Page 9 of Reckless With You

It might have made me an ass, but she was still staring at my ass, so…whatever.

I put the wine in the back seat of my SUV and tossed the flowers onto the front seat. I winced, made sure I hadn’t broken any of the petals or stems, and started my engine.

I’d had a long day working at the hospital, and all I really wanted to do was go to bed. I was going to hang out with the Carrs instead.

I had known Devin for years. Since high school. We’d become friends quickly, and had even gone to college together. I’d ended up having to stay in college a bit longer, considering that becoming a diagnostic radiologist meant I needed a little more training than I’d planned on when I started school. But I loved my job.

I loved trying to figure out what made someone hurt. Because I wanted to be able to fix it. Without me, doctors couldn’t do their jobs, and nurses would be strained even more than they already were.

I saw things that broke my heart, but then I also saw the strength of humanity that came from that heartbreak. I saw the connections that came from others as they pulled together when their loved one was fighting or in pain.

I saw that people didn’t always walk away when things got hard. Sometimes, I got to see them when they were healthy. When it was just a checkup.

I got to see the life shine through their eyes. Something I didn’t always get to notice.

And, throughout it all, I noticed the ones with the big families first. Because they were the ones that drew me in. I’d always wanted that. The type of family that would always be there for you no matter what happened. I hadn’t had that as a kid. My final foster family had been wonderful. But we didn’t talk, didn’t chat. They didn’t send birthday cards. They did send emails every once in a while, but we weren’t that close. Plus, they had other kids who came in and out of their lives. They never adopted, but they were always there for kids in need.

And I was fine with that. I didn’t need more because I had Devin and his siblings.

And considering that Devin had gone through his own little version of hell with his parents, it was nice having him. We could lean on each other.

And I liked the fact that we had each other, no matter what.

I pulled in behind Amelia’s car in front of Devin’s house and grinned.

I liked Amelia. She was sweet, a little feisty, and always had an opinion—especially about me. I didn’t mind. If Devin was going to have any kind of little sister, Amelia was the good kind. She had the biggest heart ever. And even when you somehow found yourself covered in dirt and helping her when you didn’t even realize you had agreed to it, it was good.

It was that smile of hers. You simply nodded and followed what she said.

Of course, I sort of did the same things sometimes. According to Amelia, it was my dimples.

I couldn’t help it. As I said, I liked women. And if I were allowed to look at Amelia that way, I probably would have found her hot. Sweet. Would have loved that smile of hers. Those big eyes. The way she filled out her dresses. And even more, the way she filled out her jeans while she was working. Because those legs of hers? Damn. You could tell that she worked with her whole body. Daily.

I turned off my car and cleared my throat, adjusting myself in my pants.

Well, that was interesting. I hadn’t thought about Amelia that way in a while. I wasn’t supposed to. She was my best friend’s little sister. There were rules about that. Books and encyclopedias and instruction manuals written on how not to think that your best friend’s baby sister was hot.

Plus, she was like eight years younger. It wasn’t even until recently that I allowed myself to look at her like that at all. Not that I was actually allowed to do it, but at least now the age difference wasn’t a big thing.

Not that it should matter since I didn’t think of her that way. She was like a sister to me.

No, I wasn’t even going to lie to myself like that. There was nothing sisterly about Amelia Carr.

I could think she was hot as fuck, sweet as sin, and just an amazing person, but I wasn’t allowed to think about her as anything more than that. Nor was I allowed to let Devin know that I thought about her in that way. Well, Devin and Amelia’s two other brothers, as well. Dimitri and Caleb could kick my ass. Oh, Devin could too, but he might hold back his punches a bit because we were best friends. But Caleb? Yeah, while Caleb had never been to prison, at least that I knew of, he could probably break me.

And while their older brother Dimitri might teach kids, I swore there was something rumbling under that nice-guy exterior. He could snap me like a twig.

So, no thank you. I was not going to think about Amelia that way.

Much.

I grabbed my goods and headed towards Devin’s door.

Erin answered, her blond hair piled on top of her head in some weird twisty, curled topknot thing. I liked it.

She grinned widely and held out her hands. “Hey there, Tucker. You’re here.”

“Hey. When are you going to finally leave him and run away with me?” I asked as I leaned forward and kissed her directly on the mouth.