Page 90 of The Heart We Guard
She bites on the skin at the side of her thumb. “Have you met me?” Her voice lilts in sarcasm.
A chuckle escapes me. “You’re not that bad.”
Greer glances out of the corner of her eye. “Generally, men don’t like being told they’re wrong. They want to be pampered and fussed over and have everything done for them like giant children. I don’t have time for that. There are days when I completely understand why swaths of adult women are permanently moving in with their best friends. It’s evolution.”
“Do you have a close group of friends?”
She grins. “Not really. I kinda suck with all genders.”
I raise her hand to my lips and kiss it gently. “Glad I’m the outlier, babe.”
She shudders. “Please, don’t call me ‘babe.’”
“Sugar?”
“Nope.
“Princess.”
“Even worse.”
“Sweet cheeks.”
“Let me out of the car,” she says playfully, snatching her hand away.
I snatch it back. “I’ll find a name you like.”
“I’m fine with Greer given it’s, you know, my legal name. And I do have a best friend. Singular. Wade. Like I told you. He is who’s in Vegas.”
We pull onto the dirt road leading to Smoke’s cabin, and I can see a swath of fairy lights zig-zagging between the trees and cabin.
“I don’t have anything to worry about with Wade, do I?”
She turns to look at me. “Oh, God. No. We’re friends. For all he looks like a jock, he’s an allosexual aromantic nerd. We’re complete opposites.”
I shake my head. “Learning a million new terms with you, Doc. What does that mean?”
“Allosexual…experiences sexual attraction. Aromantic…experiences little to no romantic attraction.”
“So, the two of you have never…?” I let the question hang, feeling a bit weirded out by my insecurity.
The look of disgust on her face answers my question. “Definitely not.”
Smoke comes from around the back of the property and raises a hand in welcome as I park up and kill the engine. And Bones, Quinn’s dog, trots after him, happily bouncing around and yapping to greet us.
“They have a dog,” Greer cries excitedly.
“Bones is useless as any kind of guard dog. Would probably lick you to death before he does anything protective.”
Something propels me out the door and to Greer’s side of the truck.
Be the man you want to be, right?
I open her door and help her down.
“You know, I manage to get myself out of vehicles just fine when you aren’t around,” Greer says as my hands tighten around her waist.
I kiss her forehead. “I know. But I like helping you, so let me, or I’ll call youkittenfor the rest of the evening.” The grimace that crosses her face makes me chuckle. “You know, lots of women eat cute pet names up.”
