Sudden Response (EMS 1)

"You're a f**king idiot." Had he said that out loud? Based on his brother's sudden glare he would have to go with a yes on that one.

"What?" Nathan demanded, turning his attention on him.

He could apologize, but this bullshit had gone on for far too long.

"You heard me. You're a f**king idiot. You had a great girl, another great girl I might add who from what I could see adored you and was perfect for you and what do you do? You toss her aside on a whim. What the hell is your problem?"

"Stay out of it," Nathan bit out tightly.

"Sorry. Not going to happen. I want to know what the hell your problem is. You keep meeting these great women that seem to make you happy, but for some f**ked up reason you keep letting them go. I don't understand what the hell your problem is."

"Look who's talking," Nathan spat out.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Eric demanded.

"Joe," Nathan said, making Eric turn quickly in his seat to look for her. "Yeah, that's what I thought," Nathan said coldly, drawing his attention, but not before he scanned the bar once again for her.

"What are you talking about?" he asked distractedly as he turned to see if she was standing next to the jukebox since that's the first thing she always did before ordering a beer was to see if there were any new songs added to the playlist.

"That you have a lot of balls to talk."

"Meaning?" Eric asked, taking a sip of his beer as he kept his eyes leveled on his brother, not entirely sure he liked where this was going.

"You think I don't know?" Nathan demanded with a harsh laugh. "Everyone f**king knows."

"Then maybe you should clue me in," he said, placing his beer down on the small table.

"You're in love with Joe," Nathan said with a smug smile that had Eric chuckling.

"That's bullshit and you know it," Eric said, taking another sip of beer with a casualness that he didn't feel.

"Is that why you watch her like a hawk and warn off any man dumb enough to get within touching distance of her?"

"I protect her, the same as you," Eric said, slamming his beer down on the small table hard enough to make the small wooden bowl filled with empty peanut shells bounce.

Nathan snorted at that. "I protect her because she's my sister. You protect her because you don't want anyone else touching her."

"You're full of shit and you know it," Eric said, hating like hell that they were even talking about this. It was something he didn't want to think about never mind discuss.

For years he'd done his damndest to ignore the way Joe made him feel, like he would go out of his mind if he didn't touch her and now that he had it was a constant battle not to go after her and pull her right back into his arms. She was his best friend, the only person he could go to for absolutely anything or nothing. He loved being with her and just talking to her over the phone eased his soul and that's exactly why he shouldn't be feeling this way.

If they ever took it to the next step he knew it wouldn't be long before it ended badly. They both sucked at relationships. None of his previous girlfriends could hold his attention longer than it took to get them into bed and that usually didn't take long at all. After sex being with them felt like a chore, one he despised.

The same could be said for Joe. None of the guys that she dated could hold her attention for very long. For the most part they seemed to irritate the living hell out of her. She didn't do long term relationships, a month for her was too much. Hell, two weeks was too long for him and that's exactly why he knew this would never work.

She was forbidden fruit and the moment he had her he knew he'd tire of her too. Then they'd be left with an awkward situation that even their relationship wouldn't be able to recover from. Then what? Did he continue with her, pretending that he still wanted her because of their friendship? For her he would try, but he knew he'd come to resent their relationship and push her away like he'd done with so many women before her.

Then what? If they managed to go back to being friends there would always be an awkwardness between them. They might continue being friends, but their relationship would never be what it once was and he'd miss that. He'd miss their easy conversations, her companionship, her smiles, the way she busted his balls, but most of all he'd miss her. She might be the woman that he lusted after twenty-four seven, but she was also his best friend, his world and no amount of sex was worth risking that.

"So, it wouldn't bother you if she was in the arms of another man right now?" Nathan asked, sounding amused.

Yes. "No," he gritted out.

"Good," Nathan said, nodding. "Then it probably shouldn't bother you that Dave and Johnny have their hands all over her right now."

"What?" The word practically exploded from his mouth as he surged to his feet, sending his chair flying back in the process. He turned around ready to kill someone only to come to an abrupt halt when his eyes landed on the trio near the door. He felt his brows clear his hairline and he doubted that he was the only one at the moment.

"Just let me go!" Joe demanded as she fought against the two large men struggling to hold her back. "I promise I'll only kill him a little bit!"

He felt his lips twitch as he watched as Joe managed to drag the men a few feet towards him.

"You said that you only wanted a drink!" Johnny said accusingly as he doubled his efforts to pull the little spitfire back.

"I do. Killing makes me thirsty," she explained tightly as her eyes landed on him and narrowed dangerously.

Any other man would probably realize that he was in deep shit and haul his ass out the back door, but that wasn't his style. This was the reason why he was going to make damn sure that he never touched her again. He loved her, loved the way she drove him crazy and he really loved pissing her off.

"How was the ride, Joe?" he asked, walking over to her and enjoying the way she tried to lunge at him.

"It was great. Nothing like a smooth ride through the country. Why don't you come closer so that I can thank you properly?" she suggested sweetly even as she stomped on Dave's foot, forcing the poor bastard to let her go.

She didn't waste any time in reaching up and going for Johnny's nipple. The look on the poor besotted bastard's face was priceless. He took one look at the hand nearing his nipple and practically dove away from her, leaving Eric with absolutely no doubt that she'd done it before. Probably as soon as she got loose from the backboard.

Joe wasted no time in going for him and probably would have gone for his throat if Nathan hadn't suddenly appeared between them and caught her around the waist with a bored sigh and threw her over his shoulder, wrecking all of Eric's fun.