Page 161 of Reckless Vengeance

“You’re easy to feel comfortable around. I don’t have to worry about anything around you. It probably helps that I don’t really care if you’re attracted to me or not, but still. You’re not mean if I stuff my face or anything.”

“You’re pretty,” he said as he looked at me, so serious he almost looked sober. “And I don’t care if you stuff your face because eating is kind of important.”

I laughed, sipping my beer before putting it on the coffee table so I could pull up the pizza company app.

“Eating is definitely important. So, pepperoni for Sasha with a cheesy crust. What do you want?”

“You don’t try to push her away,” he said softly, blinking at me. “You like me remembering her.”

“Of course I do, D. You loved her, she was important to you. I like hearing about her.”

He blew out a breath, downing a mouthful of beer as if he needed courage to talk.

“From the second I met you, I wished that you two had met, but I don’t really like that idea now.”

“Why not? We’d be too much trouble?” I grinned, and he shook his head.

“I couldn’t have this with you if she was still here.”

“You totally could. Me and her might have been besties, you know?” He looked torn, like he was thinking really hard to make sense of what he wanted to say, and I put my phone down beside me to take his hand. “Hey. I’d still be your friend. Promise. We would have found our way to each other one way or another.”

“Fuck,” he said under his breath, his eyes flicking between mine for a moment before he leaned forward and kissed me.

At first, I was stunned, not at all expecting it since he acted like women had the plague, but when I went to pull back, I heard his beer hit the ground as his hand came to the back of my head.

It was a soft kiss, like he was worried about hurting me, but when I kissed him back, he got a little harder. He practically moaned my damn name as my hand rested on his chest, his heart slamming against my palm as his tongue teased mine.

He eased me back until he was braced above me, kissing me into the couch like he’d die if he didn’t, but I snapped out of it when his hand tugged at the button on my jeans.

“D, wait.”

His hand disappeared, but he kept kissing me.

This wasn’t right. He was too damn drunk to think clearly, and even if I wasn’t dating the guys, I wasn’t going to risk losing our friendship over a mistake. He was drunk and lonely, obviously emotional, and I needed to keep the line drawn between us until he was sober enough to talk about it.

“Diesel, stop,” I said more firmly, and he leaned back with a frown. I saw it the second the realization hit him. A flair of pain and panic filled his eyes, and he jerked back so hard he fell off the couch.

“Fuck,” he cursed, scooting back a little more as if the distance would take it back. “Fuck!”

“It’s okay,” I said carefully, anger taking over his face in an instant.

“Get the fuck out.”

“D—”

“Get out! How the fuck did you even find me?” he shouted, somehow scrambling to his feet without hurting himself. When I didn’t reply, he stalked closer and scruffed the front of my shirt. “Answer me!”

“Matteo told me! He said it was a good idea to check on you!” I replied, flinching when he let me go and flipped the coffee table, sending stuff flying. There was a gun in my face a moment later, his hand shaking as angry tears filled his eyes without falling.

“What are you doing to me?” he bit out, but the anger was gone from his voice, leaving behind desperation and sadness.

“I’ll go, it’s okay,” I promised, really starting to panic when he pressed the gun hard into my forehead. “D, I’ll leave.”

His breathing was heavy as he eyed me for a minute before stepping back and tossing his gun across the room, which thankfully didn’t go off, and I took that as my opportunity to leave.

Grabbing my phone from under me, I ran, my heart hurting for him as he kept yelling at himself as sobs took over. I didn’t want to leave him like this, but it was only making things worse with me being here.

I should have pushed him away the second he leaned in.