“Who was that guy?” Jo asked as she peered over my shoulder at Ghoul, who was no doubt still staring at her like she was a juicy piece of steak.

“We call him Ghoul,” I said. “He’s not popular on base, but he’s a hell of a good pilot. Not as good as me, of course, but decent nonetheless.”

Jo smiled, and I was rattled by her beauty. “Is anybody as good as you?”

“Are you flirting with me, Josephine Hart?”

She smiled again, and this time, laughter bubbled out of her. It was the sweetest thing I had heard in a very long time, and I found myself in awe of her as I guided her through an effortless waltz routine.

Her eyes were as bright and green as I remembered. I’d always thought she looked like an innocent, doe-eyed teenager when we were younger. Seeing her as a grown woman was a shock but a damn good one. Her face was covered in freckles, especially across her nose and cheeks, and her lips were bright pink and full, tempting me to lean in and kiss her.

But she was Ryan’s sister. And I was his best friend. To think there could be more between us than that was foolish.

Wasn’t it?

The song ended, and Jo tightened her grip on my hand. “Come on,” she said. “I need another drink. So do you.” She didn’t wait for me to answer. Instead, she pulled me through the ever-growing crowd toward the bar, where she spun around and rested a hand on my chest. “What do you want? Let me get this round.”

“I don’t think so. How about you tell me—”

“Nope,” she said, turning back to the bar. She waved the bartender over. “Two—no, make it four tequila shots and two beers, please!”

“Four?” I asked when she looked over her shoulder at me.

Jo nodded and gave me a bright smile that reminded me of sunshine and blue skies. “Yep. Four. Don’t be a baby.”

“A baby?” Grady appeared, jabbing his elbow into my ribs playfully. His cheeks were rosy, and his eyes were heavy. He was already more than a few drinks in, and it showed. “I like her, Flynn. Who is she?”

“She is Jo,” Jo said, extending her hand and shaking Grady’s in introduction. “Zach and I have known each other a long time.”

Grady looked imploringly at me. “Remember that deal we had about the prettiest girl in here? Well, you found her. So…”

“No,” I said sharply, shouldering him away.

“What deal?” Jo asked as she passed me a tequila shot. She handed one to Grady as well, who smelled it and winced.

“No deal, forget about it,” I said.

Grady pounded back his shot, shook his head, and grinned at Jo. “He promised to help me hook up with the prettiest girl in the place.”

“Oh,” Jo mused. “Lucky for her.”

“That’s what I said.” I laughed.

“Here.” Jo handed Grady another shot. “Take this, and walk a lap. All the girls will get prettier. But if they turn you down, you move on to the next, all right?”

“All right.” Grady chuckled. He threw back the shot and grabbed my shoulders. “I like her, brother. She’s one of the good ones. Don’t worry about the deal. She’s off limits. I can see it all over your face.” He pointed his index finger at my face and waved it around in a circle. “That face says ‘stay the fuck away from her.’” Grady chuckled again and burped, then wandered off to prowl the outskirts of the dance floor.

“Sorry about that,” I said to Jo, who had just ordered us two more shots to replace the ones she passed off to Grady.

“Don’t worry. He’s funny. In a sad, pathetic kind of way. Here, drink up.”

We both took our two shots and sucked on our limes. The tang stole the bitterness of the alcohol away. The shot went straight to my head, and I leaned against a barstool to stop myself from swaying as Jo ordered us each another beer.

“Damn, woman,” I muttered. “You can drink like a champ.”

She sipped her fresh beer as I took mine from her. “You haven’t seen anything yet. I’m here to have fun. I haven’t been out in a while, and I plan to make the most of it.”

“Well, on that note, finish that beer. You and I have more dancing to do.”

Jo blushed and lifted her beer to her lips. I found myself staring at her bottom lip, pressed to the glass as she tipped her head back and drained the whole thing. Impressed and determined to match her, I finished mine as well and slammed the glass down on the bar. She followed suit, and then I took her by the hand once more.

The two of us spilled out onto the dance floor. The evening was well underway, and the music was lively and easy to dance to. We danced like idiots, moving around each other the way two drunk teenagers might. Then, as the alcohol worked through our bodies, we drew closer until I had her back in my arms. I spun her away from me and then back in. I dipped her and turned her away from me and was aware of the soft press of her ass in my crotch.

I twirled her away once more, and her strawberry blonde hair fanned out all around her. I admired the length of her long, powerful legs, hugged tightly by her dark jeans. A few inches of stomach showed between her waistband and the hem of her black top. She was all muscle and milky white skin. Sheer beauty.

She laughed with her head thrown back to the ceiling when I pulled her to me once more and let my hands wander down her back to squeeze that firm, perfect round ass of hers. Motivated by the alcohol coursing through me, I leaned in and softly pressed my lips to her neck.

