but who didn’t want to commit to a regular, long-standing relationship. He and Deacon understood that very well. At least he had until Jessica Troy bubbled her way into his life. He’d noticed her long ago, and dismissed her as too innocent to trouble themselves with. He’d been very mistaken in his initial assessment. The forceful experience of earlier made him crave it. He’d honestly never felt the same way about another woman before. He hadn’t gotten all the way through the door between the garage and the house, when Deacon entered the kitchen. “Where have you been all morning? I thought you’d be here today.” Boyd shot back, “You aren’t my mama. I come and go as I please quite a bit. This is the first time you’ve ever called me on it. What’s up?” Deacon gave him a surly look. “We need to talk.” Boyd cocked his head to one side. “About what?” “I need to tell you what happened with Jessica last night.” “Okay.” Good . I have something to tell you too. “So tell me.” “I slept with her.” “Oh yeah? How was it?” Boyd forced himself not to show the jubilation he felt at those four wonderful words. “How was it?” Deacon scrunched his brows together. “What the fuck kind of question is that?” Boyd shrugged and turned away so his best friend wouldn’t see him smile. “A relevant one. If she’s a lousy lay, why bother discussing her any further. Move on already.” “She’s not a lousy lay!” Deacon grabbed the front of his shirt with his fist and pulled him close, as if to ensure his message was understood in a physical way. Boyd laughed out loud. Deacon released him and frowned. “Are you drunk or something?” “No. I just came from the Ryder Hotel. Johnny and Adam are in from Northwestern Colorado with Veronica, but the house they arranged in town had problems. I got the last penthouse suite for them. Jessica helped me secure it.” Deacon took a step closer. “Did she say anything about me or what happened last night?” “Contrary to popular belief, women also find me attractive and interesting without ever once mentioning your name.” Deacon rolled his eyes. “I don’t find that to be true all the time.” “And where the fuck are my homemade cookies? She told me that she gave you some cookies last night to give me.” Deacon finally smiled. “They’re on the counter behind you, shit head.” He turned and saw the plate half filled with cookies. “You ate some of my cookies? You bastard.” “Yeah, and that’s not all I did.” “Tell me.” Boyd reached beneath the plastic, snagged a cookie, and took a big bite. Rich chocolate and sweet oatmeal cookie flavor hit the sweet spot of his tongue as he waited for Deacon to talk. He expected a story about getting the very lovely Jessica into bed. “No one was more surprised than I was at the time, but I took her virginity last night.” Boyd choked on the cookie and bent over again, coughing. That was so not at all what he’d expected Deacon to say. His friend promptly smacked him on the center of the back, which didn’t help. “She was a virgin?” Boyd was suddenly beside himself with guilt as the replay of the lunch sex he’d had with her against the wall circulated in his mind. And Deacon didn’t even know why, yet. “Well, she was until last night. She chose me to relieve her of her virginity. Can you believe it?” “Fuck.” “I know, right? I felt so guilty after fucking her the second time before I knew for certain, but the third time I just ate her pussy out. And you should probably be aware that if you’d gone last night she probably would have sacrificed herself to you instead.” Boyd bent at the waist. Fuck . She had to be suffering from internal injuries right now from the rough-assed sex they’d had against the wall. At the very least she had to be walking funny. Fuck . “What is wrong with you?” Boyd took a deep breath, pushed it out, and coughed