AJ frowned at him. “It’s only a few hours of your time, man. One hour after school for three days. And the club doesn’t open until seven, so it won’t interfere with work.”
One hour a day for three days? That was three hours. Three hours in Darcy’s company, three hours of looking at her gorgeous face, three hours of fighting the urge to taste those sweet lips again.
God. He’d never survive it.
But what kind of heartless jerk said no to teaching a bunch of kids how to stay safe? Darcy taught at a public school in a low income, high crime area, where most of the students walked to and from school, crossing through some of the city’s most dangerous neighborhoods. Knowing self-defense was imperative for those kids, and the fact that AJ and Darcy had come up with a plan to make that happen only confirmed what Reed had already known: the two of them were goddamn saints.
He stifled a sigh. Clearly this was a damned-if-he-did, damned-if-he-didn’t situation.
“Sure,” Reed said with nod. “I’d be happy to help out.”
AJ looked pleased. “Thanks, man. Do you mind contacting Darcy to tell her about the switch? I can forward you her number right now.”
Reed tried not to choke on the guilt as AJ picked up his phone and swiped his finger across the screen.
Damn it, what was the matter with him? The whole point of meeting AJ tonight had been to confess the truth, and instead, he’d agreed to place himself directly in the path of temptation again.
It was becoming glaringly obvious that he was a glutton for punishment. That seemed to be the only justification for all the screwed up decisions he was making lately.
Though if there was another explanation, he sure as hell would love to hear it.
…
Girls’ night was always a fun affair, but tonight, it was also a life preserver. Or maybe sanity preserver was a more accurate description. Ever since her thrilling, incredible, immoral encounter with Reed, Darcy had been caught up in a never-ending freak-out session, and she was in dire need of a distraction.
Since that night, she’d felt like she’d boarded a seesaw, alternating between bone-deep shame and uncontrollable longing. She’d almost called him a gazillion times demanding they do it again, except this time without a stitch of clothing acting as a barrier between them.
God, just thinking about him naked, imagining all those sculpted muscles pressed up against her, his powerful body crushing hers as his cock pumped inside her…it was enough to send a spike of desire straight into her core.
And, apparently, it was enough to bring her to countless self-induced orgasms, which she’d done frequently this week.
But whenever the urge to reach for her phone arose, she swiftly reminded herself that seeing Reed was not an option. Her breakup with AJ wasn’t even a week old, and even if the two men weren’t best friends, Reed Miller was the last candidate she’d consider for a relationship.
You could always take him for a fling, a naughty voice pointed out.
She immediately silenced the thought. Nope, couldn’t do that, either.
Oh, and had she mentioned that Reed was AJ’s best friend? What she and Reed had done was so wrong it ought to be illegal. What kind of woman threw herself at her ex-boyfriend’s best friend like that?
And great, now she was slut shaming herself. Fun times.
“She’s not paying attention to us.”
The dry observation came from her friend Shannon, who taught art at Darcy’s school. Since nearly half the teaching staff at Jefferson Middle School were in their mid to late twenties, Darcy was friends with most of her fellow teachers, and often hung out with them out of school hours. Tonight, though, only Shannon and Jayani had shown up to the Italian bistro where their weekly girls’ night usually took place. It was Labor Day weekend, so everyone else was either busy or out of town.
Skyler Thompson, Gage’s girlfriend, rounded out their little group. Darcy had hit it off with the younger woman from the moment they’d met, but the pretty brunette’s presence tonight only reminded Darcy of Sin, which in turn reminded her of AJ, and from there, it didn’t take long before her thoughts drifted right back to Reed.
“It’s okay,” Skyler spoke up with a laugh. “She gets a pass. Breakups suck.”
Shannon’s features softened as she looked at Darcy. “Are you doing okay, hon? You keep saying you’re fine, but none of us will blame you if you want to cry a little.”
Grinning, Jayani slid her linen napkin across the table. “Seriously, go for it. Maybe the waiter will comp our meals if you unleash the waterworks.”
Darcy rolled her eyes. “Jay, if you want free food, just flash him that million-dollar smile of yours. That usually seems to work.”
The stunning Indian woman didn’t bother denying it. Jayani looked like she’d stepped off the set of a Bollywood movie, her features so flawless and exotic that she turned heads wherever she went. She was also six feet tall, which only added to her supermodel good looks.
Jayani batted her eyelashes. “It’s not like I actively try to get free stuff. It just gets handed to me. What am I supposed to do, say no?”
Darcy and Shannon hooted, while Skyler giggled. Gage’s girlfriend had joined them at girls’ night enough times to have witnessed the way men looked at Jayani, and how easily she got her way without even having to ask.
“Oh, and to answer your question, I really am fine,” Darcy told her friends.
“Really? You don’t miss AJ at all?” Skyler hedged.
“I miss the friendship part,” she admitted. “But the rest of it…God, this is going to sound horrible, but whenever AJ and I had sex, it was about as exciting as white rice.”
She knew the picture she’d painted wasn’t a pretty one, but it was the truth. Sex with AJ had been blander than bland. Hell, even kissing him had lacked excitement. AJ’s kisses had been nice, but so very sedate.
Reed’s kisses, on the other hand…
Nope, she wasn’t allowed to think about those toe-curling kisses again.
Or the way he’d made her orgasm just by rubbing his thick erection against her fully clothed body.
“Well,” Darcy said brightly, reaching for her menu. “Now that I’ve officially bummed everyone out, how about we order?”
Skyler snorted, then picked up her own menu. “Gage was so mopey that I was coming here tonight,” she said as she scanned the entrée list. “He wanted to make me this new Thai recipe he got off the Internet.”
“Jeez Louise. I can’t believe you landed yourself a man who likes to cook.” Envy dripped from Shannon’s tone. “Tom would eat his own arm first before even thinking about preparing dinner.” She was referring to her husband, who also worked at Jefferson as the Phys. Ed teacher.
Darcy loved watching Tom and Shannon together at school. The couple fought like cats and dogs, but she had no doubt they loved each other. And with that kind of palpable passion, she suspected their sex life was hot enough to set their bed on fire.
Argh. Why couldn’t she find a man who rocked her world like that?
You did. Saturday night.
Darcy smothered a groan. Jeez, would that inner voice just shut up already? Saturday night didn’t count. Reed didn’t count. She wanted to set fires with a man she’d actually be able to keep.