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“Ithought we were headed to Happy Jack’s to spy on your woman,” AJ remarked as he watched his friend flag down a waitress in a bar he hadn’t planned to visit that night. When the harried waitress arrived, they ordered two beers—and God, he needed that beer. AJ had been keyed up all day, the need to clock out and head to the beach front dive bar, Happy Jack’s, like a Lego in his boot, stabbing at him with every step. There was something about spending time with Anna, Sally, and the competent and quiet office manager, Maeve, that seemed all too important.
Must be missing my sister. Haven’t spent enough time with her lately. But what did that have to do with Anna…or Maeve Thomas? One was his best friend’s woman, and the other…. Hmm. He really didn’t know what to think about the soft spoken, easily flustered mouse who managed the office like a well-programmed robot.
“I changed my mind. When have you ever had a problem coming to Anchors? Anyway, I figured you and I could use a few brews and some conversation without the girls there to get all up in our business. Well…your business, because my lady could get all up in all of my business, especially when it comes to my dick.”
AJ groaned, rolling his eyes. Ever since Blaze finally pulled his head out of his ass about Anna, they’d been that sweet yet annoying couple people tended to stay away from. All the kissing and caressing in public could really turn the stomach…if he weren’t jealous as hell, wanting his own woman to show off and mouth fuck in front of jealous eyes.
“Sly is going to meet us once he’s finished some tricky paperwork.”
AJ chuckled dryly. “You mean he’s actually peeling himself off my sister long enough to spend time with his friends?” At that thought, he pursed his lips, not all that eager to think about his sister and her boyfriend together. And all the things that came with being a couple.
You’re just jealous.
Yes and no. No, he wasn’t jealous that his sister finally met her one. She deserved to have someone love her and treat her like the queen she was. But, yes, he wanted what they had, that closeness, intimacy, having that one person who belonged to him, and to whom he belonged that he could love. He wanted that someone to go home to, build a home with, and just…have and hold.
Fuck, if any other man heard his thoughts, knew his heart, they’d call him a pussy, a woman. But he didn’t care. All his life he’d yearned for her. And he found her…in his Swan.
Slipping his cell from his pocket, he checked the screen.
No new email from Swan. He sighed, his chest constricting. Why hadn’t she emailed? It wasn’t like her to not send something for so long. Yeah, he’d gotten that box of cookies that morning—they’d been couriered to his house—but he hadn’t gotten an email response from her in three days.
Three days too long.
He’d emailed her twice. The first email he sent two days ago was the usual shoot-the-shit, I want to see you in person, I can’t get enough of you email. The one he’d sent that afternoon was a little more desperate. He’d thanked her for the cookies…then begged her to email him back. No, he had no fucking shame when it came to his Swan.
There was nothing yet. No response.
Had something happened? Was she injured? Had she finally had enough of his demands and decided he wasn’t worth the pestering? No. Not his Swan. She might not be ready to meet in person, but she was just as invested in what they did have as he was. She wouldn’t just ghost him…even if there was no clear-cut label for what was going on between them.
Though he wanted to meet her, claim her, and marry the fuck out of her. To him, their label was: meant to be.
Her not responding to his emails was strange. And worrisome.
So…there was something wrong. Right?
He checked his phone again.
“Dude, what the hell? What’s so important that you’re checking your phone every other minute? Waiting on a call from a hot piece? Now, I might not be single anymore, but I can still be your wingman.”
“When have I ever needed a wingman? Besides, all those times we went out before you finally got with Anna, you were the one chasing tail. I was happy with my occasional one-night stand. I wasn’t the one who needed to bang random women to try for forget about the woman I really wanted to be with.”
Blaze grunted, shame turning his face red. “Yeah, I was a fucking dumbass. No matter how much ass I chased, it just didn’t fulfil my need for her.”
Of course, it hadn’t. Blaze, like AJ’s father, had that one woman who loved him, sacrificed for him, sat waiting for him, while he fucked his way through co-eds. Unlike AJ’s father, though, Blaze wasn’t a sociopathic sadist who enjoyed making his woman live in pain. Blaze was just a careless, stubborn asshole who finally got his shit together.
Unlike Henri Dupree.
“At least you have Anna now, man. Cherish that,” AJ urged, his own yearning leaking through and into his words.
Blaze pinned him with a look that told AJ he’d noticed.
“Hmmm…don’t think I didn’t notice you said ‘I was happy.’”
“Huh?”
Cocking his lip in a smirk, Blaze explained, “You said, ‘I was happy with my occasional one-night stand.’ Does that mean you are no longer happy living the bachelor life?”
Hell, no. He was miserable, but he couldn’t tell Blaze that. The man was already on his case about his cyber “friendship” with Swan, if he knew that AJ’s feelings went deeper than that, Blaze would punch him in the dick so hard his great-grandkids would double over and groan.
