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H is arm hurt like a son of a bitch, and arguing with Juno was grating on his last nerve, even if it did help him forget some of the pain. She was the most stubborn woman he had ever known, but he already knew that about her. She was one of Dare’s best friends, and while his little brother didn’t have any friends over to the house after their parents died, Juno always called him to check on him and was always hanging around him when picked Dare up from school. Juno was a good friend to his brother and even helped him get through losing his parents and having become his guardian. It was an adjustment period for both of them, but he’d do it all over again to keep his brother out of the foster care system.

The thing about Juno was—he actually liked her stubbornness. It turned him on. had always liked his women a little fiery, and she was an inferno. The problem remained that she was Dare’s best friend, and over four years younger than him. never dated younger women. They usually liked to play games, and he didn’t have time for games. But Juno didn’t seem the type of woman who liked games either.

He looked over to find her crying and he wondered what he had said to upset her. He knew that he wasn’t the nicest guy, but making her cry wasn’t the plan. “Why are you crying?” he asked.

She wiped the tears from her cheeks, “I was just thinking that I probably won’t have my apartment for too much longer,” she said. “I mean, if I can’t pay my rent, I’m pretty sure that my landlord won’t let me keep living there.”

“I’m sure that you’ll be able to find another job soon,” he assured.

“Not one that will pay my bills,” she insisted. “I was barely making it on my own before losing my crappy job. And all my friends are married and even have kids, so crashing on their couches isn’t an option.”

“Can you find a cheaper place to live?” he asked.

“I’ve tried, but all of the rent-controlled apartments are taken, and I had no choice but to take the place that I’m in. I’m going to have to move back in with my parents, and I don’t know if I can do that. I’d rather live in my car,” she said.

“Well, it is big enough,” he teased. She shot him a look, letting him know that she wasn’t in a joking mood right now. “Sorry,” he breathed.

“If I move back in with them, I’ll never hear the end about me going to college. They don’t understand that not everyone is cut out for college. Hell, I barely made it out of high school in one piece.” wondered what she meant by that, but he was distracted as she pulled into the hospital entrance, and he pointed at the emergency room sign. Juno followed the signs to the back of the building and pulled up to the ER entrance.

“I’ll help you out and then park your truck,” she said.

“That’s not necessary,” insisted. “I can walk.” He looked around the dimly lit parking lot and thought about all of the bad things that could happen to a woman who was walking alone at night.

“Is this your way of protecting me from all of the imaginary monsters who live in the dark?” He shook his head, but then thought better of lying to her, and nodded.

“I’m just trying to look out for you, Juno,” he said. That was partially true. Plus, he was starting to like the little fireball and if something happened to her now, he wouldn’t get the chance to ask her out—not that he had fully decided if that was a wise decision or not yet.

“Suit yourself,” she breathed, “if you want to walk, then you can fucking walk.”

“Thanks,” he mumbled. She pulled around to the parking lot and parked his truck in the middle of nowhere. He was pretty sure that she had picked the furthest spot from the emergency room’s entrance just to punish him for being a decent guy. decided to pretend that it didn’t bother him at all to walk so far, even though his arm felt like it was on fire.

They walked in silence to the ER and that was fine by him. He was able to deal with her anger rather than her tears. As soon as they got into the emergency room, Juno took charge, telling the woman behind the desk what had happened in detail, leaving out the part about them being in a parking lot at the strip club. By the time she finished telling the nurse about his accident, she handed him a clipboard with papers attached and a pen.

“Fill these out and bring them back up here when you’re finished,” the nurse ordered.

“Thank you,” said, taking the clipboard from her. Juno followed him over to the waiting room and sat down next to him.

“Do you need me to fill those out for you?” Juno asked.

“I think that I can handle it,” he said, “I broke my left arm, remember? I’m right-handed so filling out the paperwork shouldn’t hurt too much.”

“Suit yourself,” she said. She seemed to say that a lot to him, but decided to ignore her comment and started filling out the papers. He fumbled through his wallet, trying to grab his insurance card out, and failed miserably using only one hand. Juno sat back in her chair and smiled over at him. He could feel her silently gloating when he finally gave up.

“Can you please help me get my insurance card out of my wallet?” he asked.

“But you have your right hand. It’s not broken,” she taunted.

“Juno, for just once tonight could you not give me any shit? I just need help getting my card out of my wallet,” he said.

“Fine,” she said, taking the wallet from him, “but you could have at least said please.”

“Please,” he added as she handed him back the card. He finished filling out the paperwork and took it up to the lady behind the desk.

“Your wife really likes to give you hell, doesn’t she?” He looked back at Juno and laughed.

“She’d not my wife. In fact, we really don’t know each other. She’s my little brother’s best friend,” he explained.

“And she brought you to the ER?” the woman asked. “Well, then, I take back what I just said about her. You should treat her better because she’s a keeper.”

He rolled his eyes at her as Juno shouted, “Thank you,” over her shoulder to the woman. Honestly, she didn’t seem to miss anything, and he was betting that she had heard the woman calling her his wife.

“Have a seat and we’ll call you back soon,” the nurse said. He wanted to protest about having to wait, but he didn’t want to seem like a total baby—especially in front of Juno.

He sat down next to her, and she smiled over at him. “She’s right,” Juno said, “I am a keeper.”

“I don’t doubt that honey, but I don’t need a wife or a girlfriend, no matter how much of a keeper you are,” he said. He could never see himself as a husband, and being someone’s boyfriend sounded like more work than he wanted. Asking Juno for a night of hot sex didn’t feel right either. He was sure that Dare wouldn’t be okay with that.

“Oh,” she breathed. “I didn’t know.”

“You didn’t know what?” he questioned.

“I didn’t know that you’re gay,” she said.

“What the fuck, Juno,” he growled, “I’m not gay,” he practically shouted. “I just don’t want to be in a committed relationship. It doesn’t mean that I don’t like women.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I wasn’t implying that you marry or date me,” she whispered, looking around the room to see who was watching them. Just about every person in the waiting room had taken an interest in their conversation. If Juno had told her best friends about where she worked, she wouldn’t have had an issue with having a private conversation publicly.

“Noted,” he whispered. The woman from behind the desk called his name and he stood to go back to have his arm looked at.

Juno grabbed his good arm, stopping him. “Do you want me to come back with you?” she asked.

“I’m good,” he lied. He was in a lot of pain and worried that they were going to give him something that might incapacitate him, and he hated feeling that way. It’s one of the reasons why he never drank. The other guys in the Royal Bastards made fun of him, but he never really gave a fuck. He liked complete control, and booze and drugs took that away from him.

“All right—don’t say that I didn’t offer,” she said. “I’ll be here waiting to drive you back to the club so that I can pick up my car.” He nodded and turned to go back with the nurse who was waiting for him. He didn’t bother to tell Juno that he’d probably need her to drive him home since he wouldn’t be able to drive if they shot him full of drugs.

“You ready for a few X-rays?” the nurse asked. He wasn’t ready for anything that had happened tonight—especially finding Juno up on stage, dancing, while guys threw cash at her. Yeah—nothing made sense tonight and he wasn’t ready for any of it.