She wrapped her arms around my shoulders, and I felt her fingers begin creeping up the back of my neck and pressing into my hair.

Then someone tapped me on the shoulder and cleared their throat behind me.

I already knew it was Ghoul before I even turned around. He had a bad habit of popping up at the most inopportune moments.

I groaned in frustration, my lips still on Jo’s neck, and gave her ass one more squeeze for good measure. She let her arms fall from my shoulders when I pulled back to look at Ghoul, who was hovering over us like an uninvited nanny.

“Mind if I cut in?” he asked, his eyes only on Jo and the low cut of her crop top.

“I do mind, actually,” I said dryly.

Ghoul’s gaze snapped over to me, and he narrowed his eyes. “I wasn’t asking you, Flynn.” He said my name like he was spitting out a bite of rotten fruit.

If I hadn’t been drunk already, I might have had the self-control to swallow my anger and refrain from insulting him. But I was drunk. And my self-control was weak even when I was sober. “Listen, we all know you’re going back to base alone to rub one out, staring at your own reflection, so just fuck off, will you?”

Jo surprised me by snorting with laughter. Ghoul shot her a dark look and then looked back at me. “Fuck off, Flynn. Everyone knows you’re more in love with yourself than anyone else in the squadron.”

“Yeah, because they’re all in love with me too, you dumb bastard.”

“Gentlemen,” Jo said, stepping between us and placing a hand on both our chests. She pushed us both back a step, giving herself more space. “There’s no need for the pissing contest. I’m perfectly capable of declining the dance on my own. Thank you for the invitation.” She now addressed Ghoul directly. “But Zach and I have known each other for a long time, and I would like to spend the night dancing with him.”

Her rejection was perfectly polite. It was concise and straightforward and not cruel at all. But Ghoul acted like she had struck him across the face and told him he was ugly. Which he was.

“One dance won’t hurt you, little lady. Come on. Take a walk on the wild side, and show me what you can do with that sexy body of yours.”

I was going to hit him, and then I was going to be in deep shit for hitting him. It didn’t matter. He’d crossed a line, and someone needed to put him in his place. I made to step around Jo, who still had her hand planted firmly in the middle of my chest. As soon as I tried to take a step, she gave me a rough shove. The force behind it surprised me. She managed to push me back about half a step, and then she turned and squared her shoulders to face Ghoul.

The sight was something to behold. Ghoul towered over her, and from where he stood, he missed all the cues in her body language that I soaked in. Her hands were balled into tight fists at her sides. Every muscle in her body was tense, and her feet were spread apart so that they were in line with her broad shoulders. She was a woman I wouldn’t mess with. That was for sure.

“Call me ‘little lady’ again, and I’ll wrap your tie around your throat, you big waste of space,” Jo spat. She stepped in closer to him and craned her neck to stare up at him. She was so close, her breasts nearly touched his chest, and he was going cross-eyed looking down at her. The expression on his face was smug. He still wasn’t taking her seriously.

“I like a woman with a bit of fire,” Ghoul purred.

Jo slammed both her hands into his chest in a magnificent display of power. The blow sent him teetering backward, and he stumbled into a set of table and chairs along the outskirts of the dance floor. He caught himself on the table and straightened, eyes wide in surprise and humiliation.

I hadn’t realized that I had started laughing.

Then Grady was there, and he was laughing up a storm beside me, while pointing an accusing finger at Ghoul, who was just coming to the realization that the table had been covered in half-empty beer glasses. Now he was soaked and embarrassed. I couldn’t see how my night could get any better.

Then Jo moved in on him again and jabbed him in the chest with her finger several times as she tore through a verbal attack on the loser. “When a woman says no, it means no. It does not mean that you can call her pet names and think it will change her mind. You are absolutely repulsive, and any woman who ever falls for your pathetic attempts at courting is worthy of your idiotic company.”

Ghoul blinked at her like he didn’t understand a word that she was saying. Which, in his state, I doubted he did. He was drunk as a skunk and dumb as an ox on a good day.

“Now get the fuck out of here before you make a bigger ass out of yourself,” Jo finished, planting her hands on her hips.

Ghoul didn’t even try to retort. Instead, he slinked off, head down, shoulders slumped. Grady and I watched him go in chortling laughter and snorts, and when the door closed behind him, a couple of people who had overheard the exchange whooped and hollered for Jo. I joined in as she turned back to me.

“Holy hell,” I breathed.

Grady patted me on the chest. “Go get her.”

Jo grinned up at me, cheeks still bright pink, eyes twinkling, and leaned against my shoulder. “Care for another drink?”

“Actually, I was thinking maybe we should get the hell out of here?”

For a second, I thought I was being too forward. Maybe I had misread everything. Maybe the chemistry between us was a figment of my imagination or just a side effect of the booze in my system.

But Jo smiled brighter and nodded. “Let’s go.”