops talking mid sentence, and looks as though he’s imagining the scenario in his head. After a short while, he pulls his hand away. “This kind of stuff has potential to ruin friendships,” he says.
Damn it. Could this night get any more embarrassing?
Apparently it can, because Joey suggests we box up the rest of the pizza. “You can take it home with you,” he says. “Cold pizza does wonders for hangovers.”
