I give her a wink. “Who says I wasn’t with him after that dinner? Maybe I was with him later.”

“You’re full of shit,” Gabby sneers at me. “You may shun any type of relationship that has feelings involved but when you do see a man, you are completely monogamous.”

“Fine,” I say as I hold my hands up before me. “Busted. Gonna spank me?”

“Gonna slap you,” she says with a huff. “Why, Casey? Why didn’t you want to come out with us, and more importantly, why lie about it?”

I take a large sip of my beer before answering her. When I set it down, I put on my most apologetic face. “I didn’t feel like going out that night. That’s all. But I knew all of you would keep at me until I agreed. Hell, you probably would have brought the party to my little house. So I told you I had other plans. Little lie. Big deal you’re making of it.”

“What happened with Richard? Aren’t you seeing him anymore?” she asks, her eyes going soft at the thought of me breaking up with someone.

Again.

I snort at her and lean back in my chair. “Get that look off your face. I ended it with him. He was getting too warm and fuzzy with me.” And to prove my point that this was not an incident deserving of her sympathy, I give a mock shudder of disgust.

Gabby looks at me… studies me. She taps her finger on her chin. “You know… I do believe I know what your problem is.”

“Oh, yeah?” I ask sarcastically. “Lay it on me, Yoda.”

“You need a Joe,” she says simply.

“Had one of those,” I say with an impatient wave. “A rich playboy spending Daddy’s shipping money. Wasn’t packing a huge amount between the legs, but he more than made up for it with his stamina.”

Gabby reaches out and punches me on the shoulder, causing me to yelp. “No, you moron. You need an average Joe. Someone who’s down to earth. Who appreciates you.”

Still rubbing my shoulder, I cock an eyebrow at her. “You seriously think that’s what I need?”

And damn… she’s probably not far off the mark. I know if I didn’t have “issues,” a good ol’ boy is probably the type that would bring me to my knees. That’s why I needed to stay far, far away from them.

“I know that’s what you need,” she says with a smug look. And then her eyes go soft again, and she reaches out to lay her hand on my forearm. “Oh, Casey… I want you to fall in love. I want you to see how wonderful it is when a man worships you and treats you like a princess. You deserve that more than any of us, and yet you’re the only one without it.”

“And don’t want it,” I add on firmly, knocking the gentleness out of her eyes.

She huffs in frustration and picks up her beer to take a slug. “You’re going to be one of those old cat ladies.”

“No way,” I disagree. “I’m going to be a prowling cougar when I get older. When I’m forty, I’ll only date twenty year olds, when I’m fifty, thirty year olds, and when I’m sixty, I’m going back to the twenty year olds. Now that right there is the good life.”

Gabby rolls her eyes at me again. Seems she does that a lot but thankfully, she changes the subject and we start discussing what to do about Andrea’s birthday, which is coming up.

Andrea Somerville is the newest addition to our crew. She just opened up a law practice here in Nags Head and managed to get engaged to a dear and longtime friend, Wyatt Banks. Wyatt and Hunter have been best friends since they could walk, much like Gabby and me. I know a lot of people thought he and I would get together at some point, seeing as how we were the last two remaining single peeps in the crew, but eww… gross… he’s like my brother.

Don’t get me wrong… he’s like my hot-as-hell-older-step-brother, but no way was I ever interested in that. Because as Gabby pointed out, regular Joes were just a little too dangerous for me. Wyatt is a cop thus that puts him in the regular category of men.

“Isn’t Andrea’s brother, Kyle, coming in to visit soon?” I ask as I start thinking about how we could throw Andrea a surprise party.

“This week sometime. Supposedly riding cross country from Wyoming on his motorcycle with a buddy.”

“Ooooh… maybe Andrea’s brother is some hot biker dude,” I say as I settle back deeper into the deck chair with my legs propped up in front of me.

“Hate to tell you this,” Gabby says drolly, “but bikers are ordinary Joes.”

“I can look and appreciate,” I respond with a dismissive wave of my hand.

Because that’s about all I would ever allow myself to do. Anything more would be far too tempting.

Far too dangerous.

Chapter 2

Tenn

We pull into the apartment complex called Crane’s Landing, and it looks nice enough, I suppose. It’s well landscaped, and there is a large pool and recreational area within the center of the buildings. I’ll have a better idea of whether or not this place is good enough for Zoey once I can see the inside. I slowly drive around the perimeter with my buddy, Kyle Somerville, right behind me, looking for the building number Brianna texted me a few days ago before we left Wyoming. The rumbling growl of our Harleys causes some of the residents milling around to look at us in interest.

It took Kyle and me just about four days to make it here to Raleigh, North Carolina on our bikes. My Heritage Softail has been kind to my ass but then again, we didn’t push it, instead deciding to take our time and enjoy the cross-country summer drive. Besides, neither one of us are on a rigid time clock, so there was no sense in rushing.

I finally spy the building that Brianna and Zoey live in and carefully back my bike into a parking spot, with Kyle easing his in beside me. We both cut our engines simultaneously and remove our helmets. I place mine on the small seat behind me, and Kyle hooks his to a handlebar.

With my feet firmly planted on the ground, I twist slightly so I can reach my saddlebags and pull out a bottle of water I have in there. I remove the cap and take several long drinks, then look over at Kyle and hold the bottle out to offer him some.

He shakes his head full of long, shaggy blond hair, which is tamed only by the Harley Davidson bandana he wears over it. “I’m good.”

Finishing the bottle off, I put the empty back in my saddlebag before getting off my bike. I look around the area with a discerning eye and note good security lighting and open-access parking.

“Nice place,” Kyle says as he swings his leg over the bike and stands up with a long stretch.

“Seems like,” I tell him as I look around with interest. “You want to hang for a bit and see Zoey?”

“Yeah,” he grunts as he reaches up and re-tightens the tie on his bandana. “I’ll give my ass a break for a bit before I move on. Besides, I have to take a monster piss.”

I nod in understanding. We may not have a lot of words pass between us, but men seem to be much simpler in our dialogue. Besides, it’s not like I didn’t know Kyle’s plans at this point. We rode together from Wyoming to Raleigh so I could see my daughter, Zoey. She moved here with her mom and my ex-wife, Brianna, about two months ago, and this has been the first opportunity I had to visit.

No doubt, a plane trip would have been easier and taken less time, but right now, I have the luxury of time on my side. I quit my job last week after much thought and deliberation over Zoey and her new home in North Carolina. I can’t fucking stand to be away from her and while Brianna and I share joint physical custody for Zoey back in Wyoming, since Brianna has primary legal custody, she gets to dictate where they live. Bolstered by a very healthy savings account I have diligently added to from every paycheck, as well as the sale of my house in Wyoming, which netted me a pretty penny, I can afford to take some time off and evaluate this area for a potential move to be near my daughter.