Calculated Risk (Blackbridge Security 5)

“I work a lot.”

“We all do,” Brooks counters. “But I manage to find time to date.”

“You have sex. That’s not dating,” Jude says.

I point to my best friend in agreement.

“So you’re having sex, but you’re not dating?” Brooks asks genuinely confused. “And I date. I don’t always just meet up for sex.”

“You don’t?” I ask.

“A man’s got to eat.” He winks at me in a slimy way, and I have to shake my head at his antics.

“Got mustard in your beard, man. Just right there.” I wipe at my mouth, scowling at Brooks. “Other side, idiot.”

“Fuck off,” I hiss as I wipe both sides of my mouth.

“Does that beard get in the way when you’re eating pussy?”

Jude snorts at Brooks’s question, finding it funny, but his cheeks still turn a little red. He’s never been very comfortable talking about sex.

“Many women like a little scruff burn on the insides of their thighs,” Wren says, walking into the room and jumping right into the conversation.

“That’s true,” Brooks agrees. “But it may be a little much. Maybe trim it up some.”

“It doesn’t get in the way, and if Hayd—I have no intentions of eating pussy any time soon.”

“Wow. Freudian slip? Wishful thinking?” Brooks taunts.

“Do you have the hots for Hayden Prescott? The woman in your shooting class?” Wren asks.

“No.”

“Yes.” Jude counters my lie.

“Can you ever keep your mouth shut?” I snap at my best friend.

I don’t know if I’m mad because he’s gossiping like a teen girl in the school bathroom or if the topic of conversation has me wondering just how into the scrape of my beard on her thigh Hayden would be.

“We’re all family,” he mutters as he crinkles up his trash before throwing it at my head.

“Really? Why don’t you tell your family about the last time you had sex?”

His eyes flare.

“Interesting,” Wren says. “Tell us, Jude.”

“Why are we talking about sex?”

“You’re the one who came in here running your mouth about a client from the shooting class.”

“Tell us,” Wren prods. “Do you use your medical supplies? Are you kinky?”

“I told you that in confidence,” Jude hisses.

“You told me that years ago,” I remind him. His eyes dart to a spot across the room. “What? Really? No. Still?”

“Fuck, I need popcorn,” Brooks says, clapping his hands like a hungry baby seeing a box of Cheerios. “Explain.”

Jude doesn’t answer. I immediately register the change in his breathing. He’s embarrassed. Fuck, I didn’t mean for that to happen. It agitates me a little that they’re being nosy about Hayden, but his secrets are much bigger than that. It’s my turn to be surprised because this is not the direction I thought this conversation was going. I regret opening my stupid mouth.

“We’re all waiting, Jude,” Wren pressures.

“Leave him alone. It’s nothing.” Neither Wren nor Brooks looks in my direction.

“Oh, wow. You haven’t, have you?” Wren asks, but his tone is serious not teasing. “Dude, that—”

“You’re a virgin?” Brooks asks, his mouth hanging open in shock. “That’s—”

“Fucking awesome,” Wren says in admiration.

“Like ever?” Brooks continues, still baffled.

“Go ahead,” Jude says glaring at me, angry for spilling the beans before looking over at the other guys. “Make fun of me.”

“Why?” Brooks asks, his brow creasing. “I mean, I’m not saying I would give up all of my experiences just to have sex again for the first time, but—”

“I would,” Wren snaps. “In a fucking heartbeat. If the only woman I ever put my mouth on or stuck my co—had sex with was Whitney, I could die a happy man. I didn’t lose my virginity until I was twenty-one so it’s no big deal. You’re what, twenty-four?”

I roll my lips between my teeth to keep from smiling.

“Thirty-one,” he mutters, his eyes darting quickly away.

Brooks hands clap over his head as he falls back into a reclining position on the sofa. “I don’t understand.”

“You’re a total virgin?” Wren asks with the disclosure of Jude’s age.

“Why is this such a big deal?” Jude asks, but his scowl is starting to fade with the realization that the guys aren’t going to make fun of him.

“Virgins just don’t exist these days. Most people lose it in high school, and if not then, they do in college.”

“We moved around a lot. Military brat, remember?” Jude explains.

“There were no girls or guys on base?” Brooks asks.

“Not gay,” Jude clarifies.

“You sure? I mean if you haven’t—”

“I’m sure,” Jude interrupts.

“So no girls on base?” Brooks continues as Wren drops his ass down to the arm of the couch, looking at my friend like a science experiment or a new computer program he doesn’t quite understand.

“We moved a lot. There was no time to really get to know anyone.”

“I’m going home,” I say as I stand, gathering my trash.

“We’re not done talking about Hayden and the way you watched her all night,” Jude says to my back.