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I heard the faint sound of “Stand by Me” being sung by Ben E. King.

“I’ve got to take that,” I said as I reluctantly untangled from Graham’s arms.

“Hmm?” Graham said as he released me.

“It’s my phone, inside my purse. It’s Seth calling.”

Graham cocked his head. “Cool song.”

As I stood up, the song ended, which meant my brother had gone to voicemail. Not that he’d leave one. He’d text me next. Normally he called when I was working nights; he knew that was a good time for us to chat. I was worried that he was calling on a weekend.

“I’ll get dinner started,” Graham said as he followed me inside.

“Where are we going to eat if it ever rains?” I asked as I scooped up my purse.

“You can sit on my lap on the recliner. Or we can sit on the floor and eat. We’ll pretend it’s a picnic.”

I shook my head. “Definitely furniture shopping.” Roxie had told me that Hart was well compensated working for Onyx and even mentioned that Graham probably got extra pay for tracking down some guy when he went to New Mexico, therefore I knew that Graham could afford furniture. So, I didn’t feel bad poking at him to spend money.

I looked down at my phone. As I suspected, there was a text. All it said was, Call me.

That sounded ominous. I usually only got those kinds of texts when Seth was angry or worried. I pressed in his number as I sat down in Graham’s comfy recliner and leaned back. I could see half of the kitchen from where I was sitting, so I saw Graham pulling things out of the fridge. It looked like he had been marinating something. Was he going to grill?

“Joy. Emmie told me that you’re dating a biker without a real job. Is that true?”

What the hell? Where was this coming from?

“Judgy much?”

“Just answer the question,” Seth bit out.

“He rides a Harley. And he has a job.”

“Yeah, I asked around. Part time,” Seth sneered. “Dump him.”

I sat up straight.

“I’m twenty-four years old. You’re not going to tell me who I can or can’t date.”

“This is not up for debate. You dump him right now, or Randy and I will be having a talk with him tomorrow.”

I shot up off the chair. That’s when I noticed Graham was now in the living room, his muscled arms crossed against his big chest. I couldn’t read his expression.

“Seth Robert Magill, I’m not a kid anymore, and this isn’t high school. You can’t run off the men I date.”

“JoJo, I know you’re not a kid. But you came back from London wrecked. I will not allow that to happen to you again. I know it was some man. And you’re making another shitty choice by dating some guy with sketchy employment at best.”

His words hit me like a ton of bricks. I hadn’t told a soul what had happened in London. It hadn’t been some man I’d dated or had an affair with. It was worse. Of course, I had come home wrecked.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” I snarled. “What’s more, if you come after Graham like some judgmental big brother, I will rip your nuts off!”

“He’s a waste of space!”

“I don’t care if he has three eyes and is homeless. He’s the man I want, so shut the hell up!”

“JoJo—”

I pulled in a deep breath. Seth and I, going head-to-head, never accomplished a damn thing. I needed to calm down.