Chapter 2

Theo

Joy's grinning from ear to ear, her eyes flicking between me and Erica. "How long's it been? Seven years?"

"Something like that." Erica laughs, but there's a hint of awkwardness behind it. I feel that too, like a weight pressing down on my chest, reminding me that this thing I've been feeling for Erica it's done. Over before it even started.

I should've known better. Should've seen the red flags from a mile away. Age, for one. I'm forty-four, and she's what? Twenty? Twenty-one? Hell, that alone should've been enough to keep me in check. But no, I had to go and feel something for her. Now, standing here watching Joy hug her like they're long-lost sisters, I know I'm completely screwed.

As they keep talking, I catch Erica's eyes for a split second, and I see the same disappointment I'm feeling in them. She's off-limits. She knows it. I know it. It was stupid to even let myself get caught up in whatever the hell that tension was between us earlier.

I grit my teeth, forcing myself to look away. I've got no business getting worked up over this. It's been decades since I've let myself get interested in a woman. Really interested, not just a quick look or a passing thought. And never someone this young. This isn't me.

But fuck, something about Erica had my nerves on fire the second she stepped into my truck. Her scent, the way she looked at me, even the way she cursed her car out. It lit something in me I didn't even know was still there.

"Dad, you met Erica already?" Joy's voice pulls me out of my thoughts. She's looking up at me with this bright, happy grin, completely unaware of the goddamn storm brewing in my head.

"Yeah," I say, clearing my throat. "Her car broke down a little ways up the road. Brought her in."

"You should've seen it," Erica adds with a small laugh. "That car was ready to burst into flames."

Joy laughs along with her, and I catch the way Erica's looking at me.

Christ, I need to stop staring.

"Steven and I will go get your car," I announce, more to get myself out of this situation than anything else. "I don't mind driving you home, but you two might want to catch up."

Joy nods, already grabbing Erica's arm and pulling her toward the door. "We'll head to the diner. It's still the same, you know, that little spot on Main? Let's go grab something to eat."

I watch them walk off, Joy still chattering away, and Erica giving me one last look before she disappears down the street. My stomach tightens again, and I turn back toward the shop, shaking my head.

I'm an idiot.

I should've known better. Should've never let myself look at Erica the way I did, should've kept things professional from the start. The moment I realized she was Joy's friend? I should've slammed the brakes on whatever the hell this was.

But damn if it didn't feel good to feel something again. For the first time in years, I felt awake. Alive. And now, it's all crashing back down because I know it's wrong for more reasons than I can count.

He's got a lopsided grin on his face, and I can already tell he's about to bust my chops.

"So…" he says, drawing the word out as he leans against the truck. "You're just giving rides to stranded girls now, huh? Didn't think the fire department offered roadside assistance."

I shake my head, trying to brush him off. "Just being helpful, Steven. Nothing more."

"Helpful, right." He nods, but the grin doesn't leave his face. "And here I was thinking you looked a little too interested for it to just be ‘helpful.'"

I narrow my eyes at him, but he just chuckles. Steven's always been a nosy bastard, especially when it comes to my personal life, but he means well. Usually.

"Don't start," I warn. "She's too young, and she's my daughter's childhood best friend. It's not happening."

He raises an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced. "She didn't seem too young to me. Hell, she looks like she could hold her own."

"Doesn't matter," I say firmly, crossing my arms. "She's twenty. I'm forty-four. Besides, Joy's had it rough enough making friends. I'm not going to screw that up for her."

Steven's smile fades a bit, and he gives a sympathetic nod. "Yeah, I get that. Joy's had a tough time, what with her mom up and leaving the way she did. Never easy to come back from that kind of shit."

I grunt in agreement, my mood souring just thinking about how much Joy's had to deal with. I'm not the kind of man who gets tangled up in shit like this. Not anymore. I've spent too much of my life getting burned by women I thought I could trust. And I swore after Joy's mom that I wasn't going to let myself fall again.

I thought we had something real, back when we were younger. I thought we'd build a family together, raise Joy, be happy. But she left. She left me for that son of a bitch who was Joy's first stepdad. Kept my little girl from me and poisoned her mind against me. And then, years later, she left Joy too—took off with husband number two and abandoned her own daughter. Joy came to live with me when she was fifteen, after years of not even knowing me, and we've been trying to fix that mess ever since.

I never really got over that betrayal. Never got over how easily Shania walked away. And I know Joy never got over it either. We've been doing our best, but there's still a lot of shit between us. Unspoken stuff, things we don't know how to talk about. And now here I am, almost letting myself fall for someone half my age, someone who's her damn friend. My brain's still trying to work out how I can be with Erica instead of recognizing it's impossible now especially with the fact that Joy struggles to make friends. I can't take her friend from her.

"I'm just trying to do right by her," I mutter. "She's had enough taken from her already."

Steven claps me on the shoulder, his teasing tone gone. "You're a good dad, Theo. She's lucky to have you. But, just for the record, that girl, Erica? She's got eyes for you, man. I'm just saying."

I grit my teeth, refusing to let his words sink in. "Doesn't matter," I repeat, heading toward the tow truck. "She's off-limits."

Steven follows, letting the subject drop, but I can feel his eyes on me as I busy myself with getting the tow hooked up. I might be able to push the thought away now, but it's not that simple. Not when I'm still feeling that spark from earlier.

Not when the way Erica looked at me is still burning in the back of my mind.

"Let's just get this car fixed," I mutter under my breath, and Steven shoots me one last grin before we get to work.