Page 11 of Adoring Ink

Jake frowned. “I’m not.” He looked at her. “Right? I mean, I think it’s a cute name. If I’m being mean, tell me. Okay? I don’t want to hurt you.” A look crossed his face, and she held back a sigh.

“You didn’t hurt me.” You never did. She kept that last part to herself, though. With a shrug, she set down her plate and stood up so she could walk around the back of the couch to give Jake a hug. “I’m just in a weird mood today. Ignore me.”

He hugged her back, hard, and she stayed there a moment. Jake always gave the best hugs. She’d missed those when they broke up, but she hadn’t missed him as much as she should have. She wasn’t sure what that said about her other than the fact that she and Jake had been totally wrong for each other.

When he pulled away, she leaned into the back of the couch and wrapped her arms around her stomach, annoyed with herself for letting her thoughts go in so many different directions.

Border studied her as he normally did, silent with way too much knowing in his eyes. She knew him the least of the three, and yet, for some reason, she felt like he understood her the best. There was always something about the quiet ones, she guessed.

“I hear you’re hanging out with Brody,” Jake said casually. Too casually. Darn, the man and his overprotectiveness. After he’d gotten together with Border and Maya, he’d somehow figured that he needed to be a big brother of sorts to Holly. A form of big brother that had seen her naked and done unspeakably hot things to her…but the overprotectiveness was out of control sometimes.

“Yes. I am.”

“How did the ride go?” Maya asked, and Holly turned toward the other woman. “What? I can’t help that you marched on over to where he and I were sitting and said yes to his proposal.”

“He proposed?” Jake barked. “What the hell? You don’t even know him. Unless you’re keeping secrets. Are you keeping secrets?”

Holly rubbed her temples and counted to ten. “First, no. He didn’t propose. Stop freaking out and use your brain. You’re smarter than this. At least, you were before. Maybe getting it on with two people all the time is wearing you down.”

At that, Maya laughed hard.

Border shook his head, his smile wide. “That could be it, you know. Maybe we’ve drained him.”

Holly winced. “Gross. I don’t need to picture that.” She gave a mock shiver, and Jake rolled his eyes. “Anyway, as I was saying, no, he didn’t propose. Secondly, stop acting like a caveman when it comes to me. You’re not my brother—thank God. If I want to go out with a random guy, I will. I’m an adult.”

Jake narrowed his eyes. “You’re an adult who happens to be my friend. So, yeah, I’m going to worry about you. We might not be together anymore, but I’m still going to watch out for you.”

“And you’re saying Brody is someone I need to watch out for?” She wasn’t sure why that annoyed her. Brody had been sweet to her and hadn’t tried for anything more than a kiss. A kiss she was pretty sure she’d started. And after spending so much time with that vibrating motorcycle between her legs and her breasts pressed against his hard back, she was surprised she hadn’t jumped him.

Holly might be sweet, but she wasn’t that sweet.

“Brody is a good guy,” Border said in that deep voice of his. “Despite what Jake here is saying, Brody won’t hurt you intentionally. The man flirts with anyone with a pulse, mind you, but I think that’s more to put people at ease.”

She frowned, not liking where this was going. Was Brody just flirting with her because she was available? That didn’t sound like what she wanted. Of course, she hadn’t wanted a man at all. Everything she was doing was because she wanted to be a little more daring, a little less of the sweet Holly everyone knew. Brody wanted to help with that for some reason, and she had already decided she was going to let him.

So what if he would have done it for anyone?

She wasn’t just anyone, she reminded herself. And as long as she knew that, she could go into this with her eyes wide open. She didn’t need a relationship with the man, didn’t need to sleep with him. She just needed to find more of herself.

And if Brody wanted to help her, then she’d take that freely.

“Hey,” Jake said as she lifted her chin. “You’re not just anyone,” he whispered, echoing her thoughts.

“He’s right,” Border added. “You’re not. And though Brody flirts, he doesn’t actually date as much as people think.”

Holly pulled away. “We’re not dating.”

Maya frowned but nodded. “Okay, then. So you have nothing to worry about. But if you did date him, know that he’s not the player we made him sound like. He’s a good guy, who puts all of himself into helping others. I don’t know him as much as my brother, Alex, does, but what I do know, I like.” Maya bit her lip, looking nervous. “And I might have made him angry by the way. Brody, not Alex.”

Holly sighed. “Why? What did you do?”

Maya picked at a thread on the couch. “I might have told him to be careful with you.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because you’re our friend,” Jake answered for his wife. “Sorry. But that’s what we do. We meddle, and we’re overprotective, but it’s because we love you. We’re not going to stand in your way, but we’re going to be behind you.”

To catch me if I fall, she thought